Summing up a three month vacation is going to be a challenge but I will do my best.
On June 4th we packed up and headed north. Our first stop, other than gas, was in La Mesa, San Diego. After getting settled in the hotel, we contacted both my Bahia friends, Penny and Ruth. Penny had been in San Diego with Ruth while Ruth is going through chemo treatments. Long story short, we got to see both of them and had a nice visit. Ruth looked really well for just having treatment that day. Next morning bright and early we headed out ahead of traffic and stopped for the night at Kettlemen City which is north of Los Angeles. Next stop was Ukiah where my sister Colleen and Hig live. We had a wonderful visit and little did we know it would be the only one of the summer. We then traveled to Crescent City and stopped for the night. Then it was on to Newport, Oregon. Since it didn’t take the whole day to get from Crescent City to Newport, we were able to stop early enough to enjoy the view, have lunch and walk on the beach.
Shortly after we had lunch I took a walk on the beach while Dave just chilled from driving. Walking north on the beach away from the hotel, I saw a bunch of people standing around a huge object on the beach. As I got closer I found it was part of the dock that washed ashore from the Japanese tsunami. It was awesome to see it in person. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me so I didn’t get pictures. Due to the coverage of it on the news, you know what it looks like. There was a beautiful sunset to be enjoyed that night and we were looking forward to our last leg of the trip, ending it in Brownsville, Washington on the 12th. It has been a good trip and lots of sunshine, but I can see it won’t last all the way to Washington as the clouds are beginning to gather.
We have arrived at the Brownsville Marina where we will be staying with our really good friends, Ron and Noreen, on their 45 foot Bayliner. Being it is a Tuesday, Ron was there to greet us but Noreen was working.
Now starts the fun stuff. Doctor visits and Dave’s eye surgery.
Friday the 15th, Dave went to see his physician to get a well checkup. It is required now before eye surgery. All was good. Clean bill of health.
I got a clean bill of health when I saw my doctor on the 18th. Yippee!!!!
On the16th Ernie, his girlfriend Brooke, and E.J. invited me to a Mariners game. I got to meet Brooke for the first time and she is a lovely lady!!!!!
She does talk more than Ernie I have to admit, but she is fun!!!! Good choice Son!!! E.J. of course had grown quite a bit and now is just a hair taller than I am. Of course he is growing and I am shrinking!!! What is up with that???? Somehow that doesn’t seem fair! I got the biggest hug from all three of them. That was really nice. We had a ball at the game. No pun intended. Fun! Fun!
Dave and I had dinner at his daughter, Kristen’s house. We had a great meal and good conversation and after dinner we taught them how to play the cruiser Mexican Train. Fun was had by all and it was good to spend some time with our oldest grandsons and get to know them a little more. They certainly are growing up!!
Dave had an appointment on the 25th with the eye doctor that will perform the surgery, to discuss things and check the cataract eye one more time. All looks good for surgery.
We had dinner with Jon and his girlfriend Susannah at Tommy C’s in Port Orchard. The restaurant is owned and run by Tom Cash and his wife. Tom was a Star of the Sea school classmate of Jon’s and also one of the boys in my Cub Scout den. We had a great dinner and I enjoyed visiting with Susannah. Tom and Jon hadn’t seen each other for a long time so they were catching up. Jon is very serious about Susannah and I think they will end up getting married. It was really good to see Jon and meet the love of his life. She is a very pretty lady!
Dave had his pre-op check-up on July 2nd and now he has to start eye drops to prepare the eye for surgery.
Jon sent Dave and I Sounder tickets for the game on Saturday, July 7th, which will be fun as Dave has never been to a Sounder game.
The Brownsville Yacht club had a cruise to Bremerton Yacht club. The park they had been working on is finished and it is very nice. We enjoyed good food, music and games. Dave and I had to leave early on Saturday to take the ferry to Seattle for the Sounder game. The game was awesome and Dave and I had a lot of fun. The sounders won of course so it was an added plus to the day. When we got back to the Bremerton Yacht club, there was a party on Ron and Noreen’s boat so we joined in. It ended up being a late night, but fun. Nice way to celebrate the win of the Sounders and be with our friends.
