So far 2024 has been a very good year. We have continued to do alot of our normal activities: daily walks, volunteering, travel and caring for our 8 year old Irish Wolfhound, Emmie. Marlene loves to get up early in the morning to see what our Mountain looks like, and then take some stunning pictures, like the one above.
We've continued volunteering for the USO and the West Columbia George Humane Society.
And as usual we attended the WCGHS benefit dinner, "A Tail To Remember"
And in March we went on our 9th (11th overall) Joe Bonamassa "Keeping the Blues Alive" Caribbean Cruise. This year it was back to Cozumel Mex.
Joe Bonamassa
This summer, instead of taking one big trip, we decided to take a few shorter getaways, so that Emmie wouldn't have to be alone so long at one time The first one of these trips was a driving trip to Lake Chelan up in north central Washington. While there we took a boat trip all the way up the 50 mile lake to the little village of Stehekin.
The original Stehekin one room school building
Beautiful Rainbow Falls in Stehekin
Unfortunately, while we were there, there was a large wildfire that came very close to the village. The day after we left, the area came under a mandatory evacuation order and all tourist activity was halted. While on the boat back we witnessed water bombers landing on the lake, taking in water and then dropping it on the fire.
Of course no summer would be complete without our annual visit to the Clark County Fair. Here is Marlene standing in front of a huge dinosaur slide, which she didn't use.
Our gardening efforts this year weren't as good as some years....just one cucumber, however we raised something in the tomato bed that was successful, and it wasn't tomatoes....baby bunnies, which Marlene shaded and kept safe.
Our other trip his year was to celebrate our 20th Anniversary. It was a train trip to Vancouver BC.
We had a great time exploring the city, the waterfront, Stanley Park, the Vancouver Aquarium and Granville Island, as well as indulging lots of excellent food.
Stanley Park
The Vancouver Aquarium
One big change in our volunteering activity this summer was the moving of the USO from the the Portland Airport to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). We enjoyed volunteering at the airport, and seeing all the military travellers, however the change to MEPS has been very good. It's been great to see all the young people excited and a little anxious to begin the journey of service to their country.
Emmie
Well that's the end of this post...hope to get another one out before the end of the year.
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