Jeni's Trip to Bainbridge Island

My friend John Osborne and I have known each other for 43 years.  Fondly known as John O.  He moved back here to Seattle to take a job with the FAA for a couple years so we have had a few opportunities to get together.  Soon he will return to Pittsburgh where he co-parents his two teenage daughters.

Yesterday we met on Bainbridge Island.  Only a ferry ride away for him and a nearly two hour drive for me, but it was about revisiting some old memories for both of us.

Although we didn't even know each other as kids, we discovered that we had both spent time on the island.  Mom and I lived there off and on in the late 60's because my sister JoDee and her family lived there.  My brother in law was the high school math teacher.
John had friends he spent summers with in the mid 60's.

So I hadn't been to the island since 2005 and he went in 2010, but we still felt like so much had changed, mostly based on our childhood memories.  The place has of course grown hugely to accommodate the influx of people and jobs in Seattle.

I took this photo mostly for my sister JoDee because it is the same store that has been there since the 60's!  It's just a grocery store, but there it is, still going.  This is downtown Winslow.

This is the Lynnwood Center, located just a few miles from town.  This building with theater has also been here forever.  John recalled first seeing A Love Story here for 50 cents, and I remember Mom and I going often when we lived on that side of the island.
And of course a token "selfie" of us in front of it.

This part of the trip was especially why we came to the island.  This is Fort Ward.  Built in the 20's I believe by the Army, with officer's housing, and large concrete gun installations along the water that protected the Bremerton Navy base.
The second house was where my friend Lori Kingery lived in 1969. 
These homes have been well preserved and are on the historic registry.

This is one of the officer's quarters built of wood.  Originally a duplex.  This is where John's friends lived and where he spent his summers.

This is what's known to locals as Frances Nash, something to do with Nash guns, anyway, it's really big, about two or three stories, built into the side of the hill facing the water.  It's where the gun installations were.  We all played here as kids.  This photo doesn't do it justice, but this is as close as we could get as it is all private property now.  I have some old photos on film I could dig out when I last was able to actually go there.  Back then you had to hike in on a trail and it was mostly overgrown.  You can read some history about Fort Ward on Wikipedia.

This is the old jail.  Back in the 60's they gutted it and remodeled it into two or three apartments.  Mom and I lived on the right side, there was a lovely view of the water from the living room.  It's actually prettier today than it was then!  Good for them for keeping it up.  I imagine it too is on the historic registry.
This place was haunted too, by the way.  When we lived there, there was a ceiling light that used to come on at will and glow with a very low wattage.  There was also an odd breeze that would blow through that room.

This building is next door.  Still unoccupied.  I think it was originally the gymnasium.  There was a sign out front that they were going to renovate it into something for the community there.

And lastly, the pier, where Mom and I fished from.  Now it is a fish hatchery and you can't go out there.  So I got a photo from here.  Many fond memories of enjoying the outdoors, sitting on the pier with our drop lines.
Next door to this was a huge night club for the officers which later became some kind of amusement park and then burned down in the 70's I read.  We knew the people that owned it, they had converted the whole place into a home. 

There are other gun placement structures along the water down here, but were grown over with blackberries. 

I remember getting to see the USS Nimitz leaving Bremerton back then, passing a super ferry - which was half the size of the ship!

Someplace I have some photos of when we lived here. If I can find them I'll add to this post later.

Jeni and Jim's Trip to the WA Coast

Jim and I took a mini vacation out to the coast last week.  We covered a lot of territory in three days!
Left his place at 11am on Monday and I thought it would be fun to take a little detour over to Westport for lunch.  Ha ha ha, major traffic all the way there - but we survived it by laughing about it.
We ate at a little hole in the wall joint that was filled with people so we took a chance - and wow!  The food was fantastic!  People were lined up out the door.  The Fish Shack it's called.
Then we strolled the shops and the waterfront, and here are two pix of the marina where it is mostly a major fishing town.

Then we braved the traffic for the return through Aberdeen and then north up the coast to Moclips, where we had reserved a small condo for two nights.  Called the Hi Tides Inn.
Of course I had to get out on the beach so we got all our gear up to our place and headed outside.

Doesn't look like much from the outside, but was really nice inside - I think Jim has some photos of it.  We got a one bedroom with a kitchenette, and I took the fold out couch since I'd be up earlier than him.

So on this little jaunt out along the beach we thoroughly enjoyed some warm temps and cool breezes, rare for Sept..  I was delighted to sink my toes into the sand!!

