Out and back......

7:31 am - Tuesday - August 25th - Coupeville, WA - 48° F, 86% humidity, wind - CALM......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 65° F.  On this day in 2017 we were in Yellowstone National Park, and just days from our 46th wedding anniversary....I have no pictures, but I was reminded by what I wrote about our activities on August 25, 2017 of how, and why I love our lifestyle......

"Also, just over the horizon of this current weekend will be the celebration by TLE and I of our 46th wedding anniversary on Tuesday..............I have to just sit here a few moments letting that amazing truth sink in to its fullest........46 years together through thick and thin.........ups and downs........through one adventure after another......and now we find ourselves in the midst of the grandest adventure of them all as 'Vagabonders Supreme' (a phrase coined by 'Tioga George' back in the year 2003).  For those who have only begun to read our blog recently we began living fulltime in our 1982 Newell February 1, 2011, and traveling fulltime February 1, 2012.  With each passing month it feels as if this is the way we have always lived.....our former 'sticks and bricks' workaday life seems almost surreal in retrospect.....almost like someone else's life....we are different people than we were then.  We had no idea, really, into what we were getting ourselves, but we went forth anyway.  Our five children, 6 (now 7) grand children, and one great grand child (now 2) are mute testimony of that life we once lived, and are, frankly, our greatest accomplishment.  

Liberating ourselves from most of our physical possessions back in 2011, which kept us anchored in one place for so many years, and becoming 'Vagabonders Supreme' is our second greatest accomplishment.  We attempt daily to live what remains of our lives to the fullest extent possible, and cherish every minute, every hour, every day we have left together.  The recent passing of our friend Michael has reaffirmed the importance of living every day, every moment as if it were our last.  Life is fragile enough to begin with, and now in our advanced years has become even more fragile as we see a steady stream of people we have known for decades passing one by one.  We must not allow anger and unforgiveness to steal our peace, contentment and happiness.  The easy path in life is to passively stew in these negative feelings.......it seems odd to say, but I am convinced one must actively, daily choose to be happy......fight for it, if you will.  As Abraham Lincoln famously said...."Folks are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be....."."

.....it is even more meaningful for us today than it was then.

While I was pressure washing decks, and concrete Sunday TLE was busy picking more black berries.  This time she made Black Berrrie Jam, and I was the recipient of her culinary urges Monday morning.....there is not much better than Black Berry Jam on sourdough toast.  Add to that a wonderfully sweet and ripe nectarine and one might think they have achieved nirvana..........

....it's been a couple of weeks since we last rode our eBikes, and Monday seemed like the perfect day for another ride.  When I drove down to Freeland with Bob last week he showed me how to drive most of the way without using SR-525, and, therefore, avoid the ever present north/south traffic.  He also took me by a place called Greenbank Farm which features local wines, cheeses, hiking, picnic areas, etc.  As a result I made the farm our half way destination on this 19+ mile out and back ride.  We left home around 11 am following the same route Bob drove a week ago.  When you drive a route you sometimes do not realize how many hills there might be, or how steep they might be, but believe me, riding a bicycle along that same route you find out very quickly how many hills there are, and there are a lot!  Of course, with an eBike hills are really a nonissue......you just up the assist level and power up the hills, and then coast down them.....you still get a good work out, but there is no suffering involved.  At 70+ years old we are not into suffering anymore.  

It took us just 55 minutes to cover the 9.85 miles to Greenbank Farm.  What we did not expect was to find them open for business.  I had checked Yelp earlier in the morning and saw they were only open Thursday through Sunday, and so we just planned to take a break there, and then ride back, however, we found they were open for business....at least the business of selling wine, and cheese, but their restaurant was closed, and they could not offer wine tasting under the current COVID-19 mandates by the governor of Washington state.  On the spot we decided to buy a couple of small bottles of wine, some crackers, kettle chips, cheese, salami and sit at one of the outdoor picnic tables to consume them, which is apparent legal.....

 Apparently I was holding the temple piece of my dark glasses in front of the camera while taking this pictures of the Greenbank Cheese store.....lol.....

 A couple of bottles of chilled Rosé, please....

 .....and some cheese, crackers, chips and salami!

......at first I did not know what we were to use to cut the cheese, but then I remembered I always carry a Swiss Army knife in my Camelbak!  It was the prefect, unexpected interlude for which we always strive when on a bike ride, or hike!

By 1 pm we were on our way back along the same country roads we had ridden out to Greenbank Farm, and home just before 2 pm with big smiles upon our faces.  We were both tired, but not worn out, and our eBikes performed up to expectations.  There were some very steep climbs, and I actually, for the first time, used assist level 4 (the highest on my Haibike) up a few of them, while TLE used assist level 5 (the highest on her eBike).  In all we covered 19.74 miles, burned 937 caloric units, and had a total elevation gain going and coming of over 1,900'.....thank goodness for electric assist eBikes......

.....for Happy Hour TLE trotted out our new Margarita goblets.......

.....which made me quite happy!  TLE has become the resident sunset photographer, and has provided another great sunset picture......

......life is good.....thanks for stopping by!

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Phase 2 continued........

8:20 am - Monday - August 24th - Coupeville, WA - 55° F, 87% humidity, wind 3 mph out of the south......cloudy, foggy this morning with sun later in the morning today with a forecast high of 65° F.  On this day in 2012 we were in a small marina RV park on the Columbia River in Arlington, OR........↴

I have been waiting for Sunday since we arrived in Coupeville 9 days ago.....the day when I would begin to pressure wash the concrete sidewalks, parking areas, and driveway.  But, first, I needed to pressure wash the front entrance deck to strip as much of the loose paint off the wood as possible......

The front entrance deck

....and then it was on to the two concrete walkways leading to the deck......

 The pressure washed concrete in the foreground, and the concrete awaiting the wrath of the pressure washer in the background 

....it took me about 2.5 hours in all to do the deck, the sidewalks, stairs and lower parking area.......

 The small, decorative concrete bridge in the front yard

 The parking area is now clean

......on Monday I'll work on doing some minor repairs to each deck including a few boards which have rot in them, and need replacing, then trim a few of the bushes bordering the lower parking area, and sidewalk leading to the parking area.  Sometime later in the week when we have more sun I'll get to work re-staining both decks.  In the interim I'll be pressure washing a couple hundred yards of driveway, another parking area, and the rear patio area.

While I was wrapping up my pressure washing equipment I got a text message advising TLE's new quick release axle had been delivered to the mailbox down the hill, so I retrieved it and set about removing the old sold axle from TLE's front wheel, and installing the new quick release axle......it took me less than 45 minutes beginning to end.......

The new hollow, quick release axle installed..... 

.....the old OEM solid axle with nuts on each end.....a real pain.....

.....the rest of the day was spent watching the final round of the Northern Trust Gold Tournament in which Dustin Johnson reached 30 under par after 72 holes.....that's an average of 7.5 strokes under par per day......his nearest competitor was 11 strokes back.....amazing!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Bob and Karen followed by two more episodes of 'Travelers'....we've seen 6 episodes now of Season 1, and is it ever intense.  If you haven't done so already, check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Phase 2.....

8:07 am - Sunday - August 23rd - Coupeville, WA - 49° F, 90% humidity, wind - CALM......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 65° F.....if you live where it it near, or over 100° F daily, and you know us you will know why we are where we are at.  I love NOT hearing the sound of air conditioning.  I would rather run an electric heater for an hour in the morning, than run A/C at all.

On this day in 2011 we were in Dallas, TX at a college reunion......↴

Saturday it was time to begin Phase 2 of my project.....pressure wash the fireplace deck in preparation for a new application of stain later next week.  It's been about 5 years since this deck, and the deck at the front of the house have had stain applied, and they are in need.  Bob bought this professional grade pressure washer years ago, and I always enjoy getting to use it when we visit.....kind of weird, huh?  It has a very large water tank, as well as a separate tank to heat the water up to 250° F while pumping the heated water at close to 150 psi.....not much can withstand that heat and pressure combination.  I'm pressure washing the two decks before I do the driveway pavement to give the decks time to dry properly before we re-stain them.  In all I worked about 2.5 hours on the fireplace deck, and will get to the front deck on Sunday, or Monday........

 The professional grade Hydro Tek Pressure Washer

.....while pressure washing requires a little less exertion on my part, it still takes energy, and I have been experiencing an increase in my energy levels, and endurance since I began working almost a week ago.  

After finishing my work on the fireplace deck I retired to the Newell for the balance of the day watching most of round three of the Northern Trust Golf Tournament, and enjoying the beautiful view out our front window.  It was too chilly to sit out side for long, which is nice, since that means no A/C is running, right? The temps for the next two weeks will be mostly in the mid 60's, but mostly sunny so hopefully we can spend more time on the 'Lido Deck'.

For our dinner fare I grilled two filet mignons (purchased at Fred Meyers in Couer d'Alene) on the Sea-B-Que, while TLE fired up the Cowboy Disc Wok to sautee some onions, potatoes, and mushrooms as a side for the steaks, which paired nicely with a tomato and avocado salad she had made earlier in the evening.  Utilizing TLE's food thermometer I was able to get the filets to a perfect medium rare once again.

Around 7:15 pm we took a long walk out to the mouth of Harrington Lagoon catching it at another very high tide......

