A couple of days after we were back from our trip, a package arrived for us in the mail. 
It turned out to be a box full of amazing anniversary gifts from my family, who'd hoped of course it would've arrived before we left but yeah ... US Postal service .. absolutely worthless!

Inside the box we found: a home-made card, party hats, a garland, silver (for a 25th anniversary of course) balloons, an enormous (once inflated) cellophane number 2 and 5 balloon, silver tea lights, a little bit of rice in a decorative little baggie, 2 engraved egg cups, a jigsaw puzzle of a Japanese temple and an embroidered bell cord with Japanese scenes. 

           

The Japanese theme of course had to do with the fact that we met in Japan after which, as the card shows, we married in The Netherlands and than proceeded to live in the USA.

The bell-cord with it's Japanese images is actually a heirloom piece, handed down to me in this way by my mom, who inherited it from my dad's mother, who actually embroidered it herself ... are you still with me?
We really don't have much wall-space to hang it but I have a sliver of a vertical area next to the slide in the bedroom where it fits just perfectly:

                                                    

Although the box arrived unfortunately a little 'late to the party', I promised my sister that we would just extend our anniversary celebrations for a little longer.
So we happily bought some more cake, brought out the alcohol and toasted our together-ness several times more:

As you can see we had some fun with everything this weekend, especially with the party-hats!
(Alcohol might have been involved in some of the pics and I wouldn't recommend showering with a party-hat .. 😂!)

But everything must come to an end and this week it's back to the grind-stone.

James actually got to do something like his previous job, working up a sweat while working with his hands again, for a day, helping our landlord Bret to put the trusses on the new barn.

His son Josh works for a truss company and came over with a big crane which made easy work of the lifting:

                                                

They were very fortunate it was an overcast, fairly cool day and after starting at 8am, and a half hour break for lunch, they finished at 4pm.

                                             

                                                 

Yeah, Hon', you're the man! Now put one of those tools down and grab something to hold on to will you! (Btw, where's your harness?)

I had another job for him to do on Friday. One that involved a little more delicate and precise work:

          

I've been on the fence for months now to finally cut (more of) my hair (since my sister cut of a foot last year) ... or not .. and finally made the decision to do it!

                                    

James (yes, him himself from the fairly unknown hair-salon 'Chez James' 😁) did a great job.
Just take off a good bit, I said, and that he did!

                           

                                              

            

I'm so happy with it! It's very funny, and easy, to brush or wash my hair now .. there's just nothing to it! (quite literary)
 
The rest of the week wasn't half as interesting, just the usual going-on.
My Morning Glory continues to pop out more flowers:

                                                                    

Since our absence, when they were not fed, we haven't seen many birds around the feeders.
I guess they went to 'greener pastures'. Ungrateful little buggers ...

But the little Sparrows, and even a Spotted Towhee, have discovered the birdbath and are using it pretty much every day:

                                     

They're so cute to watch. They take their bathing very serious!

OK, that was all. Tomorrow it is the first day of September and also Labor Day, and we have nothing on the agenda but grilling a steak on the BBQ in the evening.
The weather this year is going to be very decent, compared to previous very hot ones, with a maximum temp of only 78F so it's going to be a nice day.
                                              Sounds pretty perfect to me!

There we are! The happily-married-for-25-years couple!

And this is my crazy family, congratulating us in their own hilarious way.  😂😂

Bunch of nutcases! 💕

As I mentioned in the last post, we went on a little vacation this last week to celebrate.
We had a great time, the weather was just about perfect, the Washington coast absolutely stunning and the company, even after 25 years, still the best!

Here's a little (!)  recap of where we went and what we did:
Our route first took us, via the coast, up to Tillamook and than by the more inland Hwy101 to Astoria, at the very north-west of Oregon, just before you cross over to Washington.



Since we'd never visited the 'Astoria Column' from where you have a great view over the ocean and the surrounding area, we decided to stop here and have some lunch as well.

Gawd, that thing was high, but the view was fantastic!

                                                                      

That's Oregon on the left and Washington on the right

And over the bridge we went ...

                                                          

... for the next half of our route:

                                 

Unfortunately the 101 doesn't get very close to the ocean and we only got glimpses of the water every now and than. 
But it's a pleasant enough drive while meandering through the very dense forests. No shortage of trees here!
                  
We arrived at the Ocean Shores' Resort around 4pm, which was right at check-in time, so we quickly got settled in:

Unfortunately our room was 'street-facing', which we knew but I'd hoped it had a little area in the front we could sit maybe, but no such dice ..
The room itself had very recently been re-done. All the furniture was new, and very cute, and everything (well .. besides the floor) was very clean.

                                               

                                               

As you can see on this fun map below, the town of Ocean Shores is basically a narrow peninsula completely surrounded by the ocean .. the epitome of a beach-town!
It is equal parts kitschy, brash, touristy, and fun.

There's something to see or do for everybody from beach-combing to clamming, from bird-watching to golfing, from camping to shopping and there are restaurants everywhere:
Although we were a little disappointed that we couldn't see the ocean from the motel, nor was there a path to the beach, but public beach-access was only 2 blocks down the road at the State Park:

                                                        

And not only could you walk up, but you could even bring your car!

Of course we had to try this. We'd heard about beaches in the south where you were allowed to do this but had never done it ourselves.
To be honest I've always been too scared to try. What if you get stuck or swept away by a sudden wave!

We survived and yes, that first day it was a little cool in the morning!

                                                                             

The first day we drove a little loop-route to the south of us (you can just see a little piece of the Ocean Shores peninsula (in white) pointing down at the top left of this map):

This area is known for it's cranberry 'bogs'. Apparently approximately one-third of the nation's cranberry crop is produced in Washington State.
We didn't see any, or didn't realize it, probably because most of the year they are flooded and the shrubs are under water ..

