Pursuit of Happiness

27 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by rajalary in Entertainment, Family, Travel

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Bullhead City, happiness, Julie Lary, Laughlin, meaning, rajalary, Rich Lary

The Saturday before Christmas, Rich and I watched Hector and the Search for Happiness, a movie starring Simon Pegg who plays a psychiatrist stuck in his daily routine for which he experiences little happiness. He sets out on odyssey to unearth what makes people happy.

By the end of the film, he’s experienced fear, elation, wonderment, and many unexpected adventures, which lead him to the path of happiness and contentment. The film is worth watching in that my saccharine description glosses over his journey across several continents, people he meets, and lessons he learns.

For our recent trip to Bullhead City, Arizona, I decided to take notice of the genial people we encounter, and harvest their zeal, optimism, and outward happiness.

Early Sunday morning, we boarded a shuttle at the Bellingham International Airport. The driver was jovial, sharing that he had five daughters (two were twins), nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He laughed, recalling the many pranks he’d played on them, including insisting a large, gaudy-painted sphere was an alien egg. He commented that one of his daughters still displays the “egg” on her mantel, and eagerly tells visitors how her father tricked her as a kid.

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His favorite prank, which he’s been reenacting for his grandchildren, is using wire ties to secure bananas to his cherry tree. He then invites his grandchildren to harvest the bananas, confirming his tall tale that cherry trees can indeed grow bananas!

We wished him a merry Christmas, and the joy of dreaming of new antics to entertain his daughters’ children.

As we went through the security line at the airport, we commented to the TSA agent it’s a pleasure flying out of Bellingham with short lines and easy parking. The agent added the security personnel are also nicer. While they’re certainly nicer, Rich had to go through additional security screening because he left his wallet in his pants pocket when he went through the body scanner.

Our flight to Las Vegas was pleasant. Halfway through, we struck up a conversation with one of the flight attendants, a 26-year old woman who said her job is super fun, and that I should consider becoming a flight attendant. I was sold after she told me the oldest person in her class was 68, training is just 5 weeks in length, the benefits are great, and after a year, you can choose how much you want to fly. The drawback is that I’d need to commute to Seattle, which is one of Alaska Airline’s bases.

Julie the flight attendant? Maybe.

After landing in Las Vegas, we drove to Laughlin and Bullhead City, which are on opposite sides of the Colorado River, straddling the Nevada and Arizona borders. After seeing Rich’s step-father, enjoying Mexican food, and settling into our room at the Tropicana in Laughlin, we walked to a quickie mart for soda and nibbles. Two women were behind the counter. One was an older woman. The other, a younger, heavy-set woman with a man’s haircut.

No doubt, working at a quickie mart isn’t the most enjoyable job, especially if you work the graveyard shift. However, both were affable, and eager to help me overcome my indecisiveness about the best “snack” to purchase. After deliberating, and enjoying the lighthearted banter, I settled on Tic Tac mints.

The exchange was so amusing, the next evening we returned, hoping to find the same clerks. This time, there were two men who were equally pleasant, but lacked the joie de vivre of the women.

One of the reasons for our visiting Bullhead City was to check on several rentals overseen by Rich’s step-father, who’d been hospitalized since September. There’d been several issues with one of the renters – a woman and her two young daughter – so we prepared for a confrontation. Instead, we arrived to find them in the midst of moving out.

The woman overseeing the move was a relative, dressed in a tank top with crude tattoos on her arms and chest, cigarette dangling from her yellowed fingers, and hair in a scraggly ponytail, emphasizing the blemishes and wrinkles on her face. Her looks, however, were deceptive.

She was courteous, conscientious, and cooperative, working with Rich to identify issues with the rental (a double-wide mobile homes that’d seen better days), and discuss what needed to be done to lockup the property to prevent vandalism.

In the property next door – also a rental owned by my father-in-law – lived a woman and her mother. They had six small dogs, four cats, and several cages of birds in their single-wide mobile home. While they obviously had way too many pets, it was hard to overlook their soft heartedness. They no doubt had to stretch their meager welfare and social security payments to provide for their furred and feathered companions.

Difference between Happiness and Meaning

Viktor Frankl, a prominent Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna, who wrote the bestselling book, Man’s Search for Meaning, which details his experience in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, champions the difference between those who lived and those who died while imprisoned hinged on whether they had “meaning.”

Research has shown that having purpose and meaning in life increases overall well-being and life satisfaction, improves mental and physical health, enhances resiliency, enhances self-esteem, and decreases the chances of depression. Whereas simply pursuing happiness doesn’t result in consistency of happiness.

Many of the people we met during our trip had challenging lives, but they had meaning. We learned the woman who was helping moved the family from my father-in-law’s rental was an aunt who’d previously been instrumental in raising the mother. For the past eight months, she’d cared for the woman’s children who worked 45 minutes away. She explained how she’d walked the girls to the school bus stop every morning, and ensuring they had what they needed at night. The meaning of her life was to care for others.

Perhaps the meaning for the next-door neighbor with the multitude of pets is to take in unwanted and abused animals. The shuttle bus driver at the Bellingham Airport found meaning in delighting his grandchildren with playful antics.

A study in the upcoming issue of Journal of Positive Psychology associates leading a happy life with being a “taker,” while leading a meaningful life correlates with being a “giver.” Kathleen Vohs, one of the authors of the study explains, “Happy people get a lot of joy from receiving benefits from others while people leading meaningful lives get a lot of joy from giving to others.”

Because a “giver” may have to sacrifice happiness in order to achieve meaning, they tend to experience more stress and anxiety than happy people. On the other hand, happiness without meaning can result in a person being shallow, self-absorbed or even selfish, continuously seeing ways to satisfy their needs and desires, while avoiding unnecessary entanglements.

The Declaration of Independence states the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Happiness isn’t guaranteed, just the freedom to pursue it. But like Hector in the Simon Pegg movie, a more satisfying goal might be to find ones meaning, and thereby, lead a more caring life.

Escape to Mount Baker

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by rajalary in Entertainment, Health and wellness, Travel

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Heather Meadows, hiking, Julie Lary, Mount Baker, rajalary, Richard Lary

Nearly every week, when we go to our Mount Vernon house, Rich points out Mount Baker, noting the amount of snow, ability to see the summit through the clouds, craggily slopes, or desire to see if from inside our house if we punched a hole in the dining room wall.

A week ago Monday, on the afternoon of my mother’s death, he commented, “We should go there.”

So on Sunday, to the mountain we went.

A 140,000 year old active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, Mount Baker is a ruggedly mountain, covered primarily with scree and snow, with evergreens and lakes at the base. It’s one of the snowiest places in the world, and in 1999, set the world record for most recorded snowfall in a single season.

Because, I’m fonder of beaches, our trip up to the mountain was met with hesitancy and dread by me. In my opinion, “You’ve seen one mountain, you’ve seen them all!”

Nevertheless, I welcomed the break in our routine, especially after an emotional week. As we approached the mountain, it had a different vibe than other mountain ranges. There were large open spaces between the mountains with huge valleys and summits. You don’t feel as if you’re in a forest, and emerging periodically to see the sunlight. Instead, there’s spaciousness about the area. It feels more European than Pacific Northwest rainforest.

Our first stop was by the Galena Chain Lakes, which is set in a meadow with walking paths around the lakes. It would be a delightful place to cross-country ski in the winter. Plus, it afforded panoramic views in all directions of snow-capped mountains and peaks.

Across from the lakes was a retreat center with a turquoise snowcat parked in the back. I snapped a photo of Rich through the cat, and was fascinated by the clouds reflected in the windows of building.

Our next stop was Heather Meadows. We didn’t know what to expect, but saw many cars in the parking lot so surely there was something picturesque to see. Five minutes on the trail, and I was mesmerized. The easy-to-walk trail, through an alpine meadow, ambles around the Bagley Lakes, which are more like ever-changing rivers. In some places, the water is calm, lapping on the shores. In others, it rushes over boulders, under a bridge, and through a small dam, which you can walk over.

As you walk, you pass by small waterfalls as snow continues to melt, and drain down into the lakes. What was green foliage and wild flowers in summer was awash in golds, oranges, and browns. We passed by people with bags of huckleberries, and kids with blue lips and teeth, their hands also stained from the picking and eating the huckleberries along the trails. After identifying which bushes were huckleberries, our fingers were soon equally blue, grabbing at the tasty berries, lingers on the tips of delicate branches, free of leaves, which had already turned and fallen.

It couldn’t have been more idyllic.

Hesitant to leave, but hungry, we returned to the car, and drove up to Artist Point, where we enjoyed our lunch while overlooking the valley below, and the glacier-covered Mount Baker.

With the snows coming, hiking trails and meadows obscured, and cars of skiers arriving soon, we’ll have to wait until the summer to return to Mount Baker.

Training to Vancouver

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by rajalary in Travel

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Amtrak, Empire Landmark, Julie Lary, rajalary, Rich Lary, SkyTrain, Vanouver BC

Memorial Day weekend, with my having to take two floating holidays before the end of June, and Rich starting a new job, we decided to take a quick trip to Vancouver, Canada.

Our journey started on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. with Egg McMuffins and coffee at McDonald’s. We then headed south to the Bellevue park-n-ride to a catch a bus to the Seattle King Street Amtrak station. After checking in, we chatted with a special education school teacher from East Los Angeles, who along with three other friends, were also taking the train to Vancouver for several days of “partying.” Although, I suspect they were more interested in sightseeing and getting away from the smog, heat, and traffic, given East L.A. is the most populous place in California with 16,973.5 people per square mile.

Our seats were on the west-facing side of car #8, just ahead of the baggage car. Even though we were running a bit late, we weren’t concerned because our expected arrival in Vancouver, was a little before noon, providing us with most of the day to enjoy the city.

Less than ten minutes out of the station, however, just past the Marriot Waterfront, the train came to a stop. The conductor announced there was a flat spot on the engine’s tires, which they wanted to check. A flat spot occurs when a wheel has been dragged along the rail after the wheel/axle has stopped rotating, the result of faulty brakes or bearings, or if the wheel locks up.

We crossed our fingers, as the minutes dragged on. Finally, they announced the bad news: The train needed to return to King Street for the mechanical crew to assess the issue. We then waited another 10 minutes until the train was cleared to back-up. Once back to station, we were allowed to get off the train, at which point, we chatted with one of the maintenance people who explained the wheels were in bad shape.

Within in minutes, we were told to get back on the train, which traveled south for a few miles until it got to a turn-around (wye). Since there was an engine on the back of the train, this engine would be used for pulling the train with the bad-wheeled-engine tagging-along at the end. Car #1, which was initially in front of the train, was now at the back.

As we approached King Street, the train slowed and a maintenance man got on. He then walked through each car, flipping the seats so they facing forward. Unfortunately, our seats, which were on the left side of the train, ended up on the right. The left is preferable because it enables you to see out to the west and the Puget Sound.

Nevertheless, we were happy to be finally heading to Vancouver, over an hour late.

Train Travel Ain’t Speedy

Let me preface by saying, “I love taking the train.” It’s relaxing, stress-free, comfortable and scenic. Regrettably it’s not particularly fast. While in some sections, it zips along at a healthy pace – around 70 miles per hour – in others, it barely chugs along at 10 miles per hour. The curvy track in Washington, and especially Canada, coupled with rickety bridges, and waits for freight trains turns what would be a three hour trip by car into four hours by train. Or in our case six hours!

King Street Station, Seattle

Plus, once you arrive in Vancouver, they initially unload all of the luggage, and then allow passengers to leave, starting with car #1. With us in car #8, we were the last to depart… and subsequently line up to go through customs. By the time, we hit the streets, it was nearly 3 o’clock! Fortunately, we’d packed food to eat on the train so our hunger was satiated with hard boiled eggs, scones, an orange, an apple, and trail mix.

