Trip to Port Orchard

Susan got Tillie from Cedar Creek Cavaliers in Poulsbo, WA. Trudy Owens, the owner, is a very conscientious breeder. She is passionate about her dogs and stays in touch with all the people who purchase her puppies. She recently contacted Susan about a Veterinarian Cardiologist who would be in Port Orchard on September 20. We were told that he is very experienced in picking up heart murmurs that might be missed by other vets. The information is crucial for both the long term care of the dog and Trudy's breeding choices. Susan decided that those were good enough reasons to drive over to Port Orchard for the test.
We got both dogs, the stroller and ourselves in the car and left Yakima just before 9:00 AM. After stopping at rest areas so we could all stretch our legs, our first stop was Molbak's in Woodinville. Yes, that is the wrong direction from Port Orchard, but they have some kneepads that we desperately needed and besides, the store is just awesome. We arrived there at lunchtime so after making our purchase, we all sat outside at Panera Bread and ate lunch. The dogs were a big hit inside Molbak's and outside the restaurant. From Woodinville we headed over to Edmonds to take the ferry to Kingston. We decided to take this route and visit any of the small towns on the way to Port Orchard, if there was time.

It is amazing the attention you get everywhere when you have two cute dogs with you. The weather was just spectacular all day long. No clouds, perfect 75 degrees and sunny. As you can see, there wasn't a wave in the water.
When we arrived in Poulsbo we decided we needed to just drive straight to Port Orchard for the test because we did not know how long it would take to get there. The vet was suppose to arrive between 3:30 and 4:30 PM and it was already 2:40 PM. It only took us 20 minutes to make the drive down highway 3. When we arrived, the vet was there and we got to go right in for the test. It only took a few minutes and Tillie's heart sounded just fine.
Back in the car, we headed for the Southworth ferry which would take us to West Seattle after a brief stop at Vashon Island. Mt. Rainier was stunning!

While driving across I-90 in the morning Susan noticed that the freeway would be closed at 6:30 PM for blasting. We checked on the cellphone and blasting was still scheduled. We knew we would get stuck in the delay if we drove home over I-90 and 410 is very windy so we decided to drive home over White Pass.
Not counting the two ferry rides, we traveled 442.07 miles. We were all very tired when Susan pulled into the garage at 11:45 PM, almost 15 hours after our day began. What we won't do for the love of our dogs!

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Since we were driving down to Bingen to try the pizza (see the previous post) I picked two Geocaches we could hunt for while in the area. The first cache was located in the Chenowith Cemetery. The cemetery is at the top of the cliff overlooking the Hood Canal. This view from the top of the cliff was just fantastic. The Hood River Bridge is just barely visible stretching across the river. Visibility was lower than normal due to the Oregon wildfire.

The town of Hood River is just across the water and was easily seen from our vantage point above the cliff.

The Oregon wildfire was visible as well. We could see the smoke shortly after leaving the Yakima area. Part of Mt. Hood is visible behind the smoke.

There were several trees around the cache which always interferes with the GPS signal. Susan noticed that the needle was moving even when she was standing still - not a good sign. Lucky for us, this was a very small cemetery so the "search" area was small.
Some people add clues to the cache information online at Geocache.com in case you need a little help finding the cache. The clue for this cache was "Delbert is looking at it.". This is Delbert.

The next cache was located at the Bingen Point Marina Park. We did not have any trouble with the signal for this cache. The GPS took us right to it.

A beautiful place to hide a cache.

What a great day of sightseeing and trying out a new restaurant.

Solstice Wood Fire Cafe

In the September 2001 Food Network Magazine there is an article in the section titled On the Road, describing the best pizza found in every one of the 50 states. The winner for Washington was the Country Girl Cherry pizza found at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe in Bingen, Washington. We'll, since Bingen is only a couple of hours away we decided to drive down from Yakima and try it out for ourselves.

While we can't speak for the remaining 49 pizza picks, the Food Network got this one right - it IS worth the trip. For those of you that can't pick up your magazine and read about the pizza, it is made with a tomato based topped with goat cheese, cherries and chorizo sausage and sprinkled with rosemary and thyme. YUM!

We also tried the pizza special of the day; a salmon pizza with corn, cherry tomatoes, and a special white sauce. Susan preferred that salmon pizza while I liked the cherry one the best. The restaurant has outside seating and a gift shop where you can buy a variety of items from Washington state. Well Done Solstice!

Back to School

Susan and I made this cake last night in honor of all the parents at North Star who have kids going back to school this week. This cake is featured in the September 2011 Food Network Magazine.

