Is Hitch Adapting to His New Home?

We think Hitch has adapted quite well. But, if you were to ask Dusty or Squirrel, you might get a different opinion. They would prefer Hitch would go hitchhike with another family. “Go away kid. You’re bothering me!”

~Do you need directions?

We on the other hand, find him quite amusing to watch. A little spastic at times with way too much energy, he runs full speed from one end of the coach to the other then back again! 5 to 10 times – back and forth. If someone is walking by, they must think we have a miniature elephant in here. He is very heavy footed. The entire time he is running, he is making strange meowing sounds and terrorizing the other cats. He chases his own tail, climbs walls, and squeezes through a 2-inch opening behind our couch. Of course, he will not be able to squeeze behind the couch for much longer. He is quite the chowhound, cleaning up the other cat’s dishes along with his. He is growing very fast.

We started taking him outside for walks on the harness and leash. He loves it and begs to go out everyday. He takes us on walks down the campground roads. He loves to climb trees, go under bushes, and hunt for squirrels. He gets a little nervous with diesel trucks, big rigs, and loud people. Otherwise, he is doing quite well on the leash. Dan took him for a couple of short rides in the car. He doesn’t mind being in the car and tends to act like a dog. Running from window to window trying to see everything at once, but his main love is being outside.

He is our best traveling cat when we are moving the rig to the next campground. He sits on the dash, watches the windshield wipers going back and forth. He occasionally helps Dan drive by standing on the steering wheel or he helps navigate from the back of Dan’s chair. He shows no fear as we travel down the road. He is a born traveler. He’s a keeper!

~I can elevate and make a face at the same time!

La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum

Sandy could not pass up the opportunity to visit a quilt museum inside the 1891 Tudor-style Victorian Mansion called Gaches Mansion. The exhibits rotate every three months. There were three exhibits: Color Me Wearable and Fiber Quest. The third was of traditional quilts along with many local quilts and aprons. Sandy has added a Webshots folder of the Quilt Museum and some of the quilts.

She also found a quilt shop in Anacortes called Fabric Plus. No surprise there! She fell in love with the Native American design called Raven Salmon. The designer Lisa Moore has a different approach to quilting designs. Sandy wanted to share this with her quilting friends so here’s the link to her website: http://www.quiltswithatwist.com/ Enjoy!

We spent one day driving south on Whidbey Island. We visited a few of the State Parks and stopped in Langley for a late lunch. Ft. Casey was very interesting with the 6-inch guns and the old lighthouse with a couple of - you guessed it! - quilts.

There also pictures of La Conner and Whidbey Island in the new WebShots folder. We will be in Hoodsport on Tuesday. We are excited to see the Olympia National Park and the other side of Puget Sound.

Puget Sound Area and Family

We have been visiting with Sandy’s family and seeing the sights around the Puget Sound area. Sandy’s Mom was able to visit with all three of her children together. It has been almost nine years since the last time they were all together. Jay and CJ drove in from Illinois. Steve and Deb live nearby in Everett. This was our first time meeting CJ. We hope she liked us as much as we liked her and we did not scare her away. On our first day, we spent most of the day at our campsite watching the War Canoe races, catching up, taking pictures, and of course, eating. The next day, Steve took Jay and CJ along with us to some great waterfalls in the Snoqualmie area. We did a little hiking, a little picture taking, and had a great time visiting with each other. We got together for dinner in La Conner on our last day. Good food, good views, and great company. Who could ask for more?

We are staying at Thousand Trails La Conner, which is on the Swinomish Indian Reservation. It is heavily wooded and a real maze of campsites. We have access to Skagit Bay so we were able to get in a little kayaking. The day was a little chilly, but the bay was like glass at low tide. While kayaking a seal was peeking at us from a distance. It must have been a little curious because it surfaced a couple of times very close to our kayaks. So close we could see the lashes around its eyes. Dan tried to get pictures, but the fella was a little too fast for him. There are a couple of Bald Eagles living nearby as well. They like to sit in the tree above the beach area.

When we visit Sandy’s Mom, we cross over Deception Pass Bridge. The bridge connects Whidbey Island to the mainland and is 180 feet above the water – give or take a few feet depending on the tide. Every time we cross over the bridge, the weather makes it look different. Of course, there were a couple of times when we could not see anything with the dense fog. We stopped at all the parks near the bridge. All the pictures for the bridge and parks are in Deception Pass folder. There are a couple of pictures of Chuckanut Drive going north to Bellingham as well. We will remain in this area until August 18th, and then head further west.