Northwest Coastal Drive Vacation

Who ever heard of flying to a spot and then driving to another spot just to catch a plane and fly home again? Well, that's exactly what we did at Hank's suggestion. As a goal, Hank has long challenged our family to visit all the States in the USA so this year he asked to see Washington, Oregon and California. And see it we did.
Mom, Henry, Hank and I flew Southwest Airlines' $79/one way special to Seattle, WA. We arrived at 9:30am which gave us almost a entire day to explore this city on Puget Sound. After getting a big 'ol Mercury we checked in the Doubletree hotel, ate lunch and then drove into the city. We toured Seattle University (a school on Hank's short list), drove to a Puget Sound lookout, and finally rode the Space Needle to finish our view of the city at sunset.

Early the next morning we packed our bags into the trunk to catch a ferry that would take up across Puget Sound and get us started towards our destination - the Scenic Northwest Coastal Highway 101. Across the Sound, the 1139 mile journey began with a drive through the Olympic Pennisula Forest. The forest is filled with huge trees and lots of greenery. The water that can be seen as from the road is the southern edge of Puget Sound and it is beautiful. Small fishing villages hug the coast and vessels both large and small are everwhere. Fishing and commercial transport of goods supports the economy of this region.

At the western tip of the Olympic Pennisula, Highway 101 begins. As we turned south and see our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. It is inspiring. I've seen the Atlantic and the Gulf Coast but the vastness of the ocean viewed from high above on a rocky cliff takes your breath away. Our first night on the Pacific was spent in a small resort town, Ocean Shores. This area had a wide beach where you could drive your car out to the ocean shore and we did just that - at SUNSET! Chill bumps !
The next day we jumped in the car and headed south again, leaving Washington and entering Oregon as we crossed the Columbia River. Our first stop was at Lewis and Clark National Park We saw the canoe and landing site and a fort had been reconstructed that represented the location that 33 men wintered and scouted the coast.
Continuing down Highway 101, is an amazing experience. The views of the rocky coast and vast Pacific Ocean is amazing. We stopped and walked down a coastal ridge to the ocean below. The wind blows pretty strong.

As we drove down the coast line through Oregon and onto California, we saw sea lions, lighthouses, rocky coastlines, foggy coastlines, huge redwoods and beautiful flowers. We ate some great seafood and drank some great wine.

A week later we finished our drive crossing the golden gate bridge and entering the beautiful city of San Francisco. We joined a flood of tourist on the Warf and ate fresh seafood, toured the SF Bay.

Our 2009 vacation gave us a beautiful view of the awesome world God has created for us to enjoy. Enjoy the pictures!

Grandbaby Update

God has blessed me this year with visits to Alabama. Jon-Wilson and I have had a few opportunities to get to know each other better. He is soooo cute! Now 7 months old his personality is coming through loud and clear.
He is smiling and cooing and almost laughing out loud. As he grows, so does his activity level. He is sitting up and beginning to scoot and pull up on the tables.

Here is a couple of pictures I took about the middle of August. Their Boston Terrier, Rozzer, is the baby protector! Daddy is watching over both of them.

See that cute kid stuff isn't just because I'm a Grandma!

Jane

Summer Guests

We have enjoyed company this summer!!

Henry's nephew, Eli Waltz, came by on the way from California back to Columbia University where he is beginning his senior year as a Mechanical Engeering student and Football player. It was great to see Eli since we've missed his visits back home to Ohio the last couple of years.

Also, we had two special guest Stewart and Nichole. These two young folks came to Colorado to search out job opportunities. Stewart is a Business Ed major from Charleston SC and Nichole is soon to graduate from the University of Alabama's Nursing program. They plan to marry next year and was just getting a "look around" to see if the west might be a place they'd like to settle down.

Eli, Nichole and Stewart were at the Ranch the same weekend. Nichole, Eli and Hank are in one picture. They are watching Stewart as he took Girlee for a ride!

Mom came to visit and to go on vacation with us August 13-19th (pictures when I get the Vacation Story written).

Most recently, Retta Morton, a friend from Atlanta, GA came to visit. We toured the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO, visited Taste of Colorado in Denver, picnic'd in Estes Park and traveled onto the Prarie to see a Wind Farm. And no trip to the Ranch is complete without a burger from AJ's Tavern, we did that too!

Love visitors - so you come on out, you hear!

Jane