Sekiu Family Vacation

We survived 7 days of camping,fishing and beach exploring in Sekiu WA. The weather was rainy and the fishing was just as dim but we still managed to have an awesome time! L to R-My Mom Sandi,Dad Jim,Brother Jim, Vern and I on "Dale's Beach".

This was camp for the week. On the left is the "Condos" that include a space heater AND running water (just don't drink it!)! Do you love the "Deluxe Double Kitchen"? Hehe We cooked all of our meals over an open fire...mmmmm!.On the menu? How about fresh caught salmon and mushrooms picked from the beautiful Northwest rain forest? Fancy yes I know.

 

Or perhaps you prefer a romantic lunch for 2?

How about Steak with a side of Cheese Whiz and Crackers?

Sooo romantic! I love my silly boyfriend!

 

 

And did I mention the "spa" facilities? Haha! Looks like (below) Mom treated herself to an "Awakening Hose Water Hair Rinse"   whadda trooper! I personally preferred the "Big Pot Of Hot Water Under The Stars" showers in front of the campfire. Sorry no pics of that...don't think Vern didn't try!

Now that you've had a tour,I will share photos of us enjoying some the fun activities and sights from our little bit of paradise-

 

Not much will stop us from agate hunting! Vista Beach is worth the crawl!

  

Beach butterflies

  

The beach where we found a ton of sea glass on Mom and I's adventure day!

  

My Dad doing what he loves best-FISHING!

Happy Fishermen!

Pouring down rain...Vern holds my pink umbrella over my Dad while he finishes cleaning the fish. Now that's love! Haha What's wrong Vern? You don't want your picture taken with the pink umbrella? It matches your pink beach bucket(see below)! LOL

To be fair here's a picture of me after 5 days of camping-no make up or hair tools for 7 whole days!

So after a long dreamy vacation we packed up our sea treasures..

and headed home along Lake Cresent.

We decided after a few hours to stop and get some lunch. As we pulled into the parking lot of a small road side restaurant the sign read "Fat Smitty's Burgers"...I was hoping this was a yummy reward for my 7 days of cooking and cleaning.....so we went in.

What. The. Hell.. is this place? Dollar bills covered every inch of the walls with business cards,photos and I.D.'s. Oh boy. We were still in shock when the waiter came to take our order. He suggested the "Fat Smitty Burger" and we all shook our heads in agreement,I think we were still in shock trying to take it all in. Dad was smart,he opted for a bowl of clam chowder. As we waited we heard the story of how 26 years ago a business man left his card and a dollar bill to stuck to the wall. The place is wild,some places are 5-8 bills thick and hanging from EVERYWHERE! Then..we all start to ask the same question "What exactly is a Smitty Burger"? Our answer arrived shortly after and we were in greasy,beefy Heaven...

Sorry for the blur but I think my Brother was giddy with excitement too! 15 minutes later I surrendered to the burger only conquering half...oh but it was goooood. I left a business card and a dollar on the wall.
I'll be back.

Lastly tonight I will leave with some rainbow photos I took that I just love :) Enjoy!

PS-
For those of you who haven't seen it,I thought I'd also share the photo of Vern with his pink beach bucket!

"You better NOT be taking a picture of this!"

I love you :p

Did You Miss Me?

We're home!

Back to a

hot shower

flushy toilet

our bed

and all the other 

dry

warm

conveniences of home

:)

Back to reality tomorrow,

back to work.

It was 7 busy days of camping and beach combing.

I mentally checked out so far...
 that it just might take me a few days

to get back.

That...is an awesome feeling!

I brought home buckets of 

shells 

 rocks

sea glass

driftwood 

coral

a tiny starfish

and Wilson!

(Wilson is the sad faced rock I forgot on the beach last time...

yet he was still there on the log waiting for me when I came back!

This time I was sure not to forget him!)

I took hundreds of photos.

Please be patient though,

I will get posting as soon as I can!

I have stories to tell and pictures to share!

Stay tuned

:)

Ok Just One More

I am exhausted. We shopped at Winco,Petco,Cash & Carry,Grocery Outlet,Work Sports And Outdoors,Safeway and 2 Walmarts in the last 2 days. PLUS my Parents and brother went to Costco (we headed home to start cooking and smoking the meat). I am pretty sure we have enough food to feed 5-8 of us for 7 days! We got Chipper a cute little yellow rain coat and some "Calming" dog treats for the trip.He's not loving the rain coat so far but I know he won't care when we get to the beach.As for the treats,they are more for us than him! He gets so crazy hyper it's hard at times to take him anywhere. Why didn't anyone tell me about these cute little doggie downers before?! So we'll see how well they work...

I feel relieved as the stress of shopping is off my shoulders.The family is all here safely and I am mostly packed. I guess I am blogging all of this because I needed to take a mental inventory of the last 2 days. It has been a whirlwind! I go back to work tomorrow..wondering where my 2 days off went, yet looking forward to 8 more coming so soon I can barely stand it!

