A cloudy sunrise over the cascade mountain range as seen from our RV

What a beautiful couple of days this have been and what a welcome relief from the gloom and rain from Dayton!

The sun was out most of the time and the temperature warm enough to sit outside for coffee and lunch.

We're all set up. Water and electricity needed a little tweaking and we had to get one more length of sewer hose but we're all connected now. Esther even allowed us to tie into her direct TV  by means of some extra cable through one of the windows of the house so we can watch whatever we like!

All the comforts of home!

Every morning at 7.30 Ester and I have been joining a small group of people and dogs that gather in front of the house to go for a walk together. Known in the neighbourhood as 'The Walkers' they walk for about 2 to 3 miles, rain or shine, and visit along the way with some neighbours and their dogs, or sometimes only the dogs, during which stops all the dogs get cookies (and even cheese) from just about everybody!

Sadie must think she has died and gone to heaven! All these treats! It took her only one walk to learn that stops mean cookies and also figured out fast who has the best ones!

It's a great group of the nicest people, and dogs, and we have a lot of fun and interesting conversations each time.

But this week has not all been just fun and play!

We had promised Esther we'd help her with some bigger and smaller projects she had on her 'honey-do list' and as our first project we 'attacked' the kitchen.

Esther wanted a new fridge and cook top so I set out to research models, prices and stores while James started re-sanding, -staining and -finishing the cabinet doors that had gone dull and/or lost their finish over the years.  

Since the cabinets never had knobs we added those which I think will help greatly to keep them clean and the finish from wearing off.

While James went on to add baseboards to the kitchen and bathroom which for some odd reason  have never been installed, Ester and I cleaned all those high to reach places that are getting a little too difficult for her to get to.

The fridge arrived and was installed and the new stove top is ordered and to arrive on Saturday.

It already looks like a new kitchen! Very pretty!

On Sunday we took the day off and set off to tour the Island. We drove all around it in about 2 1/2 hours.

It was a beautiful day although a little windy and chilly but perfect for a nice drive.

Camano Island takes its name from an early Spanish explorer, and in the 1700s Europeans mapped and named many places in the area.

Two prominent Norwegian settlers arrived around 1850, Oliver B. Iverson (1845-1940) and Rev. Christian Joergenson (1847-1929) who in turn encouraged relatives and friends from Norway to immigrate and to farm or work in the logging camps which explains the many Scandinavian names of landmarks and even of families that still live on this island.

In Stanwood, just before the bridge that takes you to the island you have 'Viking Village' that boasts a restaurant and several little shops.

 

One of which is Uff da, established in 1981.

Uff Da" is a fun expression used by Norwegians and other nationalities. It's a polite expression generally referring to a mistake or an "oh darn" experience, or even a "whoops!" 

My fellow blogger Judy who is from Swedish descent once wrote about it in her blog.

If you have never read her blog you should certainly do so! It's very well written, has gorgeous pictures, is often very educational and very funny as well.

She recently went through quite some 'Uff Da'-days, so I was immediately thinking about her when I saw this shop!

This one's for you, Judy! Hang in there!

There is something for everyone at the Uff Da Shoppe, ranging from Scandinavian cookware to German Christmas ornaments, Uff Da University t-shirts and diplomas, Swedish electric candle trees...and much more.

We didn't go for a viking meal though, we had lunch at the local 'saloon' were a sumptuous, huge plate of nachos was accompanied by a few draft beers served in, as far as I could determine, were canning jars?

I guess it's adding to the 'rustic atmosphere'?