Dropping by La Conner, Washington

I left off on Chuckanut Drive on my scenic tour of western Washington State here (in case you missed it).  The weather that day was spectacular.  There were no clouds in sight.  The sun was shining but the intense heat of the summer was behind us.

We are travelling south on highway 11 (green line) and saw the spectacular ocean shots in my post here.

The drive was beautiful as we drove most of the way on Chuckanut Drive through this beautiful rain forest.

This is the largest tourist stop on the drive where you take photos of the beautiful vistas.

As we end our journey south on Chuckanut Drive we stopped in Burlington for a bite to eat before heading back on the freeway towards Whidbey Island.

Before too long we get to the La Conner turn off. La Conner is a place I've had in mind to go for some years ever since it was featured on a show called,  "Best Places to Kiss in the Northwest" .  The show was produced in Washington State and featured lots of picturesque towns to visit and quaint places to lodge.  It doesn't seem to be on television anymore.

This was one of the first shots I took as we entered the town.

You always know when you're in the USA as there is usually a flag outside someone's house or place of business.

This looks like a wonderful shop. You can see the care and attention that has gone into keeping these historic buildings.

This church caught my eye, so.....

... I tried to get a good photo.

Main Street of the town and more historic shops...

This place sells ice cream and candy. I can imagine they've been incredibly busy this hot summer.

It was nice to see some action on the waterfront. I don't know where the bridge leads.

This shot is taken in the direction of the town of La Connor.

This Inn comes up a lot in a google search when looking for accomodations in the area.  Given this is a tourist town, I think it is overpriced but it is rated quite well by people who have stayed there.

Leaving LaConnor and making our way back to the freeway for the turnoff to Whidbey Island.

We are at the freeway about to turn left and head west.

 

 I hope you enjoyed the quick tour of La Conner. It was a real whistle stop for us just so I could see the place.   If you'd like to plan a trip there, you can find out much more information by clicking here.

I'm linking up today with Skywatch Friday. Please drop by there by clicking here and seeing the wonderful skies from different places around the world.

Quilting for Kenya

I finished my lap blanket/quilt. It took a bit longer than I was planning but it is done! It took longer because I didn't have enough of my desired fabric and had to try different colour combinations with fabrics I had on hand.

I have a lot of fabric in my stash but not quite enough of the colours I need.  Originally I was going to use only the turquoise and gold colours predominantly but didn't have quite enough of the gold toned fabrics.  Despite that,  I am pleased with how it turned out. The black now becomes the high contrast colour.

I've laid the quilt on the floor to get a good look at it. The fabrics are all pre-washed cotton.  The turquoise binding around the edges is made of batik  which is machine stitched to the top and hand stitched to the bottom. All fabrics are new, not recycled.  The batting inside the quilt is needled cotton batting by Warm & Natural.

This is the backside made of muslin. It is machine quilted to secure the top to the back.

Folded in half it sits nicely on the ottoman.

Stretched full length, the blanket is long enough to cover my torso and legs.

I was in a hurry to post it (so I can go to sleep) that I didn't take time to brush off all the stray threads and fuzz but that will be done soon, as will the pressing.

I'm not sure whether I will gift this little blanket or try to sell it.  I'm hoping to make more quilts for sale to raise funds for the mission field in Kenya.  Once I use up my yardage, I'm also hoping to buy some quilting pre-cuts. It will help to streamline some of the decisions about colour and appropriate yardage.

Let me know if you are interested in this little blanket and and I can send the details as to size.

Trip to the South On Chuckanut Drive

I mentioned a few days ago that I had taken my first trip south of the border in many years.  I've been wanting get away from the usual spots and see some "new-to-me" scenery. but I did not want to go too far.

I thought if I went south I would have some good scenic views of the ocean to share with you.  I chose, Whidbey Island off Washington State's west coast.  I'd never been to Whidbey Island before but read on line that it wouldn't take more than 1.5- 2 hours to get there not counting potential delays at the border. I packed an overnight bag just in case I decided to spend the night.

Here is a map to show you that we are heading south on Highway 99 through Richmond, Surrey and White Rock in British Columbia,  just before reaching the Peace Arch Border Crossing (north side of Blaine, Washington).  From Blaine we will be on Highway 5, known in the USA as I-5 (Interstate 5) which takes you all the way to California. The highway is 1381 miles (2222 kilometres long).

As we get near the border, this is what we see.  The Nexus lane is for people who travel frequently to the USA.  You must apply to become a Nexus card holder and get quicker processing times at the border crossings.

The line up at the border looks deceptively short. Once you pass by the buildings in the far left, you will come across the scene in the next photo.

 

This is the Peace Arch Border Crossing into Washington State. There is a lovely park area here. I wonder how many people actually use it. 

Online, I read that the Chuckanut Drive route (Highway 11 on the map below) was a scenic route so that is the route we decided to take.  All the photos below are taken along Chuckanut Drive.  There were few places to stop to take photos but I managed to get some good drive bys.  We did stop but once or twice also.  There are many places where one could turn westward and go on hiking trails but that was not on the agenda for the day.

Click the photos to enlarge.

 

 

Come back soon for more photos from Washington State.

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday this week.

