An Important Announcement!

I keep hearing this important announcement on television and I just tune it out. But evidently, some people are worried about it. :) Actually I can sympathize a bit with her. Could someone please come over and figure out how I can use that damn VCR on the DVD/VCR player I got my husband three years ago for Christmas? Nevermind, the thing's ready for the trash bin now never having recorded a thing with the VCR component! Anyway, a friend sent this to me (thank you Gwen!) and I thought it was hilarious!

Happy Double Nickel!

Well, it's a big one for me today. The double nickel. So I thought I'd wish myself a Happy Birthday and take the day off!

I saw a good quote from Mark Twain on a bulletin board at the gym the other day that makes a great birthday mantra!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

I'm off to explore and discover (my cake)! :)

Northwest Travels -- Port Townsend

Two years ago when we were putting our house on the market in the Seattle area, the realtor informed us that we needed to get out of there for at least three days so she could work her magic. Real estate was so hot at the time (THOSE were the days!) that you really needed to vacate your house for a few days because the showings literally took place from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. at night. Since we were leaving the Northwest permanently, we decided to take a trip back to the Port Townsend area. Port Townsend has always been one of our favorite day trips in the summer and fall. It's a lovely old Northwest seaport built right on the water (Strait of Juan de Fuca). The downtown area is beautiful with tree and flower-lined streets, historic buildings, good restaurants, cool shops, and great views of the water. And getting there involves a ferry ride (unless you want to drive the long way around), so that makes the trip even better! Port Townsend's a very artsy community with galleries, yearly boat, music, and film festivals, historic home tours, etc... It's a place where there's something going on almost all the time! Here's a YouTube video (not mine) from the Wooden Boat Festival that'll give you a taste of Port Townsend.

Seattle skyline from our departing ferry.

The old Palace Hotel on the main downtown street.

Craig and Saby out for a stroll.

Big trees and flower beds.

Boats in the marina.

Port Townsend Lighthouse.

The Port Townsend Washington State ferry to Whidbey Island.

Cool fountain in the downtown area.

Craig and the other woman!

Another marina shot!

Unfortunately (actually fortunately), our trip was cut short when we got three offers right off the bat. But I'm so glad we got the chance to spend a night and take one last look at one of our favorite haunts in the Northwest!

By the way, if you're ever in the Port Townsend area at dinner time, our favorite restaurant is the Ajax Cafe in Port Hadlock. It's a little drive from Port Townsend, but it's a really cool cafe in an old general store down on the water. And the food is outstanding! All kinds of fresh seafood fixed in very inventive dishes! Yum!

Ajax Cafe Halibut!

Splish Splash

Okay, enough of the baby humor! Saby's been a Beauty School Dropout for awhile, so Saturday was bath day. I wish I'd gotten a picture of her slinking off when Craig came in to get her for her outdoor scrub. I was glad I wasn't doing it because Saby really holds a grudge. Sometimes she gives the cold shoulder to the perpetrator for at least a day afterwards. Here's some pics. She was NOT a happy camper, but she's getting over it! And she smells and feels so much better!

What are YOU looking at!

The indignity of it!

Man, I could use a drink!

Okay, I admit it. I feel better! :)

Dazed and Confused

I'm wondering if anyone else feels 'dazed and confused' after they've spent a length of time in Mexico (or any foreign culture) and then returned home? Or is it just me?

After my last trip to Isla Mujeres in May, I logically knew THIS was my backyard

But I kept waking up in the morning thinking THIS was just beyond the wall.

I woke up the morning after I got home thinking how wonderful it was that the ocean was right in my backyard, but I was a little concerned about whether it would eventually erode my house?

My most classic 'dazed and confused' moment came after a month long stay on Isla in 2006. The day after arriving home, we decided to make a run to the Costco in Issaquah since we were low on supplies. Once in the store, I realized I needed to hit the john. So I told my husband to take the cart and I'd meet him. I scurried off to relieve the bladder. Once I entered the hallway where the bathrooms were, I just remember looking at the two doors and being totally confused. No Damas and Caballeros? I looked again at the stick figures and they were making no sense whatsoever. Hmmmm. I decided on the door to my right. Once in the stall, I heard some growling noises from the person next door and decided to make it quick! Looking down, I remember thinking what UGLY shoes that woman has on! Must be a man-woman! I quickly did my business and scrambled over to wash my hands. Suddenly, an Asian man crossed my line of vision in the mirror. What the hell? Finally, that small projector bulb in my brain turned on! Oh my God! As I scurried towards the door with my wet hands, I saw the urinals on a wall behind the door. And a man was standing there looking at me in the mirror. I threw on my sunglasses and ran to find my husband in the store, hoping not to be recognized by any of the offended males. LOL

After other visits to Mexico, I've dreamed Spanish in my sleep for several nights after getting back home (and I really don't SPEAK Spanish). And then there's the look you get when you're constantly saying 'Gracias' to people back in the U.S.! (Especially the Hispanic U.S. Custom's employee at DFW!)

Is it just me???

Arizona Road Show -- Bisbee

Last summer, we took a weekend trip down to Bisbee, Arizona to see the sights and try and escape the heat. I noticed this shop sign while we were there, but didn't know until recently that Bisbee is famous for a killer bee rampage that took place in 1998. I'm guessing maybe that's where this honey shop got its name?