Tomorrow my Father turns 69.Happy Birthday Dad! My Parents are some of the best parents I know of. They have worked 7 days a week to provide a happy life for their kids.I am so grateful that each year I get to spend my Dad's birthday fishing with him. It's my turn to support and enjoy doing what he loves and my Dad loves fishing!It's also nice to see my Mom put her feet up and read a book. At home she is constantly busy cooking,cleaning,volunteering...she never stops! I love the mornings her and I have spent on the beach-barefoot and drinking coffee,looking to see what gifts the tide had washed up for us that day.Let's hope for many of those mornings plus a few coolers full of fishing stories to keep my Dad happy until next year. :)

Until tomorrow..or maybe next week..
Happy Blogging :)

Let's Try Venting...It Beats Counting Sheep

It's late and I know I should be in bed but...I have a million things on my mind! Perhaps if I vent and blog a little I will feel better...
 That damn boat,long story short it has a broken cylinder. Nice. We leave for fishing in 4 days and that friggin boat decides to start malfunctioning!?  So poor Vern was at it again,tearing apart the motor and calling for parts. $300 later the part will be here Monday at 10am and we are leaving around 4pm.I hope it works! It's been one expensive thing after another since we brought it home and we haven't even gotten fishing licenses yet!Plus (yes I'm almost done..) we can't tow out our fancy camper(that we haven't gotten to use much this year) to stay in (then everyone would have their own trailer) because we have to tow the boat out!Ugh!

My new definition of "recreational vehicle"-an object you pay for 12 months a year while feeling guilt because you only use that object 5 times a year while it breaks 10 times a year.Usually justified by the fun times had while enjoying such object at first and then slowly becomes overcome by a feeling of burden over time.

 Tomorrow starts early,a 9 am appointment to do hair on my day off and make some side cash. I have an appointment with the highly recommended "Jimmy" for a nail fill and pedicure at noon. I can't remember the last time I had a pedicure and I don't think I have ever had a fill and pedi at the same time! The pedicure will be done by someone else but I am hoping Jimmy will work some magic on the bad nails I got 2 weeks ago. Oh happy girly pamper time! 1/2 a Xanax and a gossip magazine,does it get any better than that?LOL! I am going to relax and enjoy every minute because I know it will be the last quiet moment to myself for a few days.

After my precious "Me" time I will be off to the races! Shopping for supplies and running errands then rushing home to greet my parents as they arrive. Off to the airport Saturday morning to get my brother and then more shopping,packing,cooking and prepping. Work Sunday and Monday and then off to Sekiu Monday night. Whew! I have so much to do...in only 2 days off! Hopefully I will be drinking coffee on the beach Tuesday morning before I know it :)

I feel better,thanks for listening! I am finally tired enough to go to bed...
I can't promise much blogging before I leave ....but  I can promise that the pictures I will bring home will be worth the wait ;)

A Year of Slow Cooking: Slow Cooker Creamy Turkey Dinner Recipe

A Year of Slow Cooking: Slow Cooker Creamy Turkey Dinner Recipe

Wordless Wednesday-The Random Cara Archives

Tuesday's This &That

I spent the weekend away from the computer and enjoyed a few days off with Vern. We hadn't had a day off together in almost a month because my hard working man was working 7 days a week. I was happy to see him get some R&R! So here are a few updates on things that happen around here..

• Harvey passed the night I brought him home, RIP Harvey 0:)

•   There is one last beer sign hanging in my kitchen. Heineken. The rest have all been moved up to Del's new "bar" area upstairs.The kitchen walls are looking empty and begging for some new paint. New paint is coming as soon as I have the time and money...October would be wishful thinking.

• The first batch of agates made it through the rock tumbler! They look great! I will have to get better at capturing their beauty with my camera though.The pictures don't begin to show the color and clarity of these "new" gems!

I'm sure you can now understand why I am so anxious to go back to the beach and drag home all  sorts of cool rocks! I am also collecting shells to harvest little succulents (Hens and Chicks) in for my garden and to donate to the Garden Club plant sale next summer. Oh and the driftwood,the piles and piles of the coolest twisted and worn driftwood you have ever seen...the craft projects are spinning in my head! (as I stop blogging for a moment to add "big buckets for beach stuff" to my "Stuff To Remember" list)

• That dang boat. Vern and I set out for a date on the lake Friday evening and it was spoiled by bad gas in the boat. Apparently 3 year old gas (that my Dad left in there) lacks the octane to make an engine run properly. So at 5 mph we circled back to the dock and went home. Vern spent the rest of his weekend draining the bad gas and replacing it with new and some new spark plugs. Seems like it's running great but we'd have to get it in the water again to really tell. We are glad it happen before we pulled it out to Sekiu next week but we are a little worried about the lack of time to test it again before we do..

• I think my parents will be here Friday and my brother flies in Saturday or Sunday. We are all leaving for Sekiu together Monday night when I get off work. I am so excited that my brother is able to join us this year! I hope my sister and her family can make it out too,camp would be the fullest I have ever seen it!

• I spent today de-cluttering and cleaning our house. I also started packing for vacation and I am 80% done! Yes, it is very premature but the weekend will be too busy! I have grocery shopping,cooking,entertaining and a few days of work to finish before we can go! I should be in bed...haha

• I made one of my favorite dishes tonight and I thought I'd share for those of you having fun with my food blogging. My Mom always made this casserole of leftovers the day after a holiday and it is always amazing to see how quickly it disappears!

Get our your favorite casserole dish and start your layers with mashed potatoes.( I insert little bits of butter into them before adding the next layer)
The next layer can be almost any veggie like green beans,broccoli,corn etc. Remember to smooth each layer evenly so each bite is full of goodness :)
The last layer is stuffing.Spread evenly and heat  uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 min to an hour depending on size of casserole.
Tonight I made mine with instant potatoes,broccoli, Stove Top stuffing and bacon bits. I cooked,assembled and baked it to comfort food perfection. I served it with turkey tenderloins,brown gravy and crispy Parmesan baguette slices. Here it is before it went in the oven.

 I call it Holiday Leftover Casserole. So simple. So yummy.Bye bye leftovers!