Leavenworth!

Chris had to play for the Leavenworth Fall Leaf Festival so I took the opportunity to tag along.

We spent the night in Auburn on Friday night and I had a great time hanging out with my family. Unfortunately Chris had drill late and Ryan couldn't make it, but we still had a good time. I don't think I have laughed that much in a long time (you agree Kyanne?).

Saturday morning we were up early and on the road to Leavenworth. We made it ahead of the rest of the unit so we had the chance to stop at a little roadside dinner for some excellent greasy breakfast. First order of business for Chris was the parade through downtown Leavenworth. The weather was warm and comfortable - perfect day to hang out outside. I watched the beginning of the parade (the part he was in, of course) then headed to the shops to get a bit of shopping in while everyone else was watching the parade. I made a stop by the best bakery for one of the greatest snickerdoodles I have ever eaten. (Chris and I went there back in March and I was craving it!) After the parade we got some lunch and Chris had a jazz band performance. He played a wonderful solo, wish you all could've heard it! We relaxed for the rest of the night - what a good day.

Here they come - go 133rd!

 

There he is - playing dad's horn

 

I made some pirate friends

Sunday morning we were up early and headed back into Leavenworth.  We checked out some of the shops then headed down to a park called Blackbird Island. We skipped rocks on the river and soaked up some of the late September sun - it felt so nice outside! We kept seeing people carrying around fair-sized servings of french fries. After a bit of (desperate) searching we found 'em!

 

Chris at the cheese shop

Chris and Krista by the river

 The three of us conquered the fries.

On the way out of town we stopped at Smallwood's Harvest a roadside veggie shop/petting zoo. Krista and I were SO excited to feed the llamas. There was so much to do here, it was a surprisingly entertaining stop. My finger did get bit by a donkey - it's still a bit sore...

 I would've been a very unsuccessful cowgirl

 Feeding the bull - his long tongue made me laugh

LLAMAS!!

Chris was scared of them.

That's it! Hope you guys had a good weekend, nothing excited on deck for next weekend as of yet...

A Wicked Good Weekend!

The highlight of the weekend was a trip into the city to see Wicked. I had already seen it once and I was so excited for Chris to experience it. We decided to get a hotel room for the night rather then take the ferry back late at night. Growing up in the Seattle area I have always wanted to stay in the "round hotel". We booked a night using hotwire.com. We took the bargain room - where you get a four star room for a screaming deal, but you know the general location but don't know the name of the hotel until after you book it. We booked it and then googled it to find we saved 50% on the Westin - the ROUND HOTEL! Yay!! I might have been more excited for the round hotel then the show.

View to the West

View to the East (typical Seattle clouds going on)

View straight out our window at the other ROUND tower. Dear people across the way in the other tower: Please close your blinds and DO NOT do naked push ups - it is disturbing to the other guests.

We arrived in Seattle about mid-afternoon, checked into the hotel, changed up and took off for dinner. We had a great dinner at the Icon Grill. Then went a few blocks up to the Paramount Theater and waited for the show to start! Just like last time the show was AMAZING! Chris loved it - it's amazing just to watch something like that live in person. After the show we indulged in a wonderful late night dessert at a little restaurant called Lola before returning to the hotel (note - the baklava was great).

 

 Intermission!

 Sunday morning we woke up and took off down to the ferry. Not after a stop at Pike Place Market where we got a bunch of fresh farm flowers for the house! We made it back to the house in time to get some chores done (Chris - paint the deck, Me - wash and vacuum all three cars). A great weekend for both of us. I think that rounds off our summer streak of fun... perhaps we should start a Fall streak of fun :)

Whidbey Weekend

Trying to squeeze every last bit of summer in we packed up the (borrowed) teardrop trailer and were on the road to Whidbey Island for a little R and R.

I was so excited I got to wait in the "big dog" lane at the ferry dock -

 

Here we are en route to Edmonds (The pre-planned Port Townsend route had a 90 minute ferry wait sooo we reconsidered and took the Kingston/Edmonds route and stomached a bit more driving. Got to love ferry life.) 

  

We arrived on Whidbey Island as the sun was beginning to set. We stayed at Rocky Point, which is right next to the golf course, just off the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (we could hear the planes, but couldn't see them - torture for Chris)

This spot should do -  

 This sunset made me pretend I was in Florida -

 

There was a burn ban in the area - but not if your fire was in a contained pit. So, like true trailer trash we brought our fire pit with us. What's camping without a campfire?

  

We woke up Saturday morning, made some coffee on the camp stove and walked down to the beach adjacent to the campground. It was important to read the signs on our walk -

Did I mention we were RIGHT next to the Navy gun range?

Morning view from the beach -

We set out to explore the island with no particular agenda, just the goal to explore. We drove into Oak Harbor and wandered around a park and watched a dog agility competition going on. On the east side of Oak Harbor an old Navy seaplane base has been turned into family housing and shopping. After a brief tour there we took off down the island.

A few minutes outside Oak Harbor the local airport was having a fly-in. We stopped so Chris can drool over the planes.

A few Jags at the airport (for you Dad!) -

Further down the road we stopped in Coupeville. An adorable sleepy little town. We walked around and enjoyed the shops before heading back up to the camp.

Because Chris is an airplane-aholic. I promised him we could go check out the planes at the Naval Air Station. Chris was in hog heaven as we drove around staring at the planes.

Here I am with a retired P-3C Orion (see - my plane knowledge is expanding :)

The F-18s on the runway. They kept winding up an engine and taxiing, but not taking off. It was driving Chris mad!

We stopped by the on-base beach for another walk. It was beautiful - these Navy guys have got it figured out that's for sure!

 

When we made it back to camp I called my old college buddy Marny up (who lives on the island) and she came over for burgers and to enjoy the sunset. 

