My breath of fresh air on Bainbridge!!!

(Music note: They say there are two kinds of people in this world--those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. Now you know which I am. I just couldn't help myself. The ocean and forest, AND Neil Diamond remind me of the earliest days of my childhood. They also remind me of my future. So, as Neil says it, "Dear Father, we dream..while we may. Who are we to need? We need..while we wait." I dream of the northwest and I need the northwest. There I feel like I can just "BE". A place where "the clouds are hung for the poets eye"!!! )

Well I'm back from paradise--never go there or you will never want to leave!!! I spent six days on a vacation with my sister Amy, visiting our sister, Shari. Shari lives on Bainbridge Island, which is a 30 minute ferry boat ride from Seattle. She and her husband, Larry, have lived there six years now and this is the first time I have gone to visit. I do not know WHAT I've been waiting for!! I have always loved the northwest, but now I CRAVE it!! Perfect, perfect, perfect!! I already have our family vacation planned for Bainbridge this summer. And it is not like me, but I am pouring over the real estate magazines I picked up on the ferry. You never know what tomorrow may bring!!

The photo above was taken on the back deck of the house. They have an awesome view of the bay with the boats coming and going. And the lawn and trees are more bright green than my yard will ever be in a lifetime!! And mind you, it was January, and they were still recovering from a very unusual WEEK of being completely snowed in!! And still it's vibrant green.
Here you can see Seattle in the background of the top left picture of me. I took a snapshot of the room I stayed in. Shari's place is like a little B and B, and I got the "water view" room.

THE GRAND FOREST !!!!!!! That's what it's called, and that's what it IS!!!!! Right in the middle of the island is an incredible forest. There are brilliant green ferns everywhere, mushrooms and moss growing on trees, and the SCENT!!!! Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! Of course Shari was just shocked at what the storm had done to the place, and how many trees were down, plants crushed, etc. Guess I didn't notice!!

We went to lots of beaches, collected shells, saw huge starfish and crabs, and sand dollars.

This place is called "The Spit". It is a five mile long sand bar that leads to a lighthouse. Walking the sandbar is the only way to the lighthouse, without a boat. There a just hundreds of logs washed ashore for miles. It was an incredible view from up on the cliffs. Somehow we thought we needed an even better view, and decided to "dare" each other to walk the fence line. Guess you gotta take some insane risks to remind yourself of the "invincible" person you once were!!

Here they are, my two sisters. Amy and Shari. OK, two of my six sisters anyways. Obviously these are not two that look like me, but certainly two who crave the sea like me!!! I think we all do. I have one sister who has yet to visit this island. I told her this week that she needed to get up there for a breather. She said, "Yes, I could use I breather, and I always breathe best by the sea." Another sister who went said she hadn't felt such peace in years. Another sister is going in two weeks for the fourth time. And Amy, the lucky duck, goes as often as she knows her being needs!! My earliest memories are of the ocean and forests just a ferry ride away from Bainbridge. The Canadian island of my birth and early childhood--Vancouver Island. The place so many of us learned to fish with my dad, the family camped, and mom was in heaven with the ocean just through the woods behind our home. Maybe THAT'S why we love that place--The waves rolling in to Bainbridge are from the same body of water where my moms remains now lie in Victoria. We feel our beginnings there, we have happy memories there, we are refreshed there, and our mom rests there. In body anyways--and I am convinced her spirit visits often.

Thanks for the great vacation girls!! So many great times--the pretty much sinful ice cream parlor, ( I sampled rose petal ice-cream, amung others), the Danish and German shops with the bakeries and "Uffdah" stuff, the shoe shopping, the clothes shopping, Pike's Market in Seattle and the AWESOME scallops chowder, the long chats, etc. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!!
I WILL BE BACK!!!!!!!