Out of order

In October SIL now known as Breezy, and I were talking. She had never been to Winthrop.  It is a beautiful little town.  It really is in the middle of nowhere in the mountains.  It is a hub for all kinds of outdoor activities. All year long. From where I live, the prettiest highway closes in the winter.  So I told Breezy we had to go soon or wait until early Summer because not long after the first snow they gate the highway.  We could go around but it's not as pretty and takes HOURS longer. So plans were made and we were off. 

I have taken another friend there in the past and she seemed a bit disappointed.  I think if you've never been it may sound like a touristy town like Leavenworth. It isn't.  It's just a really old mining town in the middle of nowhere in the mountains.   I tried to make sure Breezy understood and was game.  All that to say I was a little nervous.  It was a beautiful day!  The drive was wonderful.  Of course, lots of talking.  

One of the reason's I love it there is they have the BEST ice cream.  Breezy is an ice cream fanatic same as me.  She was all in! The place only had commercially made flavors.  I want to say 6 different kinds. NONE of their homemade kinds.  Because it was almost Winter.  We were both SO bummed. I had really played up the ice cream.  So we shopped in all the little shops and had a wonderful lunch. It really was a good time.  

 

There is a museum there that is all about mining.  It was very interesting. I had never taken the time to go up and look at it all.  It was really cool.   

I thought I had taken some mining equipment pictures but I guess not.  

Since Breezy works very early in the morning we opted to go back home the way we came instead of down the river and making a big circle.  

I was still disappointed in the no ice cream situation.  So I stopped in Mt. Vernon at the Big Scoop. It's an old-time soda fountain type place. That really is old.

 I had the ice cream I craved and Breezy got her favorite kind.  We had a great day that ended on a great note!

I was trying to think of something profound or clever to end this with.  Nothing is coming to me right yet.  So... take care of each other. Be kind. 

Peace

 

Salty Sea Air for the Win

My sister-in-law asked me if I were interested in going to a king tide.  Salty sea air?  Of course!  I had never been to Westport before.  We always go to Ocean shores, probably out of habit more than anything else.  And it's close.  Westport isn't any farther, just a left turn when we'd normally go right. It was a king tide with huge waves predicted.  I got to Breezy's house about 9 and off we went.  The traffic was not bad at all.  High tide was at 1:00. We had plenty of time.  Oh, I forgot to say it was freezing flippen cold!  Literally!  We both had layered up.  Warm coats, leggings under our jeans, so on and so forth.   Breezy had on a beany. THAT would have been a good idea for me.  I really don't like hats though. So my head/ears were very cold.  

We started out in the lookout tower.  It really is beautiful there.  

These next pictures are where the fun really started.  We climbed on the breaker wall.  We saw the rocks were wet, but we didn't process that info well.  So... the last picture is as the waves washed over us on the breaker.  

After our soaking we went to the car to wipe up. LOL We were both worried about our camera's.  We wiped off and kept at it until the visible water was gone. We are both pretty sure salt water isn't good for cameras.   I had a dry coat to put on. Breezy did not.  She was standing and I was kneeling on the rocks so she got the worst of it.  Her whole legs were wet.  Not fun!  But we muscled through.  There were still pictures to take!  We both were a little disappointed in the waves. She was led to believe they were going to be 10 feet plus waves.  They were not.  BUT there is not a bad day at the ocean.  

As we headed up and back down the beach, we saw a dead seal.  I'll spare you the pictures.  She hadn't been there terribly long and had no sign of why she died.  It was sad.  Even if it is the nature of life.  We drove around for a bit.  We were going to go out over the jetty to the ocean side but neither of us felt too much like hiking after the soaking we had.  We were cold.   

We of course, had to have fish and chips.  It was wonderful! We sat under a heater, so it was really special.  LOL  

After lunch we had to go find the seals we'd been hearing.  I have a video of them talking but I couldn't get it to load. So just imagine it. 

No whales, but we didn't go to the ocean side.  So, a pretty sunset in our mirror as we drove home made for a wonderful day! 

Happy New Year

Peace