back home

our little vacation was very nice and just the thing to relieve tension and stress. the 100-year old house we stayed in was decorated beautifully, but i was displeased by several things (soap container in downstairs bathroom was almost empty, overhead light in downstairs bedroom kept not working, there were no pans in the kitchen -- skillets, but no pans -- plus a few more things) so i would not recommend it; i mean after all, the owners in the multi-million dollar house next door weren't as giving and conscientious as the place we stayed last year or the year before, so phooey on them. the girlfriend didn't have the objections i did, but hey.

we spent time in anacortes and found a FABULOUS restaurant called ADRIFT. if you're ever in anacortes, for god's sake you need to stop there and eat. the place next door was also supposed to be very good -- gard-a-deli or something like that, but we didn't have a chance to stop there.

the library in anacortes is thriving and is open every day of the week. our library has truncated hours and isn't open in sundays, so i was jealous of the anacortes libray.

we drove down to oak harbor (kinky downtown area) and again found a good eating place -- seabolt's smokehouse seafood & deli. that's where i found the three micro-brewery beers, in cans (from colorado), that i brought back to the hubby. i don't drink but the husband offered me a sip and i thought the scotch ale was particularly tasty. we drove on south through coupeville and freeland, then headed back to the beach house.

we got there on monday and explored anacortes, stayed-in on tuesday and read all day since it was grey and dreary, went out and played in sunshine on wednesday, then packed up and played in sunshine on the way home on thursday.

we stopped at the coop in mt vernon where i transferred the girlfriend to her hubby. i also picked up some sticky rice and checked out the boobies of one of the checkers. she had tattooed landscapes from several beloved places she had lived as she was growing up. it was colorful but strange in the extreme and i was reluctant to stare and observe her statement, since i'm not a man (girlfriend's husband got the story).

we had gotten our flu shots, which we try to do when we're out in late september, a pretty good haul of used books, got caught up on family and problems, and ended up having a really great time! yay, girlfriends!!

oh yeah!

the girlfriend and i are heading off on our annual get-away today. we're heading over to a beach house and will spend four days talking, reading, eating, shopping, talking, exploring, walking on the beach, and talking. it will be fun!

on schedule

the girlfriend and i are planning another get-away this year. in fact, we'll be getting away at the end of this month. we'll do a little shopping, a little exploring, a little walking along the beach, a little reading, and plenty of talking. it'll be fun!

girlfriends #3

one thing which was very cool was one morning when it was foggy -- we looked outside about an hour after we'd gotten up and saw this ...

after we realized what it was, we watched 'til it disappeared ...

later the fog lifted or dissipated and we could see they were headed back the other direction ... and will you look at that gorgeous collection of clouds in that fabulous view!

and then later the flotilla headed the other direction again ...

very cool!

girlfriend's getaway

our annual girlfriend's getaway was really nice. we drove south to a lovely little place by the water. it had incredible views and was only about 8-10 minutes from poulsbo. we drove into the driveway in the late afternoon ...

and the back of the house faced the water ...

their yard was full of lovely flowers and bushes ...

and they had several seating areas, walkways, and patios ...

this dusk-time view was serene and beautiful ...

the getaway

the girlfriend and i had a good trip down on hood canal by poulsbo. we got to watch a submarine go past the house three times, accompanied by two coast guard boats, a tugboat, and two container ships. it was interesting and intriguing. i'll post pictures when she sends them to me -- we used her camera since i forgot mine.

we did some shopping in poulsbo, ate at a really great restaurant (although some of the reviews i read later really dissed it -- we loved it), and explored port gamble. the weather was good with some sun and some sprinkles.

the house itself was lovely and just right for two people or two couples. it had two bedrooms with queen beds and two big bathrooms, a nice-size kitchen with tons of pots/pans/dishes/glasses/spices/etc, two couches and two chairs with t.v. and a music system and music, a dining table and four chairs, plus lots of windows and two decks with a beautiful yard in a very quiet neighborhood which made everything pretty darn great.

you might want to try it sometime.

here we go ....

the girlfriend and i are going playing tomorrow. we take off once a year and go find something interesting to do. sometimes we take a week, sometimes just a weekend, but every year we've gotten together for the past 15+ years. it's always fun, sometimes elegant, sometimes muddy.

this year we're renting a house on hood canal. if it rains we'll probably stay inside and talk, read, talk, eat, and talk. if it's nice we'll probably visit poulsbo, maybe kingston, maybe suquamish, maybe agate point.

it's a relaxing time with no expectations other than kindness and support. everyone should be so lucky.