Over the weekend my friend Debbie and I retreated to Suncadia Lodge on the east side of the mountains. It was a combo of nature, nurture and reflection. We had massages and sat in the hot salt pools until dark. It was sprinkling out, so we were lucky to have them all to ourselves. We had dinner in, watched a movie and relaxed - all toasty by the fire. It was just what I needed.

In the morning we woke to glorious sunshine and a cool fall day. The views were amazing and Suncadia's acreage goes on for miles, so we walked and walked, taking in the fresh air. It was nice to not have the background freeway or airport noise I am used to at home. Getting away from it makes me realize how much noise pollution I live with. No wonder I have to wear earplugs at night!

I love Debbie. She is one of my dearest friends. We always have such a great time together, and I am truly grateful to have her in my life. She has the gift of knowing just what to say or not to say to me when it is needed, and she reminds me that it is alright to feel my feelings and most of all she makes me laugh! I have a lot to thank her for...

Thank you, Debbie, for the last eight years!

Bake Day

Every once in awhile Troy and I like to have a bake day. This usually means making Jill's cinnamon rolls and some variety of cookie. We are definitely getting better because this batch turned out YUUUMMY. The cookies on the other hand were another story. Troy tells it well on his blog here: Troy's Blog

Uno Manano (aka Troy and Steve)

Troy and Steve making fire (Jack supervising)


Me man. Me make fire. Me make BIG fire.

A dear friend of mine, Linda, and her husband Chris took a group of us out on their boat for lunch. Linda wanted to do this last summer as a graduation gift but was diagnosed with mouth cancer. She spent the last year going through countless oral surgeries, radiation treatments and hyperbaric chamber visits. She is now cancer free and feeling back to herself. We are so thankful and really wanted to celebrate her recovery. All of us "wise women" decided we would let the spouses join. :)

It was an amazingly beautiful day in Seattle. We left out of Elliot Bay and motored up the sound to Bainbridge Island, into a little cove called Pt. Madison, where we anchored and lunched. Everyone who wanted could take a turn at the wheel, but we mostly sat in the sun and told stories. We had a great time! Thank you Linda & Chris!

Leaving Elliot Bay Marina

Troy at the wheel

A beautiful brick cottage covered in ivy. (Not good for the brick, but very beautiful)

Yours truly




A great picture of Marilyn looking very nautical

Nan at the wheel

Debbie and Gail soaking up the sunshine

The boat, Flying Colors

Last weekend Troy and I traveled with our friends Dennis, Kari & their daughter Taylor to Steamboat Rock State Park about four hours east of the mountains from us. We wanted to head over and see a laser light show off of Grand Coulee Dam. The light show was ok but the scenery and weather was A+. Except for the drive home. Boy oh boy it was hot! Here are a few pictures of the canyon we camped in. This was a lot of fun...too short but we both wouldn't mind going back.

"Hello!"

Steamboat Rock State Park

(this is a great spot for a camping trip...lots of grass, sandy beaches, and bike riding, and it was very clean...nice for a State Park.)


Canyon at Sunset...turning purple
more canyon

Grand Coulee Dam

more dam

Troy jack hammering at the visitor center

Outside temp as we were sitting in a traffic jam due to an accident...yuck.

Junior Rangers

Sorry about the delay in getting this uploaded. My previous Junior Rangers post didn't work. But, then my awesome husband (yes, he's helping me compose) showed me how to resize the video. Thank you Troy!

This weekend Troy, Steve, Cole, Carmen & I went to Teatro ZinZanni. TZ is a dinner theatre. It is a traveling act that rotates every few months. For our show, we were entertained by Maestro's Menagerie. We were entertained by music, contortionists, comedians and opera singers. The entertainment is interactive, so between meal courses the cast walks through the theatre doing silly things with the audience. We had a lot of fun watching the "creepy" human Count Dracula (the Maestro) sneak up and scare Carment. The staff highly encourages fancy dress and gaudy accessories...hence Cole's facepaint and Steve's wacky sun glasses. A little girl came up and asked Cole if those were real tattoos. She explained it was body paint. :) Too cute!

The best part of this experience is the fun you have with family & friends. Steve,Cole & Carmen are like family, and it was so fun to celebrate a long end to Carmen and Steve working consecutive 100-hour weeks at work, and to have the family back together again. All-in-all the meal was amazing, the company great, and there was fun to be had by all!

Red Carpet Tour 2010

This year's Red Carpet Tour was so much fun. It was titled "Hunting for fun in Cle Elum". Cle Elum is a small town in Eastern Washington, just over Snoqualmie Pass. Troy and I were in charge of the "getting there" tour. Our main objective was to find backroads, that allowed the old cars to do between 45-50mph all the way to Cle Elum. Troy and I spent a few trips, we had to wait until the snow melted, trying to find just the perfect route. With a couple of suggestions from other club members, we found the perfect tour route. Since this was just the small tour, we only had to worry about a dozen cars or so. Much more easy to manage. Most of the time we were able to keep everyone in sight. Which is a big deal when leading a tour. People don't like getting lost, and we've found they don't like reading their maps either! They simply want to follow and enjoy. :) I have to admit, I do too.

