Another Day, Another Adventure!

Today's adventure was Chuckanut Drive!  A wonderful day for a drive with spectacular views.

Lon ready for a long drive in the car. He stops playing and talks to us, and watches scenery too.

Our first stop to look at the view.

Lon wanted to follow all the hiking paths that he could find. However, we did not do that. Lon was happy to go just a little ways and then pose for photos!

Where we were.  And, yes, I was wearing a yellow shirt

Beauty shot. It was a beautiful day!

We stopped in at Win's Drive In. It was in Fairhaven/Bellingham.  Lon was telling Daddy that when he got older he would give him an allowance for doing chores, but Mommy would still not get an allowance, but she had to do all the stuff she is doing now anyway.

Mount Erie. It is fun to climb a mountain in a car! Here is a little bit more on the place!

Mount Erie is a mountain in Skagit County, Washington. The park land is owned and operated by the city of Anacortes and is located in the south of the Anacortes Community Forest Lands.

Mount Erie was named in 1841 by the Wilkes Expedition for the Battle of Lake Erie.^[3]
The mountain itself was first explored in the 1960s by local climbers, including Dallas Kloke.^[4] The mountain is known for its climbing as well as the view from the summit. Mount Erie is a city park operated by the City of Anacortes and the summit is accessible via a single-lane, paved road from the base. At 1,273 feet (388 meters) tall, Mount Erie is the highest point on Fidalgo Island.^[1]
The mountain is composed mostly of feldspar and hornblende rich diorite

Daddy and Lon on the big rock

Lon wanted to hike the paths and I was the chosen one to go with him! We went down to the another viewing area. Lon liked climbing over the rocks.

This is the "path" that Lon and I went down. I did it, and we went back up too!

Our next stop was Deception Pass!

There is alot of information on Deception Pass. The pass was named by George Vancouver. There were smugglers there too! It was a pretty exciting place!!

Crossing the bridge.  This was as far as Daddy got, Lon and I went the rest of the way. Really!

Since the road is super busy, they have a stairway that goes under the bridge so everyone can cross safely without getting hurt or tying up traffic.  Lon liked being under the bridge.

The stairs.  They were fun.

Our long walk back to the car, and we had to go around the corner a little ways too. Lon and I walked. He held my hand all the way.

The information post. I read it outloud to Lon. On June 10th Captain Vancouver named the place.

Back near the car with Grammalyn and Daddy!

We had been hearing jet noise as we crossed the bridge. We could not see them. We did once we got onto Whidbey Island.  The jets were practicing touch and gos. I told Lon about them and he thought that sounded like a pretty fun way to spend the day.

Driving by the gates of NAS Whidbey

We crossed the Island and onto the Kittatas! While we were in the car,on the ferry deck, Lon was asking about the automatic door locks, the fire hoses, the axe. I told him that fire is the scariest thing on a boat. From the front seat I hear this tiny husband voice say, except for seamonsters.  I could not stop laughing.

On Deck. Just a little bit of time to get to Mukeltieo, about 20 minutes!

The Lighthouse! I love this little light.  I talked Mark into going over there

Sadly, the light is only open to look inside on the weekends. It was still pretty to look at and Lon ran around a bit more

He rang the triangle and had a good time doing it too!  I told him we would come back later to look around inside since he does not remember when I took him there before.

We went home and had some great steaks on the grill. We even ate outside! It was another great day for adventures!