Monday, July 9th Dave had his surgery. All went well and now he has a routine of putting drops in his eyes for a few weeks. Then he gets another check up and he is done!!!
I have been cross stitching a soccer boy for E.J. I want to give it to him before we go home. I will make one for Eian too, but not enough time to do another one. It takes about a month or so to do.
Spent a couple days at Ernie and Brookes and enjoyed seeing Dominick, Brody, and E.J. Brody is our new grandson, since Brooke and Ernie have been together. So I had fun with them all.
Before Ernie, Brooke, E.J. and Eian went on vacation; we got to spend another time with E.J. and Eian.
Brody was with his dad. We played corn hole which is a fun game. Here is a picture of the finished corn hole box that Ernie and E.J. worked on.
The object of the game is to throw bean bags and make it into the hole. Needless to say I never won. The boys have a big advantage over Dave and me. They play it a lot. It was fun to have this special time with everyone and get to know Brooke better. I really enjoyed spending time with Eian too!!!! Because he lives with his mother, we never know when we will get to see him.
On the 28th Dave, me, Noreen and Ron went to the Mariners game to see Dan Wilson and Randy Johnson inducted into the baseball hall of fame. It was an awesome ceremony and game. The mariners won!!!!! Each of us received a Dan and Randy bobble head.
We gave them to Eian and E.J. They were stoked!!!! This was the weekend I was suppose to travel down with Jon to California, having Ernie, Brooke, Eian and E.J. come a day later. E.J. had a soccer tournament that Friday and Saturday. Well as it turns out, Hig had knee surgery and he wasn’t doing so well and he wasn’t feeling good enough to have company so he asked that we not come. So we canceled the trip. Hig developed a rapid heart rate which couldn’t be lowered for a while, which scared everyone. He was seeing the doctor a lot and trying different medications that put him out of commission. It just wasn’t a good time for a visit. Hopefully next year. That is why I said earlier I was glad we had a great visit with my sis and Hig on our way to Washington. The boys and grandboys were bummed but that is the way it goes sometimes. As it turned out, Jon took Susannah to the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon for the weekend and Ernie, Brooke, Eian and E.J. went to the Cor d lane theme park for the week. They had a really good time. The weather was absolutely beautiful, hot inland and warm on the coast.
We had dinner with Gary, Laurie, and Ruth on August 3rd. Also Gary and Laurie’s daughter and son-in-law were at the table right next to us. We had a great visit. It is a new restaurant in Silverdale, named Hop Jacks which use to be the old Sandpiper restaurant on the Silverdale waterfront. Nice place and good food.
The next day, Saturday, I went kayaking with 3 of the Brownsville Babes. Noreen, Fleeta, and Terry. The guys were in the dinghy with refreshment!!! Wine of course!!! Us gals paddled all over the marina and then up the estuary. I had always wanted to go there so I am glad I had a chance this time. It was late afternoon and we were all having fun. The guys left after awhile and I started heading back to Ron and Noreen’s boat to get out of the kayak. I got to the dock and tied the kayak to the cleat and put the paddle on the dock, proceeding to carefully get up and out of the kayak. Well before I knew it I was in the water and the kayak was upside down. Luckily I had the sense to tie it up and put the paddle on the dock. As I am trying to get out of the water, picture me hanging onto a cleat and trying to get some foothold on the slippery dock. It was much too high for me to jump up on. I started to laugh and the gals came by and were scurrying to get me out. There was no ladder to climb out on so Noreen and Fleeta tried to pull me up, but I could see they would be joining me in the water. So I told them forget it. We didn’t know where the guys were so they weren’t there to help. So finally I made my way along the dock to the back of Ron and Noreen’s boat and climbed up the swim ladder to safety!!!!! Fleeta was so worried I was super cold but I was comfortable. It was good it had been a hot day because the water was refreshing. I rinsed off the salt water and changed while Noreen went and righted the kayak. Dave had been onboard preparing dinner and he said he had heard a bunch of laughing, but no cries for help so he just ignored it. All was well and we had a great laugh over it all!!!! I have learned to get in a kayak but still need to work on getting out of one. Ha!!!!!
