Island Country Inn Bainbridge Island

... when everyone can come with almost no lead time! It was so generous of Barbara and Doug to take the time to drive over for goodbyes. They had just completed hosting a Northwest Compassionate Communication Family Week at their farm on Vashon and were tired and in need of quiet time! Instead, Barb showed up with her arms full of the most gorgeous baby greens from her garden. They shared stories about their successful family camp week as Barb and I ...

August 7th, 2008 Beautiful sunny day, so off to Seattle to check out some recommended "must sees". the pictures tell the tale...called a taxi to get us to the Ferry. Arrived safe and sound and ready to see the sights at the Seattle downtown harbour. We went to the Seattle Art Museum and thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits. I was only allowed to take pix of the entrance with the Fords hung from the ceiling and exploding with light ...

... they all fit the land. Bravo! Rain came and went a few times as we were touring the property and asking millions of questions. Alec has thought of so many details and good ideas for living well, on the water with children and guests, that the property speaks for itself in most cases. We kept saying, "Wow! This is great!" The technology, metal working and wood craftmanship is evident everywhere. Bravo is right! I hope the pictures do it justice. As we ...

... Ferry come or go with its cargo of commuters from BI to Seattle and back again. The ferry makes the most lovely sound with her air horn. The kitchen cabinets are mostly in and are looking wonderful! Great choice! The floors throughout the house are down and really pull the place together from being a contruction site to "hey this looks like a home!". Much has been accomplished at this property including well work, septic work ...

... the crow stole the sun from a hoarding spirit and gave it to the humans. I took a bunch of pix but alas, none came out! Sorry. You'll just have to go to Blake Island and take in the show! The ride home was refreshing and beautiful in the late evening sunset. We arrived to find Alec home with Christie...everyone's friend. We all chatted a bit and then drove on home tired and filled with salmon and mystery.

Here we are for a couple of hours in Seattle before our flight to LA. We had some time to kill so we visited all of the things on the credits of Frasier - the monorail and the space needle!! Both were great and Seattle is a fab place. Lots of ...

... neighbors at the very spot where they boarded the ferry on April 1, 1941. I can only imagine their fear, anger and grief as they watched their island home recede in the distance. As Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Bainbridge) said when introducing to congress the oldest survivor of the group. "This is a story that needs to resonate throughout the decades. We have to ensure the power of fear never overcomes the promise of liberty".

Seattle I consider to be one of the nicest places here in the US. The nature is pretty much similar to most of that in Washington State, which is totally beautiful and the city itself is as nice as San Francisco, which I considered to be pretty fast paced and yet comfortable. Not as crazy as New York. The people in Seattle are quite fit and every corner you look, you can see someone running or cycling. They are pretty much well into their sports and it is very rare to see someone ...

... girls who came up and wanted to practice their English. They then take him to a bar/restaurant/coffee shop where they order drinks that end up costing hundreds of dollars. There are big bouncers who insist on the money. They do this in Europe too, usually single men get brought into far off bars by beautiful women. In Hong Kong we were approached by "Buddhist Monks" who popped out of the bushes and gave us a small Buddha and ...

... and fresh pesto from about a pound of basil. We didn't see any fish thrown around at Pike's (just a lot of fishy men in orange overalls) but we took busses here and there and talked to lots of people, and saw the space needle at night (which made it spacier) and other strange sights that were sometimes eerie and sometimes just un-interpretable. Ruthanne was feeling super sick at night (which is the only bummer thing that happened, really, on ...