Times and Seasons

This is my first attempt at blogging.  I guess I'm finally getting "with it."  Since I've never done this before, there are lots of things that will probably change (as far as the look) over the next little while.  I can't seem to figure out how to personalize my blog with different backgrounds, etc.  I've done everything I found in the help section but nothing works except the templates that are on this new interface.  I'm a bit frustrated with it.  So, if it doesn't look perfect or even adequate, it'll have to do unless I can figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Since Dad and I are beginning a new adventure and season of our lives, I should start with a little background to our current situation.  Dad is now 72-years-old and I am 67-years-old.  That seems really, really old to me when compared to what I thought about my parents ages and health condition at the same ages.  I realize I'm no  spring chicken especially when I note that my oldest child is 45-years-old.  I remember being that age.  In fact, I remember being the ages of my older grandchildren!  That's a pretty scary thought.  Where did the time go?

Dad has been retired for going on 7 years now.  Retirement hasn't been a good thing for him.  His Diabetes, Arthritis, High Blood Pressure, etc. have not been good to him.  Most of the things he did when he was younger that gave him a reason to live are either too strenuous or beyond his ability to do for one reason or another.  He doesn't readily admit his limitations and that makes for tension and stress in our home.  When we were younger, his boat was one of the main things that kept him going.  Our trips to the San Juan Islands in the Northwest were the highlight of any summer when we could make the trip.  Bellingham, Washington always held a special place in our hearts.  Dad always planned to buy a second home up there so we could take our boat and go out on the water whenever his little heart desired.  That was the plan he had for the money he would receive when his mother died.  That, of course, was not to be.

I kept trying to get him to just go on a little road trip to Bellingham and ride the ferry and just relax and have fun without having to pull the boat clear up there, unloading it and taking care of all the other jobs that need to be done plus fighting wind and waves to get the boat off and cleaned up, etc.  He wouldn't do it but finally asked one day if I wanted to ride up there.  So, in August we took a week and went to visit.  We stayed in a motel and just did what we wanted.  The second day we were there, he wanted to look at condos to see what was available.  It was always his plan to find a condo with parking for the boat and wouldn't consider anything else.  This time, we found an older condo overlooking Bellingham Bay with only a one car parking space and decided to make an offer on it.  The rest is history and we now own a condo in Bellingham even though he knows he will not be able to take the boat out without one of our kids going with us.  The following are the pictures we took the first time we found the condo.

These first few pictures are views from the outside.  You enter our condo from the parking even though it's on the third floor.

 The remainder of the pictures beginning with the front entrance.....

Second bedroom....

                                                             

Dining.....

                                                

Dining & Balcony

                                                              

Kitchen....

                                                                 

Living room....

                                                                     

Bathroom.....

      

Master Bedroom (and, NO! the carpet isn't pink!)

Though cloudy, the view that sold Dad on the Condo....

We did get a chance to do a little touring while we were there and also got a taste of the delicious food that is available close to us.  We ate at three different restaurants that week.  All three were delicious and still make our mouths water when we think about them.  The first one was a little cafe right on the Marina where we spent a lot of time when we had our boat there.   It is called Cafe on the Bay.  Their Clam Chowder was to die for.

                             These two pictures are of the view from our booth inside the cafe....

 This is a picture of some guy who tried to pick me up.  He thought he could tempt me with the car he drives.  Such a braggart! ;-)

Another wonderful steak and seafood restaurant is Anthony's.  Every day between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm they have special, lower prices.  Oh, my gosh!  So tasty and such an atmosphere!

The third restaurant we dined was a great Italian place call Giuseppi's.  Love, love, love Italian food.

We just had to take the Ferry over to Friday Harbor.  It was always such a fun place to visit.  We needed to drive to Anacortes to catch the Ferry that would ferry us to the island.  Dad insisted on taking his car.  Not sure why because we drove off the ferry, made a sharp right turn right into a handicapped parking place and there it stayed.  The economy has taken a toll on the quaint little town.  Many of the shops we frequented before were no longer there and many shops were empty.  It was sad to see but still a fun place to visit.

Anacortes - waiting for the ferry.....

Having a handicapped sticker definitely has it's advantages.....

Captain Bob - at least in his dreams.....

We rode quite along way on a road that runs along the coast from Bellingham and on south.  I'm not sure exactly how long it would have gone but we went quite a ways and then decided to head on back.  We got back on the freeway just south of Anacortes.  It was a beautiful drive.

When we weren't site seeing or eating, we were visiting with our Realtor, the Bank, etc.  We bid as much as Dad was willing to spend but figured the Executor of the Condo's Estate wouldn't go that low but we were willing to give it a chance.  We didn't hear for quite awhile on the offer but they finally came back with a counter that we couldn't accept so we countered again and figured it was something fun to do and would be great but we were sure (and so was our Realtor) that it would be turned down.  Much to all of our surprise, they accepted it so we became the owners of a condo in Bellingham.