The weather was a little gloomy but it still was a very nice drive.
We had coffee in Westport, where we climbed the viewing tower for a view of the harbor and town:

  

We also stopped for a little in the small town of Raymond, which is known for it's metal sculptures. They're everywhere:

  

   
     

Fun! 

The next day we followed the coast up North to the Olympic National Park and all the way up to Ruby Beach.
This beach is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of Olympic National Park and famous for its reddish sand, driftwood and its striking rock formations and vibrant tide pools.

                                       
                     

                                                   

   

We'd brought lunch and coffee and spend some time sitting in the sun, leaning against the rocks, out of the (rather cool) wind, enjoying the view.
There are worse places to be ....



I discovered this Bald Eagle on our way back from a walk along the water:

                                                        

On the way back we stopped at several viewing points. Some of them involved a short hike through the coastal forests:

                                                   

The next day we stayed close by, checked out the neighborhood and drove to the end of the Peninsula:



We visited the small coastal Interpretive Center and learned a lot about the area and it's wildlife:

  

 

 

                                                               

After which we went for a short hike at the Weatherway trail:

                          

We played a round at the local golf course:
                        (This was actually on another day but who's keeping track?)

It wasn't the best course we ever played but we're not that snobbish and had fun anyway.
I hadn't played for 2 years and really didn't do that well, but I managed to score the only par between the two of us so I guess it could have been worse!

We had to share the course with the local wildlife though:

      

                  

We also explored the coast directly north of Ocean Shores on another morning. There are a few small villages, your typical little beach-towns.
We had coffee at Copalis Beach:


 
After which we drove to the small town of Seabrook.
Founded in 2004 by developers Casey and Laura Roloff, Seabrook is a beach town based on the concept of the late-20th-century New Urbanist design, a 'planned paradise'.  

It was inspired by Seaside in Florida, a town we've actually been to in 2018, a town James actually remembered studying during his UCLA landscaping classes.

                                

It is a town of a little creepy perfection, not even a nail seems out of place, more like a movie set than a real town. Something like Pleasantville or the Stepford Wives ..
At first it gave us bit of a weird feel but there is also a lot to love about this resort town, it's actually quite charming .  
I think a lot has to do with how seamlessly it connects to its natural environments with it's many pretty green spaces, walk-able center and lots of public community spaces.

Sitting on a scenic bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean always helps as well of course.

  

On one of our last days we took another trip 'up North' into the Olympic National Park but a little closer this time, only about an hour away, to Lake Quinault.

As usual we'd brought our coffee so we found a picnic table at the lake next to the historic Lake Quinault Lodge for a first cup. 
(It's beautiful 100 year old lodge but $400-450 a night is just crazy!)




                            

We'd planned to hike a few of the (fairly short) trails that are around the lake, the Quinault Loop trail being the longest one of approximately 4 miles.

                                                                        

The Quinault Loop Trail, also known as the Rain Forest Nature Trail, leads you through the Olympic temperate rain forest and Quinault Lake.  

This is an old forest and the trees are humongous:

  

Lots of trees are covered with moss:

  


                                               


The Quinault rainforest can average 140 inches of rain each year (!) so most of the little creeks here are flowing year-round and there are several small waterfalls along the trail.
This is Willaby Creek:

                                                        

A wooden boardwalk allows you to walk through a swampy wetlands-area:

                                

Everything here wants to grow, and vigorously .. a little tree-stump won't stand in their way:

                                                        

It truly was a gorgeous hike!

 

We didn't see much of the lake until the last mile where we had a few glimpses:

                      

Back at our starting point we took the car to drive a couple of miles up the road, where we had a quick picnic lunch before setting out on a short trail to take a look at the 'Worlds record Sitka Spruce:

                                                       

Yup! It's BIG! 1,000 Years old, with a 58'11 circumference and 191' feet tall.

    

That's me there, sitting on it's roots. It boggles the mind to realize what this tree has seen ..
 

We had one more short hike on our itinerary for which we drove to the North (other) side of the lake. 
(due to recent floods both bridges on either side of the lake are 'out' so you can't drive around the lake at the moment)

 

After a short visit to the ranger station we started the 0.5 mile Maple Glade Rainforest trail:

                    

The short walk is on a level and well-maintained path that takes you through this very peaceful place - nothing but thick lush rain-forest in every direction!

The path basically encircles this beautiful, almost magical, 'glade' ..
Elk, bear and cougars (bigfoot?) call this home but we didn't see any.

                 

      

The gnarly trees are full of burls and covered in thick, dripping moss ..

What a beautiful, serene place!

Well, that was about all we 'did'. 
That and just lazy-ing around, having long conversations of how our life together so far has been (very interesting at the least) and what we imagine it is going to be in the future (we're still full of plans), reading, napping .. oh, and let's not forget the food!

There were many toasts to our good health and our 'sticking around with each-other for so long' and thanks to a generous donation from my mom (thanks again Mom!) we were able to go out for dinner several times .. and lunch .. and breakfast!
We'd bought a whole key-lime cream-pie (one of our favorites) and had planned to eat it in two sittings (just for once because we could) but that turned out a little too much so we settled for three ..

And that's all she wrote, needles to say we had a great time and we pledged another 25 years to each other .. that might be pushing it, we'd be 91 and 89, but we're optimistic!
For now we are doing great and are still very happy with each other so I say our chances are good!

Here's a few pics of the sun setting in the Pacific .. a fitting 'the end', although not of 'our' story together!