The 60th Birthday

Saturday, July 17, 2010 Day 141


Judy's gift to her sis...on her 60th!



In the morning, Marilyn and Gene took us on their “short” walk, which was steep enough for us!

The deluxe,gourmet, and delicious cup...cakes



Then it was back to the house and some serious work to get everything ready for the party. (that sounds like we did all the work..wrong. We just helped finish a few things around the outside.)


Keith and Theresa arrive by boat



Guests started arriving about 2, and we were almost the last to leave at 9:30. There must have been 60 people helping Judy’s sister celebrate her 60th birthday.


Tasha and Ewan arrived by bike for which they and Mom share a look...



The weather was great for an outdoor party, and a good time was had by all. We drove around through Tacoma, and finally arrived home about midnight. It was a short trip this time, but a really fun one.


The almost aged Akin clan

Marilyn B-Day pt 2

Friday, July 16, 2010 Day 140


Checking out the lavender festival






We took a walk along a trail inside the state park this morning, then headed into the town of Sequim itself for the Lavender Festival. It’s basically a big street fair with most vendors selling something made of lavender.


Judy along the Discovery Bike Trail



There are also tours of lavender farms for those so inclined. We didn’t buy anything except a lunch sandwich made of crepes, but did enjoy listening to our local garden guru, Cisco Morris give a talk to the crowd. He’s very entertaining.


Harris at one of the cache spots



When we left, we decided to do a few more caches. We saw that several were along the Olympic Discovery Trail, so decided to bike to them. It was a gorgeous day to ride bikes, lots of sun, a beautifully shaded trail, and almost no traffic. A couple of the caches took us a while to find, but that just makes it all the more fun when we do finally find them.


Some interesting trail users we saw



Then we headed to Poulsbo, and had dinner with Marilyn and Gene. We did a little prep work for the party, played cards and went to sleep.


And some pretty flowers...that weren't lavender

Off to Marilynn's 60th

Wednesday/Thursday July 14/15 (Days 138)


Marilynn was having her special 60th birthday and wanted us to spend Friday night with them. So we decided to visit our good friends Bob and Glenda Dehning near Shelton, and make a loop around the peninsula. Of course we waited until the last moment to prepare Howie for our trip. Thus it was late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that we shoved in enough clothes and some roast beef with rolls and called it good. We left just after noon stopping once at a Costco for some lunch samples and we pulled in around 3:30. The weather was gorgeous. Summer finally came to the NW.


Hanging out in the front yard w/Bob and Glenda



We grabbed some chairs and plunked ourselves under one of the many shade trees in the Dehning’s front yard and “caught up” while sipping on some rum and cokes as some great looking salmon defrosted in the kitchen. Bob did a great job barbequing the salmon (his secret was Johnny’s special ranch and dill sauce found in Costco)and we enjoyed a great feast with our friends. We stayed up way too late talking (like we always do when visiting them), then went to sleep in their driveway.


Our dinner...very good!



We had decided to get up early, breakfast, and then take Bob and Glenda geocaching near their home. Bob and Glenda had never done this before, and really enjoyed doing it. Bob found the first cache, and Glenda gleefully found the next. We think we have some new converts.


Bob and Glenda's first cache



Since they had previous plans for the day, we drove on to Sequim to camp at Sequim Bay State Park for the night.


Some sky-divers we saw while caching



Memo to us… Reserve premium site #80 which has a fantastic water view and far below the road noise. We went for a short bike ride along the Olympic Discovery Bicycle trail, which goes right through the park and on to Port Angeles. Judy was grateful for the shade along the way, as usual when the sun is out! We went into the town of Sequim afterwards and did several more caches (10 total for the day) then got some dinner to bring back to camp.


A lunch stop on the way to Sequim





Bicycling along the Discovery bike trail