Summertime travels

Brad and I got back yesterday from our little summer vacation: Bothell and Seattle for a Mariner game, a few days in our beloved Bellingham, and then off to Victoria, BC to revel in queenery (I made that word up). Now, what I am about to attempt to do is this: upload and post some pictures from our trip on this very blog! This should not be very complicated. However, I tried to post some pictures of my flower garden last week and it ended in disaster, with a cluster of five tiny photos, out of order, at the top of my screen, and no way to write words around them or put them in the right order. So, here we go.


We went to the Mariners vs. Yankees game on Thursday. Yawn! Every time I go to a baseball game I bequeath the responsibility of protecting my head from a fly ball on someone who will actually be watching the game, since I know my attention will drift to daydreaming and people watching after the first inning. Brad agreed to be my protector, and I survived unscathed.


Shortly before this picture was taken, I spent half an hour hiding out at the Mariner Team Store buying Brad that hat. He asked me, "What's better? Standing in line at the team store, or watching the game?" The answer was obvious.




We were in Bellingham from Friday until Sunday morning, and we spent a large chunk of Saturday reading books at Boulevard Park. I can't tell you how much I love Bellingham. It makes me happy just being there. On both of my Bellingham mornings I woke up and ran and ran and ran along the Interurban Trail and just loved being alive. Someday we will move back.




One of the things I pride myself on is my fine photography. This is probably most evident in the "glamour shots" I take of Brad. Just look at that face. He can't get enough.


We did a drive by tour of our former Bellingham homes. This lovely abode in the York District neighbors Nelson's Market and was my home for two years. It used to be green. Now it features red paint, a boat trailer, and a heavenly anointing of light.



Brad's cousin Staci is great and let us stay at her house in Bellingham. We had a lot of fun with her, and on our last night we all went to the Archer Ale House to play the aforementioned dart game we made up, Shrauge (the artful combination of Staci's last name, Shrum, and our last name, Hauge, obviously).

Brad, mere moments after his humiliating defeat. Good job Staci!

Game faces. Shrauge is not a game for the fainthearted.

And after we ate at all of our favorite places (EXCEPT LEMON GRASS! Lemon Grass is closed! Why didn't anybody tell me?!), met up with friends, browsed the farmers' market and bookstore, and mastered the art of darts, we ferried over to Victoria for a couple of days. It was great to just sit around the harbor and watch the boats and seaplanes (did that sentence not just make me sound about 70 years old?). We went to a great concert (Manchester Orchestra and Silversun Pickups, plus a little Cage the Elephant for good measure), and just loved being on the water and out of town.

The harbor.

And, I hereby proclaim myself the master of adding photos to my blog! I finally did it. I have entered the space age.