With none of our kids coming home for Christmas, we decided to drive to Washington and spend a little time there over the holidays. We arrived at our condo in Long Beach at about 2 a.m. on December 24th and fell into bed, exhausted. Imagine our delight waking up the next morning and realizing this
was the 180-degree view from our deck....
Take a look at the peninsula, this is a beautiful setting, near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Beached whale bones -- poor thing. No idea how old this was.
We spent the first morning walking along the beach, exploring a bit...
I think Dad's talking to Dave in this picture. Wish you (all of you) had been there in person!
Tried to get some sunset and night time pictures -- my camera leaves a little to be desired in that area. Look at Eric's blog for a gorgeous night shot.
Eric and Mindy arrived Christmas Eve, around 8 p.m., after Mindy got off work and a three hour drive, bless their hearts. They burst in laden with an ice chest filled with food, including a 20+ pound ham, plus pots, pans, knives, etc. Eric took over the kitchen, and after he got going, I regretted not getting a picture of his entrance -- I asked him to load up, go out, and do it again -- he said no....... He posted this list on the refrigerator and went to work.
And in very little time, served up a feast. I have to tell you, this clam chowder is the best I have ever had, ever.
I think he was happy with the results. :-)
Eric and Mindy headed back to Seattle on Christmas Day to celebrate with his sister and her family, so Bruce, Kendra, and I went hiking at the tip of the peninsula. Just look at these pics and weep!
Here's how Kendra feels about hiking in Washington!
Long Beach, Washington, has the distinction of being the world's longest beach that you can drive on -- at least from September to April. So we did, for several miles. Don't want to think about what the combination of sand and salt does to the van. Oh well, it's a sport wagon!
Mindy drove back on Saturday and spent another day with us. Isn't she just so cute!!!!
We gathered greenery and other natural items on our hike and put together our own little, authentic Christmas tree, using a spaghetti sauce can for the base. This tree is decorated with pine cones, moss, and the occasional seashell. Perfect!
Sunset at Cape Disapointment -- this picture was taken from the Visitor's Center.
It was cold -- the wind was more than just a bit brisk!
Cape Disappointment lighthouse.
And here's Kendra inside the Visitors' Center.
We managed a visit with the Erskines on Sunday. Unfortunately Katie and Brittany weren't able to stay and we missed them, but we had a great time catching up with Roger, Mary, and Todd. I'm so sorry I'm blocking Mary in this picture!
We had unbelievably good weather the whole time, blue skies and temperatures around 50. We loved the one day of snow/rain, which we experienced driving from Longview back to the beach.
And on the drive home, stopped at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon. Loved this display of a Coast Guard rescue boat, had to include these pictures.
And Bruce and Kendra clamoring to get aboard!
Missed all of you! Can we get a beach hike on the calendar next year??????
was the 180-degree view from our deck....
Here's the condo -- the third floor balcony on the left, that's us.....
Take a look at the peninsula, this is a beautiful setting, near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Beached whale bones -- poor thing. No idea how old this was.
We spent the first morning walking along the beach, exploring a bit...
I think Dad's talking to Dave in this picture. Wish you (all of you) had been there in person!
Tried to get some sunset and night time pictures -- my camera leaves a little to be desired in that area. Look at Eric's blog for a gorgeous night shot.
Eric and Mindy arrived Christmas Eve, around 8 p.m., after Mindy got off work and a three hour drive, bless their hearts. They burst in laden with an ice chest filled with food, including a 20+ pound ham, plus pots, pans, knives, etc. Eric took over the kitchen, and after he got going, I regretted not getting a picture of his entrance -- I asked him to load up, go out, and do it again -- he said no....... He posted this list on the refrigerator and went to work.
And in very little time, served up a feast. I have to tell you, this clam chowder is the best I have ever had, ever.
I won't post pictures of the individual dishes, Eric's done that on his blog and his pictures are better anyway.
Here's the creme brulee -- wish I'd gotten a picture of Eric playing with his torch, it was pretty cool!
Here's the creme brulee -- wish I'd gotten a picture of Eric playing with his torch, it was pretty cool!
I think he was happy with the results. :-)
Eric and Mindy headed back to Seattle on Christmas Day to celebrate with his sister and her family, so Bruce, Kendra, and I went hiking at the tip of the peninsula. Just look at these pics and weep!
Here's how Kendra feels about hiking in Washington!
Long Beach, Washington, has the distinction of being the world's longest beach that you can drive on -- at least from September to April. So we did, for several miles. Don't want to think about what the combination of sand and salt does to the van. Oh well, it's a sport wagon!
Mindy drove back on Saturday and spent another day with us. Isn't she just so cute!!!!
We gathered greenery and other natural items on our hike and put together our own little, authentic Christmas tree, using a spaghetti sauce can for the base. This tree is decorated with pine cones, moss, and the occasional seashell. Perfect!
Sunset at Cape Disapointment -- this picture was taken from the Visitor's Center.
It was cold -- the wind was more than just a bit brisk!
Cape Disappointment lighthouse.
And here's Kendra inside the Visitors' Center.
We managed a visit with the Erskines on Sunday. Unfortunately Katie and Brittany weren't able to stay and we missed them, but we had a great time catching up with Roger, Mary, and Todd. I'm so sorry I'm blocking Mary in this picture!
We had unbelievably good weather the whole time, blue skies and temperatures around 50. We loved the one day of snow/rain, which we experienced driving from Longview back to the beach.
And on the drive home, stopped at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon. Loved this display of a Coast Guard rescue boat, had to include these pictures.
And Bruce and Kendra clamoring to get aboard!
Missed all of you! Can we get a beach hike on the calendar next year??????
3 comments:
Okay, why are there huge spaces between the pictures? I tried to correct that on the Thanksgiving post and ended up making it worse. You bloggers out there, help me out with this.
First, I love these pictures. Makes me feel like we might have been together ... at least in our hearts! :)
Second, I'm not sure exactly how to fix it other than go through and hit back-space inbetween the pictures. I'm not sure how it messed up the previous post unless it deleted pictures ... sorry - I'm not much help! Blogger is kind of a pain sometimes because you can't see exactly how it will look in the draft stage, so it ends up being a little bit of guess work. Call me anytime though - love you!!
Kendra and I both tried that and it reduced the space a little, but not entirely. Until someone figures it out, I'll just do shorter posts and more of them! :-)
Post a Comment