Relaxed...Recharged...Odds & Ends

This is a heavy picture entry today but I had to post some of the scenery from our recent weekend adventure. I took over 235 pictures and it was hard to choose which few to post. We stayed in the lodge at the Lakedale Resort on San Juan Island. Wow, what an amazing place!!! For good reason, it was named by the Fine Living Channel in 2006 as one of the top 10 places for a romantic getaway. We got a great deal on it at our neices' school auction last year. Now we're going to have to go back and pay full price to make it an annual event. My goal this summer is to get another blog up and running that is more to do with travel and other adventures. I'll be posting more detailed info there, for those that are interested, on this place and others. More deatails to come soon! For now, enjoy the picutres...

On the ferry going to San Juan Island. We lucked out weather wise. It looked like rain on the way over but actually cleared up a bit and was fairly nice for most of the rest of the weekend. It didn't rain until the last day when we were headed home.
Looking outside from our room. Each room has a fireplace and HUGE jetted tub. Kids under 16 aren't allowed in the lodge so it's very quiet...
View from standing on our balcony...Ahhh... Just looking at this picture makes me relaxed. Can you picture yourself here on a beautiful evening with a glass of wine in hand? Feels good doesn't it?


We witnessed some amazing sunsets. Nothing has been done to enhance the color of this picture. It really looked like the sky was on fire.
This was just before the sun set...
This was funny because on our first evening we went out to eat and were headed into the restaurant when we realized that we could acutally sit in the bar. We ate dinner in the bar just to celebrate that fact...



Driving on the west side of the Island just south of Lime Kiln State park. Vancouver Island is off to the left. It's a good place to see whales and other sea life. The resident pod of whales weren't in the area that day. I was so bummed because I wanted to see the baby that was recently born. The best time to see the whales is later in the summer. Now we have an excuse to go back this summer.
More lovely scenery...

Inside the lodge... The fireplace is outside on the deck as well.



I was trying out a new camera so i have lots of shots trying out different settings and distances etc. I thought this picutre of the peonies turned out cool. One of my favorite flowers...hint hint honey :o)
Light house at Lime Kiln State Park. This was our third trip there to see if we could see the whales.
A beach at "American Camp". The British and Americans both had military camps on the island before the American/Canadian border was determined. It was an amicable arrangement that almost went awry when a British pig wandered onto an American settler's land and was shot and killed. It was eventually settled and the border dispute resolved. The soldiers had quite the view.

Meet Mona the camel. She was rescued from a petting zoo somewhere. She loves to be fed apples. I can't recall having ever seen a camel in person before. She is quite the character... not to mention roadside attraction

Another shot from playing around with the different settings on my camera.


My honey got his 100th geocaching find on this trip. Not acquainted with the wonderful world of geocaching yet? Read here for more. In a nutshell, you use a GPS unit and satellite coordinates to find something that has been hidden. Once found, you notate all of your info in a logbook. It's a fun family activity...sometimes it can be a bit annoying when any event you have planned has to include a stop off to find a new geocache..but for the most part it's fun. Tee Hee...

That's all the photos I have for now. Like I said I have tons more and will post more on my travel site when it's up and running. We are blessed up here in the Pacific Northwest to have so much natural beauty. In one day, you can visit some pretty majestic mountains, the Pacific Ocean, islands, wine-regions...I could go on and on. We had a fantastic time and vow to go away together at least once a year. No more of this three year business...

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Other little bits of info. I found this article this morning on my DTC Yahoo group. It's about uprisings in China over population control.

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Check out Love Without Boundaries fundraising auction. There is only one day left...sorry I meant to post about this before. But check it out for some amazing items to purchase. All proceeds go towards helping orphaned children in China. If you can't help out via the auction then check out their site for other ways to help. They are an amazing organization of individual volunteers trying to make a difference.
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That's it for now peeps....I'm excited to go "unplugged" this week as most of the shows I watch are ending or have come to an end. Anyone watch 24? I wasn't too excited by the ending this year. Anyways, it's time to unplug and get outside, get projects completed, go camping, take long evening walks...can't wait!