Photo's from the Final Adventure

Nick's first & last catch on the boat!

Sunset at Bowman Bay

Dad being funny w/ crab claws

Rox

Reading at our favorite spot on the boat

Mom & Dad

Heading to shore to pick up Nick & Roxy

Nick's last hike with Rox

Final Adventure

After Nick had recovered from his ear infection we were able to get one more quick sailing trip in before the end of our adventure. We had two free nights, so we headed to Bowman Bay. We were able to get a space on the floating dock, so the dogs were very excited!

We got a final picture of the Eastwind Adventure gang! Roxy was off sniffing the beach and wouldn't take the time to pose for our final picture.

We had a low key couple of days. Hiking, hanging on the beach, relaxing, reading, and of course drinking and eating!

While playing on the beach Nick found a whip! Little did he know he would injure himself with his toy.

Injured arm and chin! LOL

Hanging on the Beach

Opening of Crabbing Season Photo's 2

Hanging on Skagit Island

4 boats tied up!

That didn't last long!

Opening of Crabbing Season Photo's

Will we make it?

Still wondering???

PFD inflated!

Digging for clams (Skagit Island)

Nick told us to do an action pose

Out w/ my dad, 1st catch of the season

Day 1

Ralph fixing the skiff after it took a swim

Long Overdue Update - Opening of Crab Season

I figure I better get this blog post up before the end of my sabbatical or my mom will be on my case! :) She keeps asking if I will post about this trip and for whatever reason just haven't gotten around to this post.

For the opening of crab season we decided to make our way out to Skagit Island. Because our boat is now in Anacortes it required a cross under the Deception Pass bridge during slack tide. Going under the bridge is a really cool experience, but VERY deceiving when leading up to the bridge. My mom and I were totally freaking out thinking that the mast was going to hit the bridge. For some reason when you are on the water looking up at the mast and the bridge it kind of looks like it may hit. The boys were laughing hysterically at us! :)

Once we got to Skagit Island we were so thankful to see an open mooring buoy. For some reason the buoy was more challenging to grab than usual. Usually Nick will grab the hook on the top of the buoy and I will pull the line through while he holds up the hook on the buoy. Well this time I got stuck in ropes that surround the boat (don't know the technical sailing term - the lines that help you to to stay on the boat.). I was stuck in the middle of the two lines and my personal flotation device (pfd) blew up! I got stuck in the ropes and was practically getting choked from the pfd! There was a lot of laughing once everyone realized what had happened.

We arrived at Skagit Island a couple days prior to crabbing season so we could dig for clams to use as bait. My dad's friend Mike had given us the tip to use clams as bait so we thought we would give it a try. We had a ton of fun digging for clams. We only had one shovel so we all took turns digging. Skagit Island isn't the easiest island to dig for clams, it was full of rocks! However, once you find a group of clams it sure is fun to dig them all up!

Once we had captured our bait we decided to go for a walk around the island. Let's just say the island doesn't have a path that goes all the way around. We tried our best to follow what used to be a path and eventually had to give up. We had a bit of a scare on the way back as Boots took a pretty large fall down from the walking path to the shore. As always she shook it off and was up and running. I'm thinking she must have 9 lives!

The plan for the first day of crabbing season was to get up early so we could put our pots into the water right at opening. Without setting an alarm we missed opening by about a half and hour. It didn't matter as we all caught our limit for the day. The clam bait worked perfectly, the crabs couldn't stay away from it! It was around midday when we had caught our limited and started our processing plant. Because we have such a limited amount of space in the fridge we had to get the crab out of the shells to be able to keep our limit.

Later in the afternoon my dad's friend Mike and his friend Ralph came and tied up next to us. They had an unfortunate experience when picking up their crab pots. They took their skiff to go pick up their pots and somehow managed to tip the skiff completely over! Thankfully it was opening day of crabbing season and some people saw it happen and were there within minutes to help fish them out of the water. There is always some sort of drama out on the water!

The next day we put our pots out again and caught our limit right away! I was having so much fun crabbing! The worst part is the processing of the crabs, but the best part was eating them! We had so much fun as the weather was nice - we were actually in shorts!!

We had to head back to our slip the next day as my dad needed to get back to land for an appointment. We woke up in the morning, did a little more crabbing and then had a sunny sail with Mike and Ralph before heading out.

Vegas Baby Vegas!!!

