Evening on the lake

This evening the kids and Rhodri and I went over to the Nielsen's house and we all went out on their canoes to visit Dave Wilson who was camping over at Weaver's point.

Bob, Rhiannon, Maya, Eli and Tryfan

Land ahoy!

It was fun making our way over there, but actually there were quite a lot of other people visiting Dave that night too!

Dave's favorite camping spot at Weaver Point

We didn't stay for too long, but while we were there, Tryfan had a go on a paddle board. He just got on and paddle himself way out into the lake! We were keeping an eye on him and ready to dive in and help if he needed it, but he was just fine.

Tryfan on a paddleboard in the middle of Lake Chelan

 Then on our way back, the kids got to play on Bob's sailboat.

Kids and Bob on the sailboat

We got back just as it was time to start using flashlights and headlamps because it was pretty dark by then! It was a really great evening - so wonderful to be out in the middle of the water paddling around with friends.

The pesky squirrel

There is this pesky squirrel living in one of the pine trees next to Grandma Bucky's cabin, and he had been harassing the kids for the past few days by throwing pine cones down at them as they were passing underneath! He also (I say "he" because surely a female squirrel wouldn't be this mean) made a lot of loud squirrelly noises at moments when we were wishing that he wasn't quite so loud (like when Phoebe was trying to sleep). But the final straw was this morning when Rhodri found that the wool boxer shorts that he had left outside to dry had been chewed to bits by Mr. Squirrel!

Just after he found his boxers, the squirrel happened to run down his pine tree to taunt us. Rhodri threw a pine cone and it got close enough to the squirrel to give him a little fright, which made him run up the tree... but  he ran back down to a little stub of a branch that was jutting out! Rhodri threw more and more pine cones and the little dude didn't even flinch. Eventually he must have gotten bored of waiting for Rhods to hit him and he sauntered back up the tree out of sight. It was very funny though!

Changing families, still a party

Will, Rebecca, and Phoebe arrived today on the fast boat (10:30) although we weren't expecting them till tomorrow. I think that was my fault though, because I think I talked Will into coming up on Sunday even though there would be loads of people there. But when Grandma Bucky said they weren't coming til Monday, I believed her and didn't tell her otherwise. Anyway, it was a bit of a kerfuffle but ended up just fine. More is merrier!

Living room scene at dinner time (kids table)

Phil, Libby, and Ruby left today on the fast boat (at 12 noon) and we got to hang out with just Lili, Laura, Jo and Phil as well as with Will, Rebecca and Phoebe. Lili and Rhiannon and Tryfan have been all playing together really well and Lili has been so kind to them, especially since she is a few years older and wiser!

Brucie Bonus

It is so nice to see Bruce "Brucie Bonus" the truck again. It is even better to ride around in the back of Bruce, as we can do while we are in Stehekin. Big up to G-Buck for upcycling the canvas wrap of her old tipi into the couch cover on the back of Bruce!

Typical view from the back of Bruce

PS. He is called Brucie Bonus because of all his bonus features.. like the magnetic roof, the radio and CD player (both gone now), the sliding window through to the bed, the bumper full of faded and/or ripped bumper stickers, the tail gate that usually works, and the 2 doors that can be opened from inside or outside! (Most cars and trucks in Stehekin do not have this feature, by the way.)

A perfect day, part 2

When we got back from our Bridge Creek canyon adventure, we all got showered and cleaned up, then had dinner together. Dinner was especially early tonight because it happened to be the day of the 1st Annual (at least in a long time) Buckner Orchard Square Dance! The whole thing was organized by the BHHF (Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation), which means that Jo and Herb were the main ones doing everything, and it was really well attended with over 160 people!

It was a really fun night with a good mix of tourists and locals and it was all free and very wholesome. The live band was called "The Chelanigans" and they were very good, as was the caller.  

Lily and Rhiannon had a great time dancing together

Moon rise during the dance

We did have one very funny moment when Grandma Bucky got so annoyed watching Libby and I as partners mess up our square dancing that she came over and gave us a telling off! She didn't realize that the trouble was with Doug who was going on by me rather than doing an alaman left (where you go all the way around and then go the opposite direction). Anyway, we did laugh about it later!
Thanks to Nancy Barnhart for taking most of these lovely photos!

A perfect day, Part 1

Phil and Libby had kindly waited until Rhodri and I arrived before they set off on a big day up Bridge Creek Canyon. This is a famous and much-loved fishing spot in my family, and it has been many years since I've been up there. We used to be able to drive to Bridge Creek campground and leave the truck there for the day while we did just a little hike before thrashing through the brush down a very steep slope to get to the spot. But now the road has washed out and not been rerouted, we had a bigger hike to do. That was fine with me, especially since we have done a lot of sitting-type traveling the past few days.