The next day we made a loop drive around the island stopping at whatever took our attention. We found a great little farmers market, visited the even smaller town of Langley and stopped at Fort Ebey State Park.

We're on the bluff of Fort Ebey facing out towards Port Townsend/Kitsap Peninsula (home!)

  

Next stop - Deception Pass State Park - 

  

On the way back to the campsite Chris heard the planes taking off from the base. His pathetic puppy eyes convinced me to let him drive back onto base to watch the planes.

All this boy wants to do is fly -

 

Here are the happy little campers enjoying the last evening of the trip (we took Monday off :)

Next adventure - Wicked in Seattle :)

ps - thanks mom for showing me the new blog photo uploader. MUCH easier!!

Dave Matthews Band or Bust!

(A little warning - this post is picture heavy!)

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Gorge (located in George, WA... I just like saying that) to see one of our favorites in concert, the Dave Matthews Band. Each year over Labor Day weekend, DMB comes to the Gorge for a three day concert run. The Gorge is in the middle of nowhere (pretty close to the smack middle of the state) and is probably the most beautiful concert venue around. The stage sits up on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge and the rolling hills of Central WA surround. Because it is in the middle of nowhere, there is also a campground attached to the amphitheater. The campground is simply a farmer's field that he has rented to the Amphitheater - and this guy is making a KILLING on renting out his land. There are no frills here, just a big field and some outhouses. But that's part of the experience is camping and hanging out before/after the concert.

Ready to pull out of Kingston (our new Escape pulled the trailer like a dream) -

This year, we borrowed Mom & Dad's teardrop trailer so we could avoid sleeping on the lumpy ground in a tent. We loaded up on Thursday and headed out Friday right after work. We only went to the Saturday night concert, so we weren't in a huge hurry. We found some nasty weather on our way over, but it cleared up on the East side of the mountains.

Rainbow in Auburn - We met up with our friends Mike & Elaine (see Walla Walla blog post) and two of Elaine's friends. They were at the Friday night concert when we arrived, but we found their VW bus and setup camp. After we finished setting up we got to kick back, relax and listen to what we could hear of the concert. (Side note - Chris is in love with this teardrop trailer. He had the happy grin all weekend).

Camp -
Saturday morning we woke up and all pitched in to make a big 'ol camp breakfast. Nothing beats camp coffee and a hot breakfast when you're outside. We lounged, went for a long walk and played lawn games until it was time to get ready for the concert.

My view from the trailer -


No, I do not want to get up yet -

One happy camper right here -

View of the campground. It was a sea of tents, trailers and whatever else people could get their hands on to go camping. (note the angry clouds rolling in).

About midway through the day it started raining a bit. Not bad - we could handle it. Then the rain started getting out of control. It rained and rained and RAINED. If you went out in the rain for ten seconds you would be soaked. Chris and Mike did some fancy bungee work and got a tarp up to give us a little more rain protection (never mind we hauled a yard of mulch on that same tarp a few weeks ago). Notice the bungees go from the tarp to the Escape and the strategically placed cooler.

So when concert time rolled around it was still pouring. And I mean POURING. In fear of getting soaking and cold we turned to the classic standby - the garbage bag. Four of us had rain coats, so the upper half wasn't the worry, it was soaking our jeans on the walk to the amphitheater (about 20 min walk away) and having something dry to sit on once we got there. We made some pretty snazzy garbage bag skirts. They did the trick and keep our legs dry.

Sportin' the sacks -

We're Washingtonians - a little rain won't slow us down.

Mike and I modeling the skirts -

We arrived after a long (and wet) walk. Hey look - another rainbow... (strange enough, there was a rainbow on the drive home too)

Chris and I bought lawn tickets for the concert (there is a reserved seating area upfront near the stage) but plans changed when we got there. So for a short background story. Mike & Elaine have this VW bus that they absolutely LOVE. At every Dave Matthews concert they sell a poster. Last year, Mike & Elaine bought the poster, took it home and upon closer inspection noticed it was THEIR bus on the photo. The little details were just way to similar. So Elaine contacted the company that makes the art for the posters, sent them some photos and yep! Sure enough, that is their bus. Needless to say, their bus has stared in a handful of Dave Matthews posters . (To understand this better you have to know that Elaine is probably the biggest Dave Matthews fan out there). Elaine has kept in contact with the company and they promised there would be some tickets waiting for her at will call.

Mike & Elaine's bus -
On Friday Mike & Elaine got free tickets - in the 22nd row. They raved about the view of the concert all day on Saturday. On Saturday, Mike insisted that I take his will call ticket - regardless of what it was. We pick the tickets up right before the concert - 18th row! I felt guilty leaving Chris behind, but he was adamant that I take advantage of these (free) amazing opportunity (good husband). Let me put it into perspective here:

Chris & Mike's view of the concert -

Elaine and my view of the concert - (Dave Matthew's introducing the opening band, I couldn't believe how close he was!!)

I was worried that it would rain through the entire concert. One of my favorite things of that venue is the amazing sunsets over the Columbia River. Somehow the rain stopped during the opening acts and we were treated to a great sunset.



The opening bands were great - but I was SO excited for Dave Matthew's Band that it was almost torture.

Here he is!! The photo is with very little zoom. Not bad considering there were 25000 people at that concert!


The electric violin player, Boyd, goes crazy during his solo -

25,000 of our closest friends - The concert was great, the band played for almost two hours. I still can not believe the view - I definitely took in the moment because I certainly am not getting those seats again!! Chris had a good time and was excited to hear his favorite songs played.

We both have tomorrow off (yippee!) but just plan on lounging and catching up on our housework. A short work week for us, Friday we're taking off for a camp (and hopefully dive if our colds clear up) on Whidbey Island.