On Sunday, our day started out with a wonderful breakfast at the Harrison House. Fresh fruit, homemade granola cereal, grits with salsa, fresh lamb sausage and a poached egg on top followed by a really good coffee cake. After that, we drove back to Roche Harbor for our 3-hour 9+mile Kayak tour. Started out by snapping a picture over my shoulder of my bride gearing up. Jill had control of the rudder in our kayak.
Just outside of the harbor, we saw this bald eagle watching the water. Later he/she was seen soaring majestically over the water.
The guide spotted these two sea lion's sunning themselves on a rock. They have to sun for 8 hours a day or they have trouble digesting their food, which weakens their immune system. No humans are allowed within 100 meters of a sunning sea lion in Washington state, so we had to be careful not to drift too close.
One of the cool things I call "tree sculptures" from the wind.
I snapped this photo of the rest of our group. Four other tourists and three guides.
Our lead guy was fascinated by the fact that my Pentax is waterproof, so he asked if he could take a few shots with it. He snapped this photo of us. This was before it got real sunny and I found out I should've listened to my wife and applied more sunscreen. See those large patches of skin on either side of my widows peak? Yeah, they are red today.
After the kayak trip was over, we ate at the Roche Harbor cafe. I had a delicious Asian salad while Jill had what she declared was the best fish and chips she's ever eaten. The halibut was lightly battered and fell apart in your mouth. The fries were crispy in a way we've not had before. YUM.
Afterwards, we drove down the west side of the island, hoping to see some whales. Alas, we did not, but I took this neat photo of a lighthouse. I
thought I was focused on the lighthouse but I'm pleasantly happy with the fact I wasn't.
We then drove to Friday Harbor to get in line for the ferry. Had some ice cream and Jill had a Chai latte while we waited. And I fell asleep. Ferry ride home where we played Pente on a table and each won about half the games and we giggled a lot. Ate dinner at a burger place that brings your food out to your car. Then got home exhausted around 9 pm! What a fun weekend!!
I began assembling the five panels up tonight. My back was hurting and I was home alone, so I used temporary supports to hold everything in place.
Today a few things happened - I had my second full day off from both jobs since Memorial day - that was nice. I snapped this picture of Lydia watering the fruit trees (if you look REAL close you can see our first red apple on the left!) - she is listening to Homer's Odyssey on her headphones.
I finished staining the deck. Tomorrow I start the long gazebo process. I can only afford half the panel wood. The wood for the "walls" or panels of the gazebo will be between $800 and $850 it turns out. Cedar is EXPENSIVE! And that's with a 10% off coupon. Dang.
When I built the deck, I saved some scrap boards. I'm sure some of my neighbors wondered why I had a small stack of wood on my front porch, but I needed them to be outside but not get rained on, since I didn't waste any finish on it. I took those boards and drilled holes in them. Then laid them across the gaps and centered the anchor bolts with them. Poured the concrete underneath and so those scrap boards held the bolts at the proper height.
I also used a belt sander to round off the corners of the table. I found that my perfect little 45 degree angles caught peoples pants legs as they were sitting down. So round off they were - this is stage one. After Jill inspects it all, I'll put on finer sandpaper and finish it.
Peter wanted ear plugs for 7/4 festivities. Unfortunately, one of Lydia's dove's passed away that night - most likely from fright from the loud booming.
Tonight was one of those rare treats - not only was I not working but it was a pleasant evening. Sophia is trying to earn points and wanted to mow the lawn. She mowed the entire front herself!
Just outside of the harbor, we saw this bald eagle watching the water. Later he/she was seen soaring majestically over the water.
The guide spotted these two sea lion's sunning themselves on a rock. They have to sun for 8 hours a day or they have trouble digesting their food, which weakens their immune system. No humans are allowed within 100 meters of a sunning sea lion in Washington state, so we had to be careful not to drift too close.
One of the cool things I call "tree sculptures" from the wind.
I snapped this photo of the rest of our group. Four other tourists and three guides.
Our lead guy was fascinated by the fact that my Pentax is waterproof, so he asked if he could take a few shots with it. He snapped this photo of us. This was before it got real sunny and I found out I should've listened to my wife and applied more sunscreen. See those large patches of skin on either side of my widows peak? Yeah, they are red today.
After the kayak trip was over, we ate at the Roche Harbor cafe. I had a delicious Asian salad while Jill had what she declared was the best fish and chips she's ever eaten. The halibut was lightly battered and fell apart in your mouth. The fries were crispy in a way we've not had before. YUM. 
We also saw some other sea life amongst the beautiful yachts. Some anemone's clinging to the docks, lots of jellyfish and some scavenger shrimp. We also saw a lot of stunning boats, yachts, you name it. And that sea smell and sounds and views was so nice.
We then went to Roche Harbor, a resort on the north end of the island where you can look SOUTH to Canada. Roche Harbor used to be one of the top lime producing plants in the US, so the old brick work was all still there. I took this nice picture of my beautiful wife. Then she suggested the picture of the kilns.
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