Where does the time go?

I'm kind of afraid that I am having memory lapses, but time seems to be flying this summer.  I just finally got the pictures off of my camera from our latest adventure...which was during the second week of July.  As I was putting them in the proper filing arrangement I was also moving pictures of the dry erase calendar that keeps track of our lives to the "Calendar" file for later use to put together the Christmas letter.  I noticed that I was missing April, so I went looking for it and as I moved it to the Calendar file I perused what we did that month.  It said we went to Cannon Beach and I was surprised. Really?  I don't remember even going.  So I looked back to the appropriate file dates and sure enough, there were the pictures to prove it.  Well maybe I didn't blog about it, I thought.  Nope, there's a blog in the April archives and as I read through it I do remember it being warm.  The truth is I don't even remember most of what happened in the months of May or June, though I remember going to North Carolina.  I am going to blame it on the ridiculous levels of stress at work, but really it may just be not taking enough time to relax on my part.  Mom and I have kept a pretty busy schedule lately outside of the extra day's worth of overtime on my paycheck and my goal for the rest of the summer is to finally relax.  You know do some things for me.  Eat outside on the porch, lay in my hammock, knit a pair of mittens in the time limits of the Olympics.  Easy things like that...and blogging.  ;)

So waaaaaaay back at the beginning of July, Mom and I took a vacation to the Olympic Peninsula.  This was not the relaxing vacation we had in mind back in the winter when it was planned.  We had made our reservations back then and the idea of going to North Carolina and then turning around and going on vacation again was not ours.  It just happened that way.  But it was also quite draining on funds to go to North Carolina.  To make up for our sad bank accounts we called and cancelled our first night at Port Ludlow.  We didn't have the time to get ready to go before the Monday we were leaving and we were going to be taking off late to make up for that, so Mom made the suggestion of just going Tuesday morning.  Being the planner I am I had issues with adjusting the schedule but conceded that I didn't really have the money either.

So Tuesday morning, July 10th, we took off for Seattle.  The drive was beautiful and clear until we hit the top of the pass and the clouds awaited us on the other side.

We got in line for the Bainbridge Island ferry (the first of many ferries) and tried to get into that relaxing mood we were searching for.

Once we hit the peninsula we headed straight for Port Townsend.  As we drove the clouds began to dissipate and eventually it cleared off entirely.  When we reached Port Townsend it was gorgeous!

We visited a couple of yarn shops (the first of many yarn shops), got some yummy cupcakes and wandered the downtown.  We were pretty hungry so we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant that had waterfront dining.  Then we drove around town to see the Victorian houses that Port Townsend is famous for and saw quite a few beauties.

Then we drove down to Fort Warden State Park to see the Point Wilson Lighthouse.  We knew we needed a Discover Pass to park there and Mom went into the park office to purchase one, since we'd forgotten to get one before we left.  It pays for itself if you use it three times and on this trip we did just that!  There was a nice rocky/sandy beach out by the lighthouse and the dogs were happy to get out and stretch their legs.  We picked up agates and really started to get into vacation mode.  The lighthouse wasn't open for tours, but it was nice to visit.  We were wistful, however, for those massive lighthouses of the east coast.

After that we drove back to Port Ludlow to the Inn at Port Ludlow where we were staying the next two nights.  I found out about this place from another blog I read all the time.  The Yarn Harlot has been here numerous times for knitting retreats that last whole long weekends and I am dying to go on sometime but that's another tangent.  They "yarn bomb" the place which in essence is knitting items for statues, lamps and other random home decor.  Some of it was still up when we got there.

And the place was really very beautiful.  We had a huge room with amazing views and a big bathroom!

They also had a really nice flat screen TV with....a VCR attached to it?  Really?  I thought all the VCR's in the world had been replaced by DVD players about 10 years ago.  I mean, we have one at home, but we NEVER use it.  So the DVD's I brought with me weren't going to be very useful and we had to try and find something on television to be decent background noise, which is really very hard to do.  We also ate dinner down in their restaurant and it was awesome!  And pricey!  Mom and I split a steak and potato dinner and then split a dessert with coffee, no wine even, and we were dipping deep into our food money.  They did make broccoli taste the best I have ever eaten though.  It was baked in a creamy cheese sauce that was so good I SAVED THE BROCCOLI FOR DESSERT!  It was crazy good.  We drove into the village after that to pick up some breakfast food, since we hadn't found a bakery in town to get some donuts at.  Guess not every town can be as complete as Cannon Beach...