little black journal

Our perfect stay on Orcas Island ended yesterday.  Hmmph…  But here’s how the last couple of days looked:

We stepped back onto the ferry on Thursday and headed to San Juan Island to check out Friday Harbor – the mist rolling over the water that morning was beautiful (and again, a little bit like heaven, no?).

Friday Harbor was a bit touristy for our taste, but we had fun soaking in the sun and checking out the marina with the girls.

Elise was pretty taken with the seal that hung out right by the dock – she named him Sealy and got a big kick out of his whiskers.

We got back to Orcas just in time for naps all around, then wolfed down hearty helpings of Mitch’s spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  The wind picked up that evening and the weather really started to cool down, so we spread out a beach towel and had our ice cream in front of the fireplace instead of out on the deck.  Ah, I love an ice cream picnic.

After a stop for sticky buns and scones at the bakery around the corner, we headed out on Friday morning to do a little kayaking.  Mitch, Kathryn, and Elise grabbed their paddles and did some exploring in the Sound while Shane and I sat on the beach with Morgan and let her dump cups full of sand into our laps.

We all wondered how well Elise would take to the water, worrying that she may be nervous or bored, but the girl totally dug it – this smile quickly turned upside down once she realized her time in the boat was over.

Shane and I handed Morgan off to Mom and Dad and then took our turn in the water.  Determined to make it around Obstruction Island in the allotted rental time, we paddled our hearts out.  My biceps were on fire by the time we landed back at the beach 80 minutes later!

The rest of the day was quiet – quality deck time, a stop at the bookstore for a good cup of coffee, and another leisurely meal around the dinner table.

Elise pulled out her toy microphone at the end of the meal and interviewed each of us, wanting to know what our favorite part of the vacation had been.  The past few days were full of so many good memories, but it was the little stuff that really stuck out – listening to the girls shriek with laughter as Mitch played monster and chased them around the house, watching Morgan giggle uncontrollably over a particularly silly game of peek-a-boo with Uncle Shane, curling up in front of the fireplace with a book and feeling so deeply, contentedly warm.  Simple, lovely, good-for-my-soul kind of stuff.

We spent Saturday morning packing our things (sigh) and took one last stroll through town before heading back to our reality-bound ferry.

Au revoir, Orcas.  Hope to see you again real soon.

Shane, Mitch, Kathryn and I boarded a ferry yesterday with the girlies for our first (annual?) island getaway – we’ve rented a sweet house on Orcas Island and are calling this little piece of heaven home for the next few days.  From the sunny ferry ride over here to the evening I spent wrapped up in a blanket on the deck with a hot cup of tea, this little vay-cay is shaping up to be everything I’d hoped it would be.

We’re right on the water, just a stone’s throw away from the neighborhood bakeries and coffee shops, and Ho-Ly Cow – I’m ready to make an offer on this place!  I mean, honestly, this view is just a little bit incredible…right?!  Right?!

We’re spending lots of time sitting on the deck, eating leisurely meals and reading and painting and soaking in all kinds of sunshiny, adorable goodness.

We’re also taking advantage of the island’s scenic offerings.  Shane biked to the top of Mount Constitution this morning (stud alert!) and the rest of us piled into the rented mini-van and met him at the top.  We could barely make out Mount Baker in the distance, hovering just beyond the morning fog.  Elise and I counted the surrounding islands, then I counted my blessings.  There were lots of both.

Next stop: Cascade Lake per one little girl’s very emphatic request that we find a beach to do some swimming.  Morgan and Elise splashed in the water while Shane and Mitch tossed the frisbee around and Kathryn and I went for a run around the lake.  This is the stuff of perfect PNW summers!

I sighed a little sigh tonight as the sun set on our first full day here – I suspect this will be one of those vacations that flys by much too quickly…

Jack and La Verne are known to be pros when it comes to sampling Vancouver’s finest fare, so Shane and I were pretty excited when the four of us finally got a date on the calendar to trek up north together. We buckled ourselves into the Chens’ trusty Prius on Saturday morning, made a quick stop at Honore in Ballard for croissants and coffee, and we were Canada-bound!

The next 36 hours were a blur of eating and drinking and eating and…more eating. My word, if I had a nickel for every time I rubbed my belly this weekend and moaned about how full I was, I’d have enough money to buy that bottle of Johnny Walker Blue that Shane was eyeing at the duty-free shop!  We kicked things off with dim sum in Richmond, plowing our way through a table laden with shrimp dumplings and tofu rolls and little football-shaped fried pockets of meat. It was culinary gluttony at its finest.