We were delighted to see that this year's crop of huckleberries was marvelous with big, fat, juicy berries waiting for us to come along!

We finally got down to the creek and fished for a few short hours before heading back. The trout in this part of the creek seemed to be quite hungry and it was really fun to catch them while wading in the cool water. We put most of them back, but kept 5 to take home for breakfast the next day.  This day was particularly smoky and hot, but there wasn't anything we could do about that.

The other exciting thing that happened is that some of us saw a mother black bear and her 2 cubs! Rhodri spotted her and the cubs directly across from the creek to where Phil was fishing (though he hadn't noticed yet!). She didn't seem too bothered about Rhodri or Phil, and Libby was already up the hill picking berries again while I was still fishing lower down the creek, so neither of us saw the bears anyway. But it was pretty exciting!

Phil's fishing spot directly across from the bears

 In the end, we had hiked 13 miles, caught loads of fish, picked enough berries to make something yummy, and also were able to spend the hiking and berry picking hours having good conversations and generally catching up with each other's lives. Like I said, a perfect day! But this day was not yet over...

Destination: Stehekin

This morning we got up nice and early so that we could take advantage of the hotel breakfast and get to the boat on time. We had a few tense moments as we were scanning the local dumpsters looking for a cardboard box to put our groceries in, and then there was some confusion about where to park, but we got there in the end! We had a leisurely trip uplake playing card games, reading, and having snacks from the snack bar (always a treat on this 4 hour trip up to Stehekin).

We staked our favorite spot in the bow of the Lady II

It was a beautiful, warm day and we were so glad to be finally getting up to Stehekin. I always love the point in the journey when the brown, chunky hills merge into the taller, greener, more dramatic mountains.

Making the final approach to Stehekin

We saw my good friend Robbie and also Grandma Bucky sitting at the Landing waiting for the boat to arrive. Rhiannon ran off the boat and gave Robbie a big hug first (she was closer) and so did I, while the rest of us went straight over to Grandma Bucky. We would have loaded all the stuff into "Bruce" (the truck), but because there were so many of us, we didn't think we would all fit and so we put the luggage into "The Meth Lab" (the van which Christine was driving) and then we all went straight to the Bakery for lunch. This is exactly what is supposed to happen when one arrives into Stehekin.

There was a great crowd at Grandma Bucky's cabin: Jo, Phil, Laura and Lily Reiter; Phil, Libby and Ruby Gans; Grandma Bucky; and now us five! We spent the afternoon playing Boggle on the back deck (Laura beat us all hands down!) and enjoying beverages before having a lovely dinner.

1 night in Chelan

We arrived into the familiar town of Chelan around 1pm today and immediately found our motel where we tried to check in. Check in wasn't until 3pm, so we spent a couple of hours eating ice cream, buying fishing licenses, and general milling around the town until 2:59pm at which point we tried again to check in.

But lo, the motel had messed up our reservation and only reserved 1 room instead of 2, and now they were fully booked and couldn't find a 2nd room for us. We impatiently milled around the lobby making grumbling noises and waiting for the receptionist to find another solution for us. In the end, she found a suite at the Lakeside Lodge & Suites, which turned out to be a much nicer place to stay!

As we had been driving into Chelan earlier today, we had passed this section of lake and Mom commented how Dad (Grandpa Carl) used to love going to this particular Lakeside Park every chance he got. So then it seemed very special to be rerouted to actually stay the night at this exact spot. I even went swimming in the lake right there at the park (as opposed to swimming in the 2 hotel pools, which is what the rest of the gang were doing) just because I could.

Meanwhile, I had made contact with cousin Christy (who usually knows what is going on and who is where) and mentioned that we were thinking of heading over to the Boat Shop for a swim that afternoon, and would any of the family be around? So while we were hanging around various motel lobbies, Christy had rallied the family so that they were all down at the Boat Shop waiting for us so we could all BBQ together. With all the to and fro, and now being on the other side of the lake to the Boat Shop, we had actually been thinking of not going to see the fam, but after talking again to Christy we decided to go over.

View from the Boat Shop looking out

View from the water looking back at the Boat Shop

I always laugh at the state of the Boat Shop -- such an eyesore among all the pristine, sophisticated lakefront vacation homes. The sparkling houses that line the lower shores of Lake Chelan often look empty, but then you get to the Boat Shop, which is usually bursting with people playing in the water and sitting around in lawn chairs, with the tattered infrastructure behind it and a dark abyss which is the cooking area under shelter.

 Needless to say, we had a great time there catching up with rellies and playing in the water ourselves until it got dark and we realized that we still needed to buy groceries before catching the boat in the morning.

