A Pastoral Call- First Day Out

It is so hard to sum up our trip on A Pastoral Call with GT and Ann. It was truly the most relaxing and wonderful vacation we have ever been on. The boat was so fun, the weather was beautiful (despite a rainy yucky forecast), the accommodations were luxurious, the food was not only plentiful but delicious, and the fellowship was fantastic!

The San Juans are always a beautiful place to visit, but if you have the opportunity to go on this trip you HAVE to do it! It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

We took WAY too many pictures to post them all, so here are just a few of my favorites...

waiting at the dock

coming into Friday Harbor

A Pastoral Call -Roche Harbor

We had such a relaxing time on our trip that when we were leaving on Friday, Chris said it felt more like 2 weeks. It was so nice to have such an absolutely carefree trip and to have time to ourselves to do whatever we wanted to and time with such wonderful company, too!

the food was so good that Jack licked his plate clean

A Pastoral Call - Orcas Island

We put in at Rosario and spent a lovely day exploring a bit of Orcas Island and Moran State Park. We were blessed with another good day despite the forecast.

coming in to Rosario

the view from Mt. Constitution

the lookout tower

I loved walking the docks and looking at all the boats

A Pastoral Call - Shopping and Fishing

The guys left first thing in the morning to go fishing while the girls stayed behind to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and a shopping trip to Eastsound. After we were both done, we met up to go whale watching and have a crab feast at Suchia Island State Park!

sometimes you catch more than just crabs

just some of the 20 crabs the guys caught for our lunch

a family of whales

sea lions on the beach

all ready for the crab feed

Mary and her birthday cake

A Pastoral Call - The Last Day

The last day was the only day with rain, but it didn't last long and we still had a wonderful ride back to Bellingham. While we were sad to be leaving and heading back to the "real world", we were also looking forward to being back with the boys and doing a bit of traveling down memory lane in Bellingham.

Chris got a turn at the wheel

back in Bellingham

where I had supper the night before I had Zack

where the Sizzler restaurant where Chris worked used to be

Chris lived here before we met

Chris lived here while we were dating

the apartment we lived in when Zack was born

our single-wide in Custer (they changed the color!)

where Zack was born

our duplex

where Zack was baptized

my dorm at Western

new buildings on campus (this used to be playing fields)

Chris and I at Red Square

oops! forgot to flip this one.

our first (leaky) apartment after we were married

Wow! No wonder we've moved 13 times since we've been married!

Sunshine and Surprises

The first surprise of the day was the sunshine! And it was a wonderful surprise! It is much nicer to work in the sun without fear of rain. Although it did rain a tiny bit around lunchtime.

how do you paint back in there?

you just squeeze in and do it

But not all surprises are good surprises. When you are a homeowner, especially of an older house, you never know what will happen next. And when you start taking down trim boards that the contractor that was working on your house before you bought it was in a REAL hurry to get back on the wall, you know it might be bad. And it was...

So we didn't get as much painting done as we had hoped, but we did do some prep work for some major work that will have to get done Labor Day weekend when we finish the painting the trim.
it made for a great father/son project

But it is looking good!