For those who want to know more about the hist

The Deception Pass area has been home to various Coast Salish tribes for thousands of years. The first Europeans to see Deception Pass were members of the 1790 expedition of Manuel Quimper on the Princesa Real. The Spanish gave it the name Boca de Flon.^[1] A group of sailors led by Joseph Whidbey, part of the Vancouver Expedition, found and mapped Deception Pass on June 7, 1792.^[2] George Vancouver gave it the name "Deception" because it had misled him into thinking Whidbey Island was a peninsula.^[3] The "deception" was heightened due to Whidbey's failure to find the strait at first. In May 1792, Vancouver was anchored near the southern end of Whidbey Island. He sent Joseph Whidbey to explore the waters east of Whidbey Island, now known as Saratoga Passage, using small boats. Whidbey reached the northern end of Saratoga Passage and explored eastward into Skagit Bay, which is shallow and difficult to navigate. He returned south to rejoin Vancouver without having found Deception Pass. It appeared that Skagit Bay was a dead-end and that Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island were a long peninsula attached to the mainland. In June the expedition sailed north along the west coast of Whidbey Island. Vancouver sent Joseph Whidbey to explore inlets leading to the east. The first inlet turned out to be a "very narrow and intricate channel, which...abounded with rocks above and beneath the surface of the water".^[4] This channel led to Skagit Bay, thus separating Whidbey Island from the mainland. Vancouver apparently felt he and Joseph Whidbey had been deceived by the tricky strait. Vancouver wrote of Whidbey's efforts: "This determined [the shore they had been exploring] to be an island, which, in consequence of Mr. Whidbey’s circumnavigation, I distinguished by the name of Whidbey’s Island: and this northern pass, leading into [Skagit Bay], Deception Passage".^[4]
In the waters of Deception Pass, just east of the present-day Deception Pass Bridge, is a small island known as Ben Ure Island. The island became infamous for its activity of smuggling illegal Chinese immigrants for local labor. Ure and his partner Lawrence "Pirate" Kelly were quite profitable at their smuggling business and played hide-and-seek with the United States Customs Department for years. Ure's own operation at Deception Pass in the late 1880s consisted of Ure and his Native-American wife. Local tradition has it that his wife would camp on the nearby Strawberry Island (which was visible from the open sea) and signal him with a fire on the island's summit to alert him to whether or not it was safe to bring his illegal cargo ashore. For transport, Ure would tie the illegal immigrants up in burlap bags so that if customs agents were to approach then he could easily toss the bags overboard. The tidal currents would carry the discarded immigrants' bodies to San Juan Island to the north and west of the pass and many ended up in what became known as Dead Man's Bay.

View looking southwest

Between the years 1910 and 1914, a prison rock quarry^[5] was operated on the Fidalgo Island side of the pass. Nearby barracks housed some 40 prisoners, members of an honors program out of Walla Walla State Penitentiary and the prison population was made up of several types of prisoners, including those convicted of murder. Guards stood watch at the quarry as the prisoners cut the rock into gravel and loaded it onto barges located at the base of the cliff atop the pass's waters. The quarried rock was then taken by barge to the Seattle waterfront. The camp was dismantled in 1924 and although abandoned as a quarry, the remains of the camp can still be found. The location, however, is hazardous and over the years there have been several fatal accidents when visitors have ventured onto the steep cliffs.
Upon completion on July 31, 1935, the 976-foot (297 m) span Deception Pass Bridge connected Whidbey Island to the tiny Pass Island, and Pass Island to Fidalgo Island. Prior to the bridge, travellers and businessmen would use an inter-island ferry to commute between Fidalgo and Whidbey islands.

Deception Island

Deception Pass is a dramatic seascape where the tidal flow and whirlpools beneath the twin bridges connecting Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island move quickly. During low tides, the swift current can lead to standing waves, large whirlpools, and roiling eddies. This swift current phenomenon can be viewed from the twin bridges' pedestrian walkways or from the trail leading below the larger south bridge from the parking lot on the Whidbey Island side. Boats can be seen waiting on either side of the pass for the current to stop or change direction before going through. Thrill-seeking kayakers go there during large tide changes to surf the standing waves and brave the class 2 and 3 rapid conditions.ory of Deception Pass:

The Leavenworth Area with Grammalyn

Today we went up to Leavenworth! We left a little early, at least for us, about 8:30.

Our first potty break, in Index.

Lon got to play this time. He loves playgrounds

The log is still over the falls. The water is much lower than it was last time.  (if you want to see the changes, go back and look at Mark's rafting trip blog from June)

Watching the water

At the Munchen Haus for hot dogs, lemonade and pretzels. Mark had the curry ketchup, I had a little of that, some apricot mustard, dill relish, onions and the apple cider sauerkraut. YUMMY!  I think the hot dog was an afterthought, all the stuff on it was so good.

After lunch, we walked around town to look at the shops. It was fun. There was a cheese fez at the Cheesemonger's shop that I had to have Lon try on. He was a good sport about it.

Listening to the scarecrow at Smallwoods. He tells the same story for every quarter you deposit.

We had fun playing out side even though it was 95 degrees. Sadly, the cow rides are only on the weekends, but we dealt with it.

The tire swing!  It was fun, then Lon remembered he was timid and had to stop.  At least he had some fun before he stopped.

Our next stop was Cashmere.  We finally got to the Pioneer Museum. It was so much fun. There is alot in that little museum. Well worth the stop. Lon got a sheet of paper with things he needed to find, once he found them, he x'd them out. Once the whole page was completed he turned it in for a prize. He was so proud of himself for getting all the items. I was his partner for the adventure and we  had a good time. The buildings were outside and even though it was very hot, it was so interesting.   All the buildings but the mission were real old building. Mainly built in the late 1800s.   They were furnished appropriately too!  Lon liked the printers building. I reminded him he saw a printers at Mystic Seaport and Colonial Willamsburg. He does not remember Williamsburg. Maybe next year we will fix that.

