01-20JUL10 - Monroe & Whidbey Is, WA

We forgot to mention in the preceding BLOG that we purchased a boat! Not anything extravagant, just a simple 12 foot aluminum boat (commonly called a “Jon” boat in the south). The idea is to throw the boat on the Toad, head to a beach, carry the boat down to the water, & set our own crab pots. Of course by the time we buy a used motor, four crab pots, necessary lines, life jackets, anchor, etc, etc; we could buy a ton of fresh Dungeness crab!

During the week of 06-09JUL Dan once again had to travel to New Orleans for business. Upon his return, we were visited by Corrie’s brother, Ed, & his daughter, Kim, from Brandon, Manitoba, on 12JUL. See below BLOG for more on them.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2009/09/04-18sep09-sprucewoods-mb-via-swift.html

Turns out they had to travel to Vancouver, BC, to purchase a Canadian Navy surplus air compressor. If you have followed this BLOG you know Ed & his wife, Elaine, started a diving school business outside of Brandon; & now Kim & her husband, Brian, run the business. The compressor was such a good deal, they couldn’t pass it up. Ed then decided to travel home through the states & pay us a quick visit. Ed & Dan checked out our property, while the ladies went shopping. Then we all met for lunch at the Sultan Bakery. Our last visit to the Bakery was Mother’s Day 2009; see our 01-14MAY09 BLOG for more on this NW institution. After only a couple of hours, they were back on the road to Canada (like we said, a short visit).

Late Tuesday morning, 13JUL, we decided to head to Whidbey Island, WA, with an overnight stop at Angel of the Winds Casino. Wednesday morning we continued our trip to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station RV Park. After wasting two hours we finally found out there was no room & ended up at a RV park owned by the city of Oak Harbor. After setting up camp, it was off to Deception Pass for a little hike & great views. Then we headed to Seabolt’s for a seafood dinner. Unfortunately they were out of clams & crab, but they had great chowder, crabcakes & mussels!

Thursday morning was breakfast at Frank’s. Frank is a Samoan so many of the breakfast items contain spam; Dan had the Loko Moko (spam, spam, spam, spam....). Then it was off to Joseph Whidbey State Park where it was fogged-in. Next was Fort Ebey State Park, still more fog. The last state park visited was Fort Casey State Park & Admiralty Head Lighthouse, & finally the fog was lifting. This is one of Dan’s favorite places to visit. Why? Because it is a fort, with lots of concrete bunkers to explore, & really big guns (really big guns).

http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Joseph%20Whidbey&subject=all

http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Fort%20Ebey&subject=all

http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Fort%20Casey&subject=all

Trivia – why if Fort Casey was never threatened & its guns were never fired in conflict, are they covered in shrapnel holes?

During our visits to these state parks Dan discovered the entire area surrounding Coupeville, WA, is part of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. Created by Congress in 1978, the 17,000 (plus) acre Reserve integrates historic farms, a seaside town, native & pioneer land use traditions, & ecologically significant areas. Congress intended Reserve lands to remain largely under private ownership; although there are federal, state, & county lands within the boundary. One interesting thing we noted was the odd “blockhouse” dotting the landscape. Early settlers built their own individual blockhouses for protection from Native Americans who were not too pleased with European settlers ruining the neighborhood.

Trivia – where was the first National Historical Reserve?

http://www.nps.gov/ebla/

Thursday evening we had dinner with Ken & Karen Bishop at Tobys in Coupeville, WA. Ken was Dan & Corrie’s boss way back in Rotterdam, NL. See below BLOG link for more on Ken & Karen & their place on Whidbey Is. While reminiscing over dinner, we learned the Bishop’s had an old, air cooled, 5hp outboard motor for sale! So it was off to their place so we can buy it. Ken also threw in the latest CD release of the Shifty Sailors, a “shanty” group also discussed in our BLOG below. All too quickly it was time to call it a night, with everyone promising to get back together soon!

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2007/09/2425sep07-whidbey-island-wa.html

http://www.shiftysailors.net/

We returned to our RV spot at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds on Friday; so that on Saturday, 17JUL, Corrie could attend a baby shower for our niece, Julia. Julia is the youngest child of Dan’s sister, Sharon, & husband Tim Tompkins. The shower was at middle sister’s Marisa & husband Dave’s, who we last visited with AUG09 (see below BLOG link). And the oldest of Sharon’s three kids, sister Aimee, also was there.
http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2009/08/31jul-02aug09-monroe-wa-bears-oh-my.html