Our last full day of vacation and it was a lovely one! We saddled up the weenie dogs (with their handy-dandy life jackets) and went for a ride in the fast red boat all around the island. It’s about a 26-mile trip! We actually didn’t go all that fast (until the very end); we cruised and looked at the houses and enjoyed the scenery without having blurred vision from air blasting in our eyes! We also ventured over to Squaxin Island and pulled ashore for a brief leg-stretch, something you’re really not supposed to do. The island is owned by the Squaxin Tribe and it’s totally uninhabited and people aren’t supposed to go there. We pulled up at an area that used to be a State park years ago and JDub used to hang out there when he was a kid growing up in Olympia. We found a couple of agates, the dogs ran around a bit, and then we discovered THIS:
Bet you can’t guess what it is! It’s the end of the neck of a geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) clam! The clam itself is way down below and they extend their necks to the surface to feed. And the clams themselves are really big. Ugly, too! But quite the delicacy, I hear. I’ve never eaten one. JDub used to catch them as a kid on his grandparents’ Olympia beach which he said was quite the feat since they are at a very low tide, very far down, and you have to dig down beside them and beat the tide.
I’ll show a few prettier pictures of our boat ride at the end of my post.
Yesterday we were sitting on the deck and I heard this crashing in the woods behind us and there emerged a doe and her fawn right in the spot where my brother’s Taj Mahal tent was set up on the 4th of July. “Mom” saw us and peered at us and twitched her ears as I attempted to snap a few pictures with my iPhone with a young Douglas Fir tree in my way. They were beautiful! I was thankful the dogs didn’t notice them; they would have barked at them and chased them away. As it was, they watched us for a quite a while then sauntered on down the path and literally disappeared.
Yesterday afternoon we ran into town and one of the items we picked up was a bell collar for Mojo. (It’s black with a “bow tie,” actually pretty cute, although you don’t really see it on him). He’s been catching a lot of chipmunks (as well as birds and mice) and while the mice are fine, we would very much appreciate it if he didn’t catch the chipmunks or birds! Makes us just sick when he does. We were calling him Mr. Mo Jangles! He actually didn’t seem to mind it too much and we could hear him, well, jangling in the dark. This morning JDub was greeted with the collar intact, unbuckled, on the deck in front of the trailer door! Kind of like “Up Yours!” (And how the hell did that collar become unbuckled??) I put it back on him later today and so far so good. But…it’s since started to rain and so he’s not out gallivanting tonight.
In fact…what a character he is! He’s decided that the next door neighbor’s Yorkie is quite a novelty. Sam, the Yorkie, feels the same way about Mojo and yet knows somewhere deep down in his doggie brain that he’s supposed to chase a cat. He gives it a good try, that’s for sure. But Mojo just sits there, peering at him, making Sam come to a skidding stop. This evening after having a delicious dinner and margaritas with some of our other neighbors, our next door neighbors arrived after having to work today, so we met them on the beach in front of a bon fire. We were heading down our path to the beach and here was Sam-the-Yorkie and Mojo-the-Cat tag-teaming with us down the path! Mojo joined the party! I was just marveling at him. Normally he hides out somewhere when other dogs besides the weenies are around, but curiosity got the best of him. I just got such a kick out of him teasing that little dog and hanging out with all of us on the beach.
So, JDub and I have discovered yet ANOTHER super time-waster: the game “Bejeweled” I downloaded to my iPhone. It is scary-addicting. And really a lot of fun! JDub covets my iPhone…
Wow, do I ever need a mani, pedi, haircut, and color! I’m going to TRY to get them all taken care of this week! On the other hand, I’m dreading Tuesday because it will be my Weight Watchers weigh-in. Hmm. I haven’t done “turrible-turrible” this vacation week, but I certainly haven’t done great, either.
Here’s hoping there’s a letter in the mail from Nate when we get home tomorrow…(and I have a ton to send him, too!)
Boat ride pics: (click for a little bigger pictures)
Peanut the Sea Dog!
Lots of seagull shit from being buoyed all week. (OK, this is just about as “pretty” as the geoduck….)
Raggedy Ass Point at the southern tip of Harstine Island. (Yes, that’s really what it’s called).
Can you see Mount Rainier in the background? It was a little hazy today.
JDub on “forbidden” Squaxin Island! (We’re so naughty!) That’s Harstine behind him.
We encountered PIRATES! (See the flag in back?)
Nice boat!
That is one heckuva staircase to the beach. And especially UP from the beach.
Stunning day, it really was! (Until the clouds moved in tonight around the bon fire and it started to thunder and lightning!)
Preparing to take the boat out of the water. *sniff*
