Squalicum Harbor

It was a beautiful day so Ron and I took a walk around Squalicum Harbor. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place.

 The Bellwether Hotel with Mt. Baker in the Background.

 This is a great place to fly kites. Lots of wide open space and always a good wind blowing.

 We are at the harbor and the boats and water are supposed to be the attraction, but the Port has done a beautiful job with the flowers and I couldn't resist. So, I am sharing some flowers and some flowers with boats.

Cowlitz Shores

Here's a few pictures of life around camp at Cowlitz Shores. Norm and Rosemary are enjoying a relaxing time buy the river. Looks like Norm is getting gear ready for his fishing trip tomorrow morning and Rosemary has been working on her stitchery.

 There's lots of fun at this camp. As more and more people pulled into camp it didn't take long for someone to start counting heads and found there were enough for a game of Bunko. Look at the size of the bell they ring!!! We were not winners this time, but Norm was. Lucky boy!

 

 Here's a little frog that was hopping around camp. He's only about the size of a quarter.

 Many boats come up and down the river. Most of them are jet boats, but occasionally we see something a little out of the ordinary. I wonder how he does when he catches a fish? I see he has his net ready.

Keith and Sheral have a butterfly bush and it certainly did attract the butterflies.

 Here we are having dinner in the clubhouse. Often times the wind comes up at dinner time and it's just a little too cold to east outside.

 Sunset at the Cowlitz.

 This is a new solar light we got at Ron's favorite new hardware store in Winlock. This is an old fashioned store, but it is quite large. They have buildings on both sides of the street, plus a basement for feed.

We really haven't had much of a summer, but I'm wondering if the geese are heading South already.

 Bob lives down the road from Cowlitz Shores. He has a great garden and spends many hours working in it. When we take our morning walk we stop and chat with him and his wife. They have given us beets, spinach, radishes and peas. Yummy! Bob tells us to come back when the corn is ready. Don't you just love is garden sign?

 Some flowers at one of the campsites.

 Keith and Ron are relaxing and I'm sure talking about fishing.

 I put out the bird feeder and boy did the little Goldfinches love it!!

There are several eagles in camp. There are a couple trees that they sit in all the time and talk back and forth to each other. We have also seen then pick a fish out of the river.

Bill & Thelma

Hmm, where to start with this story. Oh, as you may recall from my winter posts Bill and Thelma parked next to us last year in Yuma, Arizona. Ah, long story just got shorter. They are from Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, which is on Lake Huron, and that's a long way from Washington. They took a trip to Alaska this summer and decided that on their way home they wanted to see Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. So it was perfect for them to stop by Washington and see us. We happened to to be at the Cowlitz when they came through so they were able to have a few days rest there before taking off again. It would have been great if they could have stayed longer, but Bill took one look at the map and saw how far they still had to go and decided they better hit the road. I guess I should be thankful for the time we had with them. They were planning on staying a couple days, but they loved it at the river and stayed almost a week. It was soooooo fun to see them again.

 Bill is not a fisherman. In fact, he doesn't even like the water, so he did not go out in the boat with the boys. However, he sure looks good holding this fish. A little bit of the fishing spirit must have rubbed off on him. At least while he was in Washington.

Rodney's First Fish!

Rodney has really wanted to go fishing. He has talked about it for a long time. Fortunately it worked into their schedule that they could come to the Cowlitz for a few days. There is a lot to learn about fishing. They gave him a rod and reel and had a little casting practice from the beach. Next they got in the boat to learn about what goes on there while on the river . Hopefully it's all about catching fish!

 At the end of the day the Rookie was the only one that came home with a fish. Ron was hoping he could get him a couple, but I don't think Rodney was complaining. He was pretty excited about the one he got and had a great time on the river.

Rylie at the Cowlitz

My Great Niece Rylie came to spend a few days at the Cowlitz. Okay, she didn't come alone, but brought  her Mommy Cara, Daddy Rodney, and Grandma Julie with her. We had fun playing on the playground...

 

 running through the sprinkler...

playing in the sand...

 and chasing bubbles.

Pricking

Here's what the ladies do when the men are out fishing! I said you might see these cards again and here they are. When Sheral and Thelma saw them they wanted to learn how to make them. Rosemary was happy to give us a mini class and we had a great time learning this new craft. Sheral and Thelma are ready to get the supplies and make more and Rosemary was so happy they had a good time making them.

 Sheral, Thelma and Rosemary hard at work, or just having fun!

 Here are 2 of the cards I made during class. Though the pictures show the designs they are so much prettier when you can actually see them. For these we used the metallic thread, unlike Ron's birthday card where I used regular embroidery thread. When the light hits these the threads shine. Sooooo pretty!

I wanted you to see a close up of this dandelion. Remember the thread is a silver metallic and the center beads are also silver. You have to use your imagination on this one, as the design and colors are quite fun!

Fish

 This is what they came for.

FISH!

The boys have had some good and some bad fishing days. They try and analyze the conditions to see if they can figure out what makes one day so good and the next bad. The river height has been going up and down and that is always a concern to them and they think also to the fish. All in all they had a good time and caught some nice fish.

 After Norm and Dave clean the fish Ron vacuum-packs them and they were ready for the freezer.

Happy Birthday, Ron

It's Ron's birthday today. We are always at the Cowlitz this time of  year, so he gets to do exactly what he loves on his birthday and that's FISH!! Keith and Sheral gave him a bottle of Margarita Mix and a crazy musical card. Sherla and Ron like to have a before dinner Margarita, so this assures that they will have the supplies. Rosemary made him a triple berry pie, but I must be slipping as I forgot to get a picture of the birthday dinner. Oops!

 Rosemary has learned a new craft called "Pricking". You use a pattern to punch holes in a paper and then use thread to sew the design. They are quite fun, so we decided to make Ron birthday cards. I made the one with the tools and Rosemary made the fish. You may be seeing more of these.

Fishing in the Rain

It's a rainy day, but the fish and the fisherman don't seem to care. Looks like they even left their rain gear at home. They will be wet boys tonight.

 Running up the river so they can make another drift though the hole where they hope the fish are.

 They are fishing out of Keith's boat today. They are done for the day, so will tie the boat to the log for the night. This makes it handy for them when they head out in the morning at 4:00 AM, yes, that's AM.

 I see a fish, so I'm sure they don't care if they got wet today.