COOL TRAVELS
I want to share some cool news with you from our friends Richard and Mary Ann Chaffin who are inveterate travelers and are now in Washington on the west coast. Richard was the pastor of Cross Plains FUMC for five years and their home burned in the fires of December 2005 that burned the parsonage and church building. Enjoy her latest travelogue:
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Now THIS is a Washington state morning! Sitting upstairs in the "third floor" loft of this condo, the windows open, I am watching clouds/mist float by outside the windows. It is a gray kind of morning and much more typical of the seacoast weather than the bright sunny days we've had for a week. The natives up here were excited that a cool front was coming in from the ocean to beak "the heat wave" they were experiencing! Everything is relative.
Monday was a really good day spent visiting with Uncle Dave and Aunt Esther in Poulsbo. Cousin Phil rode his motorcycle over and met us at the big casino for lunch. I am so relieved to see how very good Aunt Esther is progressing from her broken hip/wrist surgery. Remarkable people who I care so much about.
Tuesday was spent wandering the downtown streets of Port Townsend. It was crowded and I don't remember so many tourists the times we have visited here before. The old Victorian style buildings are so pretty and makes this a unique town that never turned out to be the prosperous place they intended. But thanks to tourism - it's thriving.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
[I've been using Richard's computer since after several days on the road, my laptop totally stopped working. We took it in to a computer shop yesterday where they deemed that the hard drive had crashed and they could replace one for $250. Much to Richard's surprise, I said "no thank you" and we left with my useless laptop. I wish I not even brought it!! We will see what can be determined when we return to Lubbock. In the meantime, I will be doing what corresponding I do from a "borrowed" computer, so it'll be a once a day occasion for me.]
Wednesday we drove the 7 or 8 miles from our condo in to Port Townsend to catch the Washington Ferry over to the mainland. The attendant at the terminal asked if we had reservations. We did not, but he assured us he could get us on the 12:45 ferry - only one and a half hours away! No problem. We parked the car in line and walked over to the downtown area where we once again walked the main street (for our daily exercise) and had lunch at the cute little diner where we usually eat. . . out on the deck in the sunshine as we watched the sea gulls cavort, the ships and boats come and go and a few people searching for shells and such down on the beach below us.
{If this has become boring by now - the following story is one very interesting occurrence!} Just the experience of driving our vehicle on to a ferry and crossing Puget Sound or the Strait of Juan de Fuca or whatever is part of our thrill in being up here. There was one and only one other motor home loaded on this particular ferry - and believe it or not, it was a 2002 Pace Arrow gray/cream motor home EXACTLY like ours! How ironic is that? It gave me goose bumps as I continue to miss traveling in ours! But this is not the interesting bit -
Settling back for a semi nap in our car, windows down and cool air blowing across - a handsome man walked by our car. Nothing unusual about this since people wander around on deck of the ferry in transit. He looked in. I smiled. Richard nodded and the man smiled as he walked on. Shortly he came back to the window on my side of the car, and handed me a beautiful pint Mason jar filled with jam! The homemade typed label on top called it "Blueberry, Loganberry, and Strawberry Jam with a hint of Lavender and unbleached, sugar.... picked and made the same day on August 7, 2008" !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This smiling stranger began to explain that he owns a little farm over near Sequim. He belongs to a group of widows/widowers who like to do this. Further, he explained, "I went down and worked after the Katrina catastrophe and the people of Texas were so WONDERFUL to us, that I like to try to do some little something in return for Texas people!"
Richard offered to pay him and he said, "oh no, this is just something I like to do for Texas folks!' Stunned is the word for us. This more than pleasant looking stranger with the warm brown eyes, salt & pepper curly gray hair walked away with that same big smile on his face. Now isn't this an UNUSUAL story? It was so good to know that someone out there actually LIKES Texas people.
We knew where we were going, of course, but we "tested" OnStar turn by turn directions. The operator began chuckling and said she hated to tell us but we were showing up as a dot out on the water! We would have to ask for directions after we were back on land again.
