Picking Strawberries on Whidbey Island

Denise and Roger waiting for the ferry

Lighthouse at Mukilteo and our ferry in the background

View outside the restaurant in Coupeville

Chuck was the experienced fruit picker

Best crop the farmer had seen in over 15 years

Many of them were at least this large

Chuck and I picked 10 pounds in less than 15 minutes

The bridge at Deception Pass

It was the weekend and that meant we were off on an adventure with Den and Rog. Roger drove us up north to the town of Mukilteo (lots of Indian names out here) to take a ferry to Whidbey Island. It was a short ride to the island and the town of Clinton. We headed north and stopped for a little "retail therapy" in Langley and then headed to Coupeville for lunch.

We found a little restaurant right on the water and enjoyed the view with our lunch. We noticed that strawberry shortcake was featured at the local farmers market and that gave me an idea -- find out where we could pick some strawberries. The idea was not met with great enthusiasm and I was reminded that we could purchase them already picked. That didn't sound like any fun, so off we went to find a farmer that would let us pick our own.

We found the farm just a few miles from town, after a short drive on a VERY dusty road (Roger had to wash his car when he got back home.) There were just a few people picking berries and we learned that the field had just opened for picking two days earlier, so there were PLENTY of berries. We are talking a BUMPER crop -- the best the farmer had seen in years.

And are they ever delicious! We have already made freezer jam -- about 9 pints for us. It tastes so much better than store-bought jam, it's bound to be gone soon. We still have a few berries for strawberry shortcake but we will definitely have to go back and pick more before the short season is over.

On the way back we went to the north end of the island and across the bridge, instead of taking the ferry back. The bridge was completed in 1935. Here's a little history -- look at a map to get an idea of where we went.

In the spring of 1792, Joseph Whidbey, master of the HMS Discovery and Captain Vancouver's chief navigator, sailed through the narrow passage that is now called Deception Pass and proved that it was not really a small bay as charted by the Spaniards (hence the name "Deception"), but a deep and turbulent channel that connects the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Saratoga Passage.

In the early years of the 20th Century, travelers of the horse-and-buggy era used an unscheduled ferry to cross from Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island. To call the ferry, they banged a saw with a mallet and then sat back to wait.

The bridge, one of the scenic wonders of the Pacific Northwest, is actually two spans, one over Canoe Pass to the north, and another over Deception Pass to the south. 16,000 cars crossed this bridge last year.

Twins Capers

Maggie in the toy basket

Getting out...

Emmett the tailor?

These two are constantly coming up with new tricks or finding something to play with that they haven't seen before. Maggie has taken to climbing -- scary little adventures -- and not really appreciated by the adults. There is a glider on the deck and I was sitting there with her when she started putting her little toes into the spaces between the wooden slats and climbed right up the back of the glider! If I had not been holding onto her, she would have just gone right over the top. Heather reported today that she even climbed on top of the coffee table at their house. Gotta watch that little rascal. She has recently taken to climbing in and out of the toy basket (one of her safer maneuvers).

I am sewing a little dress for Maggie, and I was measuring her (not much to measure on her!) and she grabbed the tape measure and starting playing with it. Emmett thought it must be a good idea, so he gave it a whirl too -- who needs conventional toys???

Emmett is the walking guru now -- he can go the entire length of the room, stop and bend over and pick something up, and stand back up and keep going --and go around corners with no problem. Maggie is definitely standing all by herself now and she takes 3 or 4 steps before she decides that it's easier to just crawl. But it won't be long until there are TWO full-time walkers in the house.

We are enjoying seeing all the new things they learn each day. They understand what we say; we don't always understand what they say, but they say it with such conviction, we are sure it is something very important!

Sun Glasses

The Cool Kids

Denise and I could not resist these sun glasses for the twins. They are uva and uvb protection for their little eyes and come with a nice wide elastic adjustable band with a velcro closure. We know that even babies should have eye protection... something I didn'teven think about when my boys were little. They were a big hit with Emmett and Maggie. Emmett didn't want to take them off while Maggie had to be reminded to leave them on. But we think they will be happy wearing them. I'll try to post another photo when I get a better picture. This one is not the best -- I am the first to admit it.

