San Juan Islands Adventure

Tim and I spent this weekend aboard the 110% with our friends John and Pam exploring the San Juan Islands. We stayed overnight on Lopez Island and spent the days boating around the islands. Pam's goal was to see some Orcas, but we searched and searched to no avail. We did see lots of other wildlife including tons of seals and a few porpoises. Since none of us had ever boated through the islands before, it was quite an adventure. We even assisted in the rescue of a Kenmore Air seaplane that had a little trouble coming into Friday Harbor and had to unload its passengers in the middle of the water.

Here are some lessons learned: 1) charts are a necessity, not a luxury! 2) checking the tide charts before leaving would be smart, 3) Tim is the only one who knows proper radio protocal and likes to point that out, 4) even Mr. Coastguard (Tim) can read a chart incorrectly when there are tons of little islands that all look the same, 5) Nextel's navigation program with lattitude and longitude comes in handy, and one that none of us will ever forget 6) "Red, Right Return".


We had a great time with no major injuries to us or the boat. We did have a minor run in (literally) with the bottom of Fisherman's Bay, but it didn't look too bad when we pulled the boat out of the water this afternoon. Whew!


Thanks John and Pam for risking our lives and your Cobalt for a weekend of fun in the sun.

John & Pam Block

The sunset coming out of Friday Harbor on Saturday.

Kris & Tim aboard the 110%

The Kenmore Air unloading in the middle of the water.

She's Back!

28 days after that rude young man ran into the back of her and caused over $7400 in damage, Patrice (the Acura, as named by the kids) is safe and sound back in her own garage tonight. I wish I could say she was as "good as new" but that's never going to be the case. She looks good, but will never be the same, which is so sad when she was only 6 months old when she was violated.
I hated having to deal with all the stuff associated with the accident, like insurance claims, body shops, and rental cars, but am again thankful that no one was seriously injured. Things could have been much worse so I will count my blessings and get reacquainted with Patrice. It was so weird to drive it home tonight after not driving it for a month. It feels like a new car and I have to learn all the controls over again.

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn

Today was Kaitlyn's 15th Birthday Party. Her actual birthday was on the 3rd. Seven girls, along with Tim and Derek, played laser tag at LaserQuest in Federal Way. It was actually pretty fun. I even played one of the games. Later the girls came back to our house for a sleep-over. I'm not sure Tim and I will survive a night with 6 fifteen and 1 sixteen year old girls! Derek should be in heaven as a 14 year old boy in a house full of older women!

From left to right:

Amber, Rochelle, Amy, Tim, Amy, Mackenna, Rose

And below: The Birthday Princess!

4th of July

It was an amazingly beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest for the 4th of July. The sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 80s. What a perfect day to spend out on the water! Kaitlyn brought along her BFF Mackenna and we headed off to Lake Washington. Tim launched the boat early in the morning (by himself - what a superman!). The girls and I met up with him about 10:40 at Coulan park to jump on board. We cruised on up to Kirkland for lunch and then hung out all day anchored in a nearby bay. Our friends John and Pam boated up along side in the afternoon and we tied the boats together for a little socializing. We pulled our boat out of the water about 8:00 p.m. after a long day in the sun, which was evident by the pinkish color of our skin!