Cranky and tired of sitting, I demanding we walk to the hotel, rather than figure out the bus system. We’d packed our clothes in a backpack (Rich) and messenger bag (Julie), so we just needed to start walking. Of course, what felt somewhat light after getting off the train, became progressively heavier with each step. Happily, the weather was splendid, the sites fabulous, and our determination energized by Starbuck’s frappuccinos.

Vancouver is known as the City of Glass with blocks of glass skyscrapers, divided into offices, condos, and apartments with birds eye views of English Bay, Coal Harbour, False Creek, and the Burrard Inlet. The fourth most densely populated city in North America – behind New York City, San Francisco, and Mexico City – Vancouver is masterpiece of efficiency. High-speed trains along with buses, and ferries whisk residents to-and-from work. Wide sidewalks make it pleasant to walk to whatever you need from up-scale, name-brand boutiques to restaurants, mini and suburb-sized grocery stores, barber shops and salons, PC repair, book stores, pet supplies, libraries, museums, performing art centers, shopping malls, hospitals and medical and dental clinics, florists, parks, marinas, and much more.

Vancouver, B.C.

For more than a decade, Vancouver has been ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world, with the fourth highest quality of living of any city on Earth. On the downside, it’s Canada’s most expensive city to live in with the second highest overpriced real estate in North America. A 400-square foot condo in downtown starts in the mid $200,000. Near the Expo, a sign for high-rise under construction touted 1-bedroom condos, starting at $350,000. Check out some of the condos on Vancouver Condo.

Real estate is so loony in downtown Vancouver that if you can’t afford a condo, you can invest in a hotel room, and stay there for up to 30-days per year. That’s right for $168,000, you can purchase a 226-square foot room in the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel, and stay in the room for free for up to 30 days per year.

Room in the Sky

The walk from the Amtrak station to our hotel, the Empire Landmark was just 2 miles. Along with way, we passed many of the buildings, which were constructed in 1986 for the world fair held in Vancouver. Called Expo ’86, the fair featured pavilions from 54 nations and corporations, and was opened by Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales.

Both Rich and I went to the fair. At the time, Rich went with his girlfriend, mother, children, and nephew. I went with my mother. The only exhibit I remember from the fair was “Highway 86: The Middle of the Road.”

Making our way around False Creek, we walked by Science World, Plaza of Nations, and BC Place Stadium, all built for the fair. We then headed to Yaletown, where several high-rises were under construction. We stopped briefly at the Starbuck’s by the Microsoft Vancouver Development Center for frappuccinos before walking west on Robson Street to the Empire Landmark Hotel.

Robson Street is one of the key shopping zones with every imaginable store and restaurant from Aldo Shoes and Armandi to BCBG Maxazria, French Connection (which sported a sign that read “FCUK,” the abbreviation for French Connection United Kingdom), Gap, Foot Locker, Guess, J Crew, Lululemon, Sunglass Hut, and Tommy Hilfiger. And because Vancouver is a very diverse city, there is a plethora of Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indian, Korean, Mexican, French, and African restaurants… along with bakeries, coffee shops, and juice bars. With blocks of high-rise apartments, condos, and businesses, every eating establishment was full.

Empire Landmark Hotel

By the time we got to the Empire Landmark, I was super tired and cranky. Rich had made the reservation online as part of an Amtrak special. However, the offer was for a room with two twin bed, and it took several calls to the hotel to ask them to place us in a room with at least a queen-sized bed.

Needless to say, I was convinced our room would be on the 2^nd floor of the 42-story hotel, with a view of an alley or next to the ice machine. I felt a bit more confident after chatting with Rachel, the desk clerk, who took a genuine interest in making our mini vacation a memorable experience. I could contain my glee when she announced our room was on the 18^th floor. Surely, we’d have a view of something!

We took the elevator up, dashed around the corner, and inserted the key, and then in concert exclaimed “Wow!” Outside the sliding glass door was a VIEW! From the balcony, we had a 180-degree view, and were able to see Burrad Inlet, Stanley Park, English Bay, and everything in-between. We spent 15 minutes taking pictures from every angle.

While small, the room was charming, clean, and cozy with delicate white furniture, pretty sheets, and a lovely bathroom with chamomile shampoo, ginseng body lotion, birch leaves bath gel, comfrey soap, and fluffy ivory towels.

We couldn’t be happier!

Vancouver at Night

Refreshed after dropping off our bags and sitting for a few minutes, we set out for Stanley Park, which is 1,001 acres, encompassing miles of walking trails, swimming pools, aquarium, gardens, miniature railroad, outdoor theater, and monuments.

We started walking near the rhododendron garden, which was spectacular, and ended up by the seawall, which was crowded with walkers, runners, bikers, and in-line skaters. There are many establishments near the park where you can rent bikes by the hour. Many of the bikes we saw, I suspect were rented since they were stripped-down for leisurely riding.

Hungry after our walk, we sought out an ethnic restaurant. Rich choose a small “dive,” which offered freshly made saimin, similar to what he used to eat in Hawaii. He chose a soup with a miso broth, fish ball, slices of lean pork, boiled egg, noodles, bean sprouts, and green onions. Mine was similar, but made with a pork broth.

Our bellies full and feet refreshed, we set out for the Heritage District and Canada Place, which was originally built for Expo ’86. Resembling a large ship with fabric sails, it’s the main cruise ship terminal for the region. This is a great picture of what it looks like from above.

We wandered around, admiring the water and high-rises, absorbing the Zen of the city, and seeking out a place for a decadent dessert. With no bakeries along our path, we settled for A&W root beer floats. There are numerous A&W’s in Canada, but relatively few in America. Although, in America, they put soft-serve ice cream in their floats. In Vancouver, they dropped in an ice cream pellet, and added root beer. A bit strange, but tasty.

At any rate, our perception there’s an A&W on every corner was confirmed when I looked up on the internet there’s eight A&Ws from Tacoma to Everett, and seven just in downtown Vancouver, and at least another twenty in the neighboring suburbs. Canadians are obviously fans of A&W’s All American Food from hamburgers to hotdogs, chicken strips, and of course, root beer.

After a quick stop at Safeway for fruit, hard boiled eggs, and drinks for the following day, we then hobbled back to our room at 9:30 p.m., feet sore, but soul satisfied.

SkyTrain Around Vancouver

On Thursday evening, we’d plan to rent bikes to tour around the rest of Stanley Park, but the clear night turned into a rainy morning. Fortunately, Rich had grabbed a TransLink brochure, and talked to a street performer – in the transit center – who said we should ride the SkyTrains instead of renting bikes.

We awoke early Friday morning – after staying up late to admire the city from our balcony – and enjoyed a hearty breakfast in our motel room (food we brought or bought the night before), before pulling on our rain parkas, lobbed our bags over our shoulders, and heading to the nearest transit station to purchase all-day passes.

The driverless, automated SkyTrains run continuously, with no more than a 10 minute wait between trains. They’re clean, quiet, and highly efficiently. We enjoyed riding them for several hours to New Westminster, Richmond, and King George, watching commuters, college kids, and shoppers, easily hopping on-and-off, and seeing the many new shopping centers and high-rises being built near the SkyTrain stations.

At the Richmond station is the River Rock Casino Resort, consisting of a casino, two hotels, conference center, several restaurants, and theater for live performances. Upcoming performers include Martin Short, Justin Hayward (Moody Blues), Earth, Wind & Fire, Engelbert Humperdinck, Herman’s Hermits, and Boz Scoggs.

We had a sandwich bag full of Canadian coins, which we decided to spend in the casino, but when Rich went to turn it the coins in for script, they gave him a $5 Canadian bill, which is super cool with a plastic strip that has a cathedral and man, printed on it with iridescent ink. The bill is also embossed area. It was so pretty, I couldn’t bear to put it in a slot machine.

The pit boss, who figured out we were dumb-cluck Americans who were more interested in swooning over a $5 bill than spending it, explained all Canadian bills are color-coded, and equally ornate. Here’s the $20, $50, and $100 bills.

Bad Planning Lead to Disappointment

We’d planned on having dim sum for lunch in Chinatown, but with it only being 11 o’clock when we got back to downtown Vancouver. Instead, we opted to take a bus to the University of British Columbia (UBC). It was a regrettable mistake. Not only was the bus infuriatingly slow because of the traffic, and numerous stops, but we wasted time wandering around the campus, looking for totem poles I recalled seeing decades ago when I visited the museum with my mother.

The campus is ginormous, and we headed for “Totem Park,” when we should have gone to Museum of Anthropology at UBC. If we’d made it to the museum, we could have seen the totem poles by looking in the windows of the Great Hall! Plus, we would have seen the outdoor exhibits.

Instead, we trudged along, carrying our respective backpack/messenger bag, growling at each other, and getting more famished and thirsty, having only eaten an apple since breakfast. Frustrated, we traipsed back to the bus stop. Studying the map, we realized we could get off at the bus, and catch a SkyTrain to Chinatown. However, Rich got a phone call in the middle of transitioning to the SkyTrain, and followed the crowds up an escalator to an upscale department store… but the escalator was broken going down so we toured the floor several times before we found the elevators down…

Could it get worse?

Yes! Because it was nearly 2 o’clock, we didn’t think there’d be a good selection of dim sum at the restaurant we’ve eaten at previously. Instead, we chose Jade Dynasty, which advertised dim sum all day. It was the WORST dim sum we’ve ever had. Frozen dim sum from a convenience store would have been better! And it cost $23 for two cups of tea, and four selection of ghastly dim sum.

Even more disappointing, because we had to be at the bus station by 4:30, we didn’t have time to take a water taxi to Granville Island.

We did, however, stop in a Chinese bakery, and get three yummies for $5: a coconut tart, piece of Black Forest cake, and piece of mocha cake. Chinese bakeries have the most amazing pastries, buns, cakes, and other delicacies, at ridiculously low prices. Here is an example of what you might find in one of these bakeries.

With our mini vacation drawing to a close, we walked to the train station, and waited to check-in. We were amazing when we got the identical seats going back to Seattle, as we had coming, car #8, seats 11 and 12. This time, we were on the right side of the car to see the Puget Sound.

The rainy morning had turned into a sunny afternoon, and spectacular evening, making for a wonderful trip home. As we approached White Rock, British Columbia, we looked out over the ocean, and counted half a dozen blue heron… and then another cluster of blue herons… and two bald eagles on a rock… and more blue heron. The birds were obviously taking advantage of the low tide to hunt for fish before the sun set for the evening.

As we crossed into the United States, we saw a coyote in the marshes, and more blue heron and predatory birds. Because it’s nearing summer solstice, it stayed light for most of the trip.

Near Seattle, the conductor announced the Mariner’s game had just let out. Our first thought was “We’re never going to get on a bus.” As soon as we got off the train, we sprinted to the bus stop. Happily, there were few people waiting, which soon grew to a crowd. The bus, which finally arrived, was already full.

We pushed our way onto the bus, head to the back, and grabbed a handrail for the 20-minute trip to Bellevue. In spite of the conditions, people were gracious, striking up conversations, having come from the Mariner game or Northwest Folklife Festival.

Our 48-hour escape to Vancouver was a nice respite from our workaday lives, and the challenges we faced in the coming week.

Two-Day Island Staycation

06 Sunday Apr 2014

Posted by rajalary in Food and drink, Travel

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Brown Bear Baking, Deer Harbor, Doe Bay, Eastsound, Julie Lary, Lopez Island, Orcas Island, rajalary, Richard Lary, Rosario

Several years ago, Rich celebrated my birthday by planning an elaborate surprise staycation where he revealed the details of what we’d be doing at the last minute, including spending the night at the Waterfront Marriot, and enjoying a Sunday brunch at the top of the Space Needle.

This year, he decided to do the same, and once again, he refused to reveal the details until the last minute. On Saturday, before Rich left to show a potential client a home, he told me to pack outdoor gear and my hiking boots. Although, after some consideration, he revised hiking books to Keens.