This ferry goes through Oak Harbor, past beautiful Deception Pass, Anacortes and the San Juan Islands and over to the very familiar - to us - towns of Mt. Vernon and Burlington. Situated in the lush bottom lands of the Skagit Valley, this has always been a favorite spot for us. Our Mission of the Day was to drive up Highway 20 (the Northern Cascades scenic byway) and find a new Thousand Trails Resort which has recently been purchased called "Grandy Creek." Through the little town of Sedro-Woolley and toward Concrete - we found the Thousand Trails (after a couple of scenic drives up the wrong roads).
Grandy Creek may be located in the most beautiful and scenic of all the Thousand Trails resorts in Washington. Located near Baker Lake, Mt. Baker, and many other scenic vistas, VERY tall Cascade mountains surround it and it is situated among, what else but, tall trees. The ranger on duty told us that one half the sites (yellow meters) belonged to KOA and the other ones (green meters) belong to Thousand Trails!! A most unusual set up - and the place was full. (It is also a Leisure Time for those of you receiving this who are in to the Thousand Trails system.) This ranger told us that it fills up early in the week and apparently is difficult to get a site. She also told us she would be spending the winter in Lake Whitney Thousand Trails, Texas, and we told her we expected to see her there!
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go on up to the wonderful little Dutch town of Linden - in and of itself worth the trip for its delicious food stuffs and the 100% Dutch style buildings - but from there one gets the most perfect view of Mt. Baker!! Speaking of Mt. Baker, I got my "fix" of gazing at its majesty from Port Townsend over to and through the Skagit Valley's lush farmlands. Can I mention again that out of the seven trips we've made up here, I have never seen Mt. Baker so totally topped with white snowy glaciers? Apparently global warming hasn't affected Mt. Baker yet.
Back to the ferry and Port Townsend - the sight of the clock tower and the magnificent court house buildings high up on the cliffs as one approaches land is always exciting. Driving off on to the dock, my mind was swept away with the picture of our first time coming in at this dock. Ruth and Tommy were waiting to meet us - and as we drove off the ferry they were both running after us trying to "hop in" the motor home! So many precious memories in this place!
NOW for the romantic part: We stopped by Safeway's deli and bought our dinner to take back with us to the condo. Settled in and watched "America's Got Talent" to end a really wonderful day.
I want to share some cool news with you from our friends Richard and Mary Ann Chaffin who are inveterate travelers and are now in Washington on the west coast. Richard was the pastor of Cross Plains FUMC for five years and their home burned in the fires of December 2005 that burned the parsonage and church building. Enjoy her latest travelogue:
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Now THIS is a Washington state morning! Sitting upstairs in the "third floor" loft of this condo, the windows open, I am watching clouds/mist float by outside the windows. It is a gray kind of morning and much more typical of the seacoast weather than the bright sunny days we've had for a week. The natives up here were excited that a cool front was coming in from the ocean to beak "the heat wave" they were experiencing! Everything is relative.
Monday was a really good day spent visiting with Uncle Dave and Aunt Esther in Poulsbo. Cousin Phil rode his motorcycle over and met us at the big casino for lunch. I am so relieved to see how very good Aunt Esther is progressing from her broken hip/wrist surgery. Remarkable people who I care so much about.
Tuesday was spent wandering the downtown streets of Port Townsend. It was crowded and I don't remember so many tourists the times we have visited here before. The old Victorian style buildings are so pretty and makes this a unique town that never turned out to be the prosperous place they intended. But thanks to tourism - it's thriving.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
[I've been using Richard's computer since after several days on the road, my laptop totally stopped working. We took it in to a computer shop yesterday where they deemed that the hard drive had crashed and they could replace one for $250. Much to Richard's surprise, I said "no thank you" and we left with my useless laptop. I wish I not even brought it!! We will see what can be determined when we return to Lubbock. In the meantime, I will be doing what corresponding I do from a "borrowed" computer, so it'll be a once a day occasion for me.]
Wednesday we drove the 7 or 8 miles from our condo in to Port Townsend to catch the Washington Ferry over to the mainland. The attendant at the terminal asked if we had reservations. We did not, but he assured us he could get us on the 12:45 ferry - only one and a half hours away! No problem. We parked the car in line and walked over to the downtown area where we once again walked the main street (for our daily exercise) and had lunch at the cute little diner where we usually eat. . . out on the deck in the sunshine as we watched the sea gulls cavort, the ships and boats come and go and a few people searching for shells and such down on the beach below us.
