Al Mare - Deception Pass Kayaking

I went sea kayaking with my sister, Patty, last Friday morning. We drove up to Deception Pass State Park for a 90 minute tour with Anacortes Kayak Tours. We did the 9:30 am early bird special--only $25 per person. The tour company provided everything and it was fabulous. The morning was calm and a little foggy--probably better than sunny because we did not get too hot in all our gear.


This was my view straight ahead!


Lots of other scenery too.


This picture does not do our guide, Ben, justice.



We rounded this headland before the fog rolled in.

At the top of the headland we could see three people. They set down a bag and took something out of it. For some reason my first thought was that they were scattering the ashes of the dearly departed. Patty thought the same thing. We hoped they would wait until we were a little farther away. On our way back the fog had rolled in and we could not see the headland. However, we did hear a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace. A little eerie.

Ben showed us a sea "cave." We could paddle right inside but it narrowed quickly. Along the rocks were loads of different sea life including bright purple sea stars.

There was lots of kelp all along the rocky shore. Ben told us it was edible so I tried a little. I thought it tasted like salty peapods but Patty thought it just tasted like grass.

In this picture you can just make out some of the purple sea stars. If you click on this picture it will enlarge it and you can see it better.

On our way back we could see this slot in the rocks. By this time the fog was moving in and we paddled along like we were wrapped in cotton wool.

On our way home we stopped at Deception Pass bridge. It must have been slack water because lots of boats were heading in and out. Much of the time the tides are too strong for small craft to safely navigate the narrow pass.

The kayaking was loads of fun and we hope to do it again soon.

A Busy Three Weeks!!!

It is hard to believe it is three weeks tomorrow since we returned to Whidbey Island from Italy. We have been very busy. Some of the highlights incude the following:



My dear friend Leeds and I did the Whidbey Island Garden Tour the Saturday after Dom and I returned. The above picture is a sample of the wonderful private gardens that are opened to the public just once a year. This particular one had a bevy of interesting features including a large electric train installation, interesting sculptures, a barn turned music studio, an old farmhouse turned guest house, ponds, streams, estate-sized lawns, woods and an antique tractor. The weather was fabulous--more like Italy than Washington State.



After a busy Fourth of July weekend spent in Seattle, Dom and I took in a Seattle Mariners day game on July 8th. Unfortunately it rained (hence the above shot of the roof closing) and it was a really horrible game. Thankfully the M's have been doing better since then and go into the All Star break only 4 games out of first place in the AL West.



With company expected last Saturday, Dom and I put on a full court press to finish up a number of projects around the house. In addition to repainting the front deck and planting all the deck pots, we finally finished our winter bathroom remodel. There were quite a number of fiddly things to be done--recaulking under the tile baseboard, painting the door, the woodwork around the door and a good bit of the hallway, touching up paint on the walls, installing the towel bars and tissue holder, all the cabinet hardware and the wood threshhold. On Saturday morning I cleaned the bathroom and finally put down the new rugs and hung the new towels. All we need now is some art for the far wall.

Here is one of the large pots I bought to replace some horrible wooden planters that we took out last summer when we painted the deck. My deck fountain well did not fit into it but we managed to construct an alternative using a couple of large plastic buckets. I repainted the fountain and now it is a fair imitation of an old terracotta pot. Behind it I have planted some things that can hardly be seen from this angle. I have also added to another eight pots. Even so I have actually reduced the number of pots I have to water this summer by about 25%. The vegetable garden is coming along pretty well--lots of raspberries, swiss chard, carrots, peas and eventually squash and beans. The chipmunks seem to get all the strawberries and the onions did not do very well.

On Saturday a number of my Forest Ridge high school classmates came to visit for a mini-reunion. From left to right are Kim, Claudia, Mary, Maura, Julie and me. Kim's mother and husband also came as well as Dom. It was fun to catch up with everyone.


On Sunday my friend Sally and I gave a baby shower for Leeds' daughter. Here you can just see Leeds and the soon-to-be-parents, Jen-ai and Eric. It was mostly the Alpental gang as Jen-ai was an Alpental baby herself and Eric has also been around the mountain "forever." I provided the food so, in amongst everything else I have done the past week, I was busy making cupcakes, iced tea, crostini and tapenades, etc., etc.

Boy, was I ever happy to have today to recuperate! We have two weeks before the next big event but so much has already been done. It will be nice to get my desk cleared off, do some reading, a lot of weeding and then start ramping up for more guests on the 25th.