Double WHEW!

Remember that coffee, drink, or cigarette I told you to get last Saturday? Well get TWO of them today. My fingers will be cramping before I get through with this post - it was that kind of a day.

I started out this morning headed through downtown for the first of my many stops today. I couldn't believe all the "entertainment" I got along Water Street. The cruise ship was back again this weekend and groups were walking along the store fronts, some fortunate enough to have two members from the historical society as their guide. I took the photo of the bay from my usual blufftop vantage point across from the post office - the sailboats were circling tightly near the pier & numerous other types of water craft shared the area. A craft show was set up by City Hall. But as I got near the ferry dock, I saw something I never thought I'd see - an OTTER running across our "Main Street". I wasn't the only one to see him - people stopped everywhere following his path with their eyes. And the drive-in has opened for the season - YES, a DRIVE-IN! They're showing "Alice in Wonderland" - remember how great it was as a kid to go and sit on the hood of the car with the speaker nearby? A new container had arrived from the UK at the Antique Company. Some real possibilities for the house, but I'm still thinking about where they'd go best.

From there, I set the navigation system for Brinnon, WA. Several people have told me that I HAD to see the rhododendron gardens there and since this is their peak blooming season, today was the day. I had been on this highway before, but it was when I was headed to SeaTac after my first trip to PT & I had little time to enjoy it (and I eventually missed the first plane in my long history of flying that day). This time I could enjoy the jaw-dropping beauty - the drive takes you through part of the Olympic National Forest and along the Hood Canal. As I reached "downtown" Quilcene - about half way there - a man with his saddled horse nearby was going into a business. I was talking to Nel, my neighbor from Texas, when I saw him and we agreed that's not what you normally see, even in a small town. Horse trumped car today for this man. I realized as I neared the town limits that I didn't actually know where I was going. I had forgotten the name of the nursery. I needn't have worried - no one could miss Whitney's Gardens & Nursery on Highway 101. It was like taking a tour of a mini Butchert Gardens in Victoria on Vancouver Island, B.C. SIMPLY AMAZING. My photos are VERY washed out (due to the extremely sunny day we had today?) so I'm adding a link to their website: www.whitneygardens.com Go to the "Nursery" section & you can see the plants I saw today in full bloom.

As I left Whitney Gardens, I noticed the snow covered Olympics in the background, saw the Hood Canal waters behind me & felt like I was in Vail, CO. I believe Washington definitely has a Colorado feel to it (or does Colorado have a Washington feel?). The air is so clean & crisp & the sky is so clear. I shared the highway with an abundant number of motorcycles and bicycles and the blue, blue sky overhead with many small private aircraft landing at Jefferson County International Airport (and probably headed to the Spruce Goose Cafe for a great burger) - all out on a perfect day.

Back in PT, two schools were holding carwashes ("Give Mom a Clean Car for Mother's Day"), golfers were golfing, gardeners were beautifying the gardens that greet our visitors, convertibles were out on the streets from Porsches to vintage restorations, and the usual pooches were leading their humans. It was 60 today, but with the sun, that feels like a perfect 80 in Texas.

Got back too late for a Cape Cleare Salmon Sandwich from the Saturday Farmers' Market - DRAT! BUT, I got the last Nuremburger Sausage sandwich of the day and it was fabulous as well. Holley & I think we're experts on these after all the trips we've made to Germany (and always to Nuremburg) for the Christmas Markets. Holley - these are just as good (minus the gluhwein!)

My last major stop of the day was to finally get to see Far Reaches Farm in PT. I had previously noticed their ads featuring exotic plants I've only seen in magazines and since this turned out to be "Garden Day", I headed on over. I'm including photos of their creamy-white double trilliums and the MOST AMAZING herbaceous peony I've ever seen - it's an old timer and I'm already planning on getting a baby from this lush plant in the fall. The flowers are as delicate as poppies and the yellow is ethereal.

Last photo? A graceful salmon poppy plant from an Uptown dentist's front door garden. Huge. Lush. To be gawked at.

I'm pooped. What an incredibly wonderful place to live. Those of us who do are indeed fortunate.