First Anniversary, awww, cute

What a fabulous get-away. Pete and I spent three nights up on Orcas Island in the San Juans. Drove through the middle of Washington, with a stop in Leavenworth for a brat (pronounced braaaat, not like a whiny kid, for all you smart alecks out there), and caught the ferry over to the island. It. Was. Perfect. For any of you viewers out there who are considering a trip to the San Juans, I can't say enough about Orcas Island, East Sound (the main town on the island), and Rosario Resort, the place we stayed. If staying at Rosario, I highly recommend the Round House. It rocks. There are also an incredible number of spectacular eateries, which is a treat seeing as the year-round population is below 5000 people.

The previously-mentioned Round House - our fabulous abode for our stay on Orcas. It's a stand alone building, and you guessed it - it's Round! Right on the cliff, with unbeatable views of the sound. Perfect for star-fish-gazing, hoping an actual Orca (Orcas? What's the singular?) will wander by, and watching storms roll in.

Another view of our lovely accommodations.

The view from the Round House, towards the main resort building, which used to be a private family mansion. Right. The Round House, in fact, was built for the kids to play in. Nice digs.

Perfect for sitting and staring out.

Amy's version of perfection

Local art, very neat. Lots of galleries and installation pieces throughout town. A good spot for wandering and checking stuff out.

Pete wandering the shore. Staring at those crazy starfish.

Sittin' on a log.

Cormorants cormoranting.

Neat! They event point you towards where to get ice!

Swinging!

Halloween!

"Charleston Cutie" and Home-made Peacock!

Om Pumpkin

Swedish Chef, Sous Chef (dogs wearing aprons make me laugh!) and Giant Chicken

Close-up!

Koa, as the Hound of the Baskervilles. Wearing an apron, ha!

Sailing with the Olivas!

Char and Al took Pete, Luz and me out for a morning sail on Lake Pend Oreille. Not much wind, but lovely and fun regardless. Talented sailors, those two!

Examining the map.

Pete enjoying the ride.

Charlotte showing Luz how to trim lines and sails.

Quick Jaunt to San Antonio

Pete took a quick trip to San Antonio, and I tagged along.

Clearly, I need to return to middle-school history class, because I could've SWORN that we won...

The Alamo.

From our hotel room, all lit up at night.

The Riverwalk. A bit like a Disneyland ride, but cool none-the-less

These fellows serenaded me. At lunch. When I was dining by myself. Not awkward at all.

Manito Photo Shoot

My boys agreed to a quick photo shoot in Manito Park.

Tomato Day

It started at 8:00 on Sunday morning, with 425 pounds of tomatoes and four families working until 9 at night. In the end, we had 170 quarts of home-made and absolutely delicious tomato sauce based on an Oliva Family recipe. We have 2 dozen quarts in our basement!

So thrilled to be a part of it again this year, thanks Olivas!

Tomato prep - the kids wash in three stages, Cam starts the cutting.

Proof of 425 pounds of tomatoes

Laurie and Char prepping the station where the boiled jars and lids have been filled with sauce and are waiting for their second boil.

Lots and lots of tomato cutting

Al, the orchestrator of the whole production. Stirring the cut tomatoes until cooked to perfection, then grinding them twice before boiling the sauce for 20 minutes, and finally pouring the sauce into warmed, waiting jars.

Second and final boiling - 45 minutes per batch.

Laurie and me working hard - she's the sauce pourer, and I'm the jar opening wiper. Very important stuff.

The last batch of 2nd boils are in and we're starting to relax.

Later in the evening, we celebrated with Limoncello

Oh how I adore thee, Farmer's Market!

Spectacular dahlias (the orange ones are each as big as my noggin) and the most fantastic eggs I've ever had. It's Sustainable September Spokane - we kicked it off this morning with the Farmer's Market, soon to be followed by a walk in the park with a good friend and our pooches, followed promptly by the Main Market Street Fair. It IS easy being green!

Back-country (Bear Country!) Camping

Pete and I spent three evenings at Trout Lake in the Selkirks a few weeks ago. It was really lovely - no bears, but plenty of good fun outdoors regardless. Fishing, camp fires, bear-bags and yoga on a big rock.

I *heart* my snazzy new orange hiking boots! Love love love.

Trout Lake. Our camp site was to the left of the rock slide across the lake. It was perfect. Gorgeous views, secluded from the other campers, and a tiny stream running through it for chilling our, ummm, martinis. Camping a la 007.

Cocktail hour at Camp Chase

Home away from home

Pete's snowman brought me flowers!

View from the ridge

Pete's lucky fishing rock

Happy Pete! (Biiiig rainbow trout!)

And begins the Yoga on Giant Rocks series. Thanks to Pete, who knew that I have always wanted an outdoor yoga series, and acted as photographer extraordinaire.

Tree

Upward Facing Dog

Wheel

More tree

Warrior I

Warrior II

And I'll leave you with this parting shot. We diligently hung bear bags nightly, but it appears we should have been more concerned about smaller critters. All in all, some mini-character made off with my sock liners, and one flip flop. They were kind enough to leave this one, albeit with no straps. And, to top it off, the critter pooped in my shoe!!! See proof above.

Ah, camping.