The Ron, Dave and Fleeta went crabbing quite often and brought back some big guys.
Since we gathered so much crab Noreen decided to make her really good Choppino. Dock party!!!!!
The soccer boy cross stitch is finished just in time to take it to Brooke and Ernie’s this weekend, August 17-19. Ernie and Brooke left Friday morning early and left E.J. at home. They didn’t want him by himself all weekend so asked if we could come up to Marysville to keep him company. Ernie tried to get a hold of Eian so he could be there too, but it never happened. Friday afternoon we arrived at the house and were greeted by E.J., his dog Diego, and Brookes little bulldog Petie!! We had pizza for dinner and we played corn hole, which of course E.J. won!!!
Then when it got dark E.J. made a fire in the firepit in the backyard. He did a great job and I was very impressed!!!! We watched Diego chase the sparks. He is a pretty dog, but oh so dumb!!! He stares at shadows and keeps us entertained!!!
Saturday I made breakfast for us and then I soaked the finished soccer boy cross stitch in water to clean it. E.J. asked me what that was so I showed him and said it was going to be his. After it was dry, he helped me stretch it and tape it to the back of a frame I brought with me. We got all done and looked at it and E.J. was very happy. Then he looked at the back and found that the hook to hang it from was upside down!!!! Ooops!!! I wasn’t going to take it out and redo it so I ended up going to the store to get a package of picture hangers. When I got back E.J. put the hook on it and found a nail in the garage to hang it on his bedroom wall. Looks pretty good if I say so myself. Here is a picture with him holding it and then on his bedroom wall.
Sunday we had to leave E.J. and head for Jon’s. Ernie and Brooke were to be home that evening. Ernie had aady soccer tournament in Spokane over the weekend so they combined it with some fun time for the two of them. They were celebrating their 1 year together anniversary which was special.
We got to Jon and Susannah’s that afternoon. We had a very nice visit and dinner. Oh yeah----Dave and I are going to be grandparents again. Another grandson due in January. CONGRATULATIONS to Jon and Susannah. We are very happy for them!!! We thought for sure Jon would have a girl, but no. He will carry on with a boy!!
The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain came to Brownsville Marina. I took Brooke, E.J. and Brody on board the Chieftain. The Lady wasn't giving tours this time. It was a quick look through but I think Brody and Brooke enjoyed it. E.J. was bored!!!! Of course----he is 15!!!!
It was a fun day!!!!
Noreen and Ron threw me a mini birthday party. It was just Carolyn, Fleeta, Ron and Noreen's neighbor, Dave and of course Ron and Noreen. It was a nice surprise!!!! Wooohoo!!!! I'm 60!!!! Life gets better. Well that is the way I'm looking at it now. When I'm 70 I may change my tune! Ha!! I'm still young and full of life!!! The guys BBQ'd oysters on the half shell and Noreen made rice and a salad. It was yummy. Everything was going great until I couldn't breathe and I was choking!!!! No one knew I was choking because I went to get a glass of water and it wouldn't go down. Panic!!!! I started to go out where everybody was but then I felt like throwing up so I went to the galley and did just that. I finally got the oyster up and then I could flush the rest down with water. I could breathe again!!!!! What happened was I had rice and then an oyster after and it got stuck. It happens sometimes when I eat rice and chicken. But I could always wash it down with liquid. Not this time. So I lived to tell about it!!!! I guess God isn't done with me yet!! Ha!!! I am glad it turned out good.
My life is going to get interesting the next few months as we may be bringing the boat back to Seattle to sell. Hopefully it will sell here, but we aren't holding our breath!!! The market for used boats is picking up a little in Mexico, but our boat is going to be for someone who is specifically looking for our type of boat. God has a plan and I am leaving it up to Him!!! No worries!!!!
