Image 1 of 94
Best part of Judy's birthday surprise - Anna and Ira were there!
Image 2 of 94
The whole gang for dinner - Anna, Judy, Al, Jan, Denny, Joanna, Paul, Lauren and Ira (with steak)
Image 3 of 94
And then the cake - in celebration of Judy and Denny having birthdays . . .
Image 4 of 94
Afterwards, prezzies . . . .
Image 5 of 94
Neat sculptures outside the library at Key Center WA
Image 6 of 94
While on an outing, we happened upon an unplanned visit to the blackberry patch by some teenagers. We helped them get out
Image 7 of 94
Denny's "project" - a walkway from the house down to the beach below
Image 8 of 94
He's having fun, and has a ways to go
Image 9 of 94
Jan's retirement has lots of blooming things in it . . .
Image 10 of 94
That's a beautiful rose. . . .
Image 11 of 94
Piles of pretty purple pansies on the porch
Image 12 of 94
Inside the Hot Room at the Tacoma Museum of Glass, where glass blowing happens
Image 13 of 94
Every 20 or 30 minutes, the team would create a new work of art
Image 14 of 94
This day, they were making these swans
Image 15 of 94
We couldn't take pictures in the main galleries, which featured wonderful works like this by northwest artist Preston Singletary
Image 16 of 94
Outside, spectacular blown glass installations we could photograph
Image 17 of 94
Each of these had water overflowing at the top and running down the sides
Image 18 of 94
A pedestrian bridge over a highway contains scores of spectacular works by Dale Chihuly
Image 19 of 94
In galleries, these would probably sell for upwards of $20,000 each.
Image 20 of 94
Even the ceiling of the walkway was filled with glass art.
Image 21 of 94
Each "cube" was individually formed before the tree was assembled
Image 22 of 94
Looks like there's even a display inside the atrium of the old Union Station. We didn't get that far
Image 23 of 94
All those wading birds in the infinity pond are blown glass . . .
Image 24 of 94
Back at the Prichards, it was Paul's turn for a birthday - and his favorite, Boston Cream Pie
Image 25 of 94
Later, Declan challenges Al for the rubber disc shooter
Image 26 of 94
Declan is a happy kid . . .
Image 27 of 94
Jan & Denny in their dinghy, going to get the "real" boat
Image 28 of 94
This old tugboat was also getting ready to make a short voyage
Image 29 of 94
Denny drives the boat, Jan's the whole crew. Here, they're coming to get us
Image 30 of 94
You can always tell a good deckhand by the way the lines are dressed
Image 31 of 94
Denny at the helm
Image 32 of 94
Al gets a turn at the wheel while the real crew puts up the sails
Image 33 of 94
Jan's just having too much fun
Image 34 of 94
Mainsail's up, now the jib . . .
Image 35 of 94
Al learns it's harder than it looks . . .
Image 36 of 94
Lunch, one hand at a time . . .
Image 37 of 94
Neighbors were alerted to come wave as we sailed by . . .
Image 38 of 94
That's Jan & Denny's house from the water, with some of Denny's "project" going down the bank
Image 39 of 94
Back at the dock, and putting things away
Image 40 of 94
Almost like we belonged . . .
Image 41 of 94
And there they go, back to the anchorage . . .
Image 42 of 94
It's always a good day when the "mountain is out". Mt Rainier from the Prichard deck
Image 43 of 94
Blueberry pancakes! Jan & Judy picked the berries along the driveway
Image 44 of 94
That's Birget Vogel and son Timothy enjoying ice cream
Image 45 of 94
Jonah and Timothy from Germany
Image 46 of 94
Dirk supervises the sausages
Image 47 of 94
We took this from the deck as Jan & Denny took the Vogels for a ride
Image 48 of 94
While at Jan & Denny's, we tried emptying our holding tanks uphill. It worked . . .
Image 49 of 94
Lauren (in the pink) brought her own personal Hot Wheels set, which involved pretty much everybody
Image 50 of 94
The kids had a great time getting the cars to do stunts
Image 51 of 94
Birget and Jonah fuss over Lauren & Paul's dog Lilly
Image 52 of 94
Meanwhile, Denny grills the pork chops
Image 53 of 94
And Paul kicks back
Image 54 of 94
A political statement in Shelton, WA
Image 55 of 94
Passing through the town of Raymond WA, home to lots and lots of public sculptures
Image 56 of 94
This pub in Pacific City OR was highly recommended - good food, great location, slightly pricy
Image 57 of 94
For reasons beyond us, people like to drive on the beach in Oregon.
Image 58 of 94
We suspect the tow truck companies really encourage driving around on the beach
Image 59 of 94
Sunset - taken from a few feet from our RV site in Pacific City
Image 60 of 94
The Tillamook OR Air Museum is housed in an old WW2 blimp hangar - the largest wooden structure in the world
Image 61 of 94
Picture of a picture of a flag formed by some 2000 servicemen
Image 62 of 94
Almost all of the aircraft in the museum have been restored to flying condition, and are occasionally flown
Image 63 of 94
There are lots of WW2 warbirds, as well as some later planes
Image 64 of 94
We always like the nose art on these old planes
Image 65 of 94
This one is an experimental home-built blimp.
Image 66 of 94
Some of these old planes were surprisingly complex
Image 67 of 94
Skis that enabled a plane to land on snow or ice - behind them, RVs rent space in the hangar
Image 68 of 94
We took an afternoon to explore Cape Meares
Image 69 of 94
This "Octopus Tree" is a Sitka Spruce with about 8 separate trunks growing out of the single base
Image 70 of 94
The Cape Meares Lighthouse is only about 40 ft tall, but sits in the cliff almost 200 ft above the water
Image 71 of 94
The old lightouse has been retired. The new one is getting a fresh coat of paint. We still prefer the old one
Image 72 of 94
It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of lighthouse visitors
Image 73 of 94
We spent considerable time watching the pelicans and at least one whale working the waters
Image 74 of 94
All that "fuzzy" on top of the rock is hundreds of brown pelicans
Image 75 of 94
Looks like an "octopus tree" in the making. Apparently, it's a common deformity
Image 76 of 94
Now we're at Shore Acres State Park south of Coos Bay, where it's always fun to watch the waves
Image 77 of 94
The waves were magnificent . . .
Image 78 of 94
The gardens, as always, were peaceful and beautiful
Image 79 of 94
The dahlias were in full bloom
Image 80 of 94
Spectacular color . . .
Image 81 of 94
Great bloom!
Image 82 of 94
It's always fun to visit the rose gardens
Image 83 of 94
There are many varieties of roses in bloom
Image 84 of 94
The aromas are wonderful
Image 85 of 94
There were three or four of these little green frogs hanging out among the flowers
Image 86 of 94
The range of rose colors is wonderful
Image 87 of 94
Pruning was happening as we visited
Image 88 of 94
Nearby, the seals and sea lions at Simpson Reef were very vocal
Image 89 of 94
And the waves were equally spectacular
Image 90 of 94
One night, we drove to Corvallis OR for a harp concert. That's Rudiger Oppermann from Germany tuning a borrowed Thormahlen harp
Image 91 of 94
Rudiger's harp - he made it himself - uses a unique tuning mechanism and makes some extraordinary sounds
Image 92 of 94
Rudiger and Park Stickney put on a wonderful two-hour concert featuring mostly jazz
Image 93 of 94
Autographing is always a popular activity
Image 94 of 94
We'll end on this one of Park Stickney personalizing a CD . . . a good time was had by all