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COUPEVILLE WILDLIFE – July 31, 2017

I just can’t believe that this is the last day of July! That was one short month but man was it fantastic. We have had stellar weather and are on day 44 of no measurable rain.

This morning I’ll take you on a three mile walk around Coupeville. As it turned out there were a number of different animals I saw. First up really isn’t an animal but a wood carving of a goose. It looks really good and certainly caught my eye.

Carved Goose

Heading for the center of Coupeville I came face to face with this raccoon and we had a little stare down.

Raccoon

This next picture I actually took last week but it’s just too cool not to post. These eagles were perched in the old walnut tree near the Captain Thomas J. Cope’s house. His wife Maria planted it in the late 1800’s.

Two Eagles in a Tree

I often say, one of the harder birds to capture in a photograph are King Fisher’s. This morning I caught one sitting on “Franks” post next to the Coupeville Wharf. He actually sat there for quite a while, very unusual, at least for me.

King Fisher on Lamp Post

I hope that starts your week in a good way, it certainly did mine. Thanks for walking with me and please share my blog with your friends, thanks.

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FOG BANK – July 26, 2017

Sorry I missed you yesterday. I walked but didn’t have anything interesting to post. I didn’t do much better today but did get one nice photo I’ll show you later.

But first I’d like to share a few from last week, that I didn’t get a chance to post.

I was curious if you’d pay $725,000 for a house you couldn’t see? Here’s the street side view.

House For Sale 202 Front Street Front

But if you walk down the beach and look this is what it really looks like. Pretty cool huh?

House For Sale 202 Front Street Back

While we’re looking at “fronts and backs” here’s the Knead and Feed Restaurant and Aqua Gifts from the front.

Kneed and Feed and Aqua Gifts Front

Again, walk down the beach and look up you get this backside view. Not quite as inviting as the store fronts.

Aqua Gifts and Kneed and Feed Back

Now for today’s effort. This is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen around town, a herd of four bucks with full racks. Unbelievable!

Four Bucks

And finally my “Photo of the Day”! This fog bank was over Camano Island and Saratoga Passage, rather spectacular I’d say.

Fog Bank Over Penn Cove

So that takes care of “Hump Day” for this week. I hope your week is going well and will walk again with me.

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VISITORS BY BOAT – July 24, 2017

Good morning everyone and welcome to a new week. I’m looking forward to some good walking with all of you and sharing my wee seaside town.

There are a lot of tourist’s here in the summer and most come by ferry or drive over on the one bridge that connects to another island that is then connected to the mainland by another bridge. But for the more adventurous they come by boat and anchor or moor in Penn Cove. They dingy into town and enjoy all we have to offer.

This morning there were quite a number “swinging” in the cove.

Wharf Anchored Boats High Tide

I spotted a nicely groomed rose vine in the shape of a heart on the side of the Admiralty Inn. I always find it amazing that I spot something like this for the first time when I walk or drive by almost every day.

Rose Vine Admirilty Inn

I also found something new in town. There’s a new restaurant where the Mosquito Fleet Restaurant used to be. It’s a downstairs restaurant right over the water. They also have a nice little outside dinning area. I have no idea what kind of food they serve or how good it is but will have to give it a try. Welcome Tee & Nee Cafe.

Tee & Nee Cafe - Wharf

And now for the question of the day for all you farmers and rust heads. What the heck is this?

I spotted this two-seater at Sherman’s Pioneer Farm where they have lots of very old rusting farm equipment. It looks like it attaches to something but I have no idea what it does. Any ideas out there?

Farm Equipment

As always, thanks for walking with me and we’ll do a lot more as the week rolls along.

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RANDOMNESS – July 18, 2017

Most mornings I try to follow some sort of theme from something that inspires me but this morning nothing specific stuck out so I have a rather odd collection of photos from this morning’s 3.6 mile walk.

First up, we’re getting a new highway surface on Highway 20. That’s the main highway that runs the length of the island. Just in case you didn’t know, Whidbey Island is the longest island on the Pacific Coast of the United States, 58 miles! That’s a lot of blacktop.

Highway 20 Resurfsing

Walking through Kreuger Woods something strange caught my eye. At first glance it looked like a tall, white, goose deep in the woods, like maybe it was trapped. Well it was trapped all right but it wasn’t a bird it was a plastic bag. I sure wish people would do a better job of controlling their plastic trash or better yet take your own bags to the store and decline the plastic bag.

