Port Townsend

So we spent the greater part of the weekend in Port Townsend getting the boat ready for launch later in the week.  Progress is being made and we are very excited about the prospects for getting her in the water and bringing her to Poulsbo.  While it was kind of a "working weekend,"  we enjoy Port Townsend for its fun, beauty, and eclectic charm. 

We start our days in Port Townsend with a trip to the Pane d'Amore Bakery.  It doesn't get any better than this.  Yum!

On Saturday, we visited the farmer's market in town and stocked up for the week.

Driving around town, we see many of the Victorian buildings for which Port Townsend is known.

We often see deer like this roaming right through the yards of the homes in Port Townsend.

There is a cute downtown shopping area.

And gorgeous flower gardens throughout the town.

There are also some pretty nice water views,

historical sites,

and the Wooden Boat Foundation, which sponsors a festival each year drawing dozens of beautiful wooden boats to the waterfront.

We have noticed that Port Townsendites seem to have a unique fashion sense all unto themselves.  Hmmm, fashion-forward or aging hippie?  You decide.  Either way, this is Port Townsend!!

Back at the boatyard, we got some bums to paint the bottom of the boat.  

 

OK, so they were not really bums.  That's just the name of the business.  Anyway, didn't they do a nice job?

We got her new name on, too.  Matt did a great job on that.

Name change, hull-waxing, a couple of minor equipment repairs, and only 3 trips to West Marine! We are looking forward to watching fireworks next weekend.  Have a happy 4th!!

Yippee!!!

She's here! On Thursday, our new-to-us boat arrived via truck from San Francisco, California. She weathered the long drive beautifully (thanks to the fabulous trucker, Sal Piazza, seen above, tending to his load) and is now up on the blocks in Port Townsend, Washington awaiting re-rigging and a bottom paint. Her previous name was Aboutime, which, indeed, was our sentiment after waiting 6 weeks for her arrival following the purchase. However, we will be changing her name (and have already done so with her Coast Guard registration) to Sun Break. We chose that name because, well, we liked it, and also as a nod to the frequent use of the term in the weather forecasts here in the Pacific Northwest. If you've spent any time here, you know what sun breaks are and also how much you come to appreciate them!  Sun Break is a 2002 Beneteau 331 previously home ported in Richmond and Santa Barbara, California. 

It was fun to see her lifted off the truck.

Baylee used Sun Break's shade to her advantage.

First lunch on board, even if it's not in the water yet!

Hopefully, the boat will be put back together and readied for her first cruise in short order - and without too many trips to West Marine (we hope)!

Have a great week!

Heat Wave

The temperature reached into the 70's on Saturday.  Finally!!! Yes, we know, compared to other parts of the nation, the Pacific Northwest is a little slow to come around to summer-like weather.  And yes, around here, 70-something degrees IS summer-like.  Ninety degree days are pretty rare. 

So that you understand why we were so happy, this was the weather in the middle of the week.

And this was the weather on Saturday.

So we got on our bikes and set out on a ride to Indianola and Suquamish. Both are on Madison Bay and are part of the Suquamish Indian Reservation.  The ride turned out to be longer than we had planned--22 miles!  And it was way more hilly than expected. 

In Suquamish, we stopped and visited the gravesite of Chief Sealth,  the tribal chief for whom Seattle is named.

The payoff in Indianola was this view of Mt. Rainier, not often seen throughout the year due to all of the rain.   

Oh yeah, and there was this much-needed payoff at the end of the ride.

The new boat is due here this week.  Just in time for summer!

Have a great week!

National Doughnut Day

We knew just where to head in order to celebrate National Doughnut Day on Friday.  Sluys' Bakery in Poulsbo, an institution among the locals and a must-go-to for the tourists, is known for its large, decadent doughnuts as well as a store full of other baked goods. We'd never tried any of their doughnuts but decided to splurge this weekend. 

Here are a few pics.  This is only a fraction of all they offer, but you'll get the idea.

It was hard to choose, but this is what we ended up selecting.  We shared the large chocolate one.  It lasted us all weekend.  The smaller one was for Baylee.  And yes, they were good.  Really good.

Also this weekend, Matt spent some time putting together the new fire pit that he bought on Saturday.

After sunset, we held the inaugural fire. 

We should get some marshmallows for toasting next time.

Have a great week!

Memorial Day 2010

Gray. Overcast. Rainy.  That was the weather here for the entire weekend.  Oh well.  We've learned to just carry on when that happens; otherwise, we would have a lot of dashed plans. Here are the highlights.

Recently, we joined the Poulsbo Yacht Club after our new neighbors, Patti and Jim, invited us to become members.  On Saturday, we headed to Port Ludlow for a pot luck dinner held in conjunction with the club's Memorial Day Weekend Cruise to the marina there.  There was a great turnout and while the weather wasn't ideal, under a slightly leaky but sufficient tent, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We have met a number of friends in the club already and look forward to participating in many of the club events.  We drove up this year, but hope to be able to take our boat next year.     

         

On Sunday, we drove out to the Olympic National Park about an hour and a half from Poulsbo.  This was our third visit to this immense park.  This time we went to Lake Crescent, a glacially-carved lake with stunning natural beauty, even in the rain.

And even in the rain, there was lots to see.

Then on Monday we headed to Seattle for the Mariner's game. The sun finally broke out and it was a nice evening for a baseball game.

It wasn't much of a game, and the stands were pretty empty, but we didn't mind. One of the reasons we went was because the Admiral that Matt works for threw out the first pitch. Matt did that once, but it was for one of the Mariner's for the single-A farm teams - a different league, literally and figuratively, altogether.

All in all, we had a nice holiday weekend. But most importantly, this weekend is in remembrance of all those, heroes all, who were wounded or died in defense of our freedoms.