With our bags packed, cats and birds feed, house secured, and bellies full from homemade pizza, we headed to our Mount Vernon home, where my mother lives. Every week, we do her grocery shopping, gather the trash and recycling (we don’t have garbage pick-up in Mount Vernon so we have to cart it back to Kirkland), restock supplies, cook (i.e. chocolate pudding, chopped liver, chicken soup, etc.) and other household tasks that aren’t done by her caretakers.

After shopping, Rich thumbed through our Entertainment Book to find a place to eat. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants aren’t located in Mount Vernon or Burlington. With few options, I recommended Taco Bell. We’re never disappointed by cheap, but satisfying burritos, chicken tacos, and 99-cent cheese roll-ups.

That evening, we watched a flick on TV, and made sure everything was ready for the next morning, when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m.

Off to Orcas

The first stop of our two-day staycation was McDonald’s. In early March, they had a newspaper insert with buy-one-get-one-free coupons. The day we received the insert, Rich raced down to a local apartment complex, and scrounged through their recycling bins, harvesting a stack of coupons. For the past month, we’ve been eating lots of McDonald’s food, principally iced coffees with vanilla flavoring and caramel Frappuccino’s.

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Plus, each time we used a coupon, we got a receipt, which invited us to take an online survey. When you take the survey, you’re given a code, which can be used for purchasing… wait for the drum roll… buy-one-get-one-free breakfast sandwich or cheeseburger.

On Saturday morning, armed with a code, we started the day with buy-one-get-one-free Egg McMuffins and coffees.

With food in our stomachs, we headed to Anacortes to take the ferry to Orcas Island. We had an enjoyable ride over, arriving around 9 a.m. Our first stop was Eastsound, which is the main town, smack dab in the middle of the wishbone-shaped island. I didn’t know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of an upscale seaside town on the east coast with cool inns and bed & breakfasts, art galleries, bookstores, quaint churches, and hip restaurants, serving organic, fresh-off-the-farm meals.

We wandered around, snapping pictures, and unwinding from the week. One of the highlights is the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, which is on the National Registry of Historic Place. It comprises several charming, whitewashed buildings, and has a large labyrinth, which I walked around, contemplating the day when we can move to our house in Coupeville, and become residents, and not just visitors to the islands.

With it lightly drizzling, we were on the lookout for a place to pull up a chair and sit until the weather cleared. We spotted Brown Bear Baking. As soon as we opened the door, we were struck by the aroma of fragrant breads, buttery pastries, and fresh-brewed coffee. Ignoring the display case of sweet and savory goodies, our eyes drifted to the round, crusty loaves of bread behind the counter. We chose the Kalamata olive and rosemary loaf, but the counter staff accidentally gave us the fig and apricot loaf. It was a nice surprise… so tasty that throughout our trip, we ripped off and ate big chunks. And we resolved to purchase another loaf the following morning before we left the island!

As a side note, I’m glad Brown Bear Baking is ferry-ride away because it would be hard to resist their unbelievable loaves of bread, beautiful quiches, mouth-watering croissants, gorgeous muffins, dreamy cakes, and other treats. It’s much easier to refrain from grocery-store baked goods!

Scoping out Resorts

Our first stop was Rosario Resort, which one of my favorite marinas, and where the Moran Mansion is located. It’s the crown jewel of the Puget Sound, and unlike most exclusive resorts, the public is welcome to wander the grounds, and walk through the main building, in this case, the mansion. Check out the photo gallery to see what makes the resort a memorable place to visit… and stay by boat or car.

And read about our adventure at Rosario four years ago.

Next, we headed to Olga, which is the town time must have forgotten. It consists of a closed general store, and tiny post office. Or maybe we blinked while driving through the town.

Actually, Olga is very much like most of Orcas Island, lightly populated with quaint shops, inns, and bed & breakfasts (like the Orcas Hotel), discreetly tucked among the trees, which hibernate during the winter months, and open up in the spring through the summer. You can also visit Olga Pottery, which has very pretty, Asian-influenced vases, pitches, cups, bowls, and plates.

Our next stop was Obstruction Pass, which Rich claims we’ve moored off of during one of our charter trips. From a boat, most of the coastline looks the same!

On the east side of the island is Doe Bay State Park, and Doe Bay Resort & Spa. The resort is a labor of love, and designed to accommodate visitors from those looking for a rustic experience of pitching a tent to those wanting a relaxing vacation, complete with spa treatments and yoga sessions.

Rich and I walked around and were in awe of the campsites with names like antelope, baer’s lair, coot corner, crow’s nest, eagle’s nest, grouse grove, heron, hollow log, hummingbird, minke, and warbler. Our favorite site was seagull’s bed, which is a small site, perched on a high-bank cliff, overlooking the water. Seal landing is a bit larger, but so close to the cliff-edge that there’s a small fence so you don’t walk over the edge if you sleepwalk.

We’ve never seen campsite, which are not only smartly designed to provide privacy, but feature dramatic views.

Nestled between the camp sites are yurts and dooms, some of which have queen-sized beds. Three of the yurts are located steps from the water like the beach yurt.

The hostel is an affordable, and no doubt warmer place to sleep in bad weather. Along with communal beds, there have several rooms for couples.

My choice would be one of their cabins with a kitchenette, bed, table and chairs, electricity, bathroom, and a heater!

Along with accommodations, the resort has a general store, spa (we saw a naked man climb into one of the hot tubs… eck!), restaurant, yoga studio, rentals (kayak, boat), and of course, strategically placed benches for viewing the scenery.

I’ve already planted a bug in Rich’s head that I want to stay at Doe Bay for my next birthday!

Cozy Room with Surprise Inside

Still nibbling on our bread, we headed west to Deer Harbor, where we checked in at the Deer Harbor Inn. Rich had purchased a Groupon to stay at the inn. Our room was in the Log Cabin Lodge, which has eight rooms, four on the top floor, and four on the bottom. They also have a couple of cabins.

Our second-story room was lovely with a large pine bed, and matching chairs, and table. On the fireplace was a picnic basket, much to our surprise, filled with food for the next morning, including English muffins, hard-boiled eggs, bowls of homemade granola, bananas, and packets of jelly. In the small refrigerator was milk, butter, orange juice, and bottles of water.

After putting our bags in our room, we drove down to Deer Harbor Marina. We were hoping they had the huge ice cream cones, which we usually order when we stay in the marina. However, it being late March and still chilly, they didn’t have ice cream. Instead, we found several chairs overlooking the marina, and continued nibbling on the Brown Bear Baking bread, pretzels, and drinks we’d purchased earlier in the day.

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A large black crow was also interested in what we were eating. He stood on top of the railing just a few feet from us. We marveled at the variety and color of his feathers. His head and cowl had tiny, soft, matte black feathers. His wings were covered with long iridescent black feather that glistened in the sun. The smaller feathers, covered the rest of his body, were deep, matte gray. Its legs and feet were covered with shiny black scales.

He (or she) was very elegant, and patient, waiting for us to place a few pieces of bread on the railing. He’d then pick them up, and fly down to a barrel where a pool of water had formed. After soaking the bread for a few moments, he’d gobble it down, and then fly to another bird, who was waiting with beak open for the regurgitated food.

When we switched to feeding the crow pretzels, he’d bury them in the planter boxes, no doubt for a future meals.

Once the crow flew off, we decided to take a walk around the marina. As we approached the end of a dock, a beautiful gray cat popped out of an open port hole on a small motorboat, dashed across the deck, leapt onto the dock, and raced towards us. It was a full-on cat attack!

She was eager to be pet, rolling over so we could scratch her tummy, and meowing her gratitude. She accompanied us to the boat where she lives. There was a cat bed in the pilot house where she must curl up at night.

Sticking to our Kool-Aide budget staycation, and not wanting a large meal after nibbling on bread all day, we opted to drive to a grocery store in Eastsound. We walked from one end of the store to the other until we settled on a bag of chicken tamales in green sauce (in corn husks), individual salads from the deli section, and a bag of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies.

We returned to our room, and refrigerated the food, and then set out on foot for a walk around the area. We turned down the road to a residential area, and feed long blades of grass to two goats, guarding a boat repair facility, and then crossed over a narrow bridge to the other side of Deer Harbor.

At top of the hill was another marina. We thoroughly enjoy walking around marinas, looking at the boats, and strategizing how one day we hope to have a 35-foot Catalina sailboat, named Monkey About. “Come about” is a sailing term, and “Monkey” was the name of one of our cats, who passed away in Texas.

As we neared the end of one of the dock, we saw several birds perched on boats, squawking loudly. Less than 20 feet away, on a floating dock, was a bald eagle picking at a dead crab. Bald eagles are scavengers and have no hesitancy of taking food from other birds. Rich snapped quite a few picture before he flew away.

Back at the Deer Harbor Inn, Rich heated the tamales in the microwave in the common area, while I assembled the salads. While it might not seem like a fabulous dinner, we thoroughly enjoyed it in our cozy room, topped off with chocolate chip cookies.

Afterwards, we grabbed a couple of magazines, turned on the propane fireplace in the common area, and read for an hour or so. Sitting in front of a warm gas or propane is ten times better than a smoky, smelly traditional fireplace, which burns wood.

Warmed up, I recommended we hope in the hot tub. Rich was concerned because we forgot to bring our bathing suits, but I persisted, explaining everyone in the lodge had probably left for dinner, and most of the hot tub is obscured by the gazebo.

We took the minimum clothing with us, stripped down, hopped in the tub, and enjoyed the warmth and soothing bubbles, before jumping out, throwing on our clothes, and dashing back into the lodge. During that time, the only souls that saw us were some foraging rabbits.

Amazing Views with Each Turn

The next morning, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast (the items in the basket left in our room), before going back to Brown Bear Baking for a loaf of bread to bring home. We then drove to Moran State Park. Opened in 1921, the park initially consisted of 2,700 acres donated by Robert Moran, a shipbuilder and former major of Seattle. A few years later, he donated another 1,000 acres. Today, the park is more than 5,200 acres with more than 38 miles of hiking trails from gentle forest loops to challenging ascents.

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In the 1930’s the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), built trails, roads, bridges, and 21 buildings, including the Ellsworth Storey tower, atop Mount Constitution. For our jaunt, we chose the Mount Constitution Loop, which is 6.7 miles, rated “difficult.”

We parked by Mountain Lake, which is 917 feet in elevation. We then trudged up to the top of Mount Constitution, which is 2,409 feet in elevation. The first mile or so was heart-pumping hard. The next two miles was a steady, but tolerable uphill climb. It was worth getting to the top because even though the Ellsworth Storey tower doesn’t look impressive in picture, it’s four stories in height, and provides what is considered one of the top marine views in the nation.

Originally built as a fire lookout, the tower offers a 360^◦ view of the San Juan archipelago, Vancouver Island, and the Cascade and Olympic Mountain ranges. Plus, the tower is superbly constructed out of sandstone with wrought iron railings, door hinges and knobs, and other details, forged and shaped by CCC blacksmiths. At the top of the tower is an enclosed room with beautiful paneling and a heavy wooden door with ornate handles and hinges. I’m was awestruck by the workmanship!

Our decent back down to Mountain Lake, nearly 4 miles, was quick. We then drove to Orcas Village to catch a 3:00 ferry to Lopez Island, where we’d have less than an hour “lay-over” until we could get on the ferry to Anacortes. We reasoned it would be fun to spend some time on Lopez rather than hang-out on Orcas for a “direct” ferry to Anacortes.

Our plan would have worked out if there hadn’t been a mishap with the second ferry. We ended up waiting in the ferry line on Lopez Island for nearly two hours… polishing off the rest of the fig and apricot bread, reading magazines, and trying to get a cell phone signal.