The newspaper description of the incident sounds like something out of an old Hitchcock movie:

"The panic, the fear," marveled Sgt. Ben Reyna of the Bisbee, Ariz., police department, after something triggered a swarm of Africanized bees to sting everything moving on an otherwise ordinary Aug. 2 in 1998. Within 15 minutes, reports the Arizona Daily Star, killer bees had surrounded and stung a tied-up Labrador retriever, which died five hours later. The swarm stung eight pedestrians badly enough to send them to the hospital, and the bees even attacked pigeons and other birds in flight. But the most frightening experience was probably that of Debrah Strait, who was driving when bees filtered in through a partially opened window. When she opened the door to let them out - something normal bees would welcome - more bees swarmed in. Screaming for help, she stopped the car and ran to a neighbor, grabbed her hose and tried to wash the bees away. The neighbor reports: "Her hair was literally covered with bees. She had taken her shirt off, and her back and her chest were covered, too." Nurses at a local hospital said Strait had been stung up to 300 times on almost every part of the body, including her ear canals. Luckily, she did not have an allergic reaction to the bees' toxin.

Here are some of the photos I snapped around town that weekend. Bisbee's an old mining town (you can still take tours of the mine and museum) that's become a tourist destination. Lots of art galleries, B&B's, restaurants, bars, and quaint sights all around the town! And thank God we didn't see any bees! I noticed that the hotel where we stayed had a slideshow on YouTube, so I thought I'd post it in case anyone's actually interested in lodging in Bisbee. It was a cool older hotel that had been revamped and had great views of the town below.

View from our hotel room.

Door to our room.

Street view from the room!

Some cool artwork!

Architectural details.

Old advertising.

Barrel of prickly pears!

Cool dog!

Gorgeous flowers!

Cafe Cornucopia

Bisbee's kind of like Mayberry!

Old coaster wagon. Bisbee was having their Soapbox Derby trials that weekend. It's a yearly event around the 4th of July.

A truck owner with an artistic sense of humor!

This front porch looks like a Country Living photo shoot!

Another cool house!

Even the town graffiti is artistic!

Love this sign!

And I always have to snag photos of old VW Bugs!

Our favorite meal of the trip was eaten at this Mexican restaurant, Santiago's. We split the enchilada suizas and they were wonderful!

Pumpkin Drops?

What the heck? Pumpkin drops are becoming quite the thing! This one took place in Aurora, Oregon -- one of my favorite antiquing haunts when I lived in the Northwest. Are pumpkin drops replacing corn mazes? I hope they at least picked up the remains and made pumpkin pie with it!

When I was in high school (way back in the land before time), they'd get an old beater car for the big football pep rallies and let the football team take a sledge hammer to it. I guess this is kind of in the same genre.

Obsessions -- Shells & Sea Glass

Collecting shells has been an obsession of mine since I was in my 20's. Back in those days, I'd visit my aunt in South Padre Island, Texas. We'd get up early early (before 6 a.m.) and hit the beach to grab the olives and assorted shells as they rolled in on the waves. Then we'd head to the restaurant at the jetty afterwards to have breakfast.

I didn't discover sea glass until we stayed on the Caribe side of Isla Mujeres in 2004. Now that's my new obsession! And one of the pluses of collecting these souvenirs is that they're free! Well . . . I guess you have to count the price of the airfare and room? Ha! Here's some of my bootie from our latest trip to Isla Mujeres.

Basket of Sea Glass

Some shells (the conchs were discarded by local fishermen).

Some unusual sea glass pieces (tops of bottles).

Glass and shells from the May trip.

The beach beyond this wall is a great place to pick up eroded conchs and glass!

The 'take' from a short afternoon walk on this beach.

Halloween on Isla Mujeres

I put my Halloween decorations up at home yesterday, so I thought it was time to decorate the blog with some Halloween pictures. My favorite place to celebrate Halloween is Isla Mujeres. Halloween melds with Day of the Dead and it seems to go on forever.

My first year on Isla over Halloween and Day of the Dead, I assumed kids would trick or treat on October 31 -- just like at home. Ha! They begin patrolling Hidalgo and the restaurants one or two nights before Halloween, and they're still dressing up and trick or treating after the three-day Day of the Dead observance. Last year, there were still a few stragglers on Hidalgo on November 3 and 4! Halloween's an American holiday they've adopted (adapted!). And they have new rules. Ha! I didn't understand my first Halloween on Isla that kids prefer pesos as opposed to candy. Most of them carry a tiny goblin type container. In 2004 when I was handing out candy, most acted like they had no clue what to do with it. I did notice in 2007 that some had switched to carrying larger bags and were happy to take candy, but pesos are still preferred.

I love Day of the Dead customs. In the U.S., families go to the cemetery and leave flowers on the grave of loved ones around Memorial Day, but Day of the Dead is intense. Last year some groups set up booths on the square to honor their departed relatives. Graves in the cemetery are decorated with flowers, lit candles, and various tributes. Vendor stands on the street outside the cemetery sell flowers, candles, and even drinks (lemonade and Sangria in 2007) for visiting relatives. Events usually include a late afternoon procession to the cemetery and some type of evening observance in the square. Last year a local woman knew I was very interested and explained the entire three days to me at length. Unfortunately, she gave the explanation in Spanish (so I missed a lot of it)!

I won't be on Isla this year for the events, but I did notice that my town has a Day of the Dead event planned. I think I'll go take a look, but I know it won't be the same!