Spring Break...

"Rosie-girl" and I got back from the coast tonight. With every day and season being a new adventure, this trip proved just that. Though it is almost April and spring flowers are showing their brilliance everywhere, the weather was a bit more wintery than usual.

Unlike my last trip, I wasn't able to get out and do the regular exploring that the outdoor beauty calls for. The sun and storm clouds played a juggling act that meteorologists labeled as the biggest winter storm of the year. Sun, rain, hail, and snow...we witnessed it all at the coast.

Wonderfully, our hosts were able to put us up for one more night. I could have squared my shoulders and bravely tackled the roads in the pass, but it was so much more nice to sit and visit with our friends.

In between cloud shows, the sun would pop out with a determination

to shine and warm thing up.

I loved the colors in the sky when the sun and clouds

battled it out during sunset on the horizon.

After my bags were packed this afternoon, the sky cleared enough for me to try

and fit in one last walk before the drive home.

Here is another set of clouds rolling onto Haystack Rock. I stood there watching the beauty in front of me with my sun at my backside...and completely forgot that those clouds were headed my way.

As I was trying unsuccessfully to outwalk those storm clouds, I came across this little creation. As the hail pounded into my backside and the sun shone in my eyes, I had to stop and snap a quick picture. I don't know who built it, but I bet they saw the clouds a good ten minutes before me and smartly headed for shelter.

Ahoy!...

Just so you know, I will be gone for a few days. The girls and I are heading to the beach for spring break...and whale watching.
Ah! I can smell the salty breeze already.

Cannon Beach Again...

"Pippin" and I are getting ready to leave for a weekend at our favorite beach. It is going to be a new experience for both of us.

For Pip, she will be at a training seminar for whale watching. Doesn't that raise the eyebrow in question? Basically, she will be trained to observe the resident pods around here and collect data for research and the general public. She is really excited about it. She and a cohort...oops I mean friend, are doing it together.

For me, I will be alone and that experience bears a bit of explanation. Sure, I have had a couple of hours to do the grocery shopping, watch movies in the bedroom when I am sick, or even walk around a store alone....knowing my husband or children will come walking around the corner at any moment. I've just never been alone.
I moved out of my parents home after high school and got married to my husband. He had three children already and I became an instat mommy.
I have never been out of town alone. Going away has always been for the purpose of family vacations or research for childrens ministry. Both options have kept people constantly around me.
Now don't get me wrong here. I am not complaining or looking for the little violin to play "My Heart Bleeds For You".
I am just finding that as I get ready for this small trip, I have different emotions running through my head and heart.
On the one hand, I am excited for the adventure. I can do what I want when I want. I can explore, walk, hike, craft, and watch the sunset with no questions of "what do you want to do for dinner?" or "what do you feel like now?"
On the other hand, honestly, I feel a bit of.....I don't know....maybe fear. The idea is that I am responsible for myself this weekend. My happiness and activities hinge around me only. Will I be brave and explore or will I chicken out and hide in my room?

Orcas Island...

I have said it so many times over the last few years and I will probably say it a million more times in my life... I LOVE having a membership in WorldMark Windham! We would never go on vacations, or even go to cool places without it.

This last weekend was no exception.

Thursday morning, my husband and I loaded up our bags and headed to Orcas Island to celebrate our 18th anniversary. As the ferry pulled away from Anacortez, we watched the water roll out from under us as it carried us away from the hussle and bustle of every day life.

We were amazed at the simple beauty as we drove to our resort getaway. The resort itself was quaint and perfect for us. The individual cottages were set on a hillside so we could each get an eye opening view of the marina. To make it even more amazing, each private deck was all set up with a hot tub! Here is the view I got to see every day and night as I let jet bubbles work out tired muscles.

As we explored the island locale, we ended up at a little wine tasting shop. I never thought to ask this gentleman his name, but he sure made it a fun and enlightening experience for us. Neither my husband nor myself are very versed in the delicate art of wine making and tasting. This man was a wealth of knowledge and easy going comedy as we sampled whites and reds, spiced and sweets, sparkling wines and thick ports.

No mater where we turned, there was an amazing view to take in. Here on the left is a view from Vern's Bayside in Eastsound where we ate a couple of times. (Look carefully & you can see the reflection of the ketchup bottle in the lower left corner.) Of course, with my meal including a hand-dipped, old-fashioned, super-thick chocolate milk shake, which view is better?

Though Orcas Island is small in size, there is plenty to do for the nature lover in everyone. We hiked around a handful of waterfalls that simply took my breath away. I love waterfalls and make it a point to visit the ones in our local area. However, I can't ever get as close to them as I did here. This specific one is called Rustic Falls and is located just south of Mt. Constitution.

One of the highlights in our sightseeing adventure was hiking to the top of Mt. Constitution. At just a little over 2,000 feet, it is not the giant type of mountains that we are used to, but the rewards were well worth it. This tower is the old lookout point that was built during the depresssion era.

From our vantage point, we could see the Canadian Cascade Range...

and view the other islands in the Sound. I just couldn't get enough of it.

It was so hard to load up in the car to leave this beautiful place. As our ferry pulled away to bring us back to reality, we vowed that this little out of the way place has to be a "must return" for us.

Vacation 2007: Day 1

We loaded up the car, a Ford Expedition which was a wonderful borrowed blessing from my parents, and headed south. Our destination was Windsor, California, wine country in Sonoma County. The first day alone was filled with adventure as we broadened our horizons and set out. After all, traveling with 4 teenage girls constantly giggling with ideas and conversation will broaden anyone's perspective on life.