While waiting for our delayed flight (LV to Reno) I thought I'd take the time to post a phone blog.

After our final trip on the boat (I'll post about that later), we have started our grande finale of the sabbatical!:) it started with a couple of days in Oregon to visit Nicks mom, and then to Vegas!!!

We have had a fabulous time in Vegas. Our friends Chris & Carly have been here at the same time as us - totally unplanned, so we have spent our evenings with them.

We found our new favorite Vegas happy hour - 2 for 1 drinks at Sugar Factory. We had a blast drinking their candy themed drinks.













Today we went to Pawn Stars Pawn Shop. Some of you are aware of Nick's recent obsession with Pawn Stars! When Nick was laid up due to his ear infection he completed a Pawn Stars marathon, so while we were in Vegas we had to visit the store! I forced Nick to purchase a t-shirt as it took us a lot of steps & time to get out to the shop. :)

After a visit to the Pawn Shop we headed to Circus Circus. We had so much fun flashing back to our childhood. Nick won me a Papa Smurf doll!:)

Then we wrapped up our trip with dinner and drinks at Sugar Factory with Chris & Carly. I'll post a more complete blog when we return home. This is just a little teaser!:) More fun to come as we are headed to Reno tonight!:)




One last photo of Nick spending his Vegas $ at the slots in the airport!:)

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More fun on the West Side

Although it was disappointing that Nick got an ear infection, we still made the best of our stay at home.

While he was healing we rented a TON of Redbox movies.

We got to see our friend Derek who was in town from his job as a Tour Guide. We went to a $5 Tuesday Cinebarre movie and Diamond Knot with Derek.

Derek at Diamond Knot

At Diamond Knot

Nick told me I needed to find a hobby, so I pulled out this puzzle that my mom gave me a while ago. I can't tell you how many times I was cursing her! This was one HARD puzzle! So thankful for my friend Amanda who helped me finish it!

The puzzle is made up of small pictures that make a large photo of Mickey when finished.

Roxy's friend "the squirrel" stopped by to torture her while we were home! :)

I tried keeping up on my tan. Catching some rays and catching up on Oprah with Roxy.

We were home for Shaundy & Greg's 1st Annual BBQ. Below is a picture with Allison at the BBQ.

I was so happy to be home for my friend Ken's first Art Show at Calamity Jane's. Ken is the guy standing on the left, below his self portrait.

We saw more Redhook outdoor movies. The best part is many of our friends came to meet up with us for the movies!

For some reason people think it's funny we own a Snuggie. :)

At Redhook in the Snuggie

Jonna and I got a couple of runs in and are officially out of shape! All of the eating and drinking that I have done over the past couple of months has caught up to me! After getting some runs in I felt motivated to attend my friend Amanda's bootcamp class. They had a special deal going on where you can attend class for a week for $1. I couldn't pass up that kind of deal for pure torture!

Overall, we made the best out of a not so great situation. Now that Nick has gotten permission from the doctor we are going back onto the boat. This will be a short sail as we have a trip coming up on Sunday...but it will be nice to have one last sailing trip before the end of our sabbatical.

Fun on the West Side

Well, after we got home from Tonasket my dad got a kidney stone and had to have surgery. A couple days after my dad's surgery, Nick got an ear infection! So, long story short we ended up spending almost the full month of August at home due to illnesses.

It is hard to believe that we have spent so much time at home...time really does fly by when you are having fun! :)

Before the ear infection we attended a Redhook outdoor movie.

Pete & Mollie - Pete brought a LARGE chair that was a hit!

Douggie in the LARGE chair

With Amanda in the LARGE chair

Then came Seafair Sunday! Our friends Shaundy and Greg have invited us onto their boat for the past two years. We were so thankful for a sunny Seattle day as last year we had our first experience on the log boom in the rain!

The good weather is to blame for the ear infection. After a few margarita's, Nick dove into the water with his sunglasses on. Obviously they came off! :) He was diving trying to find the glasses, got water in his ear and ended up getting an ear infection that hasn't totally gone away!

Regardless, we had a blast at Seafair this year and we were so thankful not to have to wake up for work on Monday!

Me & Shaundy

Jeff & Marisa hanging on the boat

With Shaundy in the best floatation devices ever!

Hanging in the water - Shaundy, Greg, Me, Marisa & Brad

Nick & Greg

Who's idea was this?

Me, Marisa & Shaundy w/ our Bud Light gear