Newport, Oregon
Light Rain 55, low 52
When we were offered the chance to ride aboard our friends tug for the Seattle Propeller Club's annual tug boat races we jumped at the opportunity! We are always up for time on the water and tug races sound fun!
We headed North to Kingston and stayed next to our friends lot. Seems their neighbors have an RV and installed hook ups for friends to use. Their place is right on the Sound and has 7 acres of wooded area for the pups to play in. Everyday they would go out and enjoy all the new smells. As much fun as the pups had, we had to have had more!
Speaking of the pups, we engaged the services of Wanda's pet sitter Connie. Connie didn't know what she was getting into with Mowgli but it all worked out. Mowgli is not very social and when we got back on Saturday evening, Mowgli was watching Basketball with her husband. He was happy to see his dad!
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| Puppy day care |
Saturday was the races and we hopped on Reliable and headed over to Seattle. The Reliable is a 1945, 45 foot decommissioned Navy Steel tug. It is very cool! At first, not a lot of folks were there, but soon tugs were pulling in from all over the area. Very fun.
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| Wanda and I watch the scenery |
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| Cliff loves to drive the boat |
The big tugs did a ballet of sorts on the water demonstrating their maneuverability and then a fire demonstration. The coast guard did a rescue demonstration and did an abandon boat drill. We pulled up next to one of the big tugs and Eric boarded for a tour. The engine was stainless steel and clean as a whistle and all the crew rooms were teak wood. After that, we pulled up next to another tug and passed over more life jackets for them. These boats can turn better than a car. I loved it!
As soon as everyone lined up at the starting line the race was on! We were in the lead then were beat by a nose, 20 seconds between first and second. 8 minutes and 23 seconds later it was over. You would think we had traveled a long way, but not so much. Small tugs don't go very fast.
The sun stayed mostly out and we wandered around Pike's Market. Trying to decide on dinner, we celebrated the second place victory at Metropolitan Grill. The Seahawks celebrated winning their division title there. If it is good enough for them, it must be good enough for us. Everyone was very well dressed and we were in jeans. No problem, it's the Pacific Northwest!
On Sunday, Mother's Day, we travelled back across Puget Sound to Lake Union. We went through the locks to Lake Union. The shipyards and docks were full of boats of all sizes. We went by the crab boats of the Deadliest Catch, The Wizard, Northwestern and Kodiak. They were smaller than I expected and the Wizard was a little rusty looking. The Northwestern looked clean and tidy.
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| Going into the locks |
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| The water starts to rise |
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| Soon you are at lake level |
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| The crab boat Wizard |
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| The crab boat Northwestern |
We saw houseboats small and mansion sized and cruised past little boats and huge multimillion dollar yachts. The weather cooperated and it was an unusual sunny warm day.
We docked the Reliable and toured an old lighthouse ship called the Swiftsure. These ships would anchor off shore and act as floating lighthouses. This one is being restored piece by piece. It is quite an undertaking that will probably take years. There is an organization that builds wooden boats of all sizes, keeping the craft alive. There is a new museum at the park dedicated to the maritime history of Seattle. We didn't go in instead enjoying the music and people watching. There was so much going on it was hard to decide what to watch next. People kayaking, float planes landing and taking off, sailboats coming and going. Whew, definitely a city on a warm sunny day!
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| The Wooden boat Center |
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| A bicycle paddle board |
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| Under the bridge |
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| Eric ties the tug to the lock |
After two days on the boat we were tired in a good way. Monday was Wanda's quilt group day and I was ready to sew. I picked up some fun nautical fabric at Quilted Straight in Port Gamble and couldn't wait to make a new quilt for our bed. Once I got started I couldn't stop (except to eat LOL!) and two days later I had completed a Queen Size patchwork quilt. Over the weekend I finished the matching shams. Wanda will quilt it for me and send it down to me. I can't wait to see it done.
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| This is not where a papillon should be |
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| Gidget gets comfy |
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| The completed (almost!) project |
We bought tickets to the Mariner's game when they were released. We got seats behind home plate about 22 rows up. We rode the ferry over and walked to the ball park. Safeco Field is a newer ball park. The roof closes in case of the rain, but no problem for us. We brought along all our cold weather gear like hats and gloves along with our warm coats. We sat the whole ballgame in our shirts, no coats needed. It was a beautiful night and King Felix was pitching. There were several errors on Tampa Bays part and two replay challenges in a row. The score ended up being 12 to 4 so it was a great night for Seattle Baseball.
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| Not a clear shot, but the needle from the ferry |
Cliff was touring a commercial shipyard on Wednesday and asked Eric if he would like to go along. Our plan was to leave Tuesday morning and head to Mt. St. Helen's on the way back. Change of plans was in order! It is not often you have the opportunity to do something like this. While the guys were gone all day, Wanda and I took a walk in the woods with the pups, took the dogs to the beach, enjoyed a delicious crepe lunch and of course, sewed away.
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| The pups love the beach |
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| The Kingston Hotel |
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| Yummy Crepes |
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| A submarine goes by Cliff and Wanda's house |
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| Mt. Rainier |
All in all it was a busy week and whew are we tired. The ride home was uneventful and we had spectacular views of Rainier and St. Helens on the way down. We had so much fun and it was so good to be traveling and experiencing different places again. Back to Newport for a few days, then on Eugene. More to come about that little trip.
