Happy Camper Wine and Lee's Birthday

Wine is proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.

 

Several weeks ago we visited Tacoma Boys and had a lot of fun reading the names of the bottles of wine.  Remember when?  We also had purchased some bottles of “special wine” to give to others.  We finally remembered Tuesday morning about the bottle of Happy Camper wine we had bought for the Hyders.  We made the formal presentation just before they took off to tour the area south of the park while we headed north.

Yes, this was Tuesday so we are several days behind.   We left the coast for our drive inland.  Final destination before we just turned around and headed back was just about 230 miles.  Well, actually, the final destination was really back at the coast where we started from.  So, that's closer to 460 miles.

Not far down the road from the park we saw 3 elk grazing along the main highway.  Needless to say, many cars stopped and were out taking pictures.  This picture was taken through the windshield.  The elk certainly didn’t seem bothered by the attention they were receiving.

We were on our way to our son’s house to spend the evening.  The following morning Michael needed to be dropped off at the airport in Seattle for his trip to New Jersey.  It was going to be a very long day for him and for us..

 

We had made the trip between Astoria and Longview many times.  We also had seen the sign advertising the Black Buggy Furniture store but had never stopped.  This time we decided to drive the 2 miles off of the main road to check it out.  The furniture store is extremely interesting.  It has lots of Amish furniture and gifts.  The items are made mainly in Indiana and Ohio and shipped out.  Not only did we stop but we also walked out with a few items.

Michael’s birthday is the 30th of July.  He’ll be in New Jersey then and we won’t be.  Thus, Sabrina had cake and ice cream for him.  I tried to get a picture of him with the cake but getting him to pose and stay still just wasn’t something that happened.  Anyway, here’s the cake and that’s the best I could do.

 Wednesday morning came early. It always seems to when we have a long drive ahead of us.  We had already figured it would be a long day. We were right.  The trip to the Seattle airport wasn’t so bad.  It was freeway all the way and we could cruise down it at 70 mph.  However, other places there were construction crews and if we didn’t want any speeding tickets, we needed to drop down to 60 mph.  We met Tammi at the hotel where we were to drop Michael off.  Our visit wasn't long but we decided to extend it a tad by dropping them off at the airport.  Then, we were back on the road again.

We needed to stop and pick up the boat AGAIN so our route wasn't quite direct.  It was the route back from Longview to the coast that made the trip seem so long.  The road winds through little towns with lots of traffic.  The roads are bumpy and the speed limit drops to 30 mph in many places.

A quilt shop I discovered in Kalama.  Guess where I'm going when we get back there.

We were totally zonked by the time we returned.  The boat didn’t go in the water.  That was put off until the next day.
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This is the season for birthdays around our family.  So, now my wish is for a Happy Birthday to our son. His birthday is Tuesday.  He's reached that age where his mother is younger than he is.  That does happen sometimes.  Happy Birthday, Lee. 

Really? 4,000 Bottles of Wine? And, Driftwood Carvings

Everyone is gifted but some people just never open their package!

We made a stop the other day at the most unique market.  It was the Tacoma Boys.  We saw this place on the way to Point Defiance.  They advertised 4,000 bottles of wine.  Now this wasn’t a big place but it had gorgeous flowers out front, huge strawberries, thick cut steaks ….. and thousands of bottles of wine or at least that's what they advertised.

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It wasn’t the many bottles that got us.  It was the labels we found interesting.  We had to purchase a few.  No, not for us but just as conversation pieces and to pass along to other folks.  Some of labels on the bottles reminded us of people we knew.  And, of course, the more time we had spent with some people, the more we realized these bottles must have been named especially for them.  Or, perhaps, these bottles of wine are magic potions.  If you drink it, special abilities or feelings may come over you.  Who knows but we found them fun and interesting.  Here are just a few.  There probably is no guarantee if anyone would like the taste but hey … that’s not what it’s all about.

	Sleight of Hand This one helps if you’re a card player I’m sure.	Mad Housewife  Surely this will help ease tempers when cleaning house.
	Chemistry Watch what you mix this stuff with.	Faith Teaching Faith, Hope and Charity
	Wise Guy and Clean Slate Want to be smart or want to start all  over agai?	Rhubarb  To compliment rhubarb pie or shortcake?
	Happy Camper We dedicate this bottle to just about everyone we know.	Layer Cake –  Think Strawberry  (Lavins)
	Woop Woop Looking for something  to celebrate?	Justin He may be too young for it but still a good name.
	Divine Light Have you seen it?   Do you want to?	Dogtail Is your dog's tail  too short or too long?
	Writer’s Block Help for all the bloggers	Zebra A reminder of the tape used at my little accident.
	Weather Report Need help forecasting weather and running from tornadoes?	Cupcake Are you a  wannabe chef?
	Chill Out Something we all need to learn to do at times.	Double Dog Dare Bottle donated to Joe.  No  explanation  necessary.
	Toad Hollow Toad’s Wild Ride – Assistance in keeping  a blog current.	Fat Bastard If the shoe fits .... No comment here.

And, the list goes on and on and on.  You never know what you’re going to find when you’re on the road in unfamiliar territory.  Making the best of it is the fun part.

While in Sequim we also went to a display of artists who collected driftwood and made carvings from the driftwood.  Some were especially spectacular.  Here are just a few to let you see what you can do with driftwood.

There were also several tables selling rough driftwood.  Wouldn’t it be more fun to collect it yourself?