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Nevertheless, with amazing weather, it was enjoyable hanging out on the island, people watching, and taking two ferries. And we got to Anacortes 5 minutes before the “direct” ferry from Orcas Island. As we drove way, we could see the “direct” ferry circling in the harbor, waiting for the ferry we’d arrived on to leave.

As we drove back to Mount Vernon to retrieve the groceries we’d purchased a few days earlier, we reflected on our wonderful staycation… and the opportunity to escape from work, household chores, gardening, caregiving, and the myriad of tasks that need to be done.

Plus, Tuesday and Wednesday evening, we enjoyed Brown Bear bread for dinner. I poached eggs in minced kale, parsley, spices, and wine. The eggs were then placed on two thick slices of bread, which had been drizzled with olive oil. Layers on top of the eggs was sliced tomatoes, lightly cooked asparagus, and cheese. I then cooked everything in a 400◦ oven for 15 minutes. The eggs were slightly soft, and made the dish magically when poked with a fork.

Two Thanksgivings. Three States.

15 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by rajalary in Family, Travel

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Bullhead City, Downtown Container Park, El Cortez, Fremont Street Experience, Golden Nugget, Grand Hotel, Julie Lary, Las Vegas, rajalary, Rich Lary

Mount Vernon

This year, we had two Thanksgivings. One Thanksgiving with my mother in Mount Vernon, and a second the following day with Rich’s father, Ted Robertson, in Bullhead City, Arizona, just over the border from Laughlin, Nevada.

The Thanksgiving preparations began on Wednesday evening with my making stuffing for the turkey. It was late in the evening, and I was rushing. I’d purchased food for the Thanksgiving the weekend before and put it in the refrigerator in Mount Vernon. I brought the rest from Kirkland. Instead of bringing jars of spices and fresh picked herb from my herb barrel, I grabbed a container of Cajun seasoning.

I browned a large onion and several stalks of celery, and then added half a loaf of moistened cubed Greek olive bread, sliced mushrooms, and chopped parsley. I regrettably poured, instead of sprinkled in the Cajun seasoning. Even though I realized I’d added too much, I stared mixing.

The stuffing was way too salty!

Thanksgiving in Mount Vernon

So I cubed up the rest of the olive bread… added in more chopping parsley, and started to search around for more stuff to add. Luckily, I’d bought a bell pepper last week for my mother, which her caregiver didn’t use. It got chopped and dumped in the stuffing. Next, I went outside and picked some kale, the only vegetables left in the garden. It too was added to muddle.

Even with the added ingredients, it was way too salty! With nothing left to add, I tossed the stuffing into the refrigerator, and hoped for the best the next day.

The morning began with my making a pumpkin pie. I’d purchased a pie pumpkin weeks earlier, which I cut in half, and tossed in the oven to bake while I made the crust. Pie pumpkins have great seeds, which I washed, and Rich later roasted with salt and pepper.

Next, I made the cranberry sauce, prepped the yam dish (oranges and maple syrup), boiled some deceased carrots, and mashed with butter, eggnog, and sea salt (no one was the wiser), and sliced white potatoes to boil for mashed potatoes. Finally, I prepped some brussels sprouts.

It was time to stuff the turkey…

Because only Rich, and I, and my mother were having Thanksgiving in Mount Vernon, Rich purchased a “hybrid” turkey, which when we opened was missing its legs, wings, and tummy. We examined it for a few minutes, and then concurred we could plop a couple of handfuls of stuffing under the breast plate, and then stretch the skin to cover it up. There was also another small cavity, at the back, for securing stuffing.

The remaining boat-load of stuffing, I put in a large casserole pan.

The result? The stuffing was perfectly seasoned. I knew the turkey would absorb most of the excess salt, but was surprised the stuffing in the casserole was okay.

After cleaning up, and freezing most of the dinner for my mother to eat in the coming weeks, we drove back to Kirkland, packed, and got the cats, birds, and house in order for our trip.

Bullhead City

Friday morning, the alarm went off at 3:15 a.m. After a quick shower, we pulled on our clothes, grabbed our bags, counted the cats — to make sure none were locked in a room — and headed to the airport. We had a smooth flight, landing in Las Vegas, getting a rental car, and heading to Bullhead City, Arizona by 10 a.m.

Before visiting Ted, we stopped at a park that borders the Colorado River on the Nevada side. We took a brisk walk because the wind was gusting. We then chatted with a Canadian couple who are traveling around the United States. They were delighted with Bullhead City, which truly is splendid during the winter months.

It occurred to me why so many Canadians find America intriguing. Canada doesn’t have the vast variety of landscapes from snow-capped mountains to warm sandy beaches, vast deserts, swamps, plains, and dramatic places-of-interest like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Niagara Falls, Florida Keys, and Monumental Valley. And nothing matches the places to visit in American cities from Hollywood to Manhattan to Memphis, Houston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta City, Miami Beach, and points-in-between.

After visiting with Ted for several hours, we followed him across the street to his “special” friend Sue who had spent the day cooking a Thanksgiving meal. Sue takes care of Charlie who is turning 94. In spite of Charlie’s age, hearing loss, and near blindness, he enjoys interacting with people.

Bullhead City and Laughlin

After stuffing our tummies, and discussing at length Rich’s beard – to shave or not to shave – we returned to Ted’s house to chat for a while before going to bed.

The next morning, Rich and I got up earlier and returned to the park along the Colorado River. We planned to take a longer walk to the Davis Dam, and dressed according to combat the wind. We had a pleasant, but windy walk, snapping pictures, and stopping to read the sign along the walkway.

Rich then decided we should take an alternate route back to our car. However, instead of taking the marked trail, we climbed to a viewpoint, and then trail blazed across a mesa. Happily, Rich decided to head back down at the precise time we lined up with a sandy trail that headed down the mesa.

We kinda’ took a step, and skid for a foot or until the sand stopped our descent, and then took another step. The only problem was we were both wearing Keen sandals, which quickly filled with sand and tiny sharp rocks. Ouch!

Later, when we viewed the mesa from a distance, we realized we took the ONLY sandy trail down the mesa. The alternative was brush- and rock-covered. Sometimes miracle happen.

We spent the rest of the day looking at picture albums and chatting with Ted until mid-afternoon when we went across to Laughlin, Nevada, and had lunch in one of the casinos at Bubba Gump. Afterwards, I immediately lost a $1 in one of the slot machines. Sue, on the other hand, put $2 into a machine, played 30 numbers at once, and instantly got multiple free plays. When the machine stopped chiming, she won $27!

Sue was nonchalant about winnings; whereas, Rich and I were jumping up-and-down with excitement!

Sunday morning, we had a late breakfast/early lunch at Denny’s with Ted, and then hit the road.

Last Stop: Las Vegas

We’ve been to Las Vegas many times, and were going to skip going during this trip, but I wanted to see the downtown area and the Fremont Street Experience. Months ago, I made reservations to stay at the Golden Nugget, which received high marks.

We we’re disappointed from the automated check-in to our spacious, elegantly appointed room, complete with robes. Plus, the room cost just $53!

I was pleased with the Golden Nugget as soon as we walked in the door. The holiday ornaments and decorations were fabulous with polar bears, white reindeer, elves, a white-bearded Santa, and beautiful ornaments, ribbons, and other flourishes.

In the center of the hotel’s two towers is a large pool deck with a 200,000 gallon aquarium in the center. In the aquarium are several varieties of sharks – sandtiger, brown, nurse, blacktip reef, and zebra – along with large fish like horse-eye and crevalie jack, redfish, blue runner, Queensland and black grouper, golden trevally, cobia, and stingrays.

The best part of the aquarium is the two-story water slide. It took no time for me to convince Rich that we needed to change into our bathing suit, jump into the

Golden Nugget, las vegas

pool, and work up the nerve to go down the slide… even though it was breeze and cool outside.

My first decent down the slide was a little scary as I didn’t know what to expect. The next 5 or 6 were a blast! The slide takes several turns before thrusting you through the sharp tank, and then disposing you in a shallow pool.

My supply of adrenaline used us, we spent a few minutes in the hot tub, and then dashed back to your room for a quick shower and night-on-the-town.

Our first stop was the newly opened Downtown Container Park, which is amazing, fabulous, and fun! It’s made out of metal cubes, along with refurbished shipping containers that could have previously be used on cargo ships or placed on trucks for shipping good. The containers are stacked one-on-top of each other to form shops, stairways, sitting areas, restaurants, art galleries, and common areas.

The park is designed to be a business incubator, allowing entrepreneurs to start small in a 250 space foot space, the inside of a shipping container.

There is also a large stage with Astroturf in front, and a boxcar and caboose in the back, the later containing a barber shop called Bolt Barbers.

In the center of the park is a playground and interactive zone with a 30-foot-tall tree house, three different slides, and an electronic game, where children engage by raced around, hitting flashing lights.

It was dusk when we arrived at the park. At the entrance was performers engaging children and adults in a drum circle. Behind the performers was a 40-foot praying mantis sculpture mounted on a truck. As the last bit of sun faded, and the drumming grew louder, the mantis spewed fire from its antennae. It’s very dramatic, and something we hadn’t expected to see.

The park was developed by the Downtown Project, a community revitalization group funded by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. The site used to be home to a Motel 6. It’s now an amusing place to spend a few hours, wandering through 41 metal cubes and 30 repurposed shipping container. Learn more about the park and vision for the area.

Hungry, our next destination was to find a place to eat. We passed by the Heart Attack Grill, which touts “Taste… Worth Dying For.” The waitresses are dressed as nurses who take prescriptions and customers are considered patients. A tag is wrapped on patients’ wrists showing which foods they ordered, and a “doctor” examines the patients’ health with a stethoscope.

Their menu consists of insanely large hamburgers, including an Octuple Bypass Burger with 8 beef patties, 40 slices of bacon (5 per patty), American cheese, red onion, sliced tomato, and Heart Attack Grill’s unique special sauce. You can also ordered Flatliner fries (cooked in pure lard), and range of beverages, including Mexican-bottled Coca-Cola and “Butter-fat Shakes.”

If you manage to finish a Triple or Quadruple Bypass Burger, a nurse will wheel you out to your vehicle. Not sure where they wheel you if you eat at the Heart Attack Grill on Fremont Street since I didn’t see a parking lot nearby.

We opted for a slightly lower form of gluttony, a buffet at a casino!

I’ve never eaten at a buffet and NOT regretted it later. This trip was no exception. I take a few bites of each of my favorite foods, but put together is was WAY TOO MUCH to eat from blue cheese dressing poured over the yummies at the salad bar to French onion soup, macaroni and cheese, baked salmon, sushi, seafood salad, and cooked vegetables, which I dipped in melted cheese (intended for pouring over tortilla chips). And because we got to the buffet before the crowds, there was a huge selection of desserts, which Rich and I shared.

Container Park and Las Vegas

Oh, you don’t want to know how many slices of different types of cakes and pastries (i.e. napoleon, cannoncini, etc.) we ate.

Our bellies stuffed to capacity, we hit the streets, walking through casinos, looking at signs and buildings from the 50’s, many of which have since fallen into disrepair. There were also signs of hope with the gentrification of several blocks, and developers breathing new life into the original casinos and hotels.

The longest continuously-running casino in Las Vegas, the El Cortez Hotel and Casino feels like a step-back in time with 40’s interior design of dark wood, leather-covered chairs, patterned wallpaper, and low ceilings with amber lights.

Opened in 1941, and purchased by Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky in 1963, the El Cortez has expanded, but the original two-story, Spanish-style buildings remain. The Flame Steakhouse, at the El Cortez, serves food that’s reminiscent of the “Rat Pack,” such as jumbo shrimp cocktails, oysters Rockefeller, and oysters on the half shell for appetizers, french onion soup, iceberg wedge, and traditional Caesar as starters, and pork chop, filet mignon, surf & turf, steak diane, and prime rib of beef as main courses.