Preying Mantis

I do not remember seeing them last year, but this year we have a number of Preying Mantis that arrive on the porch at sunset. This one decided to stick around for awhile and Tillie was just fascinated. Usually the little critters are stuck to the screen door, but this one decided to rest on the table, which is just at the perfect height for Tillie to get a good look. She was so funny. She kept turning her head and looking at me and then back to the mantis and then back to me. I guess she was waiting for some explanation for the creature.

60th Anniversary Party

Susan and I hosted a party for Mom and Dad this weekend to celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. The celebration was held at our home on a picture perfect Saturday afternoon.
Mom and Dad were married on September 7, 1951 in Spokane.

This was the first time Bruce and Marie had been to our new home and the first family photo taken since 2001.

For lunch we served salmon deviled eggs, shredded chicken, meatballs, a seafood pasta salad made by Marie, pea salad, a variety of cheeses, veggies, chips and dip, rolls, and droid mix.

Sally and Randy drove over from eastern Washington (as did Claudette & Carol, Marge & Larry and Bill & Beverly to celebrate the day with Mom and Dad.


Bruce clowning around with Mom's tiara and Dad's chain.

Dessert consisted of six flavors of cupcakes made by the Truly Scrumptious Cupcakery in Yakima. We also served mints, and personallized M&M's. The M&M's read either Ken, Dolores, Happy 60th or Party!

Each cupcake held an image representing something that Mom and Dad have enjoyed doing during their years together.

Marge, Claudette and Carol are looking at the photo book we gave to Mom and Dad during the party. We also surprised them with ads from both the Yakima Herald and Spokesman Review that ran on Sunday announcing the celebration.

Left to right: Eillen, Bill, Jim, Betty and Bruce

Eileen and Teddy

Mom and Dad went to high school in Deer Park, WA with Bill and Beverly.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the party as did everyone who came - at least that is what they told us.

Flowers and Plants

We did get a late start on planting this year, but that has not stopped things from growing. I took these pictures this morning out in the front yard. You cannot see these Calibrachoa very well but they are bright orange and purple, just a beautiful combination.

These Aloha flowers look like miniature petunias.

We have honeysuckle plants on each side of the arbor closest to the driveway and they are doing very well. They have already started climbing up the arbor.

The sweet Million tomatoes are ready to eat!

Susan has also planted lettuce, zucchini, eggplant, strawberries, and a large selection of herbs.

House Numbers

As soon as our house and garage were built, we went shopping for house numbers. Since this property was undeveloped in the past, we felt it was important to have house numbers up right away.

We found out that there is a pretty small selection of house numbers available but since it was important to have something up, we settled for these ugly brown ones. We put the first set of house numbers on the wall of the shop since it is visible from the driveway. The only problem is that once you turn into our lot those numbers are no longer visible.

Susan was in Spokane several months ago and found some numbers she liked at Hobby Lobby and last month we painted them and covered them with "jewels".

I really like these numbers. They really sparkle in the sunshine, in fact, you almost need sunglasses to look at them. No comparison to the ugly brown ones.

Storm

We are having quite unusual weather this week with rain, dark nasty looking clouds and high winds. When I went outside last evening to soak in the spa, I saw this beautiful rainbow so I went back inside and got the camera.

I know that pictures never capture the colors completely, but this gives you an idea of how many shades were present in the sky. Just breathtaking.

Edible Birdhouse

Shortly after I moved to Yakima, Susan and I were at the Cake Decorator Shop and I found an instructional book for making gingerbread houses. This book is unlike most in that it contains ideas for more than just gingerbread houses built for the holidays. The book includes patterns and instructions for Tiki Huts, Dorothy's House in Oz, a Pooch Paradise and a High Noon Saloon among others. Of course I just had to buy the book. I think we take after our grandfather who owned a bakery.
I decided about a year ago that I would start out with something small, like a birdhouse so my Mom and I went around town and gathered all the seeds I could use to construct the house so the birds could eat it. Then I started my school program and the box full of the birdhouse supplies got pushed to the back of the pantry.
A few weeks ago I got everything out and decided that I would make the birdhouse while my computer was getting repaired. I asked Mary to come over and help Susan and I make the birdhouse on Friday evening. As it turned out, we needed all three people, especially to hold walls in place waiting for the icing to set. Everything except the cardboard the house sets on is edible and the gingerbread is very good.
As you can see, the house does tilt just a little bit, but I doubt that the birds will mind.

Royal icing dries very quickly so I decorated the roof, Mary did the sides and Susan worked on the front and back; truly a group effort. The decorations include pumpkin seeds, corn, poppy seeds, lentils, craisins, pretzels, oat groat, amaranth and millet just to name a few.

If you have ever watched Challenge on the Food Network, you know that several things typically go wrong while working on these projects and this one was no exception. We worked through most of the issues and I think it turned out pretty cute for our first one. Even if the birds won't eat it, we got to practice our gingerbread skills.

What fun!