Pre-birthday weekend at Vashon

Being with my friend Janet is like being with the mayor of any town.  She knows everyone and shakes hands and kisses babies like she's running for office.  You can always guarantee a good time will be had when you're with her. 

Janet's family beach house was the sight of the pre-birthday bash.  It was the usual suspects.....janet, chris, me, mark and stacy and the monsters.  Amazing wine, fantastic food and hysterical conversations always happen whenever I'm with these peeps.

On the ferry over we ran into a friend of Janet's from college (of course we did) - he sat down and she started asking how he was, where he was living, etc., etc., and I knew immediately where this was going.  She was trying to wed me off to Ray.  Unfortunately for me, he is dating someone on the island. 

Once in town, we went to the Hardware Store to have a bite to eat - running into another couple Janet knew from our old TCC days.  We ventured to Express Cuisine down the block since we couldn't get into the Hardware Store - it was a big night on Vashon - first friday art walk.  Everyone was out and about.  Communal tables awaited us after ordering from the very nice woman at the counter.  We were joined by a french woman who reminded me of my mother and a very nice gentleman who Janet thought might be her son.  Not two minutes into the conversation we found out they were actually married.  Tres interesting.  After a fantastic meal of duck crepes we went to meet the Amrine's at the grocery.  As we walked in, we ran into Ray again.....and his ladyfriend who seriously looked like she could be my mom.  Welcome to Cougar Island. 

The rest of the weekend was amazing - beautiful sunny skies, a brisk chill in the air that was perfect for our wandering walk on the beaches and through the forest.

 It was very tempting to try to lure this pretty deer home so I could have his antlers for my office. 

 Forest path on the Loop                                                                                       Amrine family photo

A great looking road to ride a bike.                                               Wandering in the woods.

Our next stop was Palouse Winery.  We quickly made friends with Faith and found ourselves helping with the last punch down of the day.  George and Linda the winemakers joined us as well and we got a tour of the back yard and saw the location of the future wine caves.  You can tell that George is a very thoughtful winemaker - his wines were very tasty.

 Ah......the beach.  So relaxing and so much fun for a quick weekend getaway!  Bye beach house, I'll be back soon!