I was driving back to the office on my lunch break and had completely forgotten that the Blue Angels were performing today until I saw one do a full loop that took up my entire field of vision. It was really quite an amazing sight. I didn’t drive off the road, but now I understand why they have to close I-90 because of all the looky-loos.
They’re also performing tomorrow and Sunday – We may have to veture out to go see them.
On a side note, when the jet buzzed me, Danger Zone (think Top Gun) was blaring through the radio. I haven’t heard that song in ten years. Quite a moment.
This weeked was the Pacific Northwast Highland Games at the fairgrounds in Enumclaw, Washington. We try to get up there every year, and each time we go we have a blast and get sunburned. This year we were especially careful about using sunblock, staying in the shade and my husband even bought me a hat, but we’re just not used to 95+ degrees and we both managed to get crispy again this year. No worries though, we had so much fun, it was definitely worth it.
For Mr. H’s 30th Birthday, I took him out whale watching… well that was the idea anyways, but apparently the whales didn’t get that memo.
The tour went out of Friday Harbor, so we had an adventure just getting there. We drove to Anacortes, two hours north of home, and then took a ferry across to San Juan Island where Friday Harbor is located.
We tried to have dinner at Front Street Ale House, but the service was so slow – not so much the kitchen, but getting the attention of the waiter (the one with the flat brim baseball hat cocked askew) – so we asked for the food to go and ate in on the boat as it was pulling out of port. The food was a bit greasy, but not bad.
The tour company we used was San Juan Safaris, and I would definitely use this service again. Our Captian was an old sea dog that looked like he’d spent more of his life on water than land, and the naturalist was a young college student who had been born and raised on the islands. They were both very skilled at keeping their guest happy and engaged (there were 20 of us on board) especially after it became apparent that the whales were not going to make an appearance.
We saw lots of eagles and eagles’ nests, rhinocerous oclets (horned diving birds), harbor porpoise, seals, sea otters, and beautiful scenery. The most fascinating sighting was also the most grotesque, we came across a tiny island, maybe 20 feet in diameter, with two young bald eagles on it. In the water below were a seal and her newborn pup. By newborn, I mean minutes old. We came up right after ther birth. The eagles on the rock were displaying their pecking order, the older eagle was eating the placenta, while the younger eagle stood by patiently waiting his turn.
We got back to Friday Harbor in time to catch the last ferry back to the mainland. The 9:55 is the milk run stopping at every island on the way, so we got back to Anacortes by midnight. That 2 hour drive back to Auburn was exhausting.
Well it seems we survived another foray down to Papa Russo’s trailer by the river. The forecast said rain, so only 25 or so showed up, as opposed to the usual 50+ crowd of aging hipsters. Tent city was considerably smaller, which meant this year we got to nab the primo spot, the one down river from the camp fire in its own little clearing: Quiet, away from the snoring, but close enough to hear when someone else has already gotten up and tended to the fire.
As usual, I ended up not floating this year. I don’t know why I never go on the float. I spent my summer in Denali rafting every weekend… But that was work, and I’ve been overworked lately. The opportunity to just sit there and do nothing for 5+ hours outweighed any benefit that might have been gained by rowing a boat.
There is just something about the quiet out there, the sound of the river and the birds, the clean air… it really helps melt the stress away. I return home with the seemingly contradictory sensations of being hungover and refreshed at the same time – but for that brief period, all is right with the world.
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