June Rain in the NorthWest

Murray and Elsie in Portland

Portland was a short stop for us this year, with just enough time to visit the Farmers Market on Saturday and spend some time in Powell's Bookstore on Sunday.  The Farmers Market was just as plentiful and diverse as it has been on previous years.  If anything, it had more musicians and more freshly prepared food.  We did not have much room in our tiny fridge, so we just got some lettuce, fresh strawberries, and plenty of baked goods.  Sunday we took the dogs with us to the Burnside Bridge Market where all of the arts and crafts are sold and as usual, everyone was admiring Murray and Elsie, taking their photos, and generally giving them big heads.   We were lucky because the weather was threatening all weekend but did not really start to rain until Monday after all the fun excursions were over.  Tuesday we headed up I-5 to Anacortes, traveling through the rain for part of the day, but when we arrived the sun was breaking through the clouds and we were able to take a long walk across the causeway, which is part of the Tommy Thompson
trail which runs right through the Fidalgo Bay RV Resort where we are staying.  When we walk the other direction, the trail takes us into Anacortes and we usually ride our bikes into town because it is a mile or two from the rv park.    It is actually a fun little town with plenty of restaurants to choose from and several marinas to photograph, any number of trails to walk, and several used bookstores.  We can also catch a ferry from there to any of the San Juan Islands, which I think we may do this year. 

Walking the dogs across the causeway.

We had reserved a site with a pavilion this year in order to give us some room to set up our easels outside when the weather was nice, which it was when we arrived and also the next day, so we found the dog park and took the dogs to run around a little.  Murray was confounded when a scottie took his squeaky toy and would not give it back.  But he was not brave enough to try and get it.  Elsie only cares about retrieving the ball and we have now purchased a ball sling which really throws the ball some distance.  But she uses her nose to sniff out the location and bring the ball right back to us. 

Our RV Site with Pavilion

Today was rain, rain, and more rain.... so Allan headed off to Camper World to get some parts to fix one of our shades in the rig which only went halfway up the window.  I made split pea soup and read a book.  Very relaxing day.  It looks like we can expect rain off and on for the next week, good thing there are plenty of bookstores to check out and plenty of paintings to paint.  Hopefully on Saturday there will be clear skies so we can take the dogs to the Bark In The Park, an annual fun day for dogs here in Anacortes.