You'd think people on vacation would have some time to relax, but the sun was going down and we had to get back to our place and get out on the deck for the sunrise, can't miss shots of that!!
So here are a few of my best ones from the first night.

Let me interject a little story about our incredibly gracious host at The Hi Tide Resort, Andy.  He has his own little map all drawn up with mileage and sights to see up the coast, along with how long it takes to get to all of them!  Restaurants, historical sights, etc.
We decided to take him up on the tour.

Next day, Tuesday, full day ahead of us.  Breakfast in and a picnic lunch packed for the road.  Up the Moclips Highway, first stop Lake Quinault (per Andy's map).  Wow, were we ever glad we did this little side trip!  I have only driven in here, but never got out and walked around, let alone gone inside.  So it was a real treat for both of us to see this for the first time.
Here is a little photo tour, as well as the very brief history.

 The view from the lodge looking out over Lake Quinault (above).

The front of the grounds of the lodge (above).

The lodge from the water side - majestic! (above).

 A little history about the lodge. (above)

The inside of the main area (above).
Sorry for the lousy cell pix, I should have known better and brought the real camera inside!  This place was all built by hand!!!

Just down the road is a historical sight called The Big Spruce Tree, might be the biggest anywhere, can't remember the details.  We had to hike in a bit, but found it.  Here is a pic of me in front of the trunk of it.  I imagine it was at least 200 feet tall and broken at the top, probably from high winds.  Jim is going to kill me when I tell him that for some reason the one I took of him didn't turn out!

 

OK, spent too much time in Quinault, but liked it.
Drove on up north and then west to the coast.  First stop was lunch!  I found a super pull off along the highway with a killer view!

Now how is that for the best seat at lunch?  We mostly enjoyed it alone until a few other people pulled over to enjoy the view as well.  One guy came over to us and asked if I would like a pair of lady's sunglasses.  He had a rental car and found them on the floor.  OMG, funny thing was, I had been looking for a pair of sunglasses, not only on this trip but for about three months!  LOL.  So I got to tell him that story and we all had a good laugh.
Now back at the room while I was cleaning them I realized upon closer inspection that they were Jennifer Lopez shades!  How often do you get handed a pair of sunglasses for free in the middle of nowhere with your name on them??????   !!!!!!

So here they are - I am not very skilled at selfies, can you tell??

Next stop was the infamous Ruby Beach!  People come from all over the world to see this place, and a lot of them were there that day, lol, about 50 cars.  A truly amazing sight in the sun!!!

Next stop en route back to Moclips was Beach #4.  My second favorite spot along this coast.  We were already worn out from our day so we didn't make the trek down to the beach, but you all have seen my photos of it from previous trips.  It's the one with the driftwood bridge and fascinating rock formations.
Here is a pic from the viewpoint at the top.

Straight shot back to our pad to snack out and wait for the next sunset.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Oddly, the same two people were out on the beach, or maybe two different ones, at any rate, they made for great foreground subjects. 

The next morning, Wed., was our departure day.  We had till 11am to check out so I went for a morning walk on the beach.  The sun was out again and the air was clear and clean, lending more blue hues to my images.  I made friends with a couple of seagulls who were quite disappointed I had nothing for them.

 Look at this - a beach without footprints!

 Amazing cloud formations!

 Look at these small dunes carefully, you can see the tide lines from different days.  Amazing isn't it?

And of course the trip is not complete without at least a couple arty-farty black and white shots....

We packed the car and were off.  Good bye fabulous coast!

One more stop, in Ocean Shores for lunch and a little sight seeing.  This is basically a trinket town with unattractive beaches, but Andy had suggested we try the Galway Pub and Eatery.  Another wow and more points for Andy!  The Irish have their own little corner of the world here;  gift shop, banquet room and full restaurant, pub and tasting room.  There is even a cigar room!
Jim had some kind of Irish stew I think and I had chowder and a salad.  All great.

Here are some more not so great shots with my cell.

So there you have it!  Our three day min vaca of a very small portion of the WA coast.
I was so glad to finally get away.  This was year three without even an over-nighter anywhere, so I was glad to be able to schedule even this much time away.

Jim's New Place!

Hey All, Jim is moving into his new place this week.  We'll work on getting better photos up for you after he gets the furniture in and unpacks!  Till then, here's a few I got the other day.

 Backyard (needs TLC!).

 Front door.

 Front of house.

 Big attached garage.

 Happy Jimbo!

 Big kitchen!

Big living room, dining room, wood stove.

 Family room.

Front entry.

View of the canal and Mt. Rainier!

Welcome home Jim!!

This huge house also has three bedroom and two full baths.  :)