Wednesday, June 24, 2015

June 4, 2015 - Mount Vernon, WA & Neighboring Areas

It was already overcast when we stepped out of the Lil' Home (LH).  It was 56˚, a perfect sightseeing day with Sheila, Erwin's niece.

After breakfast we drove to Mount Vernon, WA to pick up Sheila. She has two cute ferrets named Winter (the white one who is deaf) and Romeo. 









Sheila was anxious to show us several places to visit today.  First stop was at Fir Island - DFW Goose Reserve to check out eagles and the nest.  This is part of Talking Field (TF) program. TF is a self-guided tour that will take you all around the Skagit Delta and there are eight fields to visit.  At the entrance there is a signage up explaining about TF.

At first, we saw only one bald eagle branching nearby.  Then we saw another eagle in the nest, and with the help of Edith’s zoom lens and Erwin’s old fashioned binoculars we were able to see the eaglets in the nest.  Bird watchers on their way back to the parking lot informed us that the eagle was flying over the pond, so we decided to walk over there.  However, by the time we got to it the eagle was back on the branch again.  No sign of birds anywhere. Sheila came here back in April and saw thousands and thousands of migrating birds. 












Driving through Skagit Valley is very beautiful… There were several great looking old barns, but to pull over and park on the shoulder was really impossible.

Then we went to La Conner, WA to explore a bit.  La Conner is a historic town, has lots of charming stores and restaurants. A great place to stroll up and down the street. Sheila suggested  that we drive across the Rainbow bridge to Swinomish (Indian) Reservation, which is on the other side of the channel from La Conner.  Gas station on the reservation was selling gas so cheap that we decided to get Jeep filled up before going back to La Conner. After crossing the bridge again there is a roadway to Pioneer Park that is under the bridge.  The city is trying to revitalize the park settings with playground for kids, walkways, etc. It seemed like the plan is put on hold.  The Salmon Sculpture has been sitting there for years.








Now back in La Conner we took Sheila out for lunch at Calico Cupboard. Sheila had salmon sandwich, Edith got bacon/mushroom quiche with salad and Erwin settled on cinnamon roll french toast with chicken/apple sausages (Erwin did not care fo the sausages so we did noy pay for them).  


Edith's 
Sheila's
Erwin's

Since Sheila was walking with the foot brace we did not walk around the town, so we went to Schuh Farms to get some cherries and to look around.  Rainier cherries were $7.99 a lb and did not look that fresh, so we did not buy any.  There were several food samples - strawberry milkshake, fruit jam with crackers, watermelon and cantaloupe.  Edith was hoping to get rhubarb, but they did not have it on hand. There were so many different kinds of flowers and they were beautifully decorated as seen in the first picture below.






Sheila and Erwin
In spite of her foot injury Sheila offered to take over driving for Edith because Edith  started to feel tired and sleepy.  She took us to Little Mountain Park and at the top of the summit there is a great view of Mount Vernon, Skagit Valley, neighboring areas and Anacortes. To get to the top of the summit there is a 1.5 mile paved road and the elevation gain is 934 feet. The view was magnificent!












Sheila was trying to hang glide? 
The attractions that Sheila wanted us to see were completed, so we went back to Sheila’s apartment.  We stayed a while to chat, then bid her so long.




On our way back to Anacortes, WA Wayne Sinclair of Vancouver, B.C. contacted us to make plans for us to get together for lunch and sightseeing in Bellingham, WA tomorrow. He suggested that we park our LH at Walmart in Bellingham and he will take us around in his car.

Because we were exhausted from sightseeing today we decided not to go anywhere for the night.  We got the water tank filled up in the LH and hooked up the Jeep.

After supper Erwin's niece Cathy stopped by because she had not seen our LH. After the brief tour she stayed to chat with us. She talked about her experience in Russia, setting up Salish Sea Deaf School in Anacortes, and her family.  We talked about our future plan for full-time RV travel. It was a lovely evening with Cathy.  Before she left to go home Erwin gave her a segmented wood bowl that he woodturned.  Realizing he forgot to give one to Sheila he asked Cathy to give it to her when they get together.



It was past 10:45 pm when Erwin announced that he was going to do the laundry.  “It is late”, said Edith.  “The hamper is full”, replied Erwin.  “Fine, you go and I’ll go to bed”, Edith said.

Good night y’all…..

Miles driven:
LH - 0
Jeep - 180


Today's route:
A: Fidalgo Bay RV Park
B: Mount Vernon, WA
C: Fir Island
D: La Conner, WA
E: Schuh Farms
F: Little Mountain Park


No comments:

Post a Comment