Last day at fay-Bainbridge

All that was written was lost before it could be published.
It is in the nether world.

Geogucks & Deception Pass

A couple of weekends ago, we were having spectacular weather. It was sunny and warm and the park was full of day use folks.
We are right on the Sound, the tide was out and a large contingent of Asian people were having a party in one of the shelters. They had been out digging clams and a variety of clam called Geoduck (pronounced gooey duck).
They can be found from Alaska to San Diego, but are most plentiful in Puget Sound. They can get up to 10# and bury themselves deep in the mud and sand.
One of the ladies from that party had run out of butter and asked Brenda if we had any. We had a stick of margarine and gave them that. In return they asked us to join them in eating some Geoduck.The way that they had prepared them, it reminded me of unbattered Calamari. It was very tastee and enjoyed it immensely. A new experience.
Last weekend through Wednesday, the kids were camping up at Deception Pass State Park.
We went up to visit on Tuesday to spend the day with them.
We took the ferry over to Whidbey Island and drove up to the park. The ferry system here is very impressive and appears efficient.
Alex and his girlfriend, Kristin, had joined them on Sunday, so we got to meet her and spend the day with them as well.We haven't seen Alex in about a year so it was very nice to see him again. Her is such a card. His sense of humor is weirder than mine. He kept us all entertained.
Kristin is very nice and she made a good first impression on us.
We went to Becky's house Tuesday night and did our laundry.
We had dentist appointments on Wednesday so we kept those. We have dentists in 3 cities now, since our lifestyle has changed to Nomadic. We have our teeth cleaned every 6 months and I needed some emergency dental work while we were in Memphis.

Becky, Fred and Lindsay came home about 1pm and Lindsay had her gymnastics class that afternoon. Fred and I took her while Becky and Brenda stayed home. She is getting pretty good and she really seems to enjoy it. She has so much energy.
Brenda finished our laundry and Becky got started on hers.

Brenda fixed Navy beans for dinner and they were delicious. Brenda has been looking for ham hocks, but has not been able to find them at the price she wanted to pay.
She and Becky went to a meat market here and found 3 nice ones. They cooked up nicely and gave the beans a great flavor.

We had a busy day today. Brenda has been weeding a flower bed in front of the day use restrooms, and she worked for a couple of hours and it is looking great.
I worked up at the shop and in the office. Things are looking better and better all of the time.

Ta ta for now.

Fay Bainbridge State Park - 2nd week

View from our rig.
We are beginning our 2nd week here in the beautiful Northwest.
We have settled in and worked with the ranger here. She is very nice and determined to make this park into a pristine place for the public to enjoy.
It is in transition, with an unexpected change in park management. She has been given the management position and is supervised by an area manager.

The 4th was pretty uneventful. The fireworks were pretty spectacular. We could see several different displays from the beach. Lake Union was the largest and it was nice, although very far away. We expected the park to be full of campers and visitors, but that was not the case. Campers came & went and there weren't nearly as many visitors for the fireworks as were expected.

We are meeting a lot of people. They are mostly locals who have had this park for many years.
Most of the people camped here as kids and are carrying on the tradition with their kids and grandchildren.

It has been warm here and we had good crowds here yesterday. The lower camping section is full today and we have a lot of tenters in the upper section. High today in the upper 70's and sunny. These people aren't used to the sun, so they are enjoying it while they can.

We also have a nesting pair of eagles on the park grounds. They have one young one who has not fledged yet, but is out of the nest several times a day.We have a good set of binoculars, so we get to see him from the pavilion.
It is now Sunday evening and the crowds have thinned out. there are only a few campers and they are quiet.

The cruise ships leave Seattle every evening on the weekend and it is fun watching them head out.
Some of the small boaters in the sound have no respect for their size and inability to stop, so we hear their horns go off to warn them away.
Last evening, the director of the Wildlife Center here on Bainbridge Island, came and gave a talk on the wildlife on the Island. He brought a 4 year old Great Horned Owl with a permanent injury to one of its wings, with him.The talk was very informative and we had a good crowd. There were lots of children with lots of questions. It was a fun experience.
He had come the night before to introduce himself to us and set up the talk.

Becky Fred and Lindsay are up at the lake this weekend with some friends. The Normana park is a nice secluded place and very peaceful. They took Binga with them and she loves it as she can run free in a very large area. She has a ball.

We had gone over to their house on Wednesday morning, did laundry, spent the night and got a haircut for both of us.
Heather was off, so we got to spend a good deal of time with her. It was nice.

Becky, Heather and Lindsay are coming over on Tuesday, and we plan to drive up to Port Townsend and another state park for the day.
We will work in the campground for an hour or so in the morning and an hour or so in the evening. We have already put in enough hours to cover this week, so hours aren't a problem.
The ranger is encouraging us to go and explore, so we are taking her up on it.

Ta ta for now.

Fay Bainbridge State Park

We are here in Fay Bainbridge State Park on Bainbridge Island. We arrived about 12:30 and there was no body here to meet us and show us what to do.
We found the Camp Host site and got set up.
We have water & electric but no sewer. We were told when we applied for this position that there were full hook-ups. I guess there was a misunderstanding as to what full hook-ups mean.
When I plugged in, there was no power at the post. I walked up to the office and found 2 park aids here who had just gotten back from lunch.
They stated that the ranger was off today and that the host site was the only one with power and that it was shut off. People would use this site if the power was on, so they turn it off.\

While I was up at the office, Becky & Brenda somehow got in touch with the regional manager of state parks. He was very nice and drove over 2 hours from Olympia to talk with us. He reassured us that things will improve and he gave us his private cell number if we had any thing to discuss with him, if the ranger couldn't handle it. I hope that we don't need to call him. We had been calling the park since we arrived in Monroe on Monday, with no response, so he wanted to talk with us and welcome us in person.
After he arrived we found the power and it was turned on.

The managing ranger, for this park, has been reassigned and this leaves just one ranger who lives at another park. She will be in tomorrow to tell us what she needs and the regional manager will return tomorrow as well.
The park is located on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound. We have a spectacular view of the Sound.
We have been told that there will be 2 great fireworks displays from 2 different places, both visible from here.
It is nice to get settled for a while. Moving daily or every other day becomes a pain, as anyone who RV's knows.
Cleo is also happy that we are settled for a while, although she travels nicely.

We arrived at Thunderbird RV park early Monday afternoon, got set up and headed for Becky's house. It was so nice to see her, Heather & Lindsay.
Fred was working and we saw him after he got home from work.

Heather has had to work every day since we have been here, so we haven;t seen much of her.

We went to Lindsay's gymnastic practice yesterday. She has been doing this since last winter and she is pretty good.
She knew Grammy and I were there, so she became quite the ham.

Brenda, Becky Heather and one of Becky's friends went to the casinos last night. All were winners. All came home with more money than they went with, so it was a good night.
Fred and I stayed home with Lindsay and just hung out.
Fred had to work this morning, so he went to bed before the girls got home.

We have had such a lovely time with them since our arrival and expect much more for the 4 months we will be here.

Ta ta for now.