LaConner to Langley

Laura Domela — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 22:00:34 +0000

We left LaConner early this morning around 9am. I know, that's not super early, but by the time we left we'd both showered and cooked breakfast and made coffee and topped off our water tank, so considering all of that, it was early!

On our way through the lower part of the Swinomish Channel we saw many, many geese flying in cool formation overhead:

And then just out from Maple Grove Beach on the northwest tip of Camano Island, our sonar was picking up SO MANY FISH! For about 10 minutes we had solