Pemaquid

I've come back to Maine for an extended weekend, built around George and Anne Marie's wedding on Saturday. It's amazing to be here twice in two months (although the July visit was barely 18 hours).

I flew into Portland late Thursday night and worked my way up the coast on Friday, heading for Bucksport and dinner at Lake Alamoosook. I stopped in Brunswick for coffee, a walk around 75 Federal, and some AAA maps, but my first stop at the shore was in Pemaquid.

I wandered around Fort William Henry before heading out to Pemaquid Point.

Shilshole

Sunday afternoon I took the banana boat out to Ballard and spent a couple of hours paddling around Golden Gardens and Shilshole. There was a brisk breeze from the north and a steady stream of boats going in and out of the marina. Three cruise boats headed north on their way to Alaska during the short period I was out.

Next post will probably be from Maine! The wonders of modern travel.

Ganges

We arrive each year in Ganges in the midst of the Saturday Market. We leave each year after spending part of the day wandering through the Saturday Market. And we float into town for groceries or coffee or internet once every day or two during the week.

Ganges is a bit touristy this time of year, something we obviously contribute to, but it has a little of everything and on a nice sunny Saturday can be lots of fun, once you find a parking space.

D isn't into shopping or exploring or taking pictures of the harbor, so he bought a drink at TJ Beans, commandeered a small table, and spent several hours on his iPod and reading a magazine. By the time we headed out to Long Harbor for the ferry, the temperature was pushing 90 or more -- which seems a little excessive for this corner of the world.

St. Mary Lake

We like staying on the lake since the swimming is warmer and the boating safer, but the lake provides some other nice benefits, too. The lack of power boats is a huge one. The undeveloped eastern slope of Channel Ridge, right across the way, is another.

My favorite time of day is early, not that I don't like to see the beach and the lake full of people, but because sometimes I like to see the beach and the lake when they aren't.

Fulford

The Salt Spring island routine stays basically the same, though we throw in a few new twists each year. We've been coming down to Rock Salt for dinner several years running - mainly because the food is good, but it's also the place. Personally, I think its the colors.

Fulford 2009
Fulford 2008

Saltspring Island

On Tuesday's paddle from Southey Point I learned of two trails that provide access to the beach from the main road, so late Thursday morning I walked down one, along the shore, and back the other.

Green Acres

We're back on St. Mary Lake, staying at Green Acres for the twelfth? year in a row. The kids are growing up - to the extent that every year now we wonder if the routine has to come to an end. Our 5-year olds are soon to be heading off to college, but have been replaced by a whole new crop of younger kids (not ours, fortunately). Green Acres stays pretty much the same, which is probably one of the big draws.

The week began cool and damp, but cleared Tuesday and just kept getting warmer all week.

Southey Point

The northern tip of Salt Spring Island is called Southey Point. I launched from the end of Arbutus Road and paddled around the point and down the east side on the island for a mile or two. The water was clear and cold. More importantly, the cool gray drizzle of the last few days lifted and the skies were sunny.

Vancouver

I had to be back by 10 to meet D and the others at the Richmond IHOP, but that was enough time to drive over to the big garage across from the River Rock casino, hop the Canada Line out to the airport for coffee and the Jade Canoe, and then ride the train into town for a walk around the Olympic Village site on False Creek.

It was a pretty bleak morning but I got a good hit of public art, a pleasant walk along the shore, a chance to check out the new train, and still made it back for breakfast and the ride to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to the Gulf Islands.

Portland

We all drove to Oregon on Saturday to drop D at the ultimate frisbee camp at Linfield College in McMinnville, where he'll spend most of the next week. M and I spent the night in Portland where we had dinner (and dessert, more significantly) at Papa Haydn's on 23rd and breakfast at the Bijou Cafe on 3rd.

It was Sunday, but we went to the Saturday Market anyway. We didn't buy anything, though, and we also resisted the urge to join the very long line at Voodoo Donuts. Maybe next time.

After shopping tax-free at REI and wandering around downtown, we took a circuitous loop out of city, checking out Alberta Street, Hawthorne Boulevard, and even the Sellwood neighborhood south of town. We headed back to Seattle Sunday evening - skirting the ugly I-5 traffic south of Olympia by getting off in Chehalis and taking the backroad up through Tenino. The plan is for D to show up on the train Thursday evening.