We left Richmond with stuffed-full bellies, determined to do something active and build those appetites back up for our dinner resos at 6.  The sun was shining and we were feeling adventurous, so we settled on a bike ride around Stanley Park – tandem-style!  Shane and I had never braved a two-person bike before, and I was wary of our communication skills being pushed to the limit, but we fell into sync pretty easily and made our way around the park with only minor wobbles.

Next stop: dinner at La Quercia.  Ham, fish, pasta, wine, oooooh la la.  It was a meal, made perfect by the company of good friends.  We capped the day off with carefully crafted cocktails at Pourhouse – if only I had a picture of Shane’s gigantic grin as that first Old Fashioned was placed in front of him, and Jack’s furrowed eyebrows as he pondered whether or not his drink had been made with the appropriate proportion of Fernet.  Oh, those boys and their liquor…

We were up impressively early on Sunday (especially considering the gluttony that took place the night before) and started our day with a jog along the waterfront as penance for Saturday’s carb-fest.  Post-run, we grabbed coffee in Yaletown, checked out the neighborhood a bit, and found that our stomachs were sufficiently primed for another day of eating ourselves silly.  First on the list: soup dumplings at Long’s Noodle House.  These delicate, juicy little pockets of meat and broth kind of blew my mind – so, so, so good.

We spent the afternoon hitting the shops on Robson (Zara!), and though none of us were particularly hungry, we couldn’t leave without a stop at Motomachi for ramen.  Hot damn, those noodles make me happy.

We had all heard good things about the Van Dusen botanical gardens and decided to hit them up on our way out of town.  The swoopy new visitor’s center is striking and the were gardens full of the last bits of summer color. We spent a couple of hours wandering down the meandering paths, checking out the luxury car show on the central lawn (yeah, random…), and “racing” through the shrubbed maze.

Our final destination on Canadian soil was the Richmond night market – music and lights and stall upon stall of Asian street food.  The Chinese hamburger and the fried octopus were good, but the Taiwanese shaved ice was the definite winner and the perfect way to end a flavor-filled couple of days.  Milky ice, mochi, jellies, red beans, and a scoop of ice cream – totally worth standing in the evening rain!

And with that, it was time to bid farewell to Canada and point the car toward Seattle.  We crossed that border full, happy, and a little more in love with our neighbor to the north.

Summer wouldn’t be complete without our annual c-group camping trip, so we all loaded up our cars and headed east on Friday for a couple of days at Tolt Macdonald Park in Carnation.  After dinner at the local pub (we really know how to rough it), we set up camp and settled in for a weekend of eating, laughing, and soaking the great outdoors.

We awoke to a misty morning on Saturday and toasted bagels over the fire as our sleepy campers emerged from their tents one by one.

The fog quickly burned off into 90-degree temperatures, and the rest of the day was a blur of heating up and cooling down.  We invented our own version of the Olympic decathlon, complete with whiffle ball, kickball, frisbee, sun-tanning, swimming, whitewater body-surfing (a personal favorite!), mountain biking, balance beam freestyle (dang, Nance!), hammock-hanging, and s’mores-stacking.  Whew!

It was a pretty grand day, capped off with dinner hot off the grill (a la Jack, of course), cold beverages, and fireside laughter.

We broke down camp this morning and made the short trip back to Seattle as the sun reappeared and threatened to melt us Californians-gone-soft.  Shane and I indulged in a good afternoon snooze, walked to the park to watch the Blue Angels fly overhead for Seafair, and spent the rest of the day lounging on the couch for Olympics-fest Day 10 (interrupted only by an evening ice cream run to Full Tilt).  Have I mentioned how much I adore summertime weekends in the Pacific Northwest?

When Nancy emailed Shane and I last week to see if we’d be in for a little surprise camping action for Jason’s birthday, we cleared our calendars and dug our tent out of the recesses of our closet. We set sail for Illahee State Park via the Bremerton ferry on Friday afternoon, loving the sense of “getaway” that comes with watching the Seattle skyline recede in the distance.

An hour and a half later we pulled up to our perfect campsite, nestled among the trees and just minutes away from the water. We set up our tent and inflated our air mattress in record time – Shane was eager to try out the extra mountain bike Jordan had brought along.