The Downtown Grand Casino and Hotel, which was formerly the Lady Luck, has a steampunk feel with exposed brick walls, spectacular chandeliers, and giant gears and other mechanics displayed as art. It’s steps from the Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, which is located in the former federal courthouse where in 1950 the Kefauver Hearings on Organized Crime were held to expose and control organized crime.

The museum is probably fascinating, but at $20 per ticket, we opted for continue walking through downtown Las Vegas. Plus, it was a beautiful night.

We then came across a large, dramatic office complex, which we later learned is the headquarters for Zappos, online shoe source extraordinaire. Formerly located in Henderson, Nevada, a short drive from Las Vegas, Zappos remodeled the Las Vegas City Hall site, and moved their relocated its 1,200 employees to the new complex in 2013.

The move is designed to boost the local economy and help revitalize the downtown area to the tune of $336.6 million, with the city collecting approximately $395,900 annually in additional property taxes. With up to 2,000 employees at Zappos, there’s an increased need for restaurants, retail stores, health care providers, apartments and condominiums, and other services, which is great news for downtown merchants, hanging on until the economy improves.

The next morning, we drove around and were astonished to see so many new high-rise buildings in the area, and positive signs that downtown Las Vegas will return to its previous appeal before the “strip” became the main attraction and magnet for development funds.

We caught only the tail-end of a Fremont Street Experience. What we saw wasn’t overly impressive, and didn’t overcome the despair on the street. There are many beggars, shysters, and low-life who take up residence on Fremont Street as the night wears on.

It’s a safe area because of the many police, but one won’t want to wander too far from the neon lights. Many of the shops are seedy, and casinos lure in customers with scanty- or bikini-clad female dealers and bartenders, who alternate between working the tables, serving drinks, and dancing on top of bars or raised platforms.

Lining Fremont Street are sidewalk bars, where you can get a tall plastic “vase,” filled with frozen concoctions, spinning in slushy machines. Choose from margaritas, daiquiris, mud slides, mojito, pina colada, and much more.

Around 10 o’clock, we tried of the hubbub, and returned to the Golden Nugget to watch the sharks swim, and sit by the fire pit in the pool area.

The next morning, we woke to loud noises at 6 a.m. Our room was over the conference center and they were replacing some ducts. Rich called the front desk to complain. To make up for the unexpected early-morning wake-up call, we got to go through their breakfast buffet for free. While Rich enjoyed the food, I was nauseated from the buffet gluttony the night before. Nevertheless, I enjoyed a few bites of a tasty omelet and some fruit.

We walked around for a while, then returned to our room so I could dial into a conference call for work. Afterwards, we found parking on the strip, grabbed the camera, and snapped pictures of our favorite building. I keep wanting to see Vegas not for the gambling, food or entertainment, but the buildings. I don’t think I could ever tire of seeing the variety of architecture and interior design.

During the day, you can see the detail on the Paris, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, Venetian, and the many other ornate, themed casinos. And ARIA, Vdara, and the other magnificent buildings in the same area.

Dinner was at Jack-in-the-Box before an uneventful flight back to Seattle, and two Thanksgivings spent in three states: Washington, Arizona, and Nevada.

Highlights from Our Boating Adventure

22 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by rajalary in Hobbies, Travel

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Gulf Islands, Haro Straits, Julie Lary, rajalary, Ranger Tug, Rich Lary, Roche Harbor, San Juan Sailing, San Juan Yatching, Sucia Island, Tug Time!, Victoria

It’s been a mixed up year for Rich and I so I’ve decided to scramble around the account of our annual trip on Tug Time, a 29-foot Ranger Tug, and focus on the highly memorable parts.

Ominous Beginnings

With forecasts predicting rain, cold, and general dreariness for much of our trip, neither one of us was particularly gung-ho about going. We packed at the bitter end, tossing in clothing, food, linens, boating gear, and other “stuff,” which was on our check-off list. We’d started this list years ago so it also included things like sunblock, bathing suits, and shorts. None of which we anticipated needing this trip.

With spirits dampened by the weather, we didn’t rush to get to Bellingham. We arrived less than an hour before the orientation for captains and crew. Rich being the former; me the latter. We half-heartedly listen, ate hotdogs and potatoes salad, provided by San Juan Yachting, and then dragged our stuff down to the boat.

After unpacking, we realized we’d forgotten to take our fleece jackets and pants. I was in a bit of panic because it’s nice to pull on my fleece after showering, or first thing in the morning when the boat is chilly. With Mount Vernon 30-minute away, Rich agreed to drive back and get the extra clothing.

When we returned, around 9 o’clock at night, we were prevented from getting on Tug Time… by a very agitated and vocal seal, which was sprawled across the dock. Last year, when we were pulling into the slip, at the end of our trip, a seal was also on the dock. It slithered into the water at the last minute, before I needed to step onto the dock to tie off the boat.

The seal we encountered the night before our departure, however, had no interest in moving. He’d found a nice place to sleep, a few feet from where we needed to step onto Tug Time. Hearing my reasoning with the seal – I couldn’t decide whether he was going to bite if I eased between him and Tug Time – several people arrived from other boats.

One man scolded me for thinking I could get close to a seal. They evidentially have no reservations about biting, and their saliva is full of bacteria. Their sharp teeth can easily tear human flesh, resulting in a terrible wound and infection.

The man then shooed the seal into the water, allowing us to safely board Tug Time.

The next morning, we had an uneventful voyage to Deception Pass. Originally, we planned on going from Bellingham to Deception Pass via the Swinomish Channel, which separates Fidalgo Island from the mainland. However, it was an ambition plan, and if we couldn’t make it through Deception Pass, we’d be stuck until the next slack (point of minimum current) tide. The current through Deception Pass can be 8 or 9 knots, which can rapidly sweep a boat against the rocks.

I’m glad Rich opted for the safer route because it gave us time to explore Deception Pass Park and learn about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Established in 1923, the park now welcomes over 2 million visitors per year. It’s the most visited park in Washington. In the 1930’s the CCC built roads, trails, and sturdy stone and timber buildings, which are still in use today, including covered barbeque areas, restrooms, group shelters, cabins, and a conference center.

Two of the buildings are now part of an interpretive center, which has displays and a short movie on the CCC. It’s extraordinary (especially in light of today’s short-sited Republicans), the vision President Roosevelt had to put citizens to work on public projects, which not only gave them a sense of purpose, but significantly contributed to strengthening the country’s infrastructure (bridges, roads, dams, etc.) and recreational facilities (trails, parks, cabins, etc.).

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Deception Pass Park, which previously, we’d only seen while zipping over the Deception Pass Bridge which connects Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands. And several times, we’ve walked in the vicinity of the bridge, venturing less than a quarter mile on either side. The park, however, is quite large with lots to see and do.

Oh Canada… You Treat Us So Well

The next morning, it was very overcast with less than a quarter mile visibility as we headed to Victoria, Canada. Rich and I both kept our eyes on the water, listening carefully to the VHF, and trying to make out shapes in the dense, gray blur.

As we were crossing the shipping lanes, which are like giant freeways for ships and commercial traffic, we got a call on the radio. The caller wanted to know if we were pulling a barge. It took us a while to figure out that he thought Tug Time was a commercial tugboat!

When surrounded by pea-soup-consistency fog, you need to constantly watch the radar

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to spot ships before they appear, and then adjust your course accordingly. If a large ship is traveling 15-20 knots in a shipping lane, by the time they spot us, tugging at 8 knots per hour, it could be too late for either boat to avoid a collision.

It took us five hours to get to Victoria, with us passing many ship, but only seeing through the fog a couple of commercial whale watching vessels. These boats travel very fast and can switch course quickly so they often zip behind or in front of Tug Time on their way to drop-off and pick-up sightseers.

Happily, the rain held off until we finished going through customs. We then docked in a light drizzle, secured the boat, and briskly walked to Chinatown for dim sum. We were the only ones in the restaurant, but they graciously heated up left-over dim sum. It was a lovely, very late lunch.

We then walked around and darted into shops until the rain necessitated returning to the boat. We read for the rest of the afternoon, and watched a silly blue heron saunter on the dock, periodically poking his beak in the water, and then springing into action, seizing a small fish, tilting back his head, and gulping it down within seconds.

After dinner, the rain ceased, and we decided to venture out for a walk. The moon was bright and the air crisp. We had a very pleasant walk along the water, in front of the government building, through the Empress Hotel, and then back along the water where we saw a river otter dashing across the docks. On our way back to Tug Time, we started a conversation with two men who were sailing a 42-foot Hunter, named Perfect Excuse, to San Francisco. They’d been sidelined for several days in Victoria because of the weather, and were anxious to take off the following morning with forecasts of clear skies.

The owner of the boat was from Edmonton, Canada, where he works in the coal tar industry. We spent at least an hour chatting about natural and renewable energy, differences between Canada and the United States, politics, and the benefits of living in Mexico.

After arriving in San Francisco, the man was going to pick up members of his family, who would compete with him in Baja Ha-Ha, a sailboat race from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

The next morning greeted us with dazzling skies and a splendid drive to Sydney, at the top of Vancouver Island. Rich and I both love Sydney. It’s the perfect-sized town with everything a person could want, plus, it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

We spent the rest of day walking around, talking to a Canadian woman about her travels and life in Canada, drinking Americanos at Starbucks, checking out books on living in Mexico and Costa Rica, and enjoying the splendid weather.

Because we were both unemployed, and feeling very unemployable during this trip, we lapsed into thinking about packing up our lives and relocating to Mexico. We envisioned living in a cute house with a VW Bug parked up front, working at minimum wage jobs, eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and hanging out at the beach.

When we returned from our trip, I was convinced a great place to move, with affordable, newer houses walking distance to the water, is Barra de Navidad north of Manzanillo on the western coastline of Mexico. However neither one of us are the type to run-away. And after reflecting on what we really wanted – a house by the water with room for our “stuff,” the cats, garden, and opportunities to occasionally sail – we realized all we had to do was continue working for a years, and then move into our Coupeville house on Whidbey Island.

Back to America

We didn’t linger for long the next morning, knowing we had to drive for many hours from Sydney to Roche Harbor, check into American customs, and then zip over to Sucia Island for the night. Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, is one of my favorite marinas. It’s a treat to walk around and admire the historic Hotel de Haro, wander through the gardens, enjoy the other historical buildings, and meander through the sculpture park.

In the sculpture park, we hurried over to an easel with a polished mirror on it. Rich then pointed the camera at the mirror to snap the reflection of both of us. Check out the pictures to see how we look zoomed in-and-out. Last year, we had fun using this technique to snap our self-portraits.

I also wrote a wish and placed it in one of the prayer urns in the park, and then gave it good spin. One of the nicest aspects of the sculpture park is the ability to interact with the artwork, touching, spinning, opening, closing, and even using gongs to punctuate the silence with a pleasant peal.

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We didn’t spend as much time in the park as usual because earlier I’d received an email asking me to write-up a document for a client… since I was the only person who had the knowledge. The challenge was remembering the details with nothing to refer to on my personal netbook. Once completed, I rushed to the café onshore, and sent the email with the completed document, and we were back on the water, heading to Sucia Island.

There are several places to moor at Sucia so we had no troubles getting a mooring ball. We then took our dingy ashore to walk around. It’s an interesting island, which in Spanish means “dirty” because of the jagged shores lined with hidden reefs and rocks that could do serious damage to a bottom of a boat.

The broken shorelines is from geologic folding of the earth’s crust, exposing not only fossils, but sharp, uneven rocks. Walking along the shores is fun because you can see layers of sediment along with imprints from sea critters caught hundreds of years ago in the mud. Plus, the island is irregular with several fingers and outlying islands, some of which you can be reach on foot at low-tide.

Because the island has many nooks and crannies to explore and protected bays, it’s attractive destinations for kayakers. Anchored in the bay were two ships with Un-Cruise Adventures, which offers expeditions through the San Juan Islands for adventurous guests who have access to the ships’ kayaks, paddle boards and inflatable skiffs to explore the islands, and go ashore to hike, bird watch, and wander through the towns where the ships stop.