Time is getting short and we will be leaving on the 4th of September. We are going to Everett on Ron and Noreen’s boat to join the Brownsville yacht club there. Dave and I never have been to Everett by boat so it should be fun. The weather looks as though it will be warm and beautiful.
E.J. had a Soccer championship tournament and his team won. E.J. is playing a year up and he did well. He was tired but happy. Here are pictures of his team and the trophy!! Look at that shirt too!!!!! Pretty proud. The picture that has E.J. facing the camera with his shirt, you can see his brother Eian behind him holding a soccer ball and making faces. HA!!! Such a goof ball!!!
I had a chance to watch Jon coach his soccer team. Since the games were on Bainbridge Island, which isn’t far from where I was, he asked me to come and watch. They had 4 games scheduled. Two were in the morning and then again later that afternoon. I could stay for the morning games but not the late afternoon ones. Jon is an assistant coach with a soccer buddy that goes back to high school days. They played on the same soccer team. The guys have 2 teams. One is eight year old boys and the other is 10 year olds. The 8 year olds won their game but the 10 year olds didn’t. 
While Jon was coaching the games I got a chance to visit with Susannah, Jon’s future wife. We had a great visit and when the 2 morning games were over we went to Poulsbo for lunch. It was a very nice and special visit.
We are heading to Everett for the Labor Day weekend on Ron and Noreen’s boat (m/v Seareen). The weekend promises nice weather so we are looking forward to a good time. Once we arrived we came into our assigned slip and the other yacht club members that arrived before us helped grab our lines.
After getting settled, we went to cocktail time on the party dock and visited with those who were there. There was a Pub within walking distance so that is where we went for dinner. The four of us, Ron, Noreen, Dave and I sat together but we could see some of the other yacht club members dispersed throughout the place. We had a wonderful meal and conversation then went back to the boat to relax.
We awoke to blue skies the next day and it was nice but there is a hint of fall in the air. The conversation for the day was what to do. Paul and Laurie said they were going to go up the river in their dinghy. Dave and I had never been to Everett in our boat travels when we lived in the Pacific Northwest so we were looking forward to some sightseeing. Ron, Noreen, Dave and I donned our life jackets and climbed into the dinghy. Noreen was going to take the pugs, Jack and Calypso (Cali for short) but decided against it.
It turned out to be a very good thing they didn’t come along. The six of us headed out after lunch. What a lovely ride up. We saw some old boats and just interesting things. Here are some pictures. 
After we explored all we could, we headed back to the marina. The wind had come up and it was blowing from the west which we were heading into. It was a pleasant ride heading up the river but a nasty one coming back. Noreen and I were sitting at the bow of the dinghy with our backs facing the bow, Ron was steering and Dave was sitting on the opposite side of Ron. As we traveled towards the marina the waves were splashing all of us constantly. It was a ride from hell. Not only did the wind create waves but the boats that were zipping up the river were making them bigger. Needless to say by the time we got back to the boat we were soaked through and through and late for a potluck. At this point all we wanted to do was shed our wet clothes and get warm. We all showered, got dressed and decided we were not going to go to the party dock to sit in the wind and cold. So we had dinner on the boat and later we had company. It was an interesting day to say the least. We would not have any stories otherwise. Noreen was glad she decided to leave the dogs home.
The next day there was a large farmers market within walking distance of the marina so we went to check it out. There were a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, a few craft items and food booths. We stopped for lunch at a Mexican booth. Everything we got was really good. We never get tired of good Mexican food!!! After lunch we headed back toward the boat. We walked to a marine store that was just past the marina and we looked around at all the stuff. Next to the marine store was a little grocery store so we went in looking for hamburger buns. They didn’t have any. The nearest grocery store was about 4 blocks away and no one wanted to walk that far. So we decided we would use the bread we had on board. There is a BBQ tonight on the party dock and we are cooking hamburgers. After returning to the boat there was a bubble blowing contest on the party dock. You know----the kind you give to kids to make bubbles. Well I won first prize with my boobie bubble. It was a double bubble which looked like a pair of boobs so I yelled out I had made a boobie bubble and I guess they liked it. I won first place and the prize was a scratch ticket, a couple smiley face maze games and a bubble blower. Didn’t win anything on the scratch ticket but I had a lot of fun!!!! We gathered after that for dinner and everyone brought what meat they wanted to grill and a side dish to share and sat, ate and talked. The weather co-operated as it wasn’t really cold and windy and the sunset was absolutely beautiful. 
