• About
  • scribbles
  • Tribute to Rose

Rajalary

~ The adventures of Richard and Julie Lary

Rajalary

Monthly Archives: December 2007

Enjoying the Puget Sounds

28 Friday Dec 2007

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

≈ Leave a comment

The day before Christmas, we took the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island, one of the largest in the Puget Sound, about five miles wide and ten miles long. We sailed on the M/V Wenatchee, a huge ferry, capable of carrying up to 2,500 passengers, 202 vehicles and 60 commercial vehicles. Being mid-morning, traffic was light with a hundred or so cars, an ambulance, a UPS truck, a lone bicyclist, several motorcycles, and a couple dozen walk-on passengers. It’s a pleasant and very scenic half hour ride, especially from cushy seats overlooking the bow from the passenger deck.
 
After getting off, we stopped in the "big town" on the island, Winslow. Hip and upscale, Winslow is comprised of trendy gift, clothing, home decorating, floral, furniture, and kitchenware shops. It feels like Brentwood, California with the beautiful people zipping down the streets in their BMWs, Lexus’ and Volvos in search of just the right placemat or table setting for their holiday dinner.
 
Our next stop was Poulsbo, located on the east side of the Puget Sound, and a short bridge ride off Bainbridge Island. Founded by Jorgen Eliason from Fordefjord, Norway, Poulsbo is known as the Viking City. Its majestic snow-peaked mountains and fjords attracted others from Norway and other Scandinavian countries. For many years, Norwegian was the only language spoken by the citizens.
 
The city has retained its Norwegian charm with many quaint art galleries, restaurants, and boutique stores located a block or two from the spectacular waterfront. We enjoyed a tasty lunch of clam chowder, fish and chips (Rich) and lox, capers and sliced red onions on flat bread (Julie) at a crowded seafood restaurant.
 
The east side of the Puget Sound is sparsely populated and very scenic making it an ideal place to live… if you can find employment.
 
With some daylight remaining, we headed north to Port Gamble, a 120-acre National Historical Landmark situated on the shores of the scenic Hood Canal. Founded in 1853 by Maine businessmen Andrew Pope and William Talbot (Pope and Talbot), Port Gamble was the longest continuously operating mill town in North America.
 
Its New England-style houses and turn-of-the-century buildings have been meticulously restored and are now shops and rentals. I think most of the area is owned and managed by Pope Resources and has few permanent residents. The day we visited, we saw only four or five people. All of the shops were beautifully decorated, but disappointingly closed for Christmas Eve. It was like visiting an amusement park before it opened. The lawns and landscaping was perfectly manicured, every house carefully painted and the sidewalks swept clean, ready for visitors.
 
Rich and I plan on visiting Port Gamble again… this time when it’s open for business!
 
With the sun setting on the snow-covered mountains and over the Puget Sound, we headed back to Bainbridge Island and the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort where we meet Stacey (Rich’s daughter) and her boyfriend, Jesse, Chris (Rich’s son), June (Stacey’s and Chris’ mother) and her husband Gary, Chiemi (June and Gary’s daughter), June’s sister Gail and her husband Ed along with their son Justin and his girlfriend Tomei.

 
It was a nice get-together. We exchanged gifts and ate at the casino buffet before boarding a ferry back to Seattle.
 
The weather was perfect all day. Traveling across the smooth water, the lights of Seattle got brighter, welcoming us to home to the Emerald City.
 
House in Port GamblePolsboroPort Gamble HousesPort GambleSeattle from the Ferry

 

Bye-bye Apartment

12 Wednesday Dec 2007

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

≈ Leave a comment

On Friday evening, Rich and I moved my "stuff" into our Kirkland house. I had mixed feelings. First, I was thrilled that we were consolidating down to two residences instead of three. It was getting tiring packing clothes, food and tools every weekend to accommodate where we’d be spending our time.
 