From the moment we left our driveway, they began a film documentation of our journey. Since the title "24" was already in use by Kiefer Sutherland, the next LOGICAL choice was "A Weekend, A Week, and A Weekend". (Say that five times fast.) Each hour found the video camera being turned on to permanently inbed the highways , byways, and winding switch-back roads into our memory banks for an eternity (or as long as the video tape is living).

Listening to the girls made for quite the experience on our 12 hour driving foray. Each of the 4 girls have dabbled and are skilled with varying degrees of expertise in movie making, animation, music, computer technology, photography, and story writing. So their creative ideas flowed like a river as they took turns telling stories, singing songs, and snapping pictures.

As soon as the car was unloaded and groceries were put away in our condo, out to the pool they ran to wash away the rememberances of "life on the road" and embrace the modern day conveniences of resort living.
What will our week bring?

Day 2

Relaxation.........reading, swimming, and a walk around the golf course after dark.
Can you hear the blissful sigh?

Day 3

"Dad, there are 4 votes for the beach today. So, yours and Mom's votes don't matter", proclaimed Rosie with an air of authority and satisfaction as my husband walked into the living room after a well rested night.
Pip spoke up in correction, like big sisters are prone to do, "Rosie that's not necessarily true. Mom and Dad are the drivers here. So we get to go to the beach only if they TAKE us to the beach."

Of course, we want the children happy, so away to the beach we went. We spent an hour playing around just north of Bodega Bay. It was such a wonderful area to explore and chase waves.

Once we had our fill of playing in the frigid waters, we found this very interesting sign. Let me just state here that this sign...... containing valuable and life saving information......was not by the parking lot where people could easily read it and be informed. Nor was it posted by the pathway leading to the inviting beach area. Instead, it was posted far off to the side facing the bathroom doors in the gully area. What did the sign say?.......
WARNING! This is one of the most DANGEROUS beaches in California. Beware of sleeper waves." It was illustrated by a picture of stick figured people being pulled into the water against their will and swirling about below the wave surface to their deaths.

No really.... I am not joking.

Aside from sunburns (because of the excitement of jumping out of the car and forgetting the ever important sunscreen), we all escaped unscathed. So, I guess the old saying IS true....God protects the ignorant.
I figure after our friends hear of this...I will never be able to keep charge of their precious ones again.

We then headed into town for lunch. We had hot dogs and burgers at the local "all the french fries you can eat" shack and then ice cream from the shop next door. Incidentally, if you are looking for a new business, the icea cream shop in Bodega Bay is for sale at only $49,000. It brags of having continual clients and of being the only ice cream/coffee shop in town.

To round off the day, we introduced Kish to the fun past time of letterboxing as we found 3 treasures during our day trip.

Day 4

Today was a day for lounging, swimming, and laundry. Even though I put SPF45 on the girls several times today, they are now thoroughly glowing in the red. Tomorrow I must plan indoor activities and forbid them from seeing the light of day so that their bodies can recouperate.

The evening found us venturing to the Town Green to watch the weekly movie and have popcorn while sitting on the lawn of the park. This week's movie....Stuart Little. Hey, who can resist that cute white mouse on a 30 foot inflatable screen under the stary sky? That does make him decidedly more tall than his voice counter part - Michael J. Fox.

Day 5

I had no idea that there was a museum soley dedicated to the works of Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. We had so much fun touring the museum and learning the history of Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

After our scoop of cultural history, we ventured out to find 2 more letterboxes. The original directions actually named 5 boxes on this hike but we were worn out after hiking 3 miles. Though it was a beautiful hike and made my home spot pale in comparison, all of the mosquitoes made us quite grumpy. It was nothing a good dip in the pool couldn't fix.
While swimming around, our girls made friends with a japanese family that actually live not too far from us in our home metro area! If you know my girls, then you know what joy and conversation that all brought on poolside. Their daughter even came over for our 10pm invitation for movies and popcorn after the pool closed.

Day 6

I never knew how beautiful a redwood forest could be. I mean, I've seen pictures of it all but a picture just can't relay the complete magnitude of standing at the base of a tree that towers 310' tall. I would have loved to have spent a few a few days hiking around Armstrong Redwood Forest, but I'm grateful for the time we had.

We even found a letterbox while we were there.

Day 7

Old downtown Windsor (which was actually built 5 years ago to bring in tourism revenue) is quite an interesting place to walk around. Each shop and dinning establishment was created to resemble days of old and no matter where one walks, the sounds of music greet the ear.....everything from the big band era to the soul searching oddities of the 60's. The sense of community spirit was strong as I visited with independent shop owners and watched neighbors "walk" through the Town Green Park.


My husband, along with the 4 girls, had hopped on their bikes for a ride and met me in this center of nostalgia for some window shopping. We each found little trinkets to call our own: novelty candy, a train whistle, souvenier bottles of wine, and a small pair of sparklies for myself.

The evening hours were filled with the last efforts of swimming in the resort pool and hot tub. After all, in the minds of our youth, who really needs to eat when the cool water becons and says, "Tonight is our last swim together. Tomorrow you must leave and I may never see you again."

Day 8

As vacations go....we left and departed for home with mixed feelings. We were happy at the prospect of returning to the familiar but saddened for the adventure to end. We were worn out from all the excitement and change of pace but pleased with our minds full of fond memories.

Once again the car was filled with the sounds of ideas in full exchange. Creativity zoomed through the laptops and illustations as critiques and encouragements for various projects were shared.

We chose to take the scenic route home and travel Hwy 101 up the west coast. We oohed and aahed through the redwoods, snapped pictures with the legendary Paul Bunyan, and hugged the "Welcome to Oregon" sign.

As we drank in the amazing sight of the sun dipping into the clouds of the Pacific, we all felt blessed for the opportunity of time well spent this past week.

It has been a good time indeed.