He found the brass elephant!! The bonus item! It was at the Millener's shop. 

Beauty shot of the Pioneer Museum

After the museum, sadly my camera ran out of battery! I forgot to charge it last night. I did not take photos at the Aplets and Cotlets factory.  Which we had fun looking at all of it.  We went up to the Mission Creek Cider Mill.  Tasted some more cider, while we did not buy any this time, we did buy some condiments. We played with the resident dogs too. Snickers and Truffle. So adorable. Even if they were little dogs. They had great personalities.  We stopped for dinner at the 59 Diner.  Surprisingly good. The burger I had was wonderful, even if it was messy.  The milk shakes were incredible. This is something that alot of people, except us, know! While we were eating, we saw alot of people come in just for milk shakes.  We need to do that next time we drive by. The best part is they have the tinytiny kid size shake. It was in a mini glass. Looked like a shrunken version of mine, but it only held about 1/2 cup. This was the perfect size for him. He drank it all, and ate all his corn dog.  We will stop there again.  It was a fun day. I did not even fall asleep in the car!

Showing Grammalyn Some Fun Stuff

Today we went up to the Boeing Store in Everett.  Mark wanted to try on some leather jackets to see if how they look. Mark wants to reward himself for his amazing weight loss with a leather jacket!

We could not go on the tour since Lon is about an inch and half too short.  Which is okay. We had a great time.

Lon got to sit in some first class airline seats. This might be the only time that he ever gets to sit in them!

We went up to the stratosphere level to look at planes, and if the clouds would not have been there, a great view of the surrounding mountains.

After our visit to Boeing, we went over to Snohomish. Our first stop was lunch! At Todos Mexican. It was wonderful food, but the best part was the pico de gallo. It was wonderful. I wanted to see if I could bring a big container of it home.  I am going to have to see if I can make that. The server thought I was pretty funny going over the ingredients of it with him to make sure I had them all!

We walked around down town, then stopped in at a pie shop. Lon got a big chocolate chip cookie and which he ate all of! Grammalyn got a chocolate pecan pie, which turned out to be a brownie pie, not the black bottom pecan pie she was expecting. I got an apple berry pie. Both were a touch too sweet for our tastes.  But we pretty much ate it all.

We came home through Woodinville and stopped by Molbaks. Lon was thrilled they are putting up their Christmas stuff! He watched them starting to put up the display. I hope he always loves Christmas this much.

Recycled materials made these great chairs.  Bright happy colors and pretty comfy too!

Tomorrow we are off on another adventure.

Grammalyn is here!

On Saturday Grammalyn arrived!  Sunday we had a little picnic for her

The grown ups had cheesecake! for dessert. I used Pete's of Port Townsend's Toffee for the crunchy bits. It turned out yummy

The kids had popsicles! On the hammock.

Bubbles! Bubbles Bubbles

Reyansh loves bubbles too!

There was real food too, not just desserts, but not that you would see that from any of the photos. Brian tried the cheesecake and liked it. We were all impressed with him for trying it.

We enjoyed our company very much, Uncle Chong, Auntie Michelle, Brian and Kayla, Auntie Prachi and Uncle Rahul and Reyansch made our little picnic very nice.

The next day we went out, first to visit Auntie Prachi and Reyansh

He is getting cuter every day. He is so smart too. He did not let Lon boss him around in his own house.

So darn cute! And so active too. He is at the stage that anything that Mom says is funny and he does it again.  His new thing is pulling out the covers from the plug ins. That was not going to do. I have (had) some security plug in covers that he can not pull out. Since this was a safety issue, after our errands were done, I pulled ours out and ran them back over. Reyansh was sleeping when we installed them over there. He is not going to be happy his game with mommy is over. His Mommy is happy though!

We went out to lunch at Red Robin. Since cousin Drew took Lon to Red Robin, Lon likes it. We had a nice lunch, mine was free since I got the Royalty card and it was my birthday month. Nice! Then we took a trip to Goodwill. Mark got some new shirts, Lon got a Star Wars toy, Mark's mom got some new books. I could not find anything I wanted this time.  Which is very rare.  But it happens.

Then we went to Uwajimaya grocery store. Lon really wanted to show Grammalyn the wall of fish. Mark got some clams and a crab. We like the clams best from there! We also got some other good things too. It is always fun to go there.