One out of three.....

7:48 am - Friday - August 21st - Coupeville, WA - 67° F, 76% humidity, wind 15 mph out of the south by southeast.......cloudy today with a forecast high of 68° F.  On this day in 2012 we were visiting Mt. St. Helens in Washington State........

It was still raining just before we awakened from our slumber, and with everything still so wet I decided to take a day off from weed whacking.  Instead TLE and I took a long out and back 3.1 mile walk along Harrington Road.  This is one of those rare walks where you walk uphill going both directions.  At our turn around point (just over 1.5 miles) we came across this very unique driveway entrance......

 A lighthouse, and a railroad crossing sign (deep left background)

....it was quite humid Thursday morning, and by the time we returned to the Newell it was time for a cool shower before we headed into Oak Harbor to run three errands....the two main errands being to get our propane bottle filled, and to have TLE's front wheel on her eBike converted to a quick release mechanism from the current threaded axle.  

Our first stop was Skagit Cycle Center on Pioneer Way in Oak Harbor.  Unfortunately they were not equipped to make the conversion, and referred us to their store in Anacortes (north end of Whidbey Island.....about a 60 minute drive round trip).  The only other bike shop in town was closed Thursday, so on to the next task....refill our propane bottle.  We stopped off at the local Chevron fuel station, which also refills propane bottles,  Unfortunately, it appears our bottle (I bought it new at COSTCO 15 years ago) is over 10 years old, and had to be re-certified before the attendant could fill it.....doh!  I hadn't really thought about how old it was, and I've been the one refilling it the last couple of years at whatever RV park which we were working at the time.  Since getting the bottle re-certified is a bit of a bother we decided to do one of those propane bottle exchanges where you get a new one filled with propane in exchange for your old bottle for $21, and we found such a place at the Safeway Fuel Station on our way back to Coupeville.....score!

By the time we were approaching Coupeville on our return trip it was approaching 2 pm, and we had not had lunch, so TLE quickly found a local micro brewery called Penn Cove Brewing Company on Main Street, just off highway SR-20.....Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on 55 reviews.  They have a limited menu, but both of us quickly settled on their hot dog with chips to be paired with their Imperial Stout.....

......of course we enjoyed our selections alfresco.  This place was a real surprise, and we will probably visit them in the near future.

The third of three errands was to pick up a few things from the supermarket, and that was successful.....well, one out of three is pretty good if you're playing baseball, right?  After a quick stop at Apple Supermarket just down the street from Penn Cove Brewing Company, we were home by 3 pm.....and almost immediately we were once again visited by fighter jets from NAS Whidbey Island from about 3 pm to 4:30 pm, and then again from 8:30 pm to after 10 pm as they practiced their 'touch and goes'......I really feel for the local residents who put up with this on a pretty regular basis.  The first time for us (Wednesday) was kind of a novelty, but the deafening sound for 90 minutes at a time is hard to take, and forget about watching TV, or listening to music.

After arriving home I took TLE's front wheel to the trailer to remove the axle so I could take measurements and order the new quick release axle from Amazon.  I found a set for $14 shipped, and ordered it.....should have the kit by this Sunday, and TLE's wheel converted shortly thereafter.......

 A very high tide

.....Thursday also saw the highest tide this week, which almost covered the land spit which separates Harrington Lagoon from the ocean.  We were also visited by two deer.....a young buck, and doe took a break from their early nocturnal meanderings just in front of the Newell.....

.....and TLE caught the beautiful remnants of another sunset (looking eastward).....

Thanks for stopping by!

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