{If this has become boring by now - the following story is one very interesting occurrence!} Just the experience of driving our vehicle on to a ferry and crossing Puget Sound or the Strait of Juan de Fuca or whatever is part of our thrill in being up here. There was one and only one other motor home loaded on this particular ferry - and believe it or not, it was a 2002 Pace Arrow gray/cream motor home EXACTLY like ours! How ironic is that? It gave me goose bumps as I continue to miss traveling in ours! But this is not the interesting bit -
Settling back for a semi nap in our car, windows down and cool air blowing across - a handsome man walked by our car. Nothing unusual about this since people wander around on deck of the ferry in transit. He looked in. I smiled. Richard nodded and the man smiled as he walked on. Shortly he came back to the window on my side of the car, and handed me a beautiful pint Mason jar filled with jam! The homemade typed label on top called it "Blueberry, Loganberry, and Strawberry Jam with a hint of Lavender and unbleached, sugar.... picked and made the same day on August 7, 2008" !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This smiling stranger began to explain that he owns a little farm over near Sequim. He belongs to a group of widows/widowers who like to do this. Further, he explained, "I went down and worked after the Katrina catastrophe and the people of Texas were so WONDERFUL to us, that I like to try to do some little something in return for Texas people!"
Richard offered to pay him and he said, "oh no, this is just something I like to do for Texas folks!' Stunned is the word for us. This more than pleasant looking stranger with the warm brown eyes, salt & pepper curly gray hair walked away with that same big smile on his face. Now isn't this an UNUSUAL story? It was so good to know that someone out there actually LIKES Texas people.
We knew where we were going, of course, but we "tested" OnStar turn by turn directions. The operator began chuckling and said she hated to tell us but we were showing up as a dot out on the water! We would have to ask for directions after we were back on land again.
This ferry goes through Oak Harbor, past beautiful Deception Pass, Anacortes and the San Juan Islands and over to the very familiar - to us - towns of Mt. Vernon and Burlington. Situated in the lush bottom lands of the Skagit Valley, this has always been a favorite spot for us. Our Mission of the Day was to drive up Highway 20 (the Northern Cascades scenic byway) and find a new Thousand Trails Resort which has recently been purchased called "Grandy Creek." Through the little town of Sedro-Woolley and toward Concrete - we found the Thousand Trails (after a couple of scenic drives up the wrong roads).
Grandy Creek may be located in the most beautiful and scenic of all the Thousand Trails resorts in Washington. Located near Baker Lake, Mt. Baker, and many other scenic vistas, VERY tall Cascade mountains surround it and it is situated among, what else but, tall trees. The ranger on duty told us that one half the sites (yellow meters) belonged to KOA and the other ones (green meters) belong to Thousand Trails!! A most unusual set up - and the place was full. (It is also a Leisure Time for those of you receiving this who are in to the Thousand Trails system.) This ranger told us that it fills up early in the week and apparently is difficult to get a site. She also told us she would be spending the winter in Lake Whitney Thousand Trails, Texas, and we told her we expected to see her there!
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go on up to the wonderful little Dutch town of Linden - in and of itself worth the trip for its delicious food stuffs and the 100% Dutch style buildings - but from there one gets the most perfect view of Mt. Baker!! Speaking of Mt. Baker, I got my "fix" of gazing at its majesty from Port Townsend over to and through the Skagit Valley's lush farmlands. Can I mention again that out of the seven trips we've made up here, I have never seen Mt. Baker so totally topped with white snowy glaciers? Apparently global warming hasn't affected Mt. Baker yet.
Back to the ferry and Port Townsend - the sight of the clock tower and the magnificent court house buildings high up on the cliffs as one approaches land is always exciting. Driving off on to the dock, my mind was swept away with the picture of our first time coming in at this dock. Ruth and Tommy were waiting to meet us - and as we drove off the ferry they were both running after us trying to "hop in" the motor home! So many precious memories in this place!
NOW for the romantic part: We stopped by Safeway's deli and bought our dinner to take back with us to the condo. Settled in and watched "America's Got Talent" to end a really wonderful day.
posted by Dr. Rodenberger at 4:04 PM
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