For our second to last day, we went to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to stretch our legs, leave our recyclable, empty trash, shower, and wander through a couple of stores. I was amused by one boat in the marina named “Bugsy Seagall.” People come up with clever names for their boats!

We spent the night anchored off Shaw Island, watching the ferries glide over the water, lit like giant ballrooms, and wandering if we’ll ever have the chance to once again charter Tug Time. We’ve enjoyed every moment on the boat!

Tug Timing Around the Puget Sound

10 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by rajalary in Sailing, Travel

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Cypress Island, Julie Lary, rajalary, Ranger Tug, Rich Lary, Richard Lary, San Juan Sailing, San Juan Yatching, Shaw Island, Tug Time!

For the past six years, we’ve chartered a boat from San Juan Sailing/Yachting. This year, like the previous two years, we chartered Tug Time, a luxurious 29-foot Ranger Tug, with everything we could possibly want for the week. Familiar with the boat, we are able to thoroughly relax, not having to wonder how to use the instruments, light the stove and oven, flip the switches on the electrical panels, best way to grab a mooring ball or anchor, and myriad of other “things” one needs to know to go from point A to point B in a boat.

This trip, however, we were bogged down with worry.

In June, Rich was laid-off from IBM, less than two years before his retirement. Happily, he was given six months of severance and other benefits. Nevertheless, it hasn’t eased the challenge of getting another job. His focus at IBM was Linux device drivers for IBM servers, which is the opposite of what employers are seeking. Windows and software (versus hardware) development is the overwhelming focus in the Seattle area.

Meanwhile, I was working gangbusters as a freelancer on Microsoft short-term projects through June. With the start of Microsoft’s fiscal year in July, and announcement of re-organizations a few weeks later, the work dried up. And even though the agency I’d been contracting through kept saying they were going to be busy, no work came my way.

Adding to our stress, we’ve been juggling my mother’s care, listing for sale and then selling our Anacortes lot (yeah!!!), leasing our Coupeville house (we had three potential renters within a day!!), leasing my mother’s house in Sherwood, Oregon, refinancing Rich’s brother’s house to lower the payments (he’s quadriplegic and Rich oversees his finances), and keeping up our Kirkland (primary residence) and Mount Vernon (where my mother now lives) houses. I dream of the day when we have one house!

Shimmering Moon Over Cypress

Our last full day on Tug Time was a reflection of our present lives.

The night before, we had a magical evening anchored off Shaw Island. It was a quiet bay that we shared with several other boats, many of which probably belong to the residents of the island. As the sun started setting, I pulled out my binoculars, and watched a blue heron methodically walk on a floating dock, slowly lifting each leg, bending its knees backwards, and then carefully placing its foot a few inches forward, it’s long, graceful toe flexing, and then spreading out as he easing his weight from one foot to the other. The entire time, it surveyed the water, hoping to find an unsuspecting fish, which it could quickly snatch in its bill, and then swallow in a single gulp.

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As the sun set, the ferries that chauffeured passengers and vehicles from island to island turn on their lights. In the dark of night, they look like sparkling fairylands gliding across the shimmering water. We never tire of watching them coming into view and then disappearing. But as the hour grows later, and the day’s activities catch up with us, fatigue takes over and we crawl between the flannel sheets, several warm comforters on top, falling asleep as Tug Time gently rocks in the water, and slowly swings as the wind changes direction.

After our customary breakfast of coffee, frosted mini wheat, milk, and a piece of fruit, we pulled up anchor, and headed to Cypress Island. We’ve been to Cypress Island many times to gaze at the view from Eagles Cliff. Two years ago, when we were admiring the panorama, Rich looked down at this foot, and saw an old coin. When he dusted it off, he realized it was an Indian head penny from 1890.

With clear skies and light breezes, our drive over to Cypress Island was uneventful until an alarm sounded. It took us several minutes to figure out it was the carbon monoxide detectors. The LEDs on the alarms indicted there was no power.

Rich checked the voltage of all of the batteries and realized the starter engine battery was dead. Having reset the inverter switch several time throughout our recent trip, Rich went to the back of the boat and noticed one of the four battery switches was off, so he turned it on. The issue was instantly solved. However, to make sure he was supposed to turn on this switch, Rich contacted San Juan Yachting. They concurred he’d taken the correct action.

We continued to Cypress Island where we easily grabbed and tied up to a mooring ball. We changed into shorts, and then took our dingy ashore. It was low tide, which holds the promises of finding interesting treasures along the waterline. A quick walk up and down the pebbly shore yielded several pieces of rusty metal, including a rat tail file (which I thought was a metal chopstick until Rich pointed out the threading), railroad tie, and several large nails.

Having arrived at Cypress before noon, we had lots of time to walk around the island and see places we hadn’t been before. Although, to be brutally honest, there isn’t a heck of a lot to see besides the Puget Sound and boats zipping between the islands.

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Less than 50 people live on the island, which is around 5,500 acres in size. The only people I’ve ever seen are boaters and kayakers.

Having our fill of evergreen trees and picking pebbles off the beach, we returned to Tug Time for our customary afternoon cheese, salmon spread, crackers, white wine, reading or day dreaming. With several other boats in the cove, Rich couldn’t resist breaking out the binoculars to spy on them and comment on their mooring techniques.

With our trip nearing an end, it was hard not to lament that was probably our last charter on Tug Time. In the past, we’d immediately reserve the boat for the following year, but with Rich and I both searching for jobs, we’ll have to “wait and see.”

Adding to our angst is the responsibility of caring for family, wondering what we’re going to do about health insurance if we can’t secure jobs in the coming months, and the uncertainty of the economy with the lunacy of the Republicans.

Nevertheless, we were determined to enjoy our last few hours on the boat… assembling giant burritos from the last of our lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, refried beans, spicy chicken, and roasted green salsa. We then read until dark, admiring the full moon glowing on the still water. It was one of those perfect evenings where everything aligns perfectly like a Photoshopped picture.

After saying good-bye to the full moon, we crawled into bed, and flipped on the TV/DVD player in the forward cabin. We surfed the TV channels from Canada, and then watched the movie Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis. We’d brought a stack of DVDs to watch on the boat when we weren’t reading. Most of the movies we brought weren’t memorable except The Queen with Helen Mirren. We’d had this DVD for weeks, but put off watching it, thinking it would be boring. However, it proved to be fast-moving, engaging, and well-acted. We enjoyed it more than Lincoln.

Before we turned off the lights, Rich started up the engine to make sure everything was charged.

Battery that Couldn’t

We planned on getting up at 6 a.m. the next morning to pack, and motor back to Bellingham before the rush of other charter guests at the fuel and pump-out docks. However, Rich couldn’t get the boat started! The battery for the starter engine was dead.

He located a pair of jumper cable, and thought he could use the charge from another battery to jump the starter battery, but no luck. The switch he’d turned on the day before connected all of the batteries so overnight, they must have ALL discharged. It didn’t make much sense because the other batteries were all charged the day before, and it was only the starter battery that was dead when the carbon monoxide detectors went off.

The only option was to call San Juan Yachting and ask them to send a boat, which could give us a jump. Because they were concerned there was a major issue with the boat, and may have to tow it, they sent a 48-foot Grand Banks, which looked small on the water, but huge next to the 29-foot Tug Time.

Once the two boats were rafted (tied) together, they jumped the batteries. We started up the engine, and were ready to return to Bellingham. We followed the Grand Banks for a while, and then told them we were okay and they should go ahead.

Back in Bellingham, we got 63 gallons of diesel at the fuel dock. Over the course of our 7-day trip, we went over 158 nautical miles from Deception Pass off Anacortes and Whidbey Islands to Victoria and Sydney, British Columbia to Roche Harbor, Friday Harbor, Shaw Island, and several other Puget Sound islands.

Because we’d one most of the packing and cleaning of Tug Time while waiting to be rescued at Cypress Island it took us barely an hour to unload and clean the boat when we got back to Bellingham and San Juan Yachting.

Stay tuned for more highlights of our trip.

Bagpipes to Beaver Dams

07 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by rajalary in Entertainment, Travel

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Bog Hoppers, canoeing, Concrete, Enumclaw, Julie Lary, Marblemount, Pacific NW Float Trips, rafting, rajalary, Richard Lary, Scottish Highland Games, Skagit River

On Friday, Rich and I drove to Marblemount, Washington, an hour east of Mount Vernon in the North Cascades. Barely 2.5 square miles in size with a population of around 250 people, the town is one of the many small towns that dot the highway, including Concrete, which derived its name from the merging of two towns where the Washington Portland Cement Company and Superior Portland Cement Company plants were located.

Our trip to Marblemount was to take a canoe trip down the Skagit River, which is the second longest river in Washington, starting in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, and snaking its way to the Puget Sound. Every few years, heavy rains create flood conditions for town along the river, including parts of Mount Vernon.

The upper Skagit River is controlled by the Ross, Diablo, and Gorge Dams, which are part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. The river is not only an important spawning habit for five types of salmon, but is desirable for white water rafting, kayaking, and canoeing.

Remember the five types of salmon by holding up one of your hands. The thumb represents chum. The index finger can be used to poke yourself in the eye so it represents sockeye. The middle finger is king because it’s the longest or what you’d use to flip someone off to show you’re “king of the road.” The ring finger is silver, like a wedding band. And the pinkie finger represents pink salmon.

We started our trip, through Pacific NW Float Trips, by meeting our river guide, Joe, at a gas station in Marblemount. Several other groups were going out that day, including a flock of rowdy kids, wearing disposable rain ponchos, who were getting ready to white water raft. I was happy our group consisted of Joe, Rich, and myself. Less is more when it comes to water sports.

Glacier Gravel from Concrete to Picturesque Pond

With two aluminum canoes on top of Joe’s car, and hope that the rain, which followed us from Mount Vernon was done for the day, we headed to a series of ponds for the start of our day-long adventure. The ponds had originally been gravel pits, excavated to make concrete. So much gravel had been removed that when beavers created dams, water filled the pits and they became serene ponds, excellent habitats for spawning salmon and other wildlife.

We paddled around a pond, with Rich and I in one canoe, and Joe in the other. It was very pleasant, but a bit sedate for my taste. I prefer a bit more adventure. Having circled the pond, Joe recommended we park our canoes, and walk around to learn more about edible plants in the area.

Joe was a walking encyclopedia of what was edible, along with alternative uses for some of the plants. We nibbled on plantain, shepherd’s purse stinging nettle (after Joe showed Rich what to pick, and what to avoid), and thimbleberries (which I’ve always mistaken for salmon berries). We were also told the leaves of thimbleberries make excellent toilet paper!

After learning a bit about foraging, we headed back to Joe’s truck to pick up two more canoes for the next leg of our adventure. A river guide in Florida during the winter, and also a guide in Alaska, Joe’s housing is portable and temporary. When guiding on the Skagit River, he lives in a large teepee, with a fire brazier for warmth.

Beaver Dam Lead to Tippy Canoe

Our next stop was Illabot Creek, which feeds into the Skagit River. Happily, this time, portage of the canoes was a few hundred feet. Earlier, to reach the ponds, we had to carry the canoes about a quarter mile. While not overly heavy, they’re long and awkward to hold.

Illabot Creek is haven to salmon and eagles, and has been recognized by American Rivers and The Nature Conservancy for its importance in providing a crucial habitat for wild Chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout, pink, Coho, and chum salmon. The large number of salmon in the creek also make it a popular hangout for bald eagles.

What I immediately appreciated was the abundance of ripe blackberries on the trail along the creek. I wasn’t as elated with the foot-long garter snake Joe plucked from the grass. While pretty, the snake was a little too big for me to comfortably touch. One day I will get over my fear of snakes. One day!