Plastic Bag Goose

One of the Victorian homes that I really like is the John Gould home built in 1894. Not only is it a beautiful home but the new owners have really done a wonderful job bring it back to all the glory of the original home. Talk about symmetry!

John Gould House 1894

On the way back home I passed the Prairie Center grocery store and they had just put out a beautiful batch of new flowers.

Prairie Center Flowers

I hope you have a nice “Hump Day” and the rest of your week is grand! I hope to see you again tomorrow.

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SUNRISE SENTINEL – July 18, 2017

Gooooooooood Morning Everyone and what a great morning it is! Get you shoes on and let’s go.

This morning we get to share the sunrise with a Bald Eagle, or rather he’s sharing it with us.

Eagle-Mt Baker-Sunrise

Out on the Coupeville Wharf we had “Pretty Boats All in a Row” with the sunrise and Mt. Baker in the background. Like I said, what a glorious morning.

Boats at Dock-Mt Baker-Sunrise

Walking through town I spotted another new roof on and beautiful old Victorian home. It’s the Lovejoy – Parker House built in 1886.

Lovejoy-Parker House 1886

One of the things I like best about walking around Coupeville are all the different animals I see. Quite often I get to interact with them. Sometimes it seems as though birds are walking with me, they fly ahead, land on a fence, and when I catch up they fly ahead again and wait once again for me to catch up.

This morning it was a deer I was playing with. He was sort of hiding behind a gnarly tree and when I came walking by he’d look at me and when I moved to where he couldn’t see me he’d peek around the tree. I kept moving back and forth and he kept moving to see where I was. It was a great game of Peek-a-Boo.

Peek-a-boo Deer

And that’s a wrap of Tuesday. I hope to have you walk with me again tomorrow.

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ON THE BEACH – July 17, 2017

I don’t know where to start! I shot 96 photos this morning and more than enough came out either really good or quite interesting. I’m not going to overload you with pictures or it would end up like my dad’s slide shows of our vacations 😉

So I’ll show you some today and more on another slow day sometime.

I walked the beach from the end of our street to the Coupeville Wharf, that’s about three-quarters of a mile. I’ll show you the wildlife today and interesting stuff later.

I first stumbled upon a Great Blue Heron and deer. I call this picture “Frank ‘n Deer”.

Frank n Deer

As I got closer the Heron decided it was time to skedaddle and took flight.

Great Blue Heron

Penn Cove is often called the “Mussel Capital of the World” be cause we raise some of the best mussels in the world and they are plentiful, as this picture shows. The rock is covered with barnacles and mussels.

Mussels on the Beach

Mussels also like to cling to pilings. These are the pilings leading to the wharf. It looks like there are a lot of people visiting our wee town by boat. I’ll bet many of the are enjoying our mussels which are served at all the local restaurants.

Beneath the Wharf

On the way back home I spotted this eagle soaring through the sky. What a lovely way to start the day.

Eagle wings up

Thanks for joining me on this beautiful Monday morning. I hope you have a great week ahead and I’ll do the same.

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MY SURPRISE – July 14, 2017

A week or so ago I told you that I have something special to share with your. Well today is the day for that reveal.

My walks have been sketchy for the past 21 months but for good reason. Over that year and nine months I’ve designed and built, from scratch, a beautiful teardrop camper! It’s 10′ long 5′ wide and 5′ tall. It weighs 1,220 pounds, has a queen size bed, galley area, lots of storage and a tool box that houses all the electronics. It can run on 110V, battery power or solar power.

The rear bumper is a 1934 Ford rear bumper and the tail lights are 1932 Ford.

And here it is!

Me and My Teardrop

Right 3-4 Front

Right 3-4 Rear

Here’s the interior. It’s a 360 degree photo so you have use your mouse to have a look around or if you’re on a smart phone just move your phone around.

The back hatch lifts up to expose the galley. All we have is a work surface and storage for everything needed for cooking plus the refrigerator. We don’t want to cook in there because of the smells and oils permeating the cabin. We’ll cook on a side table I still have to install or a picnic table. We also carry a portable aluminum table.

Galley 1

Galley 2

On the tongue there is a tool box that houses all the electronics plus storage for tools.

Tool Box Closed

Tool Box Open

We still need to paint it but it’s ready for camping now!

So there ya go, my excuse for not walking and I’m sticking with it 🙂 Now I just need to finish restoring my 1960, Series 1, Sunbeam Alpine sports car. But I’ll still try to walk and blog as much as I can. Happy Camping 🙂