Orcas Island for spring break

Rick and I went to Orcas Island for spring break. We rode the ferry over mid-afternoon and got to the resort just before sunset. Debs and Brian, Hannah, Megan and Alex met us later in the evening on that first day. On the second day, Scott and Amy, Susanna and Andrew joined us. On the third day, Papa and Grandma, Amy and Seth, Sam, Ellie, Jayne and Jacob (Diego Batman) arrived. On the fourth day, Brad and Susan, Maggie, Jonathan, Katie, Ben and Matthew joined us. On the fifth day, we rested. Oh, I mean we had a birthday party for Alex (Happy Birthday, Alex!!) Generally, it was a party the entire time.

It rained. There was intermittent sunshine. One day the wind blew and blew and a transformer on the mainland in Anacortes blew out, leaving the entire island without power. We heated the cabins with firewood, bought some drinking water since the wells were electrical, and played cards and Bananas (a game of speed Scrabble) in the cabins. There was a raucous Easter egg hunt on Sunday. I'm sure West Beach will never be the same.

One of the highlights for me was a whale-watching trip to look for Orcas with Outer Island Expeditions. It is not the season to find the whales, so we mostly expected to see the sea lions, maybe some dolphins and the harbor seals. Just as we pulled out, our whale-boat Captain Beau Brandow got a call saying the BC ferry had spotted a pod of transient Orcas. Beau told us that it was a needle in a haystack, but that he would make every effort to find the whales if we wanted to give it a try. After a bit of debate, Papa said yes, let's find the whales.

Beau was amazing. He drove us 45 minutes deep into Canadian waters, circled back along the tide that he figured the whales were following, and swept back in a plan to intercept the whales that he calculated were moving along a string of islands toward us. And there they were.

There were five whales altogether. Beau said there were three adult females, one young whale, and a baby whale that looked to be 6-8 weeks old. The pod circled over to us and seemed to be playing and showing off not too far from our boat. Then they suddenly lined up and took off to the north at a pretty fast pace. We followed them in the boat, and they swam really close to the shore of one island, close enough that the campers spotted them and went running down to the beach. The whales went on past the island and straight out into the open Sound.


We ended the whale watching by a circle around a small island and saw some lazy-looking Harbor seals, a huge flock of cormorants and gulls. As we pulled up to the West Beach pier, the bobbing heads of all the Brad-and-Susan cousins had arrived and came running down the beach to greet us.

I would live there in a minute. Island and all.

Sherri

Transformers vs Peeps

We know you've been waiting for it.

(I would have loved to see what photos these were...sorry, my old Flikr account has been lost)

Rick has had way too much time on his hands this weekend.
Sherri

spring in February?

Rick is home from Kansas and brought the Kansas City Great Gomboo - that is the official medical term. He was through the worst of it earlier this week when it was down in his lungs, but it seems to be ramping up again for a second round today. Hopefully another couple of days of rest and fluids, and he will be better. He had a good visit with his sister Michelle and her daughters, Aimée and Kimberly, while in Kansas. His next round of work out in the world is still a few weeks away, and then he anticipates another 14 jobs that will most likely take him into July.

Nichole's birthday was on the February 8. She is in the process of moving out of her apartment and into a house with Michael and another friend, so there is that whole shift of stuff and packing and changes going on for her. I know she was looking for a home for her snake in all the up-ended chaos; apparently snakes don't do well with a lot of changes. Nichole is coming over tonight for some curry and birthday cake, so perhaps we'll get to hear more about what is happening.

Merissa has been "discovered" by a modeling agency, and she is busy working to put those pieces together to see if she can dip her toe into that world. It is a reputable company, and they initially contacted her earlier last fall but she didn't make the initial cut at that first call. She came away with a better idea about what they were looking for, and worked with a trainer at the gym to see if she could make some changes without turning her whole body on its head. The call a couple weeks ago resulted in a contract. All a great adventure, and it could be a great opportunity for Missy at this time in her life.

Becca's plan to graduate a year early has required an enormous amount of dedication to her schoolwork and the additional college classes in the evenings. Her focus is admirable, and she has accomplished a phenomenal amount of work: essays, research papers, lab experiments, classwork and core projects. The result is that she remains on track to graduate in June - a full year early. I suspect she is looking forward to the summer with more than a little anticipation.

My 1-year term contract with WSU is up the first of April, and it will not be renewed. After all that has gone on lately, I find that I am neither surprised nor disappointed. It has been a learning experience, and now I am looking forward to what comes next. Just this last week, I have updated all my online resources and my resume; yesterday I sent out the first batch of applications. For the dicey economy in our area, there are jobs out there. Change shakes up the routine, but in the bigger picture, that's not so bad.

Every day is an adventure.

The Momgoose