In the meanwhile, later that afternoon, I had no hesitancies about petting the Northern Alligator lizard, sunning himself (or herself) on a concrete barriers. Lizards are cool. Snakes are scary.

No sooner had Rich and I plunked our butts into our canoe, we had to get out to carry it over a small beaver dam. The water came up to the bottom of our calves and was quite cold. As the afternoon progressed, we steadily got wetter…

Several times, we had to get out of the canoe to pull it over a beaver dam. Because the water was low, it wasn’t an issue and it was super easy – at least for me – to get back into the front of the canoe. After navigating over the dam, we came to a picturesque area with many reeds, and ducks hiding out along the shores. You could see small fish in the water, along with a multitude of plant life.

Joe shared the difference between reeds, willows and grasses, and pointed out various wild life and plants. Later, while nibbling on snacks, we spotted a beaver swimming across the water.

It was enjoyable navigating in areas, which would be impossible by foot or a larger boat. The canoes glided over the shallow areas, and were easy to paddle in deeper water.

On the way back, we seemed to have more difficulty getting over the beaver dams with my having to wade further out into deeper water to pull the canoe over the dam, while Rich struggled to get a foothold. At one point, the water was to the top of my thighs!

On the second to last dam, I’d already gotten into the canoe. I looked back to see Rich getting into the back when suddenly the entire canoe tipped to the side, instantly filling with water. I turned around again to see Rich sitting on the floor of the canoe. He was evidentially standing in the canoe and rocking it slightly from side-to-side to try to scoot it forward. When he went to sit down, he didn’t realize he wasn’t near the seat.

Joe instructed us to get out of the canoe, walk it to shore, and then tip it over. By the time we got the canoe up righted, I was soak from mid-chest down. Fortunately, it was warm outside, and I had a change of clothes in the car.

After getting the canoes loaded back onto Joe’s truck, returning to our car, and then changing into dry clothes, we joined Joe at Que Car BBQ for a tasty late lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed my pulled pork sandwich, and Rich had their chopped brisket.

It was a fabulous unexpected day with Joe, who proved to be an informative, confident, good-humored river guide. We would recommend Pacific NW Float Trips for canoeing or white water rafting down the Skagit River or other eco-tours and trips they lead on the Nooksack and Wenatchee Rivers. In addition, they offer a trip through the Swinomish Channel through Deception Pass.

Going Scotch

The last Saturday in June, we went to the Annual Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games and Clan Gathering in Enumclaw, Washington, east of Tacoma. Rich is half Scotch, which is where he probably got his height and good-looks!

We’d bought our tickets months in advance because I love Scottish heritage, especially the clothing. The performers, and many people in the crowd look dapper and disciplined in their kilts, starched shirts, vests, neckties, stylish tam-o’-shanters, ghillie brogues (shoes with laces and tassels), hoses (socks), and sporrans (bag worn in front… codpiece for Scotsmen).

We arrived earlier and my first thought was “It’s so small. We’ll be bored after a few hours.”

My initial perceptions were wrong.

The first hour or so, we wandered around the many booths in the Celtic marketplace, and stopped to ask questions at a couple of the clan tents. Each tent represents a clan, such as Bruce, Campbell, Craig, Ferguson, Fraser, Gordon, Gregor, Macalister, Macbeth, etc. The tents display memorabilia about the clan, such as I noticed the Morrison tent featured a picture of Jim Morrison from The Doors, who is of English, Scottish, and Irish decent.

There wasn’t a Robertson (Donnachaidh) tent, which is Rich’s heritage. We did locate the tartan designs for Robertson, which Rich didn’t like because they don’t contain enough green. Although, you can probably choose any kilt nowadays without fear of being attacked by an opposing clan. The days of Scottish aggression are over!

Hurling Stones, Sheaves, Weights, and Logs

Our next stop was the athletic competition. These events were originally used by chieftains and kings to choose the best men for their retinue by testing their strength, endurance, and agility. Many of the events were based on based on commonplace activities. For instance, farmers or crofters used pitchforks to toss bundles of straw (sheaves) onto the roofs of cottages that needed to be re-thatched. Today, the sheaf toss consists of using a pitchfork to chuck a 20-pound, burlap bag of straw up, and over a cross bar.

The Scottish hammer event may have derived from farmers’ mauls used to drive in fence posts or blacksmiths’ hammer. The hammer used today is 16 pounds, swung around the head, and then released. Putting the stone, from which the Olympic shot put derived, continues to use a rounded stone, weighing 17 to 23 pounds. The latter is called a braemar stone. The stone we saw used was somewhat oblong, and definitely not perfected rounded like a shot put.

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The most anticipated event is the caber toss, the rules for which have changed little since the fifteenth century. The event starts by standing upright a 16 to 20 foot tall log, weighing between 80 and 130 pounds. The competitor then grasps the bottom of the log, and walks forward or backwards a couple of steps before flipping it end-over-end, with the hope it lands in the twelve o’clock position. If it lands to the right, the score would be one o’clock or three o’clock it’s 45-degrees from where the bottom of the log was originally positioned. Falling to the left of twelve o’clock could get a score of 11:30 or less.

First, the ability to balance a log vertically is crazy. And then rapidly walking, and for some competitors, running, with the caber is unbelievable. And for many of the men we watched, flipping the caber over is extremely difficult. When the caber is correctly tossed, the crowd bursts out in cheers.

We spent a considerable amount of time watching men and women compete in the various events. We were most fascinated, however, by Kristy Scott, an elite woman competitor who is super buff, and easily flung weights, stones, and sheaves as if they were as light as feathers. She may have set a world record that day for weight for height, which consists of tossing a 28-pound weight over a cross bar.

Googling her, we discovered she’s a weight lifter. In July, she lifted over 500 pounds. Her tossing a 26-pound weight is probably like me lobbing a cherry at Rich.

Actually, all of the women competitors were tall, muscular, and incredibly strong. And the men made Rich look like a dwarf. They were huge. Tall, stout, and muscular. All of the competitors wore kilts with tee-shirts and athletic shoes. One couple, Todd and Lyman Asay, work dramatic kilts with flames insets. Both had flaming red hair with Lyman’s hair in a thick braid, which extended past her waist.

Bagpipes, Drums, Dogs, and Dancing

We didn’t want to miss the opening ceremonies so we headed over to the main field, where we watched several pipers perform for judges. The judging is quite stringent with the tuning of pipes and playing ability being judged. Four pipes need to be tuned, the chanter, which is the small pipe the player blows, and the three drone reeds, the wood shafts on the shoulder.

Playing ability focuses on fingering, along with ability to regulate blowing in the bag. The latter creates a steady tone, which complements the melody pattern of the chanter. The bag piper is considered one of the most difficult instruments to master.

The competitions included individual piping and drumming, drum competition with entire drum corps, and pipe bands, which consists of drummers and pipers. For the opening ceremonies, all of the bands line up and parade together onto the field. The beauty of the uniforms coupled with the steady drone of the bagpipes and rhythm of the three types of drums (snare, tenor, and bass) is very powerful.

Check out this video from the 2012 Scottish Drumming Championship. View as full screen, and watch the drummers twirl their sticks, and their exaggerated arm movements.

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After the opening ceremony, we wandered over to the barns to check out the Scottish Highland Cattle and other farm animals native to Scotland. In another areas, dogs that originated in Scotland were competing and showcasing their skills in herding, agility, barrel racing, and more. Represented were cairn terriers, Welsh corgis, golden retrievers, Shetland sheepdogs, Irish water spaniels, collies, Gordon setters, Irish setters, Scottish terriers, white terriers, and hounds.

My favorites are the terriers, collies, and shelties; all three I’ve previously owned. Rich liked the corgis.

Our next stop was to briefly watch the highland dance competition with children and adults dancing the Highland fling, Sean Truibhas, Flora MacDonald, Scottish Lilt, Full Tulloch, Pas de Basque, Sailor’s Hornpipe, Earl of Errol, and other traditional dances. The dance steps are very intricate and performed in groups so if someone is off a step, it’s very noticeable.

Of special interest to Rich was the displays of Scottish artisans and crafts from long ago, including carding and weaving wool, blacksmithing, and woodworking.

We also watched the group 1916, which melded punk rock music with traditional Celtic music, including bagpipes and whistles. They have a cool, infectious sound that makes you want to dance (or at least rock to the beat).

On another stage was the Bog Hoppers, a Seattle-based Celtic folk punk group. They were super fun to watch because of their hill-billy clothes, wacky lyrics, and fabulous strings, including banjo, mandolin, guitar, fiddle, and bass.

When we walked out the gates, nearly nine hours after we’d walked in, our spirits were refreshed. It had been a great day in a beautiful location, seeing weights and cabers tossed, hearing and watching performers, petting dogs, learning about Scottish heritage, and much more.

This Time I Didn’t Bounced Outta’ the Boat!

07 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by rajalary in Entertainment, Travel

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apples, Julie Lary, Leavenworth, rafting, rajalary, Richard Lary, River Recreation, Wenatchee River, white water rafting

Several months ago, Rich and I attended a fundraiser, where we won two silent auction packages. One was a white water rafting trip on the Wenatchee River in eastern Washington through River Recreation

With the weather expected to be in the 90’s over the weekend, I wasn’t looking forward to baking on a raft, with the sun reflecting off the water, further radiating my skin. Friday evening, we sifting through the bathroom cupboards, searching for the scarcely used tube of sun block. Finding none, we moseyed down to the local Safeway. While there, we stocked up on bottled water for the trip, and bought breakfast fixings.

After a hearty breakfast of eggs, sausage, and hash browns, which Rich cooked, we hit the road.

Our first stop was a roadside stand where we bought $2 worth of local Bing cherries. We hastily wiped them on our shirts and popped them into our mouths. They were sweet and juicy, no doubt, picked from the tree hour earlier.

The drive out to Monitor, Washington, where River Recreation is located, is punctuated with fruit stands, and acres of fruit trees, laden with apples, cherries, and pears. They’re in neat rows, spaced to accommodate pickers and large wooden crates.

Wenatchee, which is a little over 2 hours east of Everett, and near where we were going to raft is considered the “apple capital of the world,” with 170,000 acres of apple orchards, comprising the majority of the apples produced in Washington, Crops include deep red to light green apples, Braeburn to Cameo, Cripps Pink, Fuji, Gala, Gingergold, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Rome, Red Delicious, and Winesap.

Each year, 10-12 billion apples are handpicked in Washington State. It’s the largest agricultural product grown in the state, and 60% of the apples eaten in the nation come from Washington. It’s not surprise that Treetop has a plant in Wenatchee, with around 150 employees, producing low moisture, chilled and frozen apple ingredients for the food industry. In addition, the Aplet and Cotlets factory is in the area, along with smaller enterprising producing fresh and alcoholic apple cider, and other apple products.

Further down the road, we came to Leavenworth, which is an over-the-top tourist town with nearly every building architected and painted—including the auto repair shop – to resemble a Bavarian village. Even the Best Western is called the Icicle Village and Starbucks has a German theme. It’s quite a few blocks of shops, restaurants, hotels, outdoor stages, and landscaped areas idyllically, sandwiched between dramatic mountain ranges, which like Leavenworth, is blanketed in snow during the winter. It has year-round festivals and events, and is a popular place all times of the year because it’s family-friendly, closing to skiing, rafting, and other outdoor activities.

I’m not delighted by anything German so the town is more obnoxious than delightful to me. Nevertheless, with time to spare before our rafting trip, we put $1.50 in the meter, and decided to walk around the outdoor art festival. Before we could start walking, however, I was recognized by someone I worked with when I was a contractor at Microsoft Kinect for Windows.

Small world because I’d only worked with her a short time! It was fun to catch up and learn what was happening in the group.

With our fill of Leavenworth for the year, we hit the road and headed to Monitor.

