I found a GREAT deal!

I love it when I find a great deal especially when it deals with some kind of travel.
That is what happened to me last week. I found a airfare deal so that my daughter is able to come home for visit next week. What makes even more special (besides the great price) it will be her birthday, and we are getting together with some our scarpbooking friends for a crop! We haven't had her home for her birthday for quite a few years. Let the celebrations begin!
It is a short visit, but I will take it.

This picture was taken at our last scrapbook retreat. She loves pirates - can you tell??

Check out my Slide Show!

The last few weekends I have been visiting San Juan Island, and just one word "wonderful". I can hardly believe that I live only 1 hour away from boarding a ferry and cruising another hour to my final "wonderful" destination. The journey is as "wonderful" as the destination.

My Sister in law Becky came one time with me, and we did some exploring of the island. Who remembers their Washington State History? The Pig War!! There are two camps on the island one is the British Camp & the American Camp, they are on different ends of the island, but apparently the soldiers would come together and have some fun too.

We first visited the British Camp and I was amazed at the great views and the beauty all around, and thought to myself wow they sure had "The Place". Then on another weekend friends came over so we went to the other side of the island to see the "American Camp", but seeing both I believe that the war lasted as long as it did was they didn't want to leave as the views were absolutely breathtaking. From the American Camp has a view of Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainer and the Olympic Mtns, not to mention the views of the straits. Who knew that I live so close to such a beautiful place??

Lime Kiln State Park was another stop in my island tour, here is where you can sometimes spot Orcas from land. It was kind of fun to watch the playful seals there.

There are lots of wildlife on the island as I have already posted before with my small obsession with Mona the Camel, but there is more. The deer are plentiful on the island I believe I spotted a least one or more deer a day, and then there was a fox we spotted a couple of times, not to mention the raccoons.

I spent 4th of July at Roche Harbor, and they had a few activities going on for the day. One was a blindfolded dingy race, of course the rower was blindfolded and the caller wasn't. It was very entertaining. What would a 4th of July be without fireworks? This was great because everyone watching were staying on their boats and converge on the docks, but afterwards the viewers went back to their boats. The best part of the fireworks display - No Traffic! It was Great!!

I love the water, and seeing it's great vistas - Mountains and views of the water! I find it very restful and peaceful! Ahhh - can you say - relax.

All this - and less than a tank of gas!

The View Through My Eyes

This is an experience that I had to share with all of you. We (my friend & her boys visiting from Alaska at her Mom’s) spotted the Hot Air Balloon drifting toward us, and we were all hoping that we could get a closer look (this was the my first hot air balloon spotting this Summer).Our wish was granted as it did get much closer, and we also witnessed a perfectly executed “splash and dash” a planned maneuver where the basket briefly touches down up to a foot into the water and then quickly ascends, and sometimes the passengers will even get their feet wet. I am sure these passengers got their feet wet, as I could see the gallons on water pouring out of the basket as they were gaining attitude.

How is that for exciting ride?

I have been tagged

Alright you people that wanted me to start a blog, this is one of the reasons I didn't want to start blog! That's right I enjoy reading all of your blogs of your everyday life, lessons learned, and when you get tagged. As far as being tagged, I don't know if I will come up with the real answers, because I am one of those types that can always come up with a great answer in a day or two. But being that I am now part of the blogger world, and this comes with the territory I will happily answer that questions to the best of my abilities. And with that I understand that I will tag someone else (5 to be exact) and they will come up with come eloquent answers, and tag someone else, and so goes the cycle of the blog world.



You have to list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, 3 random surprising facts about yourself and then tag 5 people that have to complete this too.

3 Joys

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Family

Friends

3 Fears

Heights

Snakes

Being the last one in a store that is closing (it's childhood thing - my mom seemed like she was the last one out at K-Mart.)

3 Goals

1. 
   
   To read my scriptures daily


2. 
   
   Read the Sunday lessons before the next week


3. 
   
   Lose weight & exercise

3 Current Obsessions

1. 
   
   Keeping tabs on Mona the Camel (No I am not stalking her, just when I drive by I look to see where she is.)


2. 
   
   Checking my blog to see if anyone has responded (I think of it as a way, that I might be important to others - lame I know but it's just me.)


3. 
   
   Working on scrapbooking (I really think it is that I want to get together with my scrappy friends, so I think it is socially motivated.)

3 Random Surprising Facts about Myself

This one is kind of hard for me because it usually is a surprise to me too.

1. 
   
   I don't mind being alone at home (just not all the time)


2. 
   
   I am finding that I am letting my adult children be adults and know that they are good people and will make good choices, and I need to exercise faith. OK - I worry a little bit, I am their Mom you know.


3. 
   
   I love surprises - the good kind! I like being the giver as well as the receiver. I am not very good at coming up with good surprises, but when I do I love the reaction of the recipients. When I was a child, I loved it when my Mom or Dad would come home and ask us to pick a hand. We all know it would be a wonderful surprised.

Tag 5 People

1. Nicole


2. Michelle


3. Darla


4. Jane


5. Heather

I realize that some you have been tagged before, but since these questions are different one and you were the ones trying to convince me to have a blog it seemed justified in tagging you.

The Rest of the Story

I know that all of you are anxiously waiting for Detective Donna to report on my investigative findings. After interviewing some of the locals and using modern technology - here is what I found out about Mona the Camel. Here on the island she is considered a local celebrity, and has become a stop on the tourist trail. In fact, the neighboring San Juan Vineyard has named a wine after her. She has acquired the taste for different kinds of fruits that include oranges, and blackberries. (Who knew?) When asked a local how she came to find her home on San Juan Island, they assumed she arrived by ferry. (I kind of figured that on my own.) She apparently retired from a petting zoo back east, and came to find her home here. She is not a spitting kind of camel, as you can see that I found she loves the attention from her human friends and her nose is so very soft. If you noticed that I mentioned that I used some modern technology, that would be "google". Apparently, I am not the first one to blog about Mona (that was a little disappointing since I thought I was being so original. ) Now whenever I drive by Mona's home I'm always on the lookout to see if I can get a look at my new island friend. That is the rest of the story.

The View Through My Eyes

Now that I have a blog, I find that I am always on the lookout for little treasures that I can share with my new blog friends. My daughter Nicole advised to me to keep my camera with me at all times so I can snap that unexpected picture. Here is the picture that you don't expect to see everyday in the Pacific Northwest - a Camel! No I didn't take the picture at a zoo. She is owned by a private owner, and her name is Mona. I will need to find out the rest of the story, like how did she end up on San Juan Island. I did find out that she has a sweet tooth for oranges, and has a nice temperament. I will let you know what I find out.

The Big Bug is Here!

I ordered my Cricut Expressions this week, and I got the notice on my front door that it was tried to be delivered. The problem was that I wasn't home and they need my signature. So they left a notice that I could check the appropriate box and my signature and then they could leave it on my porch. There was another little issue - I was leaving for the weekend. So I got the secret phone number(don't ask) to call the local office, and managed to have the driver call me and meet me at designated place and time to get my new toy. The driver was probably thinking I was some crazy woman waiting for her late night TV infomercial purchase. But it is so warm in our house when I got home all I want to do sit under the ceiling fan and cool off. I will keep you posted.