- photo by Martin Lynn
This is the end of Waterspot1.
It's the end of a long chapter for us. I have raked up my last pinecone. We were lucky to have had this unique experience, and will treasure our happy memories.
Wild burros at Lake Pleasant.
Someplace irrigated and green.
Martin Mountain painting at the Rancho, and in its new place in Phoenix.
Here is Everett on his Tesla Screen, along with Benson's head over on the right! The Snohomish River runs through town as does Interstate 5.
I was happy to have a last chance to see our hedgehog cactus bloom, and they put on a brilliant and colorful show for our last stay.
And soon after that we were on the ground at Paine Field in Everett. The Boeing plant is in Everett and uses this airport as well. We saw rows of finished jets waiting to be painted in the colors of the airlines who are buying them.
The next day our neighbor Sara dropped us off downtown at the only rental car company in town, which is Enterprise. We had reserved a car, knowing the RAV would not make it for several days. So we had this little blue Mitsubishi something for a week. It was easy to drive and just fine, and took us to Burlington for grocery shopping and other errands.
Sugar Mama with its purple umbrellas is a restaurant near the waterfront. It replaced MaryAnn's a couple years ago but we have yet to try it.
It had been at least 10 years since we have flown anywhere! The airport was completely remodeled and full of people with earbuds talking to themselves. We had gotten our "Known Traveler" passes and the required new driver's license for ID which got us through security quickly. They take photos of you now!
There were many food trucks and stands all selling overpriced fast food, which we were already used to from traveling through the airport! And here is Bruce having a corn dog.
Grand Canyon painting over the Rancho fireplace, and in its new place at our Emig Road house.
We made arrangements for the car to be picked up. Despite all our planning, a contract, a deposit and many calls - the shipping company did not come through and never picked up the car by the deadline - which was before we left! We were lucky to find another much better company and our very good neighbor Terry took care of getting it loaded after we left. This is the giant truck with the RAV on board on our little street in Phoenix. This whole process was a source of great stress and anxiety, to say the least.
And I think this is an arm of Lake Mead in Nevada.
They have a Corvette show every year. Car owners drive in from everywhere and are happy to show off their cars and talk about them.
We could look down at one of our many freeways, and then downtown Phoenix!
The next part of the adventure was finding our driver Hart and his Tesla! Hart just takes people back and forth to the area's airports. He was waiting for us for the 53-mile trip from Everett to Anacortes.
Puget Sound.
We couldn't move everything since our house in town is spacious but already full, but we did relocate our paintings by our neighbor Bob McCarthy to town. Sadly, Bob passed away a year and a half ago.
We ended up renting a car for week when we got here. But four days after it was picked up in Phoenix the giant truck arrived with the Rav on our street in Anacortes, just like it was supposed to. That is Bruce supervising the arrival at 8:30 PM. Lucky for us the days up here are long and it isn't dark until after 9:30 this time of the year.
We rode in the back seat and his dog Benson was with Hart up front. He also played Frank Sinatra for most of the trip. After a long flight we were glad to have this set up to take us the rest of the way.
We were flying Alaska Airlines so we were glad to see this happy looking jet sitting out there.
They have boat building for kids with all the parts to build your own boat, and a big tank to float them. Lots of Dads were working on these!
This is the end of Waterspot3. Go to Waterspot4 to continue.
At last we were boarded and pulled out, in sight of the control tower. Which also looks different than it used to.
Our first stop was a new restaurant in town , Just Breakfast, since we had no food in the house! This was our cheerful waitress. They are only open from 8 AM to 11 every day.
Mt. Rainier in Washington.
And evidently for playing chess!
The Erica was there with members of OARS, the rowing club in town. It is all wood and has a really lovely natural wood interior.
This year was a different adventure for us when we flew from Phoenix to Everett, Washington instead of driving, and we shipped the RAV. A lot of moving parts had to come together but we were there in 3 hours instead of 5 days.
We spent a couple months moving out of the Rancho and on May 20 bid our sweet little house farewell. It still awaits a lucky buyer.
One last shot of Puget Sound, with a racing boat and its wake.
Paine Field is a nice small airport with only a couple gates. This is the restaurant.
Here are some of them at the Rockfish Grill bar downtown. I have never heard of this fan club before!
On June 11, there was a full "Strawberry Moon." We didn't actually see it but Rakan captured it over the refinery lights.
And a contest for big boys to build a boat from scratch in one day - which is then launched in the marina for a race. Lots of power tools and hammering here. I think just staying afloat in that event is pretty much considered a huge success.
Mural of the Erica and rowers. Taken Sept 3, 2021.
And another good reason to be here! The local cherry crop is in and we snagged a bag on sale for $2! These came from Yakima and are hard to stop eating. This is a half-full bag at our house.
He dropped us off at the condo an hour later and we handed him $200 cash per our agreement. We were home.
Mt. Rainier and downtown Seattle. Where incredibly, there was blue sky and bright sunshine!
Waterspot3
By June 5, when we left, everything in our yard was blooming. But we wrapped up the citrus harvest, finished what seemed like endless doctor appointments and packed the Rav. We would not be checking bags!
On June 3, just before we arrived, the Aurora Borealis made an appearance in town. Rakan got this shot of it over Cypress Island with the night ferry at the Anacortes landing. He says the camera sees it much better than our eyes.
We had an amazing FOUR days of sunshine in Anacortes for our return! The gray eventually moved back in but meantime we could enjoy being outside. We took ourselves down to the marina for the annual Waterfront Festival. Last year it rained for the whole two days of this event.
It was a nice sunny day to be down there !
Mt. Hood in Oregon.
The Cap Sante Yacht club was taking people out for free boat rides, but we didn't take one. We did walk around the marina looking at all the big boats, many of which were for sale.
Downtown Seattle, and the Space Needle (front left!)
Guy looking for a hot dog.
The wing tip of our plane, and some great clouds over the Arizona desert.
We had a long wait for our 2 PM flight. This left us at the mercy of the bandits who run shops at the airport. We paid $33 for two mediocre sandwiches and a bottle of water, since it was lunchtime.
There were many special license plates, and one owner even had an exact mini-replica of his car which zoomed around to entertain the crowd.
Port Authority cart, and Bruce on the right!
Phoenix AZ to Anacortes WA
This is a well-known local boat which is featured in one of Bill Mitchell murals in town on the Soroptimist's shop. We have also seen her on the water in our boating days.
- photo by Terry!
May 19 - June 12, 2025
The US Army was there.
Tourists out in the sunshine looking at Corvettes.
OARS club out rowing in the Erica, Cap Sante Marina, August 21, 2021.
It's a good place for people watching.
We will miss a lot about that place, but especially our spectacular mountain views.
On June 1, this happened! It is a gathering of Mrs. Roper Fans. She was a character in the 1970's SitCom Three's Company who wore flashy caftans, and evidently she has a huge fan club here in Anacortes who all wore their outfits and red wigs and posed downtown! And there are so many of them, who knew!
The rest of the trip to Anacortes went much better, thank goodness! We summoned a Lyft car which arrived promptly at our Phoenix doorstep and whisked us away to to the airport. Using the ride service was another new skill for us!
Us on the plane.