Since it’s been a quiet week (no sightseeing other that scoping out a couple of quilt shops and a jaunt to Home Depot), and my computer (with all of my recent pictures) has once again decided that starting was over-rated (and is back visiting with the Geek Squad), I’ve decided to share some pictures that are so much more interesting than shots of chairs being cleaned or stairs being painted.
The GrandGirls!

Looks like Ellie’s been keeping the tooth fairy busy, doesn’t it!
In just a little over a week I’ll be flying to Columbus to spend a week lovin’ on those little girls and their Mom and Dad.

And as a bonus, while I’m there Lara and Abigail will be joining us for a Big Girls Only overnight retreat! (I think Josiah will be coming to Columbus too – but he’ll be staying to help Toby with the little girls!) And little Gia (the newest member of the Josiah and Abigail family) will be staying behind in Lancaster.

I think it’s a potty training issue! :-/

Mmmmmm..countin’ the days!

We have had the most beautiful days here NW Washington. And judging by all the press this beautiful weather has been getting – it’s the first stretch of nice days since last summer! Clear, sunny, 65+ during the days – just about perfect! And it sure is purrrty here! The camp itself is perched on a bluff above the Puget Sound – (you can see the water through the break in the trees in the picture above), and while where we are parked is a little more “utilitarian”, the giant pines and budding trees even dress up our little corner of the world.

Here are some shots of the views -


I’m not certain what mountain that is in the background – maybe Mt. Baker?

That’s one of the local eagles soaring above the Sound. He was enjoying the thermals!

So, just what have we been doing? Well, we ladies have been honing our skills as upholstery cleaners. They only have about a bazillion of these chairs -

and we are checking them all for any spots and then using a big truck-mounted cleaner to give them all a good spring cleaning. This building has about 350 chairs, and there are at least three other building with chairs for us to clean. Job security to be sure! Here is Pat, one of my Sower co-workers, working on her technique.

Probably the hardest part of the job is the loud engine that is running in the truck outside the door.
The guys are taking advantage of the warm (non-raining) weather and taking down a damaged roof over one of the playground areas.

I think they’ll be installing a new one – but I also think the rains are coming back tomorrow, so they might be moving to a kitchen remodel. It’s all about being flexible!

There is lots to see and do in this area – the San Juan Islands, Cascade Mountains, Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, and of course the Sound itself (with numerous ferry rides). We’ll also be busy doing some final planning for our drive to Alaska in May. Important stuff – like what’s the best way to handle our money, which roads should we take north, and will I have to give up my maple syrup since it’s not in its original container? Maybe I should have started asking these hard questions a little bit sooner!

Or made pancakes more often.

Before we hit the road we decided not to have a washer and dryer in our rig. We figured we could use the space more than we could use the convenience. (And we do use that space – it’s where Gary has ALL his clothes!). Besides, we like the laundromat concept. Being able to do many loads at once means less time actually spent doing laundry. So since we are always doing laundry “out” we measure out a load’s worth of detergent into little Tupperware cups and then just carry those little cups with us instead of the whole jug. Then we just open one up and throw the whole thing into each load. Pretty good tip, eh?
But that’s not the tip.
The tip is – when you are using big laundromat style dryers, make sure you remove ALL tupperware parts before throwing the wet clothes into the dryer.

Just thought you’d want to know.

We made it!
Our last 12 miles (:-)) were uneventful, and we are all settled in at our April home. I haven’t had a chance to take many pictures, but since I have figured out how to do the “map thing”, here’s a zoom in of our location (plus I learned how to make the red dots and the pencil line!) You can see how close we are to the water (though there seems to be a large mud “flat” between us and any beach) and there are several lakes in the area. It’s really beautiful.
And we know we are close to Canada because most of TV programming is from Vancouver (like “Are you smarter than a Canadian 5th grader?”). I’m sure we’ll get more ‘splorin’ done in the next couple of days and I’ll try to get that camera busy!
But for now – we’re here and safe and thankful.
And thank YOU for coming along on our road trip! It sure was fun!