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.
We've been home from our two 1/2 month snowbird trip to California for two weeks, and that's long enough for me. Despite the rain and wind and bad weather, we decided to head north to Port Townsend, WA for a few days. We are staying at Fort Flagler State Park because we can use our senior off-season pass and camp here with full hookups for $6 per night. We tried to book a site across the bay at Fort Worden, but the beach campground there was all reserved because next week is spring break. People in Washington camp in all kinds of weather!
Site 112, Fort Flagler State Park
The ferry crosses back and forth from Port Townsend to Keystone at Whidbey Island. We can see it from our site at Fort Flagler on this blustery day. 
The good thing about the wind is that it helps to dry up all the puddles, so our site is relatively dry.
While we were home, we visited our granddaughter, Sophie on St. Patrick's Day, which happened to be her 11-month birthday.
Busy Sophie enjoying her interactive toy
Sophie and Tim, opening the gift we brought her from Pebble Beach.
Our plan is to stay at Fort Flagler for five nights and then head over to Bothell to see Jonathan. While in Bothell, Dave is going to attend a state football meeting in Renton. Click on Dave's blog for more details about that meeting.
The rain and wind did not hamper our trip home. Sunday was spent in Sacramento, staying at Cal Expo. Monday morning, bright and early, we headed north. We drove 383 miles that day, which was a long day for us.
There were clouds in the sky but no rain during the less-than-24-hours that we spent in Sacramento.
Monday night we stayed at Seven Feathers Casino RV Park in Canyonville, Oregon. It was raining when we arrived and it rained all evening. In the morning the surrounding hills had a dusting of snow on them. That was the reason that we had pushed on that day, so that we wouldn't be stuck in the Siskiyou Pass.
Dusting of snow above the Seventh Feathers RV Park
Tuesday morning we made up for our long day on Monday by driving only 99 miles. We spent the night in Eugene, OR at Armitage County Park so that we could meet up with our blogger friends, Donna and Russ. We all enjoyed a late lunch at Papa's, a very fine pizza and salad bar restaurant. Donna and Russ volunteered to come and pick us up and we accepted so that we could leave our car attached to the motorhome. Thanks, Russ and Donna! It's always a pleasure to get a chance to visit with you!
Wednesday was another short drive as we only had about a 2 1/2 hour drive home. After we left Eugene, we ran into rain and it rained pretty much the rest of the day. When the rain subsided somewhat in the afternoon, we were able to get our motorhome unloaded after our long 2 1/2 month trip south.
Once we were back in Vancouver, WA, we did the usual return trip chores of putting gas in the motorhome, taking the car to the car wash (even though it was still raining), picking up our held mail, and picking up a library book that had come in for me the day before. Ah, back to all the familiar routines that are a part of each trip.
After getting home we have experienced rain, rain, and more rain. Perhaps we came home a little too soon? But, alas, we had to come home when we did because Dave had to host a football officials board meeting at our house. I see that our lilac bushes are budding, so spring weather can't be too far off. In the meantime, we'll enjoy any short respite from the rain!
Our trip from Monterey to Pleasanton was fine, except for all the bumps on Highway 101. That road needs some serious attention!
We left the Monterey Fairgrounds and checked into the Alameda County Fairgrounds. They have upgraded this park a bit since we were last there in 2009 and now the pull-through 50-amp sites cost $48/night. No thanks, we settled for a back-in 50 amp site for $33. If we had settled for 30-amp, we could have camped for $28.
I woke up on Saturday morning with an upset stomach. Maybe it was because we ate at Lee's House of Mandarin on Friday night? Maybe, maybe not. We've been having a few water problems, including discovering that our water filters needed to be replaced, so it could have been from that. Anyway, I took a 2 1/2 hour nap after we got set up at the fairgrounds. I felt much better afterwards. Then it was time to meet our niece Laura and her boyfriend, Will. They are currently living with his parents in Livermore while they are fixing up a house to move into. We had a good meal at Bruno's in downtown Livermore and caught up on all the news. Laura made us a batch of her dad's special recipe for red velvet cupcakes. Yummy--the frosting is a cooked powdered sugar recipe and tasted oh, so good! Thanks, Laura!
This morning it was on to our final fairgounds stay this trip. We are now at Cal Expo in Sacramento. The wifi FINALLY reaches the gravel area of the park where the sites are more suited for big rigs. Yay! We love free wifi. The sites here cost $35/night, so we have experienced $36 at Monterey, $33 at Pleasanton, and $35 at Sacramento. Tonight we are meeting our sister-in-law, Pam (Laura's mom), and two of the other nieces (Laura's sisters), Cheryl, and Keri.
Tomorrow we head for home and we hope that the wind and rain storm won't turn out to be as severe as predicted.
While in Monterey, I visited the lovely village of Carmel-by-the-Sea, usually called by the short version, Carmel. The stores there are way too upscale for me, so I window-shopped and got a nice walk out while enjoying the sights and sounds of downtown Carmel.
Then it was on to one of the highlights (for me) of Carmel, the Mission Carmel, or The Basilica of Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo. This was another of the California missions founded by Padre Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar. Father Serra was born in 1713 and died at the Carmel Mission in 1784. The Mission is still used today and has been rebuilt several times since its historic beginnings. 
Part of the gardens
Some of the graves of priests who served the Mission
The main altar of the Mission
More of the architecture of the Mission
One of the Mission bells. I happened to arrive right at noon and was treated to the ringing of the bells.
Holly at the Mission--still blooming in March
I have a few more pictures of our stay in Monterey and I want to post some final thoughts about Pebble Beach and the 17-mile drive. Stay tuned!
