Mon.-Wed., July 4-6, 2022
We start this post by bidding America a . . .
. . . Happy Birthday!
We celebrated the USA's big day quietly with Michael, Vanessa, Jacob and Mary.
Mary and her good friend Olivia
Jacob attempting to catch a
slightly overthrown pass at
the community pool
Laurie even joined Michael on
a short bike ride to pass the afternoon
It was a good day for us
Meanwhile, we had received a last minute phone call from Mark and Susie Johnson asking us to join them for a last minute, impromptu visit in Seattle.
Impromptu, as it turns out, is Laurie's middle name.
Thus, on Tuesday we were off to . . .
. . . the Santa Barbara Airport
As luck would have it, Alaska Airlines flies non-stop to Seattle from this quaint aerodrome next to scenic UCSB's beachfront campus. There were only a handful of people in this delightful building making travel so much more enjoyable.
A nice touch in the airport's lobby
Depicting Santa Barbara's
Spanish Heritage
This airport is so uncrowded that it makes our usual go-to, Burbank Airport, feel like LAX in comparison.
The only issue that I had personally was at the TSA checkpoint when their agent asked after my scanning if he could pat down my belly.
Why not, he looked Buddhist to me.
The flight to Seattle was a breeze.
At the Seattle-Tacoma Airport,
we spotted this Alaska Airlines tribute
to the UW Huskies, the soon to be
pride of the Big Sky Conference
In case you are wondering, no, this propeller job was a not our plane. We flew in on a small but highly efficient jet plane.
Bags in hand, we were met by Mark Johnson who whisk us off to his home on the famed Montlake Cut near Husky Stadium.
Nice flowers by his driveway
The view from the Johnson's backyard
Once at the Johnson domicile, we meet University of Washington's Strength and Conditioning Coach A.J. Middleton, a delightful young man who as been living with the Johnson's while his new home is being readied for his family's arrival in a few days. In a small world moment, we found out that A.J. had played a season in Germany's GFL2 with the Potsdam Royals in 2007.
After Susie Johnson joined us, we were on the road again, heading about an hour north of Seattle to their vacation home on Camano Island.
Near the end of our drive we
stopped at this legendary eatery
in the city of Stanwood . . .
. . . were we saw this UW, Mariners,
Supersonics die hard fan fellow diner
The food at Jimmy's was excellent.
I must highly recommend their Spaghetti Mizithra Cheese dish that blends Greek mizithra cheese with spiced browned butter into a truly delicious fusion.
The view from the deck of
the Johnson's vacation cabin
Spectacular Puget Sound vistas everywhere you look!
Now for some non-trip related items . . .
Anybody aching to be a
college Head Coach?
Then this job with the United Kingdom's fame Cambridge University Pythons may be what you are looking for to advance your career.
Me all of the time with our garage
door after I leave our house
A bold move by the Rams?
Spain vs. Italy in a Group B
IFAF U19 Tournament Semi-Final
game on Wednesday in Bologna
Total Italian Domination
with the eight Skorpion players
on the Italian squad
The Italian club will now take on
Team Finland that defeated
Great Britain in the other Semi-Final
On Saturday, Italy and Finland will square off for the Group B title. This Championship game will be preceded by the Third Place battle between Spain and Great Britain.
Big ELF Game brewing in
Spain on Saturday in the . . .
. . . the last two undefeated
squads clash
The 5-0 Barcelona Dragons hosting the also 5-0 Vienna Vikings, should be interesting.
Meanwhile, back in the Evergreen State of Washington . . .
We drove towards the city of
Anacortes through some scenic
farming areas
Immodest ice cream?
Hmmm, this is surely worth a stop.
The Immodest Ice Creamery
was housed in part of this building
They sell colorful woven baskets too
This scale has been around for
a few decades I suspect
Mu goodness, these SINGLE SCOOP
ice cream cones are extremely
IMMODEST if you ask me
And delicious too, on to Anacortes . . .
Ever the flirt with saxophone players
I really like it when cities, like Anacortes, combine their local history with murals on their historic buildings.
Mark and pet Millie are not
part of Anacortes' lore . . .
. . . but these three locals are
Left to Right:
Wallie Frank, Sr. is depicted in his U.S. Army uniform France in 1917.
Charles Pinson was a member of the U.S. Navy stationed on the USS Chabaulip in 1917. He was Anacortes' last surviving WWI veteran when he finally passed in 1995.
Hubert Crosby was the Empire Theater Manager from 1925 to 1928.
Paul and Nicolo Luvera
had a market here from 1922-1957
Nice wheel on the
Luvera's delivery truck
Old cities like Anacortes always
seem to have big, charming clocks
A random owl
After a solid lunch at Anacortes' Gere-A-Deli eatery and lots of window shopping, we re-boarded our vehicle and headed to . . .
. . . this beautiful area with . . .
. . . this wonderful view
The view from the
Deception Pass Bridge
A perfect spot for a
mid-afternoon snack
The shared order of popcorn
shrimp was just right
Another bridge in the Skagit Valley
village of La Connor
Local La Connor legend
Magnus Anderson's original log
cabin built in 1869
Eclectic sights in bustling
metropolis of Conway, Washington
Free the Slaves?
Nice robot
A donkey made out of old belts
Only in Conway . . .
Yes, Conway is an artistic village
to its very core
Then we spotted this wavy old barn
We had to investigate this a bit further.
The backside of the same barn is
causing the waviness we surmised
Interesting.
Back on Camano Island after a good day of exploring, we went for an evening walk on the beach.
Colorful wild flowers
Cloudy Coast
Two bald eagles joined us
Laurie amid our newly framed
Camano Island beach home
The Sun setting on another good day
LIFE IS GOOD!
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