Relaxing, Shopping & Quilting

Hi everyone,  I hope you've had a great start to your weekend.  The weather here has been glorious and sunny; warm but not hot. I understand though that we expect rain by the end of the weekend. The ground could sure use it as we've had far less than our usual rainfall this August. We got a lot of rain in the previous months of May, June and July.

In my last post I said I would share some  photos of my trip south.  I'll share sky photos taken in White Rock, BC at Crescent Beach yesterday, and at Bellingham, Washington (please scroll down for the sky pics).  I'm also sharing my latest "work-in-progress", a lap quilt.

Bits and pieces of fabric were purchased in Washington State on Wednesday and Thursday.  I also purchased a bit of fabric in Kamloops earlier in the week and was eager to get started on my quilt.  I want to make several quilts once this one is finished as I have a fair bit of fabric to use up.  The problem as quilters will know is that you always find more fabric to add to your stash!

The small leaf patterned fabric and the teal blue fabric were purchased in Kamloops when I was there recently.  The geometric Native American design fabric was purchased in Bellingham, Wa.

The brightly patterned black fabric is from mom's fabric stash.  I inherited it just over a year ago. Sadly I had to get rid of a lot of her fabric but I kept some of the pieces I thought I could use soon.

These are the two completed blocks for the quilt. I have completed all the blocks.  The blocks will have a different placement to what you see in the photo and they will be framed by a solid colour.  Though it looks a bit busy now, I think it will all work when I'm done. I was trying to use small bits of fabric and had to adjust my original vision for this quilt.  I may have to buy more fabric for the backing or I may use some muslin fabric which I have on hand.

I took a fabulous trip to White Rock, BC yesterday.  White Rock is very near the BC-Washginton State border.  There I soaked up the sounds of waves on the shore at Crescent Beach before heading south to Washington for shopping.

The first 5 photos are taken at White Rock's Crescent Beach.  It was a hot and hazy day so the conditions were not ideal for taking photos.

 

This is the approach to Bellingham, Wa. from the I-5 freeway. Mt. Baker is in the distance.

I hope you've enjoyed the short tour.  I'll be sharing a lot more scenic photos of my recent travels so please visit again soon.

If you haven't already visited at Skywatch Friday, I encourage you to join in  here to see more glorious skies from around the world.

I also invite you to check out the wedding photos if you haven't already. You can see them here and here.

Enjoy!

A Wedding for Two

In the last week we covered a lot of miles going to visit relatives and to attend a wedding. After returning home for one night, we then went south to Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Here is a map for those of you unfamiliar with the geography.  This  map give you a sense of the size of the Province of British Columbia  and also, of the State of Washington, to the south.  Believe it or not, I cannot remember when I last took a trip south of the border. I do know that it was long before 9/11.  Of course after that tragic event, I did not have the heart to deal with border crossings and high security checks.  I am pleased to say the trip was very pleasant and there were no unnecessary delays at the border dealing with customs officials.

The map above gives an overview of the the trip from point A (Vancouver) to point B (Kamloops). It is a distance of 710 kilometres or 441 miles round trip.   The trip south was about half of the distance but it is made longer by being "processed" at the border crossing. We didn't have unreasonable delays but it still takes time to wait your turn in the queue.


The weather in Kamloops was fantastic throughout the several days we were there. The area is a semi-arid climate and it often very hot, especially in summer months. We were fortunate to have hit a cooler bit of temperature. Just the week prior to visiting, the temperatures were in the high 30s.  While we were there, the temperatures were in the mid-20s (celsius).

In my last post I showed a sneak peek of the wedding.  Here are more photos. I hope you like them. I have a lot more photos but tried to pick those that would give you an idea of the overall theme of the wedding.

The chair ties are made of cedar boughs which are very important to native people. Traditionally the native people in this area made baskets out of cedar roots. The colours of the bow represent the white, black and teal blue wedding colours.

Little dog, Maisie. She was very friendly but she would not let me pick her up. Her owner said she won't let anyone pick her up.

 

Before he was a Marriage Commissioner, this man was a world reknowned Indian dancer. He opened the wedding ceremony with a song in his native tongue.

The sweet little ring bearer. I thought he was so cute.

The beautiful bride is walked down the aisle with her father. Her stepfather was also included as he walked her part way down the aisle and then handed the bride to her father.

The Marriage Commissioner is explaining the smudging process (purification) before the wedding ceremony begins.

A lighthearted moment for the bride and groom. The Marriage Commissioner said he wanted to make sure they were relaxed.

I don't know what the Commissioner said, but he made my nephew laugh.

The wedding party after signing "the book" and before posing for photos.

Newly married couple.

Signing the register.

A fun photo of the groom with his new bride and her bridesmaids at the reception.

I mentioned in my previous post that my nephew is a cowboy. He marked the occasion of his wedding with a horse race and won! I caught the end of the race on film.  He heard about it and came over to view the film on my Blackberry Playbook. He was excited about that.

Victorious in the race, my nephew raises his hand in the air.

I enjoyed the wedding a lot because my nephew and his new bride infused their own personal tastes into every aspect of their ceremony. I also liked the relaxed atmosphere that everyone tried to create so that all could relax and have fun.

I haven't been to a wedding in a long while and it was especially nice to see my eldest nephew get married. I pray a long and happy union for him and his new bride.

Come back next time when I will share photos of my journey south.