We ate our dinner around the campfire that night and stayed up talking and roasting marshmallows – until the rain began to fall in huge, splashing drops. We rushed around like madmen cleaning up camp and then took refuge in our tents, enjoying the nighttime storm from the warmth of our sleeping bags.

Saturday was devoted to a whole bunch of perfect nothin’. Jack and La V joined us late in the morning and we all headed down to the water to check out the beach.

While the ladies spent much of the day basking in the sun, the boys played hard. Frisbee, volleyball, mountain biking, whew!

There was also hammock-lounging, delicious oysters hot off the grill, and an evening swim for our uber-active fellas.

(Who said the Prius is only a 5-seater? Pshhh.)

We spent another evening sitting around the campfire, eating Indian food and grilled crab while the birthday boy waxed poetic about the ups and downs of his 31st year.

The fixin’s were brought out for s’mores round 2, Shane’s bottle of whiskey emerged and made its way around the circle, and the fireside chatter kept up late into the night. I’m constantly wondering with these people where conversation will take us next – there was heated debate over whether or not animals have feelings, there was the ridiculous attempt to decipher the lyrics to Alan Jackson’s Chatahoochee, and there were equal shares of reminiscing and looking forward.

We got a (kind of) early start this morning, toasted our Aussie Bites over the fire, then broke down camp and hit the road. Although I was jonesin’ for a hot shower and the comfort of our bed, I was more than a little sad to say good-bye to our little wooded retreat.

Cheers, J! Wishing you a year filled of laughter, frisbee golf, and plenty more surprise adventures…

Seattle continues to bask in all of summer’s glory – temps in the 80’s today and nothin’ but sunshine in the 10-day forecast!  This weekend was all about maximizing our Vitamin D intake, from the time I spent laying in the grass at Seward Park while Shane swam in the lake on Friday evening, to that last bite of corn on cob as we dined on our back patio tonight.  It’s like Christmas came early this year, in the form of blue skies and that blazing ball of heat.

I was itching to get outdoors and out of town on Saturday, so we hopped on the ferry for a mini getaway to Bainbridge Island.  There were a couple of previously-unexplored things we’d been wanting to check out, and a couple of old favorites we were eager to visit, so we grabbed our sunglasses and camera and we were off!

Our first stop was Streamliner Diner, where we scored a cute little table in the sun and feasted on gigantic omelettes and perfect buttermilk biscuits.  Awwwww yeah.

Next on the clipboard of fun were the Bloedel Gardens – a nature reserve on the north end of the island knows for its varied landscapes.  We spent a couple of hours leisurely wandering through the park and fell in love with it all – from the marshy wetland, to the open meadow, to the mossy forest, to the foxgloves and clovers and Japanese maples.  So, so beautiful – I’m adding this place to our “annual summer tradition” list.

By the time we left the garden, the biscuits and omelettes had settled enough to make room for an island favorite – ice cream at Mora!  W agonized over their list of 30+ flavors, settled on a couple of unlikely split-scoops (dulce de leche and lemon bar for Shane; raspberry and sabayon for me), and took our cones to-go so that we could grab a seat down the street and enjoy the live music.  Shane was sold the minute he heard this woman’s bluesy voice crooning the lyrics to a Rachel Yamagata song.  I dug her ukelele and her yellow sunglasses.

A couple of lavender lemonades from Blackbird Bakery, a few minutes of wandering Winslow’s cute downtown, and it was time to catch the ferry back to home sweet home.

We capped off the day with dinner and cocktails at Chez Rust.  Jason and Shane played volleyball in the backyard, Nance and I sat on the patio for some solid catching-up and bird-watching (the neighborhood hawk was making his rounds), and we all remarked over just how good it feels to be outside after what’s felt like such a long winter and spring.

Today was wonderfully mellow – an easy jog and more lounging at Seward Park while Shane did a training swim/bike/run (my man is going to kill that triathlon!) and dinner out back, hot off the grill.

Only downside to this perfect weather?  Hot damn, it’s going to be hard to head back to work tomorrow!

It’s a long drive to and from La Pine, Oregon, but after a fun-packed weekend like this one, we are reminded that it’s certainly a trip worth taking.  We rolled up to my mom and dad’s house late Thursday night and quickly fell into bed, weary from more than seven hours on the road, but looking forward to a couple of solid days of family time, relaxation, and life in the great outdoors.

