We’re in northern Washington now and it’s time to visit Kathy and Steve who live on Whidbey Island. I always thought it romantic to live on an island. When I was 10 or 11, I read a book by Elinor Lyon called Hillary’s Island. We lived in Emmetsburg, Iowa at the time and close to our home was Five Mile Lake - with islands. And, here was where I read the book. All I remember now is that Hillary was visiting her grandmother who lived on the island and her grandmother made her watercress sandwiches. Not much but it has stuck with me for 59 years. I just checked on Amazon and it is not available but other books by Lyon are. There was one review for the book which: ‘My favorite childhood book.’ I know the sentiment. I’ve also always thought it would be neat to have the Golden Book ‘Nurse Nancy’ - with the Band-aids intact inside. Pretty rare and pretty expensive by this time, I’m sure. I know that my original copy is long gone and the Band-aids were torn out on day one. Some imaginary scratch or other.
But back to our day on the island. We took the 9:30 ferry over, beautiful views as we crossed the bay from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island. Getting on - simple. Getting off - well, the car two in front of us had engine trouble. Here we are in back of a car that is going no where. Hood up - not a good sign.
In the end, the cars behind us and we backed up and went off the ferry down the middle. The last cars off.
Now Cathy and Steve live on a boardwalk, not a street, not an avenue but a boardwalk. They drive as far down the street as they can, park, get out their groceries or whatever, put them into their wheelbarrow and walk down the boardwalk to their home. But, what a home - right on Puget Sound and this their view.
Or, you can look another direction and see Mt. Baker off in the distance.
Go around the corner and you can see Mt. Rainier.
Right off their patio.
Pretty cool.
We had lunch and then took a walk. Kathy looked at my white sneakers and asked if I had anything older and grungier. ‘You might get them dirty. ‘ Oh, hey, we’re only going to walk on the beach - a little sand, what harm is that? Well, as we walked further, I realized. All of a sudden, I looked ahead at Kathy and she was sinking in the sand and water was bubbling up all around her shoes. Steve was deep in the sand and almost lost his flip-flop. Me? I was heading into the mire. Ooh - quick sand. We all turned back the way we had come and were safe. A bit dirty but safe. Whew.
We all relaxed on their patio, reliving our brush with death. Ha, ha. Cool refreshments, warm day, great conversation.
One of their friends on the boardwalk is away for the day and the cat’s choice of a home is with Steve and Kathy. Funny, the cat won’t eat at home but loves to eat at their home. Same food, just different bowls. But, here he is, having scarfed down what Kathy put out for him and waiting for the next bowl. But, don’t feel sorry for him, he gets fed well.
The next morning we had breakfast - here’s Gary cutting up some strawberries.
We chatted some more and then we had to leave since I had made a late morning ferry reservation. It was so much fun to see them again. We had met them 3 years ago in Mesa, AZ where we all stayed. We went back the following year but they stayed on Whidbey Island, The next year they went back but we were traveling through the Southeast. They are fun people and we enjoy their company. Most of the time we travel where we know no one so it’s always nice to see a friendly face, especially someone as friendly as they are.
No comments:
Post a Comment