Our drive began in the Cascade foothills and snaked up between E & W bound of I-90. We immediately ran into unexpected traffice due to I-90 being down a lane because of maintenance. It was literally bumper-to-bumper and a lot of our group was beginning to have problems with their cars overheating. We fortunately got through that mess before anything major happened.

The exit we took to begin the tourc is called Asahel Curtis and the old-timers loved it! The road was shaded by thick evergreen forest and smelled of dry pine needles...that has to be my favorite smell ever! It was much needed relief after sitting on the highway sweltering for 45 minutes. After we were over the pass, we were forced to make our way back on the interstate a couple of times because we pass by Lake Kechless, with no alternite routes. That is very frightening. We tried our best to stay together and let people go around us. Let me tell you, semi trucks flying by at 70mph while you are driving in an antique car is very intimidating. We finally pulled in to Lake Easton and unpacked our picnic lunches. Everyone was ready for a break.

After lunch we finished our tour, which was amazingly beautiful. The weather was perfect. Sunny with a slight breeze. We drove our way into Cle Elum to our lodge, unpacked and wiped down the cars and rested before dinner.

Dinner was provided at the Teanaway Grange. They cooked us a wonderful meal of homemade lasagna, salad and shortcake. It was delicious and the view from this place was incredible. It sits on a knoll overlooking the Teanaway Valley. The sun was setting and the view of the sprinklers on the fields was gorgeous. The old cars, in all of their glory, were spiffed up and shining in the setting sun. I would love to go back.

The next day of the tour took us through Salmon le Sac. This was a beautiful drive through campsites, old cemetaries and through the historic town of Roslyn. We were headed back to the park for lunch when our truck died. We had run out of gas! The gas guage was stuck at 3/4 of a tank for the longes time and we paid no attention. Troy one the booby prize at the very end of the tour for this! Luckily the rear car stopped to see if we needed help. Debbie drove Troy into town to buy a gas can and gas. That evening we enjoyed another trip to the park. This time we walked. The BBQ we had was so good. We played pin the tale on the moose for fun and games. It was really fun to see all of the old-timers blind folded trying to pin the tale. ..needless to say there was a bit of cheating going on. We had such fun!

The next day took us to Yakima Canyon. This drive reminded me a lot of Idaho. It was sunny and beautiful. One of the cars broke down at the bottom of the canyon and Troy and I thought we were going to have to two him into town. You can see in this picture what it takes to get things fixed...at least five heads under the hood and just as many opinions on what it takes to get it done. We never did get to finish this tour. We spent two hours working on Jim's car and then hightailed it back to the lodge.

The evening dinner was at the Cle Elum Senior Center. Boy, what a beautiful facility. They sure know how to welcome guests. Their event coordinator did the napkins and the whole bit. The evening was full of laughter and fun. Eric drove over from Seattle and joined us.

Here a picture of Friday's tour stop. Troy and I went for a walk, and I kid you not, 15 minutes later everyone was gone! This perimeter of this lot was completely full when we left. Where did everybody go????

My favorite car....

More beauties.....

Our ride...

The end. I am already excited about next year. Victoria, B.C. here we come!

Checkin In

I just realized how terribly long it has been since I have updated this space. What can I say? We have three home-improvement projects going on at one time and only one of them was planned. I am NOT a do-it-yourself kind of gal, and we continue to uncover things that have finally given out after 60 years and need to be fixed RIGHT NOW!

So, more to come later as we tackle our house.

xo

Fun Visit

Dennis & Jill visited us last weekend and we couldn't have asked for a better time. Friday and most of Saturday was sunny and beautiful. We took a tour of underground Seattle. It was interesting, but not as interesting as our guide...right Jill? We walked to Ivars for lunch and then walked the Pike Place Market. We took the light rail from the airport to the city to save on the hassle of parking and navigating Friday afternoon city traffic, so by the time we got on the train we were beat. It was a great day. We played Troy's favorite game Big Boss and cards. Saturday we drove a couple of hours north to Skagit Valley to see if we could see the daffodile and tulip fields in bloom. The daffys were out and brilliant as were some of the tulips, but most of the tulips will be fully in bloom in a week or so. We drove to Uncle Dion's beach cottage and cooked in the dutch ovens. BBQ chicken and potatoes...yummy. It was so good. By then the weather had really turned cold and rain was moving in. We stayed and visited for a bit and then hit the road home. Jill slept the entire way. She didn't snore at all! (wink, wink). Sunday Dennis and Jill saved us by helping us get the final things done on the basement so Gary could begin to drywall on Monday. Thank you both so much for this! It helped more than you know. I'll post pictures of the progess a bit later. Sunday night my folks, brother and Steve, Nicole and Jack came over for dinner. It was nice to have everyone there. We had such a nice visit and really loved the company. Our doors are open for anyone who would like to come and visit! My favority picture is the last and one of many kissy-face pictures I took of Dennis & Jill. Happy Anniversary. We love you!!!






















Happy Anniversary!!!! We love you!