Beautiful girl in a beautiful place

Map showing Lakeside Lodge and Boat shop

Rhodri and I whipped round Safeway in Chelan while Mom and the kids waited in the minivan, then we all went back to the Lakeside Lodge to sleep for this 1 night in Chelan.

Seattle and the drive to Chelan

We arrived into Seattle at 5:30 pm, picked up our rental minivan (verrrry exciting!) and drove to Scott and Holly's house for dinner. Will, Rebecca and Phoebe met us there, then Mom stayed at Scott & Holly's house while the 4 of us went to Will & Rebecca's house to sleep.

View inside the mini-van

I don't have many good photos of the evening except for this one where Kelsie is kindly playing basketball with her much younger 2nd cousins. She was really sweet with the kids.

The next day, Will and Rebecca had to get up early for work and other engagements so we had a leisurely start and then picked up Mom at 9:30 am to start the drive over to Chelan. 

No problem for us, because we had Pippi Longstocking videos to watch! Yep, I bought the whole box set from 1969-1970 which stars Inger Nilsson as Pippi (dubbed into English) that I remember watching in my childhood. Mom kept Rhodri company in the front while the kids and I laughed and sang along with Pippi, Tommy and Annika. Good times!

Final days in Santa Barbara

We flew from Santa Barbara up to Seattle this afternoon, but we had a fabulous 2.5 days of general hanging around town before we left. We did some shopping and wandering up and down State Street and paid a visit to Chip, Georgia, Beth and Eric at the law office where they work (and where my Dad used to work too, of course) on Monday afternoon. As it was the end of the day, we went to nearby Carlito's for happy hour.

Chip, Georgia, Tryfan, Rhodri, Eric, Rhiannon, Kristin, me and Beth

 Santa Barbara is just so beautiful and the weather was perfect - warm but not hot and plenty of sunshine.

On Tuesday afternoon (and again this morning), we went for final swims at the Birchim's marvelous pool and then Tuesday night we went for a lovely dinner over at Denise's house.

Ava, Lucas, Rhiannon, Tryfan and Liam

Kristin, Rhiannon and Ava holding baby Billy

The awesome waterslide at the pool

Ava and Rhiannon

It's been a really great week here and of course we don't want to leave! Grandma Debi is coming with us up to Seattle and on to Stehekin for the next week, so we are glad we don't have to say goodbye yet.

Rodeo!

This weekend was the Santa Barbara Fiesta celebration, and so we decided to take advantage of the rodeo which was in town for the festivities! Ryan, Eric, Kristin and Billy came with us and we had great seats to enjoy the action. It started at 2pm and went till around 5pm with all the normal events, including Mutton Bustin', Bronc Riding and Bull Riding. Good times!

Three amigos: Rhods, Ryan and Eric

 We had been planning to go to the rodeo while we were up in Washington next week, but it was great to take advantage of this one while we were here.

Kristin and I each bought a cowgirl hat as a souvenir.

In the evening we had a lovely dinner back at 601 and then relaxed for the night.

Reunion at the beach

Today we met up with my Mom's side of the family down at Leadbetter beach in downtown Santa Barbara. The picnic tables are first-come, first-served so Eric and Ryan got an early start on the day and took their breakfast down to stake a claim.

The turf we claimed for the all-day reunion

We didn't ever take a full family photo, especially as people were coming and going all day and we were hardly all sat round at the same time. But it was great to see Jana & Michael, Ryan, Holly (w/ Craig and 2 of his boys), Dawson, Grandpa Don & Sonya, Kim & Steve with Danny and Matt as well as the Gans clan that lives in SB also.

Rhiannon, Eric & Billy, Kristin and Holly standing around

Rhiannon took every opportunity to push Billy's stroller around with Auntie Kristin

My good friend Polly stopped by with her family and we had our photo taken

It was a long but good day with a casual atmosphere - sitting around chatting, playing games on the sand or grass, swimming in the ocean, and of course barbecuing some delicious beach food. Many thanks to my Mom for making it happen! In the evening, after cleaning up and changing clothes, some of us headed back downtown for some adult beverages at "Seven" in the Funk Zone. My friend Amy joined us and I was so happy to see her and introduce her to my rowdy cousins! Again, thanks to Mom for babysitting all the kids so that we could go out. 

Santa Barbara, Day 2

The first day of August, and we kicked things off with a trip Goleta Beach with Denise and her kids. Rhodri went on a bike ride first thing this morning (having rented a really nice bicycle for the week that we are here) and then joined us.

The waves were ripples that were miniature and not really boogie-boardable, so they found other things to do before we called it a day and went to the Birchim's pool again!

In the evening, Rhodri and I got to go see the opera Carmen which was shown at the refurbished Granada theatre.

Thank you Mom for giving us tickets to this and for looking after the kids so that we could go!