Summer Cruise!

Oh, I am still glowing from the fabulous min-cruise on our son Barry's gorgeous old 1942 Matthews 38' cabin cruiser. This boat has so much personality, which is enhanced by all the TLC that Barry, his girlfriend Tasha, and some other family & friends have lavished on it.

The photo at left was taken in the harbor at Poulsbo, WA, where we stayed on our first night. She looks so long & lovely! Said boat has no name right now, so chime in with some ideas.

Back to the cruise...we started in West Seattle, where "She the Boat" is berthed, at the Duwamish Yacht Club. Ideal location, provides easy access via the Duwamish River to the Seattle harbor, and out to Puget Sound. It is really interesting, put-putting down the river past all the commercial sites, seeing the huge containers that have arrived from all around the world. You emerge out to the Seattle waterfront, where you can see the ferries making their way to Bainbridge Island, Vashon, etc. How I miss those ferries! Sometimes you'll spot a big cruise ship, waiting to go on to Alaska--another dream trip for Dave & I.

Barry is a superb pilot. One of the photos shows Barry & Tasha up on the flying bridge, where we spent most of our time. The weather for our three days in July were not the typical Seattle summer. It was clear and sunny and warm. Yes, I was a good girl and wore sunscreen, my really big hat, and my SPF shirt most of the time, but still managed to get a nice summer glow. And there was knitting time, especially up on the bridge. I found that if I went downstairs to the saloon that I got a little queasy. My sis-in-law Cat was along, too, and we had such a great time just taking in the gorgeous views, and some wildlife sightings, like our friendly seal hanging out on the buoy, and the otter who entertained us on on deck at Blake Island. Raccoons are a big problem at Blake; the park ranger there reminded us twice to secure our coolers, as the 'coons go for them trying to get water, and food. The story is that the raccoons swam over from the mainland, as the deer do.

Following the cruise, we headed back into West Seattle, dodging a closing bridge on the Duwamish River by inches (well, maybe not--but I ducked!). I left Hubby Dave to make his way to his sister Cat's home, while I took the rental car to Issaquah to spend a little quality time with my fabulous yoga teacher, Robin Rothenberg, at the Yoga Barn. She gave me some incredible exercises to use for my chronic neck/shoulder issues. We followed that up with a delightful al fresco dinner with another yoga buddy. Life is good!