And then the summer got away from me...

Oops, how did that happen? I see the last entry was in early July, and here it is nearing the end of August.  Somehow the summer just slid on by.  I hope yours was fun and that you have some lovely memories.

Me, I did a bit of this and that.  The biggest "This" was a trip up to Washington.  Wanna see some pictures? 

First stop, Rogue River, Oregon.  It's just outside of Grants Pass and is about halfway between my house and Seattle.  So I cruised through Oregon listening to "Go Set A Watchman" read by  Reese Witherspoon. I loved it and it was the perfect accompaniment on a long drive.

Along the way, I stopped in Eugene to stretch my legs -- and stumbled onto Voodoo Doughnuts which I'd always heard of but never visited.  That called for a purchase of doughnuts -- 2 to eat, and a few more to sketch.



Next stop, Seattle where I stayed with my friend Dori.  I didn't take a ton of pictures, but I did do a sketch of her backyard.  Her home is right on Lake Washington with a view across the lake of Mercer Island.

We had a lot of fun while I was there.  We went to a wonderful art show in Bellevue, we went to the Seattle Center to see the Chihuly glass museum which I've been wanting to do FORever, and we saw Snoqualmie Falls and had a lovely lunch at the lodge there.  Oh yeah, we talked the whole time too, as good friends do.

 

From there, I went up to Whidbey Island which I'd always wanted to see. I drove up the Seattle side, and entered the island at its northern end, via Deception Pass which was stunning.

 

On Whidbey Island, I'd rented a little cottage via VRBO, and it turned out to be perfect.

 It had one tiny bedroom, a "just right" kitchen for making sandwiches to take to the beach and pouring wine and cleaning crab, and a cozy living room that had just the space I needed to read, gaze at the water, and sit at the little table and paint and stick stuff in my travel journal.

Oh yeah, I sketched that too.

 

I spent my week there exploring, taking photos, sketching, poking around, driving on backroads, walking on the beach, picking up odd bits of driftwood, seashell, and rock.  

 I fell in love with the charming little towns, and oh, those lush hanging baskets of flowers that I found all over the place!  

  

My dear friend Paige took the ferry over from Port Townsend one day, and we had a very fun day chatting and poking through thrift stores.

 

 One afternoon, my landlady texted me to ask if I wanted some fresh caught crab.  Yes, please!  I came home to find an ice chest with two big cooked and cleaned crabs on the front porch.  Dinner for several days! (this wasn't it, but I did take this picture of a crab on the beach.)

And speaking of the beach, I Sketched some of the treasures I found on my travels.

 One evening, as I was perusing my Ipad researching options for the next day, I stumbled onto the Whidbey Island Sketchers' website, which announced that they had a sketching meet-up the following day.  I emailed, asked if they allowed visitors, and was told to come on and sketch!  So next afternoon found me in Freeland at a wonderful home and garden for a peaceful afternoon of sketching with some very friendly sketchers.

At the end of my week, I ferried over to Port Townsend to stay at Paige's and explore around there some more.  After Whidbey Island, PT felt like a bustling city.  But really, it was the same charming, quirky town it always is.  I had a wonderful dinner at a favorite restaurant, Sirens, sitting out on the deck.  I didn't mind the service being slow -- I had time to sketch.

 One of the things I love most about PT is my friend Paige's home, and how she has charming installations everywhere.  This Buddha watches over the favorite shady spot of her sweet departed dog Annie.

So, there you have it.  I drove home by the same route, listening to the 2nd half of Go Set a Watchman, and marveled (in a bad way) at the smoky haze that covered the sky from Portland all the way south to Healdsburg.

Aren't summer trips the best?