Our hopes for this little getaway were met on all counts, starting with a leisurely jog through La Pine State Park on Friday morning.  It felt good to be so far removed from the city for awhile, to hear the whoosh of the wind through the treetops and breathe in the cool, fresh air.  It felt equally good to hole up indoors for the afternoon, reading and dozing and playing Uno and ping-pong while the rain fell outside.  This is the stuff of a perfect day off.

We had reservations on Friday evening for dinner at the Cowboy Dinner Tree – a super-rustic, super-charming little restaurant known for their home-cooked, family-style meals.  We made the drive waaaaay out there (seriously, this place is rural) and were seated in the cozy dining room, where horse saddles line the walls and the mis-matched tablewear reminds you of something from your grandmother’s kitchen.  We started off with a big bowl of salad and quart-size mason jars of lemonade, and things quickly spiraled out of control from there.  A tray full of dinner rolls, a pot of beef barley soup, and then, as if we weren’t already well on our way to being stuffed, the main course of chicken or steak (they keep their menu simple).  And they aren’t messing around – when you say chicken, you end up with an entire roasted bird on your plate, paired with a huge baked potato.  Ask for steak, and you’ll be given a juicy 30-ounce hunk of meat.  Follow that with triple-berry shortcake for dessert and pray that you’ve worn your pants with the elastic waistband, ’cause you’ll be leaving there with a couple of extra pounds in your belly…  And enough leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day.

The sun did us a huge favor and broke through the clouds as we headed back to La Pine, bathing the brush-covered plains in a warm, beautiful glow.  This is indeed the Oregon Outback – wide-open, kind of scrubby, and (it seems) relatively unchanged from when the first settlers made their way here over one hundred years ago.

We awoke on Saturday to the sound of raindrops on the roof and I feared our plans for a little fishing escapade would be foiled.  But that fickle high desert weather did us another kudos and by 10:00 we were standing in the sun at the edge of Twin Lake, rods in hand.  The fish weren’t biting at the lake, so we packed up after a couple of hours and decided to try our luck on the grassy banks of the Deschutes River.  This proved equally unfruitful and we ended up heading home empty-handed, but the morning wasn’t a total loss – it was a lot of fun to share in one of my dad’s favorite hobbies.  He gave me my first-ever fly-fishing lesson, showed me how to use a worm blower (equally useful and disgusting!), and reminisced with me about the first fish I ever caught when I just a wee five year-old.  It was one of those mornings that the credit card commercials would have deemed “priceless”.

We ate lunch and freshened up back at the house, then drove up to Bend to do some bumming around the “big city”.  We shopped a little, did some beer tasting at the Deschutes Brewery, indulged in nachos and fried zucchini at the Bend Brewing Company, and then walked along the banks of the lazy river where it runs through town.  We wound our back to the car through the booth-lined streets of the “Bite of Bend” fair – I wish I’d saved room for the barbecue and tacos and dumplings being served by the vendors.  I was full stuffed with our pub fare, until I saw the giant helpings of marionberry shortcake topped with whipped cream.  Suddenly, my appetite had returned!

We made one final stop before calling it a day, detouring to the Paulina Peak lookout to take in more of those gorgeous cloudy evening skies.  I like city-living, but life among the pine trees certainly has its merits.

A pancake breakfast this morning, a few more snuggles with Bernie, and then it was time to hit the long dusty trail back to Seattle.  I think I say this every time we visit La Pine, but that may have been the best weekend we’ve ever spent there, as it was such a perfect mix of sight-seeing and resting and quality family time.  Thanks, Mom and Dad (and Bernie)!  It’s been real.

We’ve got a full tank of gas, Florence + the Machine piping through the speakers, a back seat full of snacks, and we are officially on the road! We’ll be spending the next couple of days with my parents at their home in Central Oregon, and sweet lord of vacations, I’m ready for this little getaway. My weekend to-do list, which usually consists of things like yardwork and laundry, has been appropriately modified for the occasion and now looks like this:

– Snuggle up with Bernie, my mom and dad’s super-lovable Australian Shepherd.
– Challenge Shane to a ping-pong face-off and resist my usual urge to pout like a brat when he kicks my butt (although I may get some post-defeat satisfaction in seeing my dad open up his can of whoop-ass on my husband when the two of them go head to head).
– Dig into my stack of library books. I’ve got Life of Pi all queued up and ready to go.
– Catch a fish (and maybe it’s time I bait my own hook?).
– Drink my morning cup of mint tea with my mom while we engage in some solid heart-to-heart, face-to-face catching up.
– Rest, chill, relax, and veg. Repeat as desired.

