Camano Island

Wednesday, July 3, Day 72

We are headed toward Camano Island  and a rendezvous with our boys and their wives.  It

will be the first vacation we have taken away from home with all of them.  We are excited!

We have been invited to spend our second Fourth of July on Camano Island with the Symonds family.   Kayla is our daughter-in-law of one year's time.  When Chris and Kayla got married last year on

June 23rd, they headed to Friday Harbor and Orcas island in the San Juan Islands for a brief

honeymoon, then we joined her family at the Symonds summer home on Camano.

I don't know if you  recall the bridge collapse on May 23 of this year on I-5 over the Skagit River. This is about 60 miles north of Seattle, near Mt. Vernon, Wa.   A truck hit part of the span and two cars with three passengers went in the river.   They all miraculously survived.

Less than a month later, the bridge was back open, but not before 71,000 cars a day had to be diverted to other roads and bridges.  It was a mess.  This is the major artery on the West Coast, culminating at the Canadian border.  This bridge was built in the 1950's.  Should we have a discussion about infrastructure, people???

This is the "Fix" 

Broken record, I know, but the Skagit River is FULL! 

Camano Island is north of Seattle.  To the west is Whidbey Island and the Saratoga Passage.

The mainland and Davis Slough is to the east.  The population is about 13,350.  It is a picturesque 

place!   

One of the things that's great about this area is the Dungeness Crab.  This huge sign as you enter Camano Island attests to that!  Crab season opens on the 4th (that's tomorrow!) and I can hardly wait! 

The Symonds place is on Tillicum Beach, a narrow piece of land at the base of a steep hill.

The road goes between the hill and the homes.  It is quite a way south on the Island and

secluded.  Perfect! 

Mt. Baker is very visible to the East.  We have been fortunate to see it a lot during this time of year.

I'm big on flyovers as a sign of good things to come, and this one is no exception!

Here's Steve Symonds testing out his potato gun.  He made it and it's really loud.  The potatoes, fueled by Aquanet Hairspray and a match, fly pretty far.  A few have landed in boats, but for the most part,

they plop in the water far from shore.  During the parade later, someone asked "Are you the ones with the potato gun?"  Steve immediately said yes, and Chris said no, so the guy didn't find out who was making the noise! 

Our first night there, we went to Conway Washington to the Conway Eatery and Pub, known as the Oyster Place.  I didn't take this picture, but it gives you the idea.   It has a large outdoor seating area and a reputation as a "biker friendly" hangout.  Across the street is a building for the Sons of Norway.  This is a big Scandanavian area, Norwegians especially. In Stanwood, there is a store called Uf Da that specialized in all Scandanavian items.

Oysters are the specialty of the house.  They are huge, we always order too many, but we eat them nevertheless!  It was a fun evening and we got to introduce Jack and Maria to the local watering hole, which they loved!

Thursday, July 4, Day 73

The next morning, the 4th of July, our family was in charge of a couple of breakfasts, so we started out with lox and bagels.  Can't beat that!

Here's a finished plate.  Oh, and we cooked bacon just in case someone didn't want salmon.  But everyone ate salmon and all the bacon, too! 

There is wild anticipation as the Tillicum Beach 4th of July parade is about to start.  Here's Chris, John, Jack, Steve and Debbie, waiting....

The big addition this year is the fire truck.

Everyone joins in.  We always hold ourselves back, even though we love to march in 4th of July parades.  But there have to be bystanders to wave back at the marchers!

In case you miss this parade, it goes by twice. And it heads back to the beginning, where there is ice cream served.

Part of the family didn't get here before the parade started, so what the heck?  Might as well join them.  We were surprised to see Michael Yantis and granddaughter Kailey (to the right) become parade participants.   By the way, Kailey didn't know how to ride that bike at the beginning of the way, that is, without training wheels.  By the end of the day, she was a pro!

The grand marshall.

And on to the Ice Cream Social.  I'm sure this is the Queen of the Social!

Kailey and Maddyn got a ride and new 4th of July headbands. They are the daughters of Kayla's counsin Lacey and husband Aaron Blank.

A new addition to the family!  Lacey and Aaron have recently adopted Ermias from Ethiopia!   He's such a cute little guy and he's adjusting and learning so fast.  The girls adore him and shower him with lots of love!

After the excitement of the parade, the girls combed the beach, and came back with this little crab, temporarily named Greg.

Later on, I convinced Jack that Greg deserved a chance at life and he graciously took him down to the beach to swim away. (At least I think he did.)

This is Steve's boat, getting ready to take out the crab pots.  With the start of the season today, we are expecting the limit and some fresh Dungeness crab!

The kayaks are a great new addition to the flotilla at the beach and Chris and Kayla tried them out.

Since we missed Father's Day on the road, the kids honored John with some belated presents, which he really enjoyed.  Maria, Kayla and Chris look on as John gets a kick out of a card!

Time to relax and enjoy the weather, family, friends...

Debbie Symonds got a chance to relax a little before dinner.