A Relaxing Day in Anacortes, WA

Eldon and I spent a very relaxing day in Anacortes, WA.  Anacortes is located just west of the tulip fields, which is in Mt. Vernon....just know you drive thru the area we go to enjoy the tulips and there ya be~

I loved not having any schedule and relaxing in a new place we hadn't been to before.  We found the small town alive and filled with exciting activities!

This was our favorite large ship.  The Oceana which was about 72 feet long. And it was taking off while we watched.  The docks were just filled with boats going in and out.  It was so much fun!

 All over the town were these art life size people that were part of the town years ago.  We enjoyed walking through the town checking out the "who's who" of Anacortes.

 At one of the Anacortes events, we saw this great "Music Truck" that had TONS of CD's and Disney characters on them.  The literally had instruments attached all around the track. You could see a number of kids playing on the truck, I have no idea where the owners were, but I'm sure they're used to seeing children flocking to their truck....

 ...more town characters....

 this guy was actually a prop used by one of the food stands at a pirate and boat race event...

 The one bike to use when you're not sure where you're going.

 More fun art found all through Anacortes.

We finished up the day by going to see a movie and relaxing through the day.  We loved being with each other and not having any plans to get back to.

"The Great American Race"

As the summer season begins to come to an end there were numerous discussions as to when the 

great "race" would take place...what race you ask...well...Eldon and Landon wanted to race on their motorcycles..Landon would drive his motorcycle across the Naches 4 wheel drive trail from the west side over to the east side, running about 35 miles on rough terrain.  Eldon would drive his motorcycle on the Chinook Pass highway (Highway 410) which runs about 50 miles.  Eldon's route was along the American River, which is why they came back terming it, "The Great American Race"....

The pictures above are the before shots....

 Eldon stops at the 

Chinook Pass summit to take this beautiful shot of Rainier in the background.

The race is completed and they meet up.  Eldon wins by only a  mere 7 minutes, out of an hour and 15 minute race!  Landon bullets through the difficult trail portion of the course in only 40 minutes!  If you've ever been on the trail, you'd know that is no small endeavor!  I think they were both excited to see each other.

 Landon, again jumping from point A to point B...

 Again, Eldon doing his best to keep up with Landon....I'm just glad he could hang on and survive the picture

 After they met up, they took to the trail together

 fun along the way...

 The "after" pictures of "The Great American Race".  What you can't see in the picture is the dirt on Landon's face.  He's the one that was on the trail the most, and when they both took to the trail, he'd be the one to follow Eldon's dirt....

They could hardly get the smiles off their faces!  I sure had a great time listening to all their excitement!  Another great memory made between a dad and his son....gotta love that.

Berry Buggin' - you never know when you're taking the last ride...

One never knows when you are going to be riding the last Berry Bug ride.  With the Berry Bug being around 20 years old, it's always an adventure to see if it'll make it home...at least in functioning condition.  Landon wanted to take it out for another adventure, Eldon wasn't so sure, but knew it had to be done.

We had Elwin, Adam, Keith Harston, Eldon, Landon and myself...Pamela

 Of course, there are the regular moments of the Berry Bug having "issues" which are part of the adventure of Berry Buggin'...!  The rule is, only drive as far as you want to walk...lucky for us, we didn't have to walk at all, the Bug did great!  You'll have to watch the video for the most exciting part of the trip!  See below....

Please watch the video and enjoy right along with us.  Some may say the video can be too long...but fun nonetheless!

Okay, I'm having blogging issues...I'll have to upload tomorrow after having Telisha help me.

Just For Fun

Matching Sunday's are becoming a tradition....
Tiffany came and wanted to match too!
We try to match with the Johnson's when we can also...but they seem to travel a lot...:)

"If I learned to laugh as a child, I'd be laughing right now"...from Federal Agent on Psych 

gotta laugh!

Trip with the Girls to Hurricane Ridge!

When the husbands and dads are away with the Young Men on High Adventure...the girls go playing too...

We wanted to find some sunshine to enjoy and started out the day to head to Ocean Shores, but that wasn't looking to sunny, so we headed to Hurricane Ridge.

Here is some pictures of our awe inspiring adventure...not in any specific order

This is AFTER we stopped to take pictures of the bear.  This is a notice to not stop your cars on the highway to take pictures of bears....yea right....if you see a bear that close to the road...You're Gonna Stop!

Me, Cindy Hatch, Debbie Findlay and Amy Hatch

Notice the awesome mountains in the background!!!

Amy conquering the mountain!

Snow still found at the higher levels...

Debbie conquered the mountain!

This deer came running down the mountain side and practically bowled everyone over.  He seemed to suddenly stop just before the trail.

 Cindy Hatch, Amy Hatch, Debbie Findlay

We hiked 1.6 miles up and 1.6 miles back down.  Yea for us!  Well worth the hike up!

Diappearing Olympic Marmot , found only here at Hurricane Ridge and nowhere else on the planet.  Can that be possible?  That's what they tell us...



Goats in the background....

Like the velvet on the antlers!?!

Fun and memorable day!  Thanks ladies, we should do it again sometime soon!

Girls Camp and High Adventure Week!

This was a very busy week for Enumclaw 1st Ward.  The Bishop had much to do...Pamela had the opportunity to speak at Girl's Camp on Monday night (bishop went with her) and then Bishops night was Wednesday (Pamela went back up with him).  We ordered the traditional pizza and brought ice cream treats.  The girls loved it.  The pizza was from SeaBeck Pizza in Belfair and it was 26" in diameter!  They cut 35 pieces out of one pizza (cutting it into squares...).  How fun is that?  and...where does one find a pizza box that big?!?!?  No one knows, except it was a great pizza!  Too bad I didn't get a picture of that too!  I think I better start taking pictures of food, if I'm going to discuss it so much on the blog....

Here is Eldon..."Bishop" doing some "Minute to Win It" tournaments the Stake YCL's (Youth Camp Leaders) put on.  Eldon stayed in the tournament for the first two rounds, after which he enjoyed the rest of the show from his seat.  The roar of the crowd was deafining as the Young Women cheered on each of their bishops!

And...if you look real close you can see the Bishop with all the Young Women from Enumclaw 1st Ward!  The Bishop is in the back....our girls are in the black t-shirts in front...

Here's a picture we have from Landon on his High Adventure.  The biked 60 miles around Anacortes and then camped for 3 days at SaddleBag Island.  Landon rode a tandem bike with Andrew Johnson.  Now, don't you wish I had a picture of that?  Well, I don't because boys don't take camera's on their adventures....this was taken by Eldon when he went and stayed with them on Friday, taking them treats and goodies....

This is how boys camp out....

Keith Harston is on the top hammock, Landon is seen in the second one, (not that he slept there mind you..) and Andrew Johnson in the third and Scott Harston on tarp below them all.

They all had a great time with many fun adventures to tell about!