Mystery puzzle complete!

A few months ago I was moving from Seattle to Olympia.  I didn't have anything actually moved but was trying to spend as much time as possible in my new apartment (mainly beacuse it wasn't my old apartment and wasn't surrounded by crazed drug addicts or drunken revellers).  And because I wasn't spending 24/7 at work (chasing said crazed drug addicts or being kept awake by drunken revellers) I was pretty bored.  I picked up this puzzle hoping it would pass the time until I could move my belongings.

I chose it specifically because it had a tropical theme and coincidentally it was of St. Georges, Grenada (which is where Cousin Lou will be moving in October).  I started putting the puzzle together and realized it bore no resemblance to the photo on the box.  It became the "mystery puzzle."  When moving got underway I put it back in the box and set it aside for later contemplation. Well, now it's done!

We can all rest a little easier now that we know it is absolutely not the photo on the box.

And that's all the excitement for today.

Cape Disappontment

We settled on Cape Disappointment on the way.  It was a toss up between Kalaloch, Cape Disappontment or the Oregon Coast.

At this time of year there are very few campers so we practically had the place to ourselves.  We managed to get the primo campsite (#106) which has a beautiful ocean view and is fairly sheltered by trees but still open enough to get stars by the million at night.
The weather was beautiful when we pulled in.  We unpacked and set up the canopy and fog started rolling in (but I managed to get a couple of pictures of the view from camp before it was completely erased by encroaching fog).

Oreo and I found a path behind the campsite and it took us to a driftwood shack.

It was really cool and made me think it would make a good beach bar (apart from lack of business and, of course, the wet weather for most of the year...).

Paul joined us eventually and we took a nice beach walk.  We found this great driftwood tree trunk.

Oreo is quite the beach dog.  As soon as he hit the sand he ran around in circles.  I would have taken a picture of him frolicking but I had to wait for him to stand still because he was just a blur.

Monday we went up to the Willipa Wildlife Refuge (Leadbetter State Park?).  We were planning to take a hike but a lot of the trails were closed because of nesting shore birds. The trails that were open were inhabited by swarms of insects.  After a half an hour of bugs flying up our noses we decided to turn back.  There are some cool Lewis and Clark trails back at Cape Disappointment and we hadn't checked them all out last year so we thought we'd hike there.  Unfortunately the fog came back and it got very cold so we wimped out and just hung close to the campsite.  Paul and Oreo rested up while I did the crossword puzzles from the Sunday paper.

Tuesday morning word was there was a big storm coming in.  Being the weather junkie that I am, I could've stayed for that but we had to get back to feed the cat.  We got back on the road around 1pm and made it home in a few hours (even with detours).  Moving out of Seattle has cut a huge amount of travel time off the trips to the coast which means more impromptu trips in the future!! 

It's probably a good thing we left when we did since the coast has had two and a half inches of rain in the past 24 hours and those roads wash out fast (learned that lesson last year).  On the way back we flirted with the idea of feeding Frank and heading straight back out to Kalaloch or Bogachiel but common sense prevailed and we decided to plan our next trip a little more carefully.  Now we're thinking that Eastern Washington may be a little more comfortable at this time of year (I am still shaking my head in disbelief that either of us is being sensible about things...  wierd...).

A Perfect Game

It was a beautiful day in the Northwest.  Temperatures soared into the upper 60s, Mt. Rainier was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  Lovely!  I took the dog for a long, long walk in the morning and got back just in time for the Mariner game.  I really wanted to go back out for another walk since the weather was so rare (and around the 4th inning I figured I'd be missing nothing).  But by the bottom of the 5th I started thinking Humber would pitch a perfect game if he continued on his current track.  I was glued to the radio.  What a great game!  Too bad for the Ms but it was so exciting!

The weather is supposed to continue (or possibly get even better!) so we have moved up our planned camping trip and will leave in the morning.  We still haven't totally decided where we're going.  Cape Disappointment is on the list but we are also contemplating the Oregon Coast.  We should be back Tuesday night so I'll let you know how it went and also attempt to post pictures.  It's pretty exciting to be heading out on the first trip of the year (the cat won't be happy but at least he won't have the dog to annoy him).  Last year we didn't get out until July (and the weather wasn't nearly as nice) but still managed about eight trips before winter.  Getting started this early who knows how many times we'll get away?  Pretty darn cool.

Dark Days

[I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because there really hasn't been a heck of a lot to post about.  In retaliation for the lack of news I have decided to post anyway and damn the consequences.]

