Summer vacation!

Summer vacation started for us on Friday, August 22 with a trip to Wild Waves! I had never been before. It was pretty cool. The weather was ok, and that probably helped keep the crowds away. We did nearly every ride in the park.

We spent the weekend at home planning for our camping trip. A few months earlier, I made reservations for Salt Creek State Park, just west of Port Angeles. We planned to camp two nights, then head out to Neah Bay and hike to Shi Shi Beach for an overnighter. I was really excited about this. Well, the weather did not cooperate.. The forecast called for 50 degrees and rain. This was not how we were going to end our summer.

I quickly began searching East of the mountains, where the sun usually shines. I tried Crescent Bar and a cool place near Moses Lake that I can't remember now. Both were booked solid.

I finally came across Sun Lakes Resort and State Park. They have a pool, a golf course, a mini golf course, grocery store and.. availability. This was our destination.

We arrived on Monday afternoon. The weather was decent, mid 70's and mostly sunny. We quickly set up camp and ran for the lake.

The lake was fabulous! Warm, clean and clear. The girls were wading out into the lake slowly. I walked out on the dock and jumped in. That was all it took, the girls were in the lake from then on. Several times we rented paddle boats and went to the middle of the lake, tied them together and swam off the boats. It was great!

That night it was very windy, gusting to 30 I estimate. No one slept much as our tents thrashed around in the wind. The next night was much better, we all slept good.

We left Wednesday and drove 40 miles west to Wenatchee, where we stayed our final night at our favorite hotel, The Coast Convention Center Hotel. It has a great pool, which the kids wasted no time getting in to. I lounged in the sun and relaxed.

Wild Waves Log ride, we got wet!

One of the many water slides


The pool at Sun Lakes, 9 feet deep!

The dock at Sun Lakes





Mmm candy galore!

Aerial view of Sun Lakes

Marshmellows over the barbecue. No fires allowed.

Water Wars! Kids launching water balloons at each other.

The Mini Golf course was really cool

Point White Dock

I occasionally complain about living in the same place I grew up. In fact, if my kids didn't live here, I surely wouldn't either. But, there is one thing that is pretty special about living here, sharing the same experiences I had as a kid with my kids today.

They had never jumped off Point White dock before. The weather was in the 90's and we were sick of the pool. I had to convince them to go, but we all had a great time. Kelsey actually jumped before Jessica, but Jessica jumped more times. I had to help Kelsey get up the ladder.





ahhh refreshingly cold salt water!



A crabber pulled up a starfish, and look carefully, did you lose something a few years ago? The starfish had a set of keys in his grasp!


This has nothing to do with the dock, I took this the night before from my deck. It had to be the most dramatic sunset I have seen since living here.

Seafair '08

Seafair is here, loud boats, loud planes and lots and lots of people.

We headed out for our yearly mecca to Lake Washington to see the most powerful race boats and the most powerful planes in the world. The weather was perfect, a nice mid 70's day.

Once we got in the gates, we raced down the lake front road to find a good place to sit. We walked all the way past the start finish line, past the beer garden when I finally spotted our viewing area. We had to cram in next to some people who graciously made space for us. I asked when they arrived to get such a good spot, they replied that they had been there since 7:30 am.. It was almost noon when we showed up...

We took in the final regular heat, heat 3b and watched the plane shows. Finally, around 5:10 pm, they were ready for the final race. I was sporting my U-37 Miss Beacon Plumbing shirt, and rooting for my favorite driver, Jean Theoret, from Montreal, Quebec, to win it all. Side note, this guy is so french canadian its funny. He was asked about his chances to win it all on Sunday, after having the fastest qualifying time on Saturday. He says "You never sell the skin before you shoot the bear". Have you ever heard that quote before? I am guessing no, unless you are from Montreal.

The U-37 was penalized one minute on the final race, so they didn't win. It was Villwock in the U-1 Miss Elam Plus who won it. He has the most wins of any active driver, so it wasn't a shock. I don't root for him, even though he is a local.

One new local this year should get a mention. Jeff Bernard, 23 yo from Gig Harbor Washington. He drives the U-5 Miss Formulaboats.com. He finished third behind Steve David in the Miss Oh OBoy Oberto, also known as the Miss Madison, as in Madison, Indiana. I don't root for him.

Great day at the races, long day at the races. We all had a great time. Can't wait till next year.

We took our positions in the water to watch the Blue Angels

Only one was brave enough to








Looking up at the air show

Kelseys Birthday party at Fay Bainbridge

Her real birthday isn't until next week, but we had a party for her last weekend. The weather was perfect. There were eagles flying overhead and native american canoes paddling by the beach. We had a great time at the beach. My present to her was, a trip to Wild Waves next month. That, and a Wii game I let her pick out the next day.

The Police at the Gorge

What a beautiful weekend to go east of the mountains to the best music venue in the Northwest.

We headed out in Jims air conditioned SUV to go see The Police and Elvis Costello. We stopped in Vantage and went to the Wanapum Dam State Park for a quick dip in the river before setting up our tents at the Gorge. The river was nice and the park had a big outdoor shower right in the middle of a nice grassy hill. That was refreshing!

The show was to start at 7:30. What respectable rocker would start on time? Elvis apparently.. We ended up missing most of his on time, short set.

There was a brief intermission and then The Police took the stage and opened with Message in a Bottle. The sun was just starting to set over the Columbia River. We worked our way down as close as we could get in the General Admission area.

When they played Don't Stand So Close To Me, a woman singer came out onto the stage and shared the mic with Sting. She was fabulous and it was a great version of the hit. It took me three days to find out who this person was. Her name was Jessica Ketola. She was with a charity group that was involved with the sound check before the show. Sting heard her and asked her to sing with him. It was soo cool and what a great thing for this up and coming local singer. I suspect we haven't seen the last of her after her big break!

An amazing drum solo by Copeland awed the crowd. He has a million little percussion instruments to bang on. Bells and wooden reeds and chimes and triangles and stuff. It was captivating.

We couldn't get over how much sound comes out of this three person, middle age band. They filled the amphitheater with their sound. It was great. No need for accompanying performers here, they were in complete control and on top of their sound.

My only wish was that The Police had played longer. They have enough material to play for days, yet played under two hours. I imagine they are tired, this being the last show on the second leg of their tour. They are probably ready to go home.

Also, I must still see Elvis C, only with Elvis as the headliner this time.

Sunday we spent our day lounging in the river at Crescent Bar. Dan and Tony were not at their vacation home, but we enjoyed their beach nonetheless.


our campsite





Elvis finishes up his set

Freindly alcohol enforcement.. they had no idea!



The Police hit the stage







The show starts