Tango and I are still hanging around Sequim and taking short trips around the area. My little town is full of stuff to do, including various festivals and the First Friday Art Walk. Besides the galleries, on First Friday other venues have bands. This month, I saw a wonderful bluegrass band (Pine Hearts) at the library. The Pine Hearts are starting a summer tour that will take them to the Telluride Blue Grass Festival.
As for my travels, the theme seems to be “island exploration.” I have been to Whidbey Island several times and, yesterday, spent the day on Bainbridge Island. Whidbey is “away from it all”, which I love. It has one larger town, Oak Harbor, and several small, quaint villages. You can drive onto the island from the north but, from the south where I cross, it requires a 35-minute ride on the ferry. Bainbridge is directly across from Seattle and is full of daily communters because it is connected to the city by yet another ferry. I crossed onto Bainbridge from the west, over a bridge. I visited a gal pal whom I met while camping at Kalaloch in May. We had a fun day visiting artsy shops and thrift stores. It was a stunning, clear day, with dramatic views of Mt Ranier.
Whidbey Island is at the entrance to Puget Sound, which goes to Seattle and eventually to Tacoma:
Bainbridge Island is also on Puget Sound, south of Whidbey Island. You can compare each in relation to Seattle and get a general idea where they are in relation to each other:
View of Seattle from Bainbridge Island:
Ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle. Cascade Mountains in the Background:
View of Mt. Ranier from Bainbridge Island. My photos did not come out so I found this one online:
Keeping with the island hopping theme, I will visit Vancouver Island (Victoria, BC) around my birthday in July. The ferry system over there offers a ferry trip/hotel room deal that is around $100 for a walk-on (no car). Then, in August, I will be a camp host at a state park on the far northern tip of Whidbey Island. From there, I should be able to visit the San Juan Islands, at last.
I am very happy to be taking shorter trips and not burning up tons of gasoline just wandering around for months with the RV. I definitely loved that for a while but I can not do it any longer considering our climate crisis. I found a happy medium this summer, but it really helps to have a home base in such a beautiful area. I am so happy I am finally here. At various times in my life I had briefly considered moving to the coastal northwest but never did. Better late than never.
So what else? I have been painting quite a bit. I am doing smaller pics, mostly of flowers. I am experimenting with compositions that I might want to do again on an 8×10 canvas. I am also experimenting with paint brands and colors. After using up my beginner set of paints, I graduated to Liquitex Basics, which are fantastic. They have a nice consistency and beautiful pigments.
And, Tango and I are walking. We are not doing quite as much as I wanted but are out consistently several times per week. We have topped out at 5 miles, which is comfortable. Time to push a bit more, once again.
I am not writing as much as I wanted and hope to step that up more. I miss it and I have been writing and planning some things in my head. Time to get it onto a document.
The big news: I leave for Alaska in one week. My next post, no doubt, will be from there. I am getting excited. As I mentioned, I will be back in Hope, AK on the solstice, listening to bluegrass music. The midnight sun will be wonderful because of the great lighting it casts on the landscape. However, I am getting some of the summer mystique right here, where patches of light linger after 10 PM.
I love the northlands! The tradeoff is that we don’t get a real summer. Snow remains on the mountains, and of course, Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier are glacier-covered all year. Nights remain cool and daytime temps are usually in the 60s, maybe the 70s. Fog sometimes rolls in and keeps things mild. I have not even run my AC yet this summer. Actually, the maritime climate it is perfect. I am told we will have a couple of days around 80 degrees when everyone feels they are melting. I feel a bit smug as I check the high temps around the southwest: Tucson at 107, Yuma at 117. The southwest still pulls at my heartstrings but the heat and the lack of water there make me happy I settled here.
The only other news is rather boring. I switch to Medicare for health insurance on July 1. That means, more than anything, lots of research, decision making, and endless paperwork. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes to sign up for prescription drug coverage over the phone. My patience is wearing thin but it will be over soon and life will be back to normal.
So, that is the news!