I was pretty depressed this week.  Part of it was definitely due to a shopping trip early in the week:  I was nearly out of toothpaste so I really needed to go shopping (otherwise I wouldn't have even ventured out).  In hindsight I should have just stirred up some baking soda and waited until my mood improved.  But out I went.  Currently being a lady of leisure I like to do my errands during the day when people are at work and kids are in school.  It makes the torturous task of shopping a little less painful.  Usually I am shopping in the company of senior citizens and the unemployed which is fine with me and I never really paid much attention to my fellow day shoppers (I may be unemployed but am a youthful 45 years old).  Not being a part of the retirement set I was unaware of the phenomenon called "Senior Discount Day" (I always knew it as "Tuesday").  When I was checking out with my toothpaste the cashier asked if I was a "senior" because of the discount day...  Now, I had already been feeling pretty frumpy and in dire need of a haircut but I certainly never thought I appeared to be old enough to cash in on a senior discount.  If I hadn't been dumbstruck by this question I may have tried to cash in but it took me by surprise.  I was speechless or maybe I could've come up with a clever comeback.  I simply said "Hmmm?"  She repeated the question and I shook my head and bought my toothpaste at full price and headed home feeling in need of a nap.  The rest of the week I was very depressed.  I spent hours applying moisturizers and looking at my fine lines.  I ate lots of chocolate and drank a few bottles of wine.  But today I woke up and decided to get my hair cut and improve my outlook.  So, that's what I did.  I am already feeling better now that I don't feel so shaggy.  We're going camping on Monday so I am planning for that (which keeps me from focusing on my frumpy wardrobe).  We did the big grocery trip and I managed to save a bunch of money (usually spend around $300 for the two of us and the animals for enough supplies to last roughly 6 weeks but managed to get off for $220 without the "senior discount").  Things are looking up.  (Now, if I could just lose about 10 lbs...)

The sun

Well, it finally happened and the fabled sun made an appearace!  I feel like a new woman!  It's almost 60 degrees and it's sunny (okay, there are some clouds creeping in and storm warnings off the coast but still...).   I took the dog for a nice long walk this morning and didn't need a waterproof parka.  I couldn't see my breath when I got out of bed (indoors, mind you).  We went from February to April in 12 hours and it feels so good!  Of course tomorrow it's supposed to be rainy, windy and cool so all my progress will be cast aside but for now I am one happy suburbanite.  Lord, I even am making healthy choices today.  I am drinking water and eating a turkey sandwich on whole wheat pita with spinach.  (Yesterday I had M&Ms and pretzels for breakfast and was drinking hot cocoa until it got late enough in the day to decently open a beer.)  This weather makes me want to plant flowers and sing songs and feed ducks (or something like that, anyway).  Talk about a new lease on life!
That's all I have to say about that.

April Fool

[Here's my blog first entry on April 1st 2012!  Even if this is all I put down I can at least say I finally have a blog.  (Perhaps I am the last person on Earth to start one but better late than never.)]
The first day of April resembles the first day of February in that it is cold, windy and rainy.  I lit a fire to keep warm while doing the crosswords this morning.  This is no joke.  It really is cold enough for a fire.  I had really wanted to go off in a different direction for this blog entry (being the very first and therefore groundbreaking) but I'm cold, wet and tired and all I can think to say is that the weather stinks.
Seriously, I would like this blog to be the beginning of a new era in adventuring (my adventuring, not anyone else's idea of adventuring... let other people cross the poles on skis or circumnavigate the globe in hot air balloons...).  Maybe there will be some sort of adventure that takes me to a warmer, sunnier climate so I can focus on things besides the weather?  Until then I will catch up on life on the shores of suburbia (such as it is) and bitch about the weather (because that's what you're supposed to do in Suburbia, right?).
If you stumbled across this blog thinking it may be for inventors I'm sorry to disappoint.  It isn't about inventing.  My brilliant ideas usually involve some sort of crazy scheme that does nothing to improve the lives of those around me but rather end up being a funny story given enough time. 
Most (if not all) of my past exploits began with someone uttering those words:  "Hey!  I've got a brilliant idea..."  I'm sure that's how people ended up crossing the poles on skis and circumnavigating the globe in a hot air balloon, too.
Current living conditions being on the banks of suburbia (not quite in suburbia itself because our address actually ends with the name of a well known major city but suburban enough to have the name of the local mall as our street name... that's classy!) came about with a "brilliant idea."  I must say that I went willingly and here I am.  Maybe this foray into banality is an adventure in itself?  Whatever it is, here I am and I will survive here until I get away.  I'm not a suburban kinda gal but it's reality, baby.  Really, things could be worse.  I could actually be in a suburb of where I am now!  in any event, I am going to blog away about whatever strikes me and those who know me can follow along.  To anyone unfortunate enough to stumble on this who doesn't know me but chooses to keep reading, let me just say that there are plenty of books out there that are much better written and provide for an actual escape from the drudgery of daily life.