North Jetty, Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington
Our granddaughter, Sophie, turned 1 on April 17, but her official First Birthday Party was held today at Tim and Kiersten's house. Of course, I couldn't resist taking some photos of the birthday girl.
"Oh my, is that for me?"
"Tastes pretty good, but it's even more fun to play with!"
Congratulations to Sophie, Tim, and Kiersten! We love our sweet little Sophie!
Every so often, I read a book that is so good that I need to share the news with others. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo is such a book. This was a library book and I put it on hold at the library after reading a review of it. The book arrived, the cover was intriguing, and I started reading the book even though I was currently reading a couple of other books. This is one of those books that gradually drew me deeper into the book and by the end of the book, I knew it was something special.
This book is a work of non-fiction but it reads like a story. Ms. Boo tells the true story of Annawadi, a slum city of homemade huts located next to the Mumbai International Airport in India.
From the book jacket:
"Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope.
With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another in an era of tumultuous change, Behind the Beautiful Forevers carries the reader headlong into one of the twenty-first century’s hidden worlds, and into the lives of people impossible to forget."
While I was reading the book, it reminded me of scenes from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire", only this is a true story, and no one in this slum becomes a millionaire.
A short video about the book from Amazon.com:
This book is available from both Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and is also available from both places as an ebook. I found the book at our library and it was also available at our ebook library.
I highly recommend this book if you are curious about what it's like to live in a slum in modern-day India.
On this Good Friday we are going to take our son, Jonathan out for lunch to celebrate his birthday. His birthday is actually on Easter Sunday, April 8, but he will be out-of-town then, so we are celebrating early.
This is our third day in Bothell, WA, staying at Lake Pleasant RV Park. This is a nice park, but a bit crowded due to its good location in the Seattle area. The park has a lot of rules such as using wood (not the Lego-type of blocks) under your jacks in order to protect their asphalt sites and not being allowed to dry your hair in the restrooms. I can see that maybe they don't want to clean hair out of the sinks, but really, I've never seen a ban on drying your hair! Luckily we don't need to use their restrooms and our motorhome has no such ban!
Lake Pleasant RV Park, site 38
Lake Pleasant
The waterwheel is an icon at Lake Pleasant RV Park
On Monday, April 2, Dave and I drove to Port Gamble and then on the Poulsbo. We had a bit of a wait to cross the Hood Canal Bridge, but no wait on the way back. Port Gamble is a very small, picturesque village. Most of its buildings are historic. I visited this very fine quilt shop which was housed in old stable from 1906.
The village contains lots of green space which sets nicely sets off the old buildings. Along with the town's location right on Puget Sound, it all makes for an idyllic scene.
Not far from Port Gamble is the larger town of Poulsbo, a Norwegian area.
We walked along the Liberty Bay and came upon a young Navy couple reciting their wedding vows. 
The weather happened to be somewhat sunny, although there was a chill in the air. Many boats were docked in the Liberty Bay harbor.
Finally, in honor of Good Friday, I've included the words to one of my favorite songs: MAJESTY
Majesty, worship His Majesty
Unto Jesus, be all glory,
Power and praise
Majesty, Kingdom authority
Flow from His throne,
Unto his own, His anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high
The Name of Jesus
Magnify, come glorify,
Christ Jesus the King
Majesty, worship His Majesty
Jesus who died, now glorified,
King of all Kings.
This April Fool's Day brought us sunshine, rain, and now more sunshine. We had to look quick to see a great view of the Olympic Mountains out our motorhome window. Soon it was covered in clouds again, as usual.
The day was so fine, that we decided to drive over to Port Townsend and take a walk around town. By the roads, the drive took 31 minutes. If we had been able to swim across the bay (no, thanks!) it would have been just a few miles. There's no ferry between here and there, so we took the road.
One of the places we pass as we go anywhere from Fort Flagler is the Naval Weapons Engineering Center. They really don't want anyone entering their property, as seen by the concertina wire all along the border. This bus seems to have gone off the road inside the border. We usually see several deer along the property and they are definitely safe from predators!
Port Townsend is known for Victorian buildings. These storefronts all date from the 1880s and 1890s. I enjoy looking at the old buildings and seeing what kind of shops they now contain.
The ferry was coming into town and sailboats were enjoying Puget Sound and Juan de Fuca Strait on this fine afternoon.
From town, we could look across the bay and faintly see our campsite at Fort Flagler. We are the 4th rig from the right.
The Point Hudson harbor is always interesting and contains many wooden boats.
This beauty was for sale but I couldn't see the price.
Point Hudson has a scenic campground right on the water, but it costs a lot more than the six dollars a night we are paying at Fort Flagler State Park.
Bench cleats displayed and also for sale!
Another mailbox picture to add to my growing collection.