Sun Protection

One of Maggie's favorite modes of transportation

When we went to the park yesterday, we forgot to take their little hats, so Grandpa gave Magnolia his cap to keep her sweet little face out of the sun .. and she actually kept it on all the way up the hill. She is so comfortable in this position, she rarely hangs on to her Daddy's hair/head.

Our trip to the NW

Eastern Washington farmland

For those of you who might not know ... we are in Seattle. We arrived here last Sunday and we had no problems dragging along my little yellow VW Beetle. And now she's in the GARAGE -- yes, an actual garage. And we have a ... wait for it ... garage door opener! Okay, not too exciting for most of my readers, but after living without a "real garage" for the last 36 years (we parked the car in the machine shed -- dirt floor, no door, birds in the rafters, mice, rabbits, etc. -- we think this is pretty neat. Unlike my sister's garage, though, this garage isn't connected to the house so we do have to walk out in the rain a few feet to get into the house. Trust me, it's not a problem.

We are enjoying our little rental house and we don't even mind hearing the occasional fire/ambulance sirens nearby. It's the City. The house has lots of windows and is surrounded by trees (and other houses) -- some of the trees behind the house are (according to Chuck) over 120 feet tall -- they are evergreens mostly -- and just beautiful trees.

We had to do a few modifications for the arrival of the GRAND babies -- a gate across a stairway that leads down to the lower level where there is a mother-in-law apartment; a mesh plastic fence around the deck because the "slats" are too far apart and babies can fall through; blocked off the book case (Emmett went right for the books and started to pull them right off the shelf); and put a few other things in higher places. So we are now pretty much baby-proof.

We have the motor home stored about two miles north of here so it's convenient to go and get things we forgot to unload when we got to the house. And the place where we have it has a dump and a place to wash it -- all good. Our car dolly is stored right behind/mostly beneath the back of the motor home.

The trip out here was uneventful (except for a fierce hailstorm just south of Cheyenne that lasted about 7 miles and made us fear our windshield would be broken!)) and I can't remember ever seeing the hills of Wyoming so green in the springtime. It was beautiful.

Did you ever drive past a field and wonder what was planted there? I do it all the time when we are traveling. So while we were going through eastern Washington, I noticed a sign that said for the next 14 miles, there would be signs telling what crops were planted in the fields. It was fun watching for the signs -- peas, wheat, alfalfa, potatoes, peppermint, barley, sweet corn etc. What a great idea!

The Grands have been over a couple of times to see us and today they came and G&H brought lunch. After we ate, we went down the hill to a park that is right at the water's edge -- it's just a few miles from our house. There was a swing set there and one swing for the little kids. I think Maggie enjoyed it a bit more than Emmett, but they both had fun. It won't be much longer that they can both fit into one swing! They will be 11 months old on Monday, and Emmett is a big boy. Maggie is definitely on the high side of normal for her age too. But Emmett looks like a 2-year old to me; Maggie looks like a 1-year old.

Guess that's most of the news from here; I am sure I will think of more later, so stay tuned.

Here's the video I took while we were in the hail storm. Just turn up your volume as high as you can and listen for a few seconds -- that's how loud it sounded in the motor home. (The video is way too long but I haven't figured out how to shorten it! I'll work on that one.)

Millie goes to Seattle

Hooking her up for the "test drive."

Even though I just returned from Seattle on Saturday night, it's time to head back. This year we decided to take Millie the Millennium Bug (my 2000 VW Beetle) with us. So we hooked her up to our dolly and took her for a ride around the neighborhood. She loved it! (Only the REAR tires get any wear on this trip!)

We rented a little house on the north side of Seattle and we move in Sunday afternoon. Don't know when we will leave Loveland; I haven't put a single thing in the RV yet, so I am sure it won't be today or tomorrow.

Stay tuned.