On the other hand, I had grown fond of my tidy, compact apartment with its close proximity to Lake Sammamish, Microsoft, Uwajimaya (oriental grocery store), and the Belleveue Goodwill (great clothes and collectibles). Plus, my apartment building, with just eight one-bedroom apartments, is a short walk from the rest of the complex, across a footbridge that goes over a culvert. Another, larger culvert is opposite my apartment. When it rains, the water roars through the culverts into Lake Sammamish.
 
Plus, the apartment has a little gym with TV screens on the eliptical machines. It was my only opportunity to watch TV!
 
Nevertheless, it’s nice to be a house and starting to unpack my stuff, putting clothes in the closets, cooking in the kitchen, and planning other home improvements. In addition, we had Comcast installed last week, which means cable TV, Internet access, long-distance… the whole she-bang.

Snow

01 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

≈ Leave a comment

Last year, the first snow of the season was on Thanksgiving weekend. It waited an extra week this year. Saturday morning, we woke to a light dusting of snow in Mount Vernon; by the time we reached Kirkland, the dust had turned into flakes. A few hours later, the streets, trees, houses… everything was coated with several inches of snow.
 
We were toasty inside, having gotten a new furnace the day before and busily installing bamboo flooring in our third bedroom. Tomorrow, we’ll install flooring in our fourth bedroom, which will allow us to start putting furniture in the rooms. Yeah! Although, we still need to add molding, new closet doors… new plug covers, etc.
 
By the time we left Kirkland, at around 7 p.m., to eat dinner and go to my apartment in Redmond, the roads had gotten quite treacherous. Happily, Rich had driven down his truck, which has four-wheel drive.
 
My apartment, which is at a lower elevation than our Kirkland house, and is located on Lake Sammamish, had slushy snow, which is icky to walk in, but not dangerous for driving. Hopefully, it doesn’t freeze overnight, turning the slush into ice. And I’m hoping the snow will melt tomorrow afternoon so I can drive my FIT back to Redmond (it’s in the garage at Kirkland) and Rich and drive an hour north to Mount Vernon.
Large tree from our Anacortes lot with snow outside

Snow across the street from our houseLooking up the street from our house

A Fabulous Day in Seattle

01 Saturday Dec 2007

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

≈ Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, Rich’s son, Chris and his wife, Shawnie, visited us. It was a gorgeous day, slightly cool with screaming blue skies. Because parking is a challenge and expensive in downtown Seattle, we took the bus to Pike’s Market, the big tourist spots downtown.
 
Stacey, Rich’s daughter, along with her boyfriend, Jesse, took the ferry over from Bainbridge Island, and met us downtown. For the next few months, Stacey and Jesse are living and working on a tall ship, anchored in Port Townsend.
 
We had lunch at a "fast food" Thai restaurant, which provided huge portions at a great price. Afterwards, we walked through Pike’s Market then headed past the Ron Paul (Libertarian for President) event to Olympic Park. Opened in the past year, and part of the Seattle Art Museum, the park features huge art piece by prominent artists like Alexander Caldera and Claes Oldenburg.
 
Rich is helping me write this blog and he’d like to add that he’s bus-schedule challenged (we had to wait an extra half hour for a bus) and park-and-ride challenged (we went to the farthest possible park-and-ride in Kirkland, which added an additional 20 or more minutes to our ride).
 
Below are pictures from the day.
Chris and ShawnieDowntown SeattleOlympic parkOn the Bus with RichStacey and Jesse
  

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • November 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007

Categories

  • Cat Diaries
  • Computers and Internet
  • Coupeville
  • Entertainment
  • Family
  • Food and drink
  • Gardening
  • Health and wellness
  • Hobbies
  • Holiday
  • Home Improvement
  • Invocations
  • Microsoft
  • Motorcycle accident
  • Mount Vernon
  • Movies
  • News and politics
  • Politics
  • Puget Sound Islands
  • Rich Lary Realtor
  • Rose's Writings
  • Sailing
  • Seattle
  • Texas Life
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Rajalary
    • Join 108 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Rajalary
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar