A Funnel Cloud?

You may have heard a funnel cloud formed over Mt. Vernon, WA today and hung in the sky for 30-45 minutes. We saw it on the news and realized we had passed through the area almost an hour before it appeared. We had commented on how dark and ominous the sky looked and were surprised that we only had a few sprinkles.

Chihuly Glass--Oh My!

Today was a day spent doing laundry and going to the Tacoma Art Museum and on the pedestrian walk to see as much Chihuly glass as we could. We then drove the 124 miles north to Bellingham where we're spending the night and tomorrow we'll go to Costco, pick up some dry ice and get in line to board the ferry.

I had heard about the Bridge of Glass, a covered walkway over I-705 that had Chihuly art glass and knew I wanted to see it. It was so amazing. I didn't know there was a wall of glass along the walkway too as well as some of his glass in the old Union Station building--now a federal building. The museum has some of Chihuly's earlier work on permanent display. It was a wonderful assortment of color.

I created an album and I hope I haven't forgotten how to make it show up on the left of this post.

Another treat at the Tacoma Art Museum was a Norman Rockwell exhibit. It was great to see so many of his paintings up close and personal. His work has amazing detail of color and while so much of his work looks like photographs from a distance it was neat to see them up close and see how he "suggests" the detail from his use of color. There was also a collection of framed magazine covers some of which had the original paintings there too. It was great.

We finished the day off with a great seafood dinner at Anthony's overlooking the harbor. Our waiter used to live in Tucson and the receptionist at the hotel used to live in Sedona. What a small world!

US 101

I love going up the coastal highway. Lots of greenery, flowers, ocean, bridges and a little bit of rain in Oregon. We no sooner crossed the mighty Columbia River into Washington that we got lots and lots of RAIN! It's all so different from what we're used to that it's beautiful to see.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:









Look at those lines!

Traveling

This says it is Peggie, but it is Bill.
We left Cottonwood around noon on Saturday. We went over Mingus to US89 then caught I-40 at Ashfork. The wind was gusty and strong from the West, but we made it to Henderson, NV that night. Going over the bridge at Hoover Dam was anticlimatic because the wall is so high that you can't see the dam.
We took a side road, NV rte 160, to go around Las Vegas and got to see the mountains SW of the city from up close. The road parallels the border and we got good views of the Sierra Nevadas all day. We rode US95 to Tonopah, where we had a Thomas picnic, it was cold and windy, at a roadside table. When we got close to Reno, we again took a little side road so we could pass through Carson City, the Nevada capital. We stayed at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in Reno on Easter.
We saw a feature on the local Reno news about a library book sale, so we stopped by there on Monday morning. We spent $25 and got maybe 20 books. Good thing we dropped off some books at Margie's so we had room for them. They will all stay in Skagway if the library there will take them.
We left Reno at noon on US395. The wind was very hard in our face again, so speed was limited. We got a spattering of rain off and on and a pretty good snow squall just before we dropped into Redding. I actually engaged 4wd when the snow began sticking to the road.
In Redding we found the cheapest gas (thanks to Peggie's brilliant phone)at a Safeway. The lines were long, but we were still surprised to see the man in the car next to us fast asleep when his turn came to pull up. Peggie woke him up with a knock on his window.
The road, sr299, from Redding to Eureka is very windy, goes up and down a lot, and passes through gorgeous mountains, forests, and along side the Trinity River. Very pretty drive, but it took about an hour longer than I wanted it to. We got to Arcata after 7:00, ate at a coffee shop, then hit the sack.
Today we head north on US101. I hope the wind has died down a little.

going dark....

My nagging ability is being sorely tested. Peggie has still not posted NY photos. She has been really busy with other important projects, so we have to cut her some slack.
Tonight is the last chance for a while. We leave tomorrow morning. We will be traveling for 10 days. Sometimes we can post on the road, but you never know.
The packing phase is considerably simplified over last year. We are aware that we don't need everything. But Bettyann keeps speaking up. Bettyann is an acronym. The spelling is different, but the pronunciation is accurate. "It is Better To Have It And Not Need it, than to need it and not have it." (BTHIANN) It is a philosophical position I try to abide by. Peggie's interpretation is "If there is room, let's take it." (Especially fabric)
Also, I have a better idea of how much room there is in the jeep. I didn't actually tape off a section of the floor this time. We are both taking fewer clothes. We found that doing laundry every seven days works well, so we don't need two weeks worth of clothes. On the other hand, we know what items are difficult, impossible, or just too expensive to buy there, so we are taking more comestibles and beverages.
Our travel route this year will be like this:
Tomorrow we go to Cottonwood for overnight visit with Mom, sis and the rest of the clan.
We will leave by going over Mingus Mountain and north to Ashfork and Kingman. Probably RON (remain over night) in Kingman so we can cross the new Black Canyon Bridge in the morning with the sun behind us, skirt Las Vegas and head for Reno. RON in Reno, then NW across California to Redding, then to the coast. We will meander up the Oregon and Washington coast until it is time to cut East to Tacoma. From there up the highway to Bellingham,where we will visit Costco for the last time in five months before we board the ferry.We have a whole week, so we don't have to hurry so fast that we miss the scenery.
We will have a different apartment this year. A few square feet larger, and a few yards nearer Broadway. We hope to still be able to use our "backyard" for cooking out and planting our veggie garden.
We don't have to put in a change of address since the PO will forward our mail from Tucson. Our cell phones work in Skagway, but not far out of town. We don't have coverage in Canada.
I am now going to shut down this computer. We will both be on the laptop from now on.
I will load the bottom two layers of stuff into the jeep now, and add the last minute stuff in the morning.
See you soon.

refocusing

It is a good thing I got new glasses. As of last night, we have completely refocused. Up until now, we have been living our lives, doing things that needed doing. We both still have one more cleaning at the dentist, but otherwise we are finished with the annual doctor visits. We held our yard sale and made a trip to Goodwill with the leftovers. Our vehicles are registered for another year or two. The jeep is all serviced and ready for a long trip. We had a final (for now) visit with family and friends. We have both fielded phone calls from our employers. (They had reasons to call, but I think they really are just checking to see that we are still committed to returning.) So, anyway, we are now in full-on scramble mode. We are hitting the road Friday. This Friday. We have to think of everything we have been putting to the back of our minds. It is so crowded back there now, that we are worried we won't get everything back out. We will be in the middle of Nevada when we remember the coffee pot is set to come on at six the next morning. Or, worse, that we forgot to pack our shoes. Here is an example. We haven't even left here yet, but last night we were working the numbers to decide if we will ride the ferry or drive out when we leave in September. The cost is about a wash, but the ferry has to be booked and paid for by July. If we drive, the bills won't come until November. If we drive, we can leave on September 23rd or 24th. The ferry doesn't leave until the 26th. Decisions, decisions. Now where am I keeping that list.....? P.S. Peggie will post some pictures. If only to stop my nagging.

Ouch!

Okay, maybe not ouch. Casey gave us a pretty gentle hand slap. But she was right. When you are busy having fun it is sometimes difficult to write. For me, the problem is that I don't have my computer with me. Peggie has no such excuse. She has that genius (not just smart) phone.(Peggie says: yes it's a genius phone but still kind of small and more labor intensive than a laptop. Remember, I was on vacation.)

Looking at our previous post, I want to point out some things. That cowboy is my father when he was twenty-something. He spent the first thirty years of his life as a real cowboy. Not much after that. The three brands across the top are real brands registered to my father and grandfather. The copper border on the state is real copper foil that Peggie distressed then sewed on. New York was good, but spending time with family was great. Which reminds me; of the three things I wanted to have happen, only the rocky road pie came true. But that is fine with me. It is always good to have rocky road pie. And when I left, there was still some remaining for Karin.

As always, we love going to Manhattan. For us, just riding the trains is an adventure. As opposed to an "adventure" which we did not have this trip. Yay! We went to the regular biannual quilt show. It is held in a place that is way too small for all the people who come to it. But it is Manhattan, which is also way too small for all the people anyway. This show was only so-so. The Tucson show has more interesting quilts. But after I got tired of looking at quilts, and before Peggie did, I sat and watched people. Boy, is that fun. I was having the best time. Then we had to go to the local fabric shop. DUH! Because it is near the venue of the show, it was also packed with people. Me and about forty women. In a space that comfortably handles ten. Some women were discussing the other big quilt show in town. A temporary showing of a private collection of quilts. From modern to 300 years old, and all in red and white. It was on our itinerary for another day. When we went, we thought it was fabulous. If you are like me, it is hard to imagine that 650 quilts, all in just red and white, could be interesting. You know, "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." Not so, my friends. Not so. First of all, whoever designed the hanging was brilliant. I can't describe it. You will have to get it from the pictures. But I will explain that the building was more than large enough to play football in. And while there was a large crowd, the arrangement gave plenty of room to move around. Secondly, no two quilts were alike. That's right. Actually, 651 different quilts. Different only in the patterns. The colors were all red and white. Not reds. Not whites.

We did not get to go to Storm King to see the sculptures because they weren't open for the season yet. In Arizona we just don't think about things being closed for the winter. But in NY they do. We did take Ariana one day and went for a drive into the wild north lands. We only got as far north as Poughkeepsie, but we were wandering on small roads and seeing the "back country." At times we might have gone as far as half a mile without seeing a house. Or not. We saw lots of private schools. Some boarding schools, some day schools. Very neat old buildings everywhere. All in all we had a wonderful time being grandparents. Ariana is amazing. (What grandchild isn't?) Greg's kitchen is NOT complete. But they were able to beginning moving into it while the finishing touches (paint and tile) are still to come. Peggie wants to add the pictures, but she is busy with other projects right now. So watch this space for the next posting to include photos.