 2 mile walk after dinner...water still rushing into Harrington Lagoon

 Mt. Baker

 Harrington Lagoon at high tide with Mt. Baker in the deep background

.....we got back from our 2 mile walk just in time for TLE to photograph this beautiful sunset.....

TLE got outside in time to catch the sunset

.....being able to spend a couple of weeks on this property overlooking the ocean with our good friends Bob and Karen has really been the 'cherry on top of the sundae' for TLE and I.  After 3.5 months of nomadic wanderings we have at last returned to TLE's favorite place, which is anywhere near the ocean (she grew up in Miami, FL).  The last time we were at the ocean was July 15th when we drove down the hill from Ramona to spend the day in Carlsbad, CA.

On a side note the counter on our blog which counts page views surpassed 1.5 million since I began blogging some 11 years ago......

.....a big thank you to all of our faithful readers for this amazing milestone for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!

Phases........

8:01 am - Saturday - August 22nd - Coupeville, WA - 57° F, 87% humidity, wind - CALM.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 64° F.  It rained most of the night....it is the perfect time for rain, is it not?  Rain at night, and sunny during the day time....the best of all worlds.  On this day in 2017 TLE and I were clocking in at the General Store in Mammoth Hot Springs, YNP........↴

After a day off from weed whacking I was back at it by 10 am Friday.  I had about 100 yards of driveway left to clean (yes, it is a really, really long driveway), and was hoping I could do it in one last drive to the finish line.  Finally, around 1 pm I was finished with phase one. Phase two will entail pressure washing all of the pavement from the 3 car garage down to Harrington Lagoon Road, and then phase three - pressure wash the front door deck, and the outdoor fireplace deck on the south side of the house so they can both be re-stained.......

....by 1 pm I was dirty, sweaty, and hungry.....just how one should find one's self after working in the yard.  While I took a long, hot shower TLE prepared one of her famous grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  I then spent time watching the current PGA golf tournament for a couple of hours with a couple of short naps thrown in for good measure.  I know baseball, basketball and hockey are being played, but I have no interest in watching sports teams promoting the fascistic, Marxist BLM, and our flag being disrespected on a daily basis.  

Just about the time I walked in the Newell from work it began to rain, and that continued on and off the rest of the afternoon and into the evening when it really began to rain in earnest.  We had another subtle sunset, and again watched as Harrington Lagoon was flooded with another high tide of over 12 feet.......

.....we have settled into a kind of rhythm here in Coupeville, and are really enjoying our time with our good friends Bob and Karen.  We currently reside in 'Island County' (Whidbey Island and Camano Island with just over 85,000 population) where there have been just 11 deaths and some 267 cases of the Wuhan Virus in 5 months....that's an average of 2 deaths per month, and a shade over 50 cases per month, and yet we find some of the most severe rules in place of any rural place we have visited since early May.  The infection rate is just .003 of the entire Island County population.  The death rate is .000129 of the entire Island County population, and yet this rural county is being treated like  downtown Seattle.  TLE and I continue to be asymptomatic, and why wouldn't we be?

Thanks for stopping by!

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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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Flyover country......

8:29 am - Thursday - August 20th - Coupeville, WA - 63° F, 84% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the east by southeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 70° F.  A small chance of rain today, however, it rained most of the night, and early morning.  The view this morning.....↴

......on this day in 2013 we were in Salt Lake City, UT attending the wedding rehearsal dinner for my brother's (Dwyer) daughter Ingrid.....here I am with 3 of my 4 siblings......↴

Left to right: Philip, Hilary, moi, and Dwyer....the father of the bride

For our second walk in as many days we walked out the back of the property and up to Morris Road to do a 1 mile loop.......

....it wasn't long, but it involved a lot of up and down.  We spied a very cool tree house along our walk path.....

....and an interesting chain saw sculpture of what is either a small scale orca, or a full size dolphin.....

....we finished with the long climb up Bob and Karen's very long, very steep driveway......

 
......once we were back home I got dressed in my weed whackin' clothes and spent another couple of hours cleaning up that same long, steep driveway.....

....I now have about 1/2 the driveway cleared, as well as the lower parking area, and sidewalk, as well as all the long grass cleared.....I should be able to finish the driveway Thursday, or Friday....depending on the rain....

.....about mid afternoon after I went out to the 'Lido Deck' to read jets from the nearby Naval Air Station Whidbey Island began to practice 'touch and go' maneuvers, which took them right over Bob and Karen's property.  TLE captured this video......

.....this went on with one pass after another for over an hour, and the sound was deafening!

Around 6 pm we walked down to Bob and Karen's rear patio for snacks, and drinks, then retired to the deck for our first fire of our 2020 stay.......

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!