We entered Gig Harbor in a rain-shower, which passed. But we awoke to rain and chirping birds.
Swallows were using the lifelines as a perch. This, of course, became interesting to the cat, who watched from underneath the dodger.
The cat never did do anything about it. Crazy cat.
Notice the birds through the "window?"
The cat never did do her "guard duty." Did they even have permission to board?
By the time breakfast was over, the rain had passed. The plan was to meet Gramma and Grampa for brunch while the caregiver was with J.'s grandmother. Then, we'd stop by for a quick visit before working on some boat projects or seeing J.'s sister, KT.But first, we needed to empty the water out of the dinghies, and dry off seats. An old pair of holey rain pants were also cut into "seat covers." A brilliant idea that worked well, we might add.
As we rowed in, I. took these photos of the surrounding shore and docks.
Here you can see that this section of Gig Harbor is still a working port. Later, we would watch some of these boats head north to start fishing.
We had a lovely brunch with Gramma and Grampa. J.'s grandmother even recognized us and talked with us a bit, and we spent the afternoon with Aunt KT.
The next day we again rowed ashore to met Gramma and Grampa for pizza! Aunt KT also joined us, and we enjoyed hanging out for the rest of the day.
That evening, Uncle M and Aunt A also came over from Tacoma for a visit.
Always before when visiting, we have come down and stayed with Gramma and Grampa or Aunt KT or Uncle M and Aunt A at their places. It was a bit surreal to spend an enjoyable time with them all, and then return home. Yet, home wasn't in our home harbor. We must say this was crazy delightful, and we're going to have to do it again.
The following day we had planned to meet our friend H in Tacoma. So we borrowed Gramma and Grampa's van and drove over the bridge to meet H at the Antique Sandwich Shop. Wow! J. thinks the last time he was in there was with his Uncle A about 25 years ago. It has not changed much in that time! It was so good to see H before he headed off to walk the Camino de Santiago Compostela in Spain.H claims he didn't walk the pilgrimage trail with such squinty eyes, and we claim that is not how we sailed back to our home port.
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| Aunt KT photo |
We first we had to play a round of Frisbee, while waiting for them to show-up.
Silly commentary follows ...
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| Aunt KT photo |
To enter the flower gardens the kids had to move through a time warp - E out front, then M & I, then E.
While looking at the gardens, we tried to stay out of the wedding of one
couple and the pictures of another newly wed bride and groom.We hid in the flowers.
Ok, so sometimes we were not so much hiding ...
Ahhhh ....
We hope our awesome cuteness didn't distract from the weddings ...
Are we adorable or what?
But maybe their parties were a little more serious minded than ours?
"M., I'm not sure they are edible?"
"Yeah, didn't you get enough to eat at the Antique Sandwich Shop?"
"Ok, I say we hide from the wedding parties over on the other-side."
"Let's just scale the fence and run away."
"I don't think they are looking, besides they won't recognize us if we all wear dark sunglasses."
A new hat fashion for the summer.
"I love you, too. But I'm not ready to go. There are more and more flowers around. I want to see if we can grow some of these on MERGANSER."
Is this True Love or what?
"I shouldn't have eaten that last dahlia! Now I'm lost in the flower maze! Oh, No!!!!!"
"So, many flowers ... "
"Son, the sooner you learn this the better. Women just love, they absolutely adore, flower gardens. And hey, they're not so bad. You don't have to tend these!"
"Well, when you put it that way ... "
"There's the exit!
"Quick while the wedding parties don't see us!"
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| Aunt KT Photo |
On a serious note - I. took some great flower shots that we added as a separate blog posting for you to enjoy. The garden was truly cool. The team of volunteers has done a remarkable job keeping the dahlias, roses, and other flowers in top condition. This is truly a service of love for the greater Tacoma community.
After leaving the garden section, we drove down to the ferry dock. Cool to see it from this end.
I. shot a quick picture of the small marina located right here.
As we drove around the park, Gramma was riding in the van with us and told some great stories about the dating that she and Grampa did while they were both attending UPS. But, we won't tell those stories here! :D
Once back in Gig Harbor, we dropped Gramma off and continued to borrow the van. When sounding the diesel tank we noticed that we had a little under 6 gallons. So, we wanted to fill the diesel tank, plus our two jugs for the trip back north. In addition, tomorrow was a colleague of J.'s wedding down in Portland, OR. So, we rowed out to MERGANSER, checked on the cat -was she doing her guard duty? - turned on the radio, the anchor light, an inside light, and left a dinghy tied off her stern (MERGANSER's, not the cat's). This way it would look like someone was home, even though it meant two trips in the other dinghy.
Later that night upon returning, we turned off the radio, the kids climbed into bed, J. stored the jugs and L. lit the stove and what's this? ... feathers on our bed!
No bird, however. We think one must have flown into the boat and tried to get back out past a pouncing cat. The bird must have made it.
The next morning, the birds were back. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
As we awoke and got coffee! and breakfast going, J. added 5 gallons to the diesel tank (making it 10+ gallons) so that we could fill this jug before our departure the next morning. We again turned the anchor light back on (nor sure when we'd be returning from Portland), turned the stove back off, turned a radio back on, left an inside light on, and again made two trips in a dinghy, so one stays tied off MERGANSER's stern. Is anyone at home or not?
On the way in, the BoatShop was hosting a small boat mess-about, so we tied up to a tree underneath the porch of a house belonging to the city.
Side note: The Gig Harbor BoatShop is located on the site of a historic boat building shop (Eddon Boatyard). A few years ago, it got to the point where the Eddon Boatyard went out of business and the land went up for sale. There was such a public outcry for the city to buy the property, and the neighboring property, that the city did with the help of a voter approved 30 year bond. Now the city rents (for a nominal fee) the ol' Eddon Boatyard out to the Gig Harbor BoatShop (a non-profit foundation), the house on the same property is used for special events, and the neighboring property is part of the park. See pictures in our departing Gig Harbor for Blakely Island post.
After tying up the dinghy under the tree (and talking to people about MERGANSER and our dinghies), we walked up to Gramma and Grampa's house and borrowed the van to head down to Portland, OR for the wedding. Of course we brought some of our sourdough bread for a lunch/snack with cheese, etc. Here the kids posed prior to devouring it.The wedding was beautiful and a delight to attend.
After the wedding, during the reception, all the kids connected to our church posed for the camera in "period" clothing. (Which period? 1st, 2nd, flapper?)Then it was back to Gig Harbor, with a stop to top off the van and the jerry jug of diesel. J. dropped everyone off at the BoatShop, helped launch the dinghy and then drove the van back to Gramma and Grampa's (a few blocks away). Meanwhile, the kids rowed out to MERGANSER, got things in order for bed, and one of them rowed back for Mom and Pop (who had returned by that time). Then bed for everyone.
Unfortunately, tomorrow meant heading back out. It has taken us 5 "sailing/motor-sailing" days to get down. We needed to plan on at least that many back, and we didn't want to rush in case we needed to stop somewhere for the weather.
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