Photo for previous blog...and add 2

Great visability

Lake McDonald (GNP), mountains, hazy/smoky/stormy clouda

Art shot:  vanilla ice cream flowing thru the rocks

The 'great smokies'

WEST GLACIER, MT - - We are back in one of our favorite places - -  Glacier Campground just outside the (west) gate to Glacier National Park.  Our two day trip from Anacortes, WA took us through a sea of apple orchards and fields and fields of what I call "cattle corn" which is basically winter feed.  And then there were fields of unmown  hay for bailing and stocking away.  That was the fun part. 
     Day two we had smoke and more smoke.  The wind created some heavy smoke, some not too bad but always a reminder of the massive forest fires burning north of us.  A tele-sign near our destination reminded us that 40 miles from our campground the highway was closed as fires burned too close to let traffic through. 
     At the campground our hosts had settled us into the same site we used while working at GNP for three summers (2011-12-13).  Great folks, sort of like visiting relatives you really like.
    This morning (Sunday) the smoke has cleared quite a bit, but the sky is filled with angry clouds.  Rain is good to help the fire fighters.  And while we wait to see what the weather brings, we're hanging out in Montana Coffee Roasters, sucking up coffee and working the net.

Time for the next adventure

Cap Sante Marina: 800 boat slips plus 200 work boat and transient slips

ANACORDES, WA - - After 11 days of resting up / goofing off and listening to the music of the rigging on the masts being played by the wind, it's time to head East.  Next stop: Glacier National Park to visit some friends.  The weather forecast once we leave  Anacordesis hot and smoky.  A large portion of Washington State to our east is struggling with forest fires so we are monitoring the route(s) we want to take to West Glacier.  Of course the shortest route runs through the area most devastated. 
     No more listening to the sea gulls until we get home in mid-October.

Checking out the neighborhood

Home sweet home

Fried egg on a stem?

ANACORDES, WA - - We like to walk the neighborhood and check out the houses and everything else.  The flower which looks like a fried egg was just one of many flowering displays included in landscaping.  Our favorite though was the VW van used as a bird house.  We see lots of VW vans around, most used for camping like ours; some used for long term parking never to roll again. 
     The forest fires to the east of us are quite bad.  We get to see some some smoke and smell the burning when the wind is right. 

Getting things ship shape

Nearly finished:  The Blue North and Bristol Leader

ANACORDES, WA - - Our campground on the grounds of the in the Cap Sante Marina  is less than half a mile from Dakota Creek Industries.  They build and repair big ships (up to 275' and 450 tons) for the fishing industry and also tugs and ferry boats.
     The Blue North should be launched in October.  It is a cod fishing long liner incorporating new technology to increase the 'catch' yet make it easier and keep the workers drier.
     The Blue North works  way up  North on the East Coast while the Bristol Leader has the Bering Sea as it's fishing grounds.  The Bristol Leader must be in for (recent) repairs or updating of some sort as its name doesn't appear on the company website work list.
     One interesting project is the building of the R/V Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride.  The ship is to be used as an oceanography vessel.  The rear of the hull was visible through a maze of other work projects  making for bad photos

Sweet good bye

Fudge anyone?

Last place

ANACORTES, WA - - We spent a day in Port Townsend before heading back to Anacortes.  Not by choice.  There was no room on the ferry and even the last ferry out might be full.  Not only that, the three campgrounds we checked were all full.  We did the motel gig, walked around Port Townsend in the morning and then got in line for our ferry 45 minutes early.  We were waved up to the payment booth, flashed our 'plastic' and got the last berth on the earlier boat.  Oh yeah, the fudge store wasn't open early. 

Back to our travels

The neighborhood

Mieka

Lulu

POLSBO, WA - - Our house sit in Polsbo is over.  Our 16 days went quickly despite the company of two somewhat aloof kitties.  Actually they were friendly...in their own way and only when they wanted to be. Of course now that we are leaving the kitties are dishing out a small bit of affection.
     Our viewpoint from the top deck runs around half the house and overlooks a number of other houses and the Port Orchard  Bay which means   there's plenty of boat watching.  The weather has been quite good with the only rain yesterday along with 'cold' temperatures (58).  Actually a cold rain with a breeze is stimulating.
     Now, we head back to the campgrounds on Whidbey Island and see where our GPS takes us next. 

Going deep...and deeper

Deep Quest.  Sort of sleek

Triest.  A deep dive bathyscape

POULSBO, WA - -  The first objects you encounter on a trip to the Naval Undersea Museum are displays too big to go into the museum.  With underwater submersibles there are two types of deep:  (1) workable deep for geological projects or discovery and recovery of naval items from incidents.  Deep Quest fits the bill.  (2)  Really deep.  The Triest is ugly but functional.  Note the ball located in front of the 'forward fin'  That's the work area for the three crew.  the only work area.  On January 23, 1960 three brave souls set out on a nearly six hour dive into the Mariana Trench near the island of Guam to reach a depth of 35,800'.  The record has held for 55 years...of course the Soviet and Chinese aren't talking.

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Submarine commander Lydia checks the periscope

POULSBO, WA - - Right around the corner from our sit, not more than 4 miles away in Keyport, is the Naval Undersea Museum.  Well worth a visit to see the history of submarine technology;  diving and salvage; undersea  weapons technology and more. It's worth at least 3 hours to take it all in.

Boats, nets & color

POULSBO, WA - - Random sightings on a walk around our nearby boat harbor.

Let's go to Seattle

The Public Market ... with a ferry in the background

The isles inside TPM seem to go on forever

Seafood so fresh it wants to bite your hand

And the Space Needle

POULSBO, WA - - Today we took a trip to Seattle...mainly by ferry, what else.  Our main sim was to see the market, also known as The Pike Street Market, which is a delight to wander through.  It's almost like the saying "If we don't  have it, you don't need it."  The seafood stalls caught my eye, especially one where the workers in one were playing catch with a big fish with those in the other stall and cheering while they did it. Places to eat all over the place, but at noon-ish when we were wandering the lines to get in anywhere were long. 
     Later, we took off on the monorail, went through the armory, saw the long lines to go up in the Space Needle and passed by and finally watched a street performer on a unicycle.  We'll probably head back for another trip to Seattle and check out some of the other things within walking or public transport range.

A bit of catch-up

Our "water limo" arrives to take us away from Anacordes

We have a marina within 1 mile of our house sit

It's not too hard to find a seafood restaurant nearby

POULSBO, WA - -  We're settling into our 16-day house sit just out side the town of Poulsbo.  We sit on the upstairs deck or the downstairs patio and watch the sailboats / fishing boats / power boats play on  Port Orchard Bay.  If its early in the morning we might see one or more deer...as we did this morning.   For exercise we can always walk about a mile (downhill) to the marina.  The hard part is we have to water the outdoor plants and feed two kitties who are starting to become friendly.