Happy (early) weekend, friends!

As much as I love to travel, I am a notoriously bad trip planner.  I put off the researching and reserving until Shane swoops in with that save-the-day manner of his, and promptly books us a room at someplace amazing and lines up a slew of activities and meals and cocktails on his giant clipboard o’ fun.  Such was the case with our anniversary trip – it was technically my turn to plan something this year, but after only 10 minutes of frustrated VRBO-surfing, I threw my hands up in exasperation.  Enter Shane, with a link to a charming little waterfront cottage on Whidbey Island and a list of nearby parks and restaurants.  I promptly booked it, and on Friday afternoon, we were island-bound.

We arrived at the house just in time to watch the sun set over the sound.  We took in the view from the deck, bouncing inside to warm ourselves by the fireplace when  the winds picked up.  We spent the rest of the night on the couch, eating ice cream and playing a round of 90’s “name that tune” via Spotify.  Nothing says happy anniversary like En Vogue and Goo Goo Dolls!

We rolled out of bed this morning only when we were good and ready, snacked on banana bread and fresh fruit while watching the sun glint off the water, and then went for a jog down the beach, stopping every so often for Shane to skip a rock or scout out the bald eagle we’ve seen criss-crossing the beach all day.

We left the house around lunchtime in search of hearty local cuisine, and found it at the Coupeville and Bayview Farmer’s Markets.  Mini-donuts as an appetizer followed by a salmon taco from a little stand at the Coupeville Market, and then a tri-tip sandwich at Bayview that rivaled SLO’s Firestone Grill (my Cal Poly peeps know the significance of this comparison), paired with a grilled artichoke and ice cold lemonade.  In the words of La Verne, “nom nom”.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we drove over to Ebey’s Landing for a beach-front hike.  The fields leading to the water were shining in vivid shades of green and yellow, and the lookouts over the sound were breathtaking.

We made it back to the car just as our legs were about to give out, and the deck at the house proved to be the perfect place to put our feet up and catch a breath of fresh, salty air.  We cracked open the special bottle of champagne we’d brought along, put together a plate of chevre-smeared crackers and squares of dark chocolate, and spent a couple of hours letting the sun warm our cheeks, listening to the tide come in while we talked and laughed and felt so…content.  It was the kind of day I desperately wanted to stretch on forever.

Tomorrow, we officially celebrate six years of marriage – I’ve been trying to wish Shane a happy anniversary all weekend, but before I can get the words out, he shushes me and says “not yet!” (in the same way that he believes Christmas music should only be played on Christmas Day, he believes anniversary wishes are only applicable one day out of the year).  So tomorrow, Mr. Schnell.  Tomorrow I’m laying it on thick.

Yesterday was the first totally plan-free Saturday we’ve had in awhile, so we started scheming on Friday for a little day-long getaway.  We decided on Port Townsend as our destination, packed our coats and scarves (the forecast called for chilly temps and heavy winds), and yesterday morning, we were off!

We arrived in Port Townsend just before noon and settled into a cozy table at Sweet Laurette, a cute little French bistrot with gigantic omelettes and mimosas served with a slice of pineapple.

We had hoped to settle our full bellies with a walk along the beach, but about five steps out of the car, and I was so chilled I had to turn back.  Brrrrrrrr…

And so we drove through the nearby state park, stopping to have a chat with the deer that didn’t seem the least bit bothered by our presence – such friendly locals!

We then bundled up and strolled through the charming little downtown.

Five blocks later, we had seen the extent of Port Townsend’s mainstreet (yes, I said mini adventure), and so we ducked into a coffee shop where we could enjoy a view of the water with a warm mug of chai.

When deciding on which route to take back to Seattle, Shane had to utter only one word to seal the deal for taking the ferry via Bainbridge Island:  Mora’s.  This is one of my all-time favorite ice cream shops, and a split-scoop of blackberry and sabayon was all I needed to make the entire trip totally worth it.

We stepped out onto the deck of the ferry as we neared Seattle and watched the sun struggle to break through the clouds, feeling so thankful for the charm, beauty, and flavors that make up the Pacific Northwest.