Port Townsend and Victoria

Last Thursday we headed out in our MoHo (with D&R in their MoHo) to Port Townsend. It's located on the northeast coast of the Olympic Peninsula. We stayed in an RV park right on the water. Great views of the water, mountains, and all sizes and shapes of ocean vessels going by in all directions.

On Saturday morning we got up early (5am) and Roger drove us to Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Victoria. Denise and I had been there on two different occasions but the guys had not, so we showed them around the city. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked all around the harbor area, ate lunch, did some shopping, and Chuck and I toured the museum and had our pictures taken outside. You may be able to spot us in the crowd.

D&R purchased a neat windsock-type thingy at the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque a few years ago and the wind was just the right speed to blow it into its circle and spin it around. Roger attached it to a long pole and strapped the pole to the moho. Really fun to watch it blow around.

There is a wooden boat foundation in Port Townsend and on Sunday there were volunteers out working on restoring an old one. There are several other wooden boat builders in the town and we got to see some beautiful (and expensive!) boats.

We spotted some unusual clouds on Friday afternoon -- looked like rainbow clouds -- all the colors were there -- but they were in the clouds, not in the familiar rainbow-shape. We had never seen such clouds before; I'll have to Google it.

We saw Mount Baker in the distance covered with snow or glaciers, stunning sunrises and sunsets too. Photos just don't do it justice.

Now you get to figure out which photos go with which paragraphs in this blog. I guess I haven't figured out how to post the pics in order -- have fun!

Recumbent Retreat

When we were in Seattle in May, Denise took us to a bicycle shop and I picked up a couple of pamphlets which listed all the bicycle events in the Northwest during the summer. We noticed a recumbent event scheduled for August in Astoria, OR. I found their website and we signed up for the 3-day event.

We put the "bents" on the back of the MoHo and headed for Fort Stevens State Park. We took the scenic route through trees, trees, and more trees. The forests out here are so spectacular, with all sorts of different species of trees. The park is a really nice one with over 8 miles of paved bicycle trails leading to the beach, and a few historical sites.

There were approximately 135 recumbents at the group photo on Saturday morning. After the photo shoot we rode to Fort Clatsop, which was the area that Lewis & Clark wintered in 1805-06.

Saturday night there was a potluck supper and then when it got dark we were in the "parade of lights" that weaved through all the campgrounds in the park. I think this park has over 500 campsites. The only light was from the decorated bicycles -- and all I could do was just follow the lights ahead of me. This is the retreat's 10th year and many of the attendees look far and wide for battery-operated lights or glow sticks to decorate their bikes. We bought a few glow sticks and my headlight had a strobe option, but it was pretty lame compared to others on this ride! All the campers in the park were standing outside to watch the parde. I guess after 10 years people know it's going to happen so they make a point of camping there on that particular weekend. Lots of cheering, etc.

Sunday morning the event ended but we stayed until Monday morning. It started to rain Sunday afternoon so it was a good time to read/nap.

TWINS are FOUR WEEKS OLD TODAY

In a way it seems longer than 4 weeks that we met Emmett and Magnolia, but in a different way it just doesn't seem possible they are already 1/13th year old (I wanted to say 1/12th year old but Grandpa said that wasn't right!).

Maggie (top) looks just like Heather's baby pictures. Emmett looks like Greg. She is the noisy one; he is almost always quiet unless he's hungry. She wants to be held all the time; he is happy to just sit in his little "boppy" seat looking around. She doesn't like to have her diapers changed; he doesn't seem to mind at all. She wants to nurse the instant she is hungry; he can wait patiently until Mom can nurse him. They both smile and frown while they are sleeping -- Greg calls it "Baby TV" because it's so much fun to just watch them dreaming and to see the expressions on their sweet little faces. And they are only four weeks old...

Grandpa is back

Chuck is back from Iowa so he wanted a little "baby time" with his grandchildren. He and Emmett had quite the little chat and then we put them down for their "tummy time." Maggie didn't really want to stay there very long so she objected vocally and Grandpa picked her up. Chuck is wearing a t-shirt that his sisters bought him at the Iowa State Fair. It has a photo of the new grandparents with the new grandkids on the front of it.

Ron

My brother Ron left Loveland this morning for the RV park where he and Sue are staying for the summer to evade the 90's and 100's in southern Oklahoma. They are located about half-an hour's drive north of Durango, in the mountains, close to a lake. He geared up for rain in the mountains and was on his way before 8am.

Grandma Long

Last Thursday Gary and Emy came up and joined us for a visit to see Mom. We sat out on the patio and it was such a pleasant day to sit and visit. Mom was doing very well but she did decide she wanted to go inside after awhile as the breeze was too cool for her. The staff requested that we get some more little "aprons" for her so I decided to make them myself. I DO have a "few"pieces of fabric stashed over at Moms. BUT I took my sewing machine to Seattle. Okay, no problem. I just happened to have a Singer that I purchased at an antique store in England when we were there. I looked up the serial number and it was manufactured between July and December, 1900. It's a hand-crank. I remembered that I had it serviced when we got back from England, but that was 10 years ago.

Gary went and got it out of the shed and figured out how to get the bobbin out (it's the long bullet-looking type) and how to wind the thread on it. On our first try the stitch on top looked great, but there was a HUGE nest on the back. So I searched abouit 20 minutes on the internet trying to find a reference for how to thread the bobbin. I couldn't find anything. So I gave up on that idea. Gary sat down at the computer and within 30 seconds had found a diagram! That's frustrating - ha!

That old machine sews a beautiful stitch. Gary sewed the apron together and Emy top stitched it. It looks great. I made two more last night so she is set. I can use the crank but my foot never quit searching the floor for the foot pedal it didn't have. We made the "clothes protectors" (that's what the nursing home calls their bibs) out of very soft flannel so she can wipe her mouth or chin with them.

Denise and I head back to Seattle tomorrow evening and Ron leaves on his motorcycle tomorrow morning for Durango.

Baby Pictures

I finally took the time to add a link to Heather's blog. She posts baby pictures that you just have to see! So check out the link on the right. Aren't they just the most beautiful babies you have ever seen???

Ron got here Monday, Denise flew in at 12:30 am last night so he went and picked her up. Gary is coming to spend the day also. So we will bombard Mom with lots of love today. Yesterday she was so GOOD. She laughed, she talked and she was happy. We are hoping that this good mood will linger after we are gone.

We had a downpour last night. We really needed the rain. Of course I take all the credit for this event, as I have been dragging the hose around to every tree for the past week. Had I not done that, there would have been no rain. We received more than an inch! We may even get more today. I hope so.

August ALREADY?

If it weren't nearly a hundred degrees here in Colorado, I wouldn't think it could possibly be August! The year has just flown by. The day I left Seattle we visited the grandbabies and Heather was nursing them both (yes, at the same time!) and she pumped a little extra for the little guy -- Emmett is a bit smaller than his "big" sister. Greg asked "Does anyone want to feed Emmett his bottle?" Before G'pa could even get his mouth open, I yelled, "I do!" What a joy to hold him and feed him. It's still hard to believe Greg is a father and we are grandparents. The little guy really knows how to drain a bottle -- he drank it and immediately went to sleep.