One of the tour guides, described Monitor as two houses, a pallet factory, and River Recreation, the rafting company. According to the 2000 census, 342 people live in the Monitor zip code. It definitely had a has-been feel with dusty streets, and run-down buildings and houses. River Recreation was super cool, and a had a fabulous vibe with numerous picnic tables under umbrellas, large painted school buses, a warehouse full of wet suits, half a dozen tents for the guides under a grove of trees, and several large BBQs, fired up, cooking lunch for the guests.

River Recreation oversees guided tours twice a day. A group of rafters go out in the morning, and return around 1 p.m. for lunch. A second group is asked to arrive before 1 p.m. Following lunch, they hits the rapids. We were in the second group, which provided time to work up a healthy appetite. Fortunately, they served barbequed chicken legs, pepper beef, green solid, three-bean salad, tortilla chips, watermelon, and white bread with soft-spread margarine. No doubt, it was Costco-to-table, but sufficiently tasty and filling.

After lunch, there was a bad rush to get wetsuits and booties. It’s the first time I’ve worn a wetsuit, which is comfortable once you pull it on, but quite the chore to pull up… especially when rushed. We were each given a paddle and PFD (Personal Floatation Device), and then herded onto two large school buses. Fortunately, the 90+ degree weather hadn’t manifested. It was overcast and delightfully cool.

During lunch, we were joined by another couple, Kevin and Christine, who live on Whidbey Island. The probability of sitting next to someone who lives on Whidbey Island, during a rafting trip in remote Monitor, Washington, is close to zero. They are a delightful couple who shared interesting information about island life, computing on the ferry, and the challenges of getting a job, which is akin to one’s field. In Kevin’s case, he used to create and archive media for Disney in Los Angeles. He’s an expert is converting media to various formats for print, video, and other digital formats. Currently, he works at Nintendo.

We were hoping to be in a raft with them, but because I needed to take a pit stop when rafts were being assigned, we ended up on other raft with a Russian couple who live in Richmond, Washington, a hedge fund manager who works in Bellevue, and his associate, an Asian woman, who was visiting from Chicago. Our river guide, Brian, was from Bellingham, just north of the Canadian border.

As we drove to the drop-off site, the overcast skies, and distant lightning and thunder, turned into a hefty rain shower, which let up once we arrived… and then started up again a few minutes later. It was a torrential downpour. Fortunately, we were wearing wetsuits so it didn’t matter if we got wet.

There was a large group of rafters, from another company, in the water when we arrived so we not only had to wait for them to paddle down the river, but wait until River Recreation put all 17 of their rafts (we were towards the back of the pack) in the water… each with a minimum of 6 rafters and one guide per boat. Do the math. There were lots of rafts and rafters taming the rapids that afternoon!

Prior to our departure, we listen to a safety lecture with instructions for what to do if you fall in the water, how to get back in the raft (or float down the river with your knees bent and toes out of the water), how to help someone into the raft, and also how to correctly use your paddle. I was surprised at the extent of the safety lecture… as if people regularly fall into the water…

The first few minutes of the trip was spent learning how to paddle as a team, and understand the instructions barked out by our guide. It didn’t seem overly strenuous. It would certainly be easier than paddling a canoe with Rich when I’m in the front doing most of the work, and he’s just steering!

Our first set of rapids was exciting, pitching the boat from side-to-side. My first reaction was “Let’s do it again!” And “do it again,” we did numerous times for the 3 hour trip, which included taking out the raft by a small dam, and walking around the dam before putting it back in. At one point, the guide asked if anyone wanted to ride the next rapid – Snow Blind — on the bow of the raft. Rich volunteered me.

I was able to get on the bow with my slippery wet suit, but fell back into the boat, which was the instruction from the guide should I fall. The two men in the front of the raft were able to prop me back up on the bow, just in time for me to see the raft dip down into a crater of water. I held on tight for another few rapids, and then we came to a doozy of a rapid. I was immediately flipped into the boat with a tsunami of a wave that landed on top of me, knocking off my hat, pasting my glasses to my face, and cleaning out my nasal and brain cavity. It felt like I was underwater for 20 seconds or more.

Drenched, I slithered back to my seat at the back of the raft, happy to keep a low profile for the rest of the trip. At least, I hadn’t fallen out of the raft! The first time I rafted on the Guadalupe River in Texas, I was sitting on top of a back rests, and flipped out of the raft when we hit the first (and only) rapid on the water.

Throughout the trip, we could hear thunder and saw lightening in the distance. And several times, we paddled through a downpour. Crazy weather considering it was supposed to be in the 90’s.

Towards the end of the trip, we came to calm water, and the guide described several “games” we could play. One was rodeo where someone stands on the bow of the boat, holds onto a rope, and leans back while the rest of the rafters paddled in a circle. The hedge fund manager was game. He stayed upright for a minute or so and then found himself in the river. Rich pulled him out.

Another game is between two people who lock oars, lean back and walk themselves towards each other using their hands on the handles of the oars. Rich’s and my height difference would have guaranteed that I fall into the water. No thanks!

Most of the rafts had willing participants in the game… falling it the water, and then being retrieved. It became obvious why they’d given detailed instructions at the start of our trip about what to do when one falls into the water, and how to get back into the raft.

By the time we got back, the rain had subsided. It was nice to change into dry clothes, say our good-byes to our raft-mates, and Kevin and Christine. Maybe we’ll bump into them when we move to Whidbey Island in a few years.

Ambling back to the U.S.

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by rajalary in Sailing, Travel

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Ancortes, Chuckanut Bay, Gulf Islands, Jones Island, Julie Lary, Princess Margaret Island, Puget Sound, rajalary, Ranger Tug, Rich Lary, Roche Harbor, Tug Time!

(Continuation from “Bus Ride to Remember, Mural, and Painting with the Sun”)

After a delightful day at Thetis Island, we headed to Prince Margaret Marine Park off Portland Island. North of Sidney on Vancouver Island, Portland Island was presented to Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom in 1958 to commemorate her visit to British Columbia.

It’s estimated that Coast Salish natives lived on the island 3,000 years ago, as evidenced by several kitchen middens, heaps of crushed clamshells and other artifacts. The beaches resemble what you’d see on a tropical island, stretches of bright white, finely crushed shells. Interlaced with rocky areas, some covered with layers of sharp barnacles, and others stripped bare by the pounding waves.

The middens are classified as archeological sites, and are therefore protected under British Columbia law. It felt a bit strange to travel to the pristine island in Tug Time ─ equipped with a snazzy galley, featuring a propane stove and oven, microwave, double sink, wine coolers, and teak cupboards and drawers ─ and then walk in a “kitchen,” consisting of little more than well-worn rocks and piles of smashed shells.

Jones Island and Deer Harbor

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While hiking along the forested trails of Princess Margaret Island, we spied several raccoons below, foraging along the shore for tasty morsels. One young raccoon nervously looked around, while snatching a small crab, clam, other crustacean.

We spent the night on a mooring ball off Princess Margaret Island, going through our usual food routine of wine with cheese and crackers as the sun started to set, followed by dinner, reading and nibbling on cookies until it was time to retire to the forward berth to watch a movie on the built-in entertainment system.

For this trip, we brought:

Two bottles of wine
Two boxes of Triscuits with assortment of cheeses
Sourdough bread for dipping in olive oil and fresh ground peppers
Two boxes of Zatteran Jambalaya mix, augmented with spicy sausage, chopped onions, and green peppers
Salmon for barbequing
Zucchini and cucumbers from our garden… sliced and eaten raw
Dave’s Bread for Rich, and cheese pumpkin seed bread from a Chemanis bakery for me
Ham and turkey for sandwiches with sliced tomatoes
Burritos (made one evening, and then eaten cold for lunches and dinners) made from pork, green sauce, chilies, jalapeno refried beans, onions, and peppers
Fruit and chips (Rich can’t eat a sandwich unless he has chips)
Candy, dried fruit and nuts, granola bars, and cookies (from last Christmas)
Cereal for breakfast with hard boiled eggs

The only food we bought was coffee from Pot of Gold Roasting Company on Thetis Island (because Rich brought tasteless Folgers coffee), can of refried beans, six ice creams bars from various marinas, and cups steaming coffee.

Perfect Day Once Again in Deer Harbor

Early Wednesday morning, we checked into customs at Roche Harbor. While we waited for the mist to clear before heading back into the Sound, we sipped coffee and watched people coming-and-going… primarily boaters like ourselves and people staying at the many resorts in the area.

Roche Harbor is one of my favorite towns; it’s gorgeous with beautifully restored buildings, cobblestone walkways, gardens, and planter boxes, overflowing with flowers, boutique shops, and quaint restaurants, inns, and houses. It also has a sizable marina with many impressive yachts. It’s the Huntington Beach of the Puget Sound.

After leaving Roche Harbor, we visited Jones Island, which wasn’t overly remarkable. We tied up to the dock and hiked to the top of the island, observing a troupe of porpoises in the waters below.

Our next stop was Deer Island, which is a short distance from Roche Harbor, but diametrically opposite in demeanor. It’s a charming marina with a well-stocked store, nice showers and restrooms (if you boat, you’d understand the allure of nice showers), a couple of low-key inns, and lovely walking paths along the water.

After securing Tug Time in a slip, we enjoyed giant cones of scrumptious local ice cream, while wandering around the docks. There was a silly pseudo junk, painted with saying and pictures, TV at the tiller and spinning sail at the top. The boat resembled a family project. Check out the pictures in the gallery.

The evening couldn’t have been more perfect with a sliver of a moon in a jet black sky, lights from the walkways reflecting on the water, and a restored, older sailboat with a giant light on the top, which shone down on boat and neighboring boats. Earlier in the day, we spoke with the owner of the boat. They live on the boat in a marina near Seattle.

The next day, we reluctantly left Deer Harbor, and spent several hours driving to Anacortes. It was the first time we’d visited Anacortes by water, rather than bike or car.

There’s a Nordic Tug dealer in Anacortes so Rich wanted to go aboard several of their boats. From the outside, Nordic Tugs are sharp-looking boats with pointed fronts, curved windows, impressive smoke stacks, and plenty of room to walk around the deck.

The insides, however, were disappointing. You have to walk up a couple of stairs to get to where you steer the boat (pilot house), and then walk down several steps into the forward berth. Several times, Rich bumped his head. Evidentially, a 34-foot Nordic Tug isn’t as tall inside as a 29-foot Ranger Tug!

Roche Harbor and Chuckanut Bay

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Plus, the bed is smaller and v-shaped. Rich barely fit. And if I was in the bed with him, I’d need to sleep in a little ball because there wouldn’t be room for me to stretch out. After we got back to Bellingham, we bumped into a man who’d chartered a Nordic Tug, and without being coaxed, commented the bed would be too small for someone of Rich’s height.

The last night of our charter was spent at Chuckanut Bay, south of Bellingham. We’ve stayed at Chuckanut several times because it’s like being part of a giant diorama with houses nestled in the hills between the turning trees with trains whistling along the water’s edge. Within minutes of our anchoring, a lengthy train started across the trestle, maybe a quarter mile way, clicking-and-clacking and adding to the magic of the moment.

Across the bay, a Coast Guard vessel had anchored, perhaps a training exercise. They spent the night, their lights, like those on a luxury vessel, sprayed across the rippling water, adding to the moonlight. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful trip.

Even better, we immediately put a deposit down on Tug Time, to charter her again next September.

Rajalary

~ The adventures of Richard and Julie Lary

Category Archives: Travel

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Escape to Mount Baker

Training to Vancouver

Two-Day Island Staycation

Two Thanksgivings. Three States.

Mount Vernon

Thanksgiving in Mount Vernon

Bullhead City and Laughlin

Golden Nugget, las vegas

Container Park and Las Vegas

Highlights from Our Boating Adventure

Tug Timing Around the Puget Sound

Bagpipes to Beaver Dams

Going Scotch

This Time I Didn’t Bounced Outta’ the Boat!

Ambling back to the U.S.