The next day was Labor Day, Monday the 3rd and we headed back to the Brownsville Marina. We had a fun and interesting weekend. We found out that Everett gets windy in the afternoon which makes it chilly. The trip home was uneventful and it was a beautiful day to be on the water. After getting into the slip and getting everything tied up and hooked up, Michael (my step son) his wife Dani and their son David came for a visit. Michael and David had been down to see us a few weeks ago without Dani because she had to work so this was a real treat to see them all together. 
Unfortunately we had plans for dinner which were made before we left for Everett. We didn’t know we would be seeing them until we got a call saying they were coming down. Dinner was scheduled for around 6:00pm or so and Carolyn, J.T., their son Christian, came down just before Michael, Dani and David got there. Noreen had been doing laundry at their condo and she hadn’t gotten back yet so we were just waiting. It was a little crazy with everyone there but at least I got a chance to talk to Dani and interact with David. He loves fish and wants to look in the water all the time. There were a lot of jelly fish floating and some small fish. All he could say was “fish, fish, jelly fish”.
Noreen got home so it was time to go to dinner. We are going to Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant in Silverdale. We had to say goodbye to family. It was a shame it was such a short visit, but it happens. It was good to see the three of them. David is getting so big. He is a stubborn little man too!!! His parents have their hands full!!!!
What you are seeing is David having a temper tantrum!!!
We had a wonderful dinner and it was fun. Before leaving, we asked the waitress to take our picture. One was a goofy one and the other not so goofy. They are a little on the dark side but I think you will be able to make us all out. That was Dave and my final meal with our friends as we leave tomorrow afternoon. 
Noreen had to go to work so we had said our goodbyes to her before we went to bed. We had a wonderful stay with them and enjoyed our time together.
We had a few things to do in the morning before we left but were finally ready to leave after lunch. Dave said he would be satisfied if we just got as far as Portland for the night. We gave Ron a big hug and told him we would call him once we got to a hotel. We stopped at a hotel just outside of Portland and enjoyed a really nice room for a great price. We relaxed and then the next morning headed out around 8:00am with Dave driving until he got tired.
I called my sister, Colleen, in Ukiah to see if they were up to company but they weren’t. Hig is still having problems and is heavily medicated. I am so glad we stopped on the way to Washington. I pray all goes well with them.
We stopped in Red Bluff for the night and continued on journey to San Diego the next day. We stopped to see our good friends Phil and Creela and had a nice very visit. Before leaving the next morning they gave us some lemons and tangerines from their garden as a farewell gift. They will be in Bahia sometime in October.
After leaving Phil and Creela’s house, we crossed the border and headed for hotel, Santo Tomas, in Ensenada. Once checked in we went to Walmart and Costco to do some shopping. We couldn’t get a lot of stuff because the jeep was packed but we managed to get some items we can’t get in Bahia. We had a lovely dinner at McDonalds (cheap and tasty) then went back to the hotel and relaxed. The next day we were headed home.
The weather was good for the most part. We saw clouds to the south but it didn’t look too bad. When we got to Rosario to fill the gas tank we noticed the gas station lot was full of mud. The people were scrambling to clean it up with brooms and backhoes. What a mess! Dave found out that a torrential rain squall came through just about an hour ago and dumped a lot of rain for 4 hours. After filling the tank we got through the town and all seemed well until we saw a huge band of black clouds ahead and knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. We were heading toward the storm that dumped all that rain back in Rosario. We finally caught up with it and it rained so hard we couldn’t see the road ahead of us but just a few feet. Luckily there were a couple of semi trucks in front of us so we just stayed behind them. It reminded me of driving in Sacramento through the ground fog and only having a semi for a guide. It took a while but we finally made it through the storm to clearing skies. Thank goodness that was over. We finally turned to go to Bahia de Los Angeles with blue skies and nice temperatures. There were several places along the way before we turned for Bahia that had water running over the road. If we had waited another day we would have been in trouble with the road. Everything was going well and we could see the Sea of Cortez in front of us which means it wasn’t far before we would be home. Without warning, Dave saw too late a chunk of road missing due to a washout. He tried to slow down but couldn’t enough to cross over it at a decent speed. We hit it hard to where both of us grimaced going over it. We were concerned about the tires but everything seemed to be o.k. until Dave said the jeep was pulling to the right. NOT GOOD!!!! To me it would have meant the tires were out of alignment. To Dave, because he has had experience with flat tires, said it was a flat. Sure enough the passenger side front tire was really flat. We must have hit a sharp rock and it sliced the tire. Well this wasn’t good because the jack was buried under everything we packed. So this meant we had to unload a bunch of stuff out of the back of the jeep to get to the jack. Then Dave proceeded to find the spot to jack up the jeep. Because we have never had a flat tire on the jeep we didn’t know for sure where to place the jack. So we got the manual out and Dave was in business. Once the jeep was jacked up, he took the spare tire off the rack and rolled it over next to the flat tire. Dave proceeded to take the flat tire off and put the spare on. Luckily the sun was shining, we had no threat of rain and it wasn’t really hot. It was only in the 80’s which is cool for this time of year. Thank the good Lord for that. We put the flat tire on the mount where the spare tire was and secured it, put the jack back where it belonged and repacked the jeep. Then we were on our way again. Whew!!!! I found out I could not change those tires as they were too heavy for me. I did help jack the jeep up though. Luckily Dave was there. We stopped in town and filled the gas tank and then headed to the store to buy bread and milk. Then it was on the bumpy lumpy road to the house. Town is only about 10 minutes away from the house but with the road it takes us about 30 to 45 minutes. All is well with the spare tire and we made it home. Our gate guard came over to the house and helped us unpack. All this time clouds had been building overhead and we knew the storm we went through was catching up to us. We just got the jeep unloaded when the sky opened and it poured with thunder and lightning. The jeep got washed and so did my windows. We had heard it had rained a lot the month of August and in proof of that the desert was very green. It was absolutely beautiful!!!! We had a couple washouts on the road just past our house in our little compound but Ramon shoveled some dirt to fill them in.
It rained again the next day and night and we could see that the flats heading to Rincon was filled with water. Rincon is across the bay from us. This is not a good thing for those who live in there because they have to cross the flats in order to get to town. Also no one can get to them either to deliver water or propane. They end up stranded until the flats dry out. Sometimes it takes a month or more. The propane truck came out that Monday after we got home but was stopped by Ramon telling them the road was not travelable. We and the people in town were able to get propane which was good. We hadn’t seen the propane truck for months. They are trying to get back on a schedule again because the people in Rincon have the large stationary propane tanks and the truck is the only way to get them filled. They will be happy to get propane in October.
Everything is pretty much back to normal now. It has been hot and humid but we can feel coolness in the breeze so we know the weather is going to change here pretty soon. About another week and I think it will start cooling considerably. Then the north winds start to blow and it does get cold.
Dave has been out trying to catch fish but so far has only caught one Sierra. It is a white meat fish and very good!!! Creela and Phil, our Bahia neighbors are heading down shortly so Dave will have a fishing partner. Yea!!!!!
The gringos that have places in Bahia are starting to come down for the fall and will only stay until just before the holidays. All who come down in October will be gone after Thanksgiving if not before. They come back either in January or spring and stay until it gets too hot for them which is usually no later than the 1st of July. Actually the hottest months are August and September. The rest are bearable. Well we think so anyway. Everyone has their heat tolerance!
Larry and Lois, our landlords are coming down soon and they have a man that is interested in seeing the house. So it will be interesting to see what he thinks and whether or not he wants to buy. No worries!!!! Everything works out the way it is suppose to and we are not worried about it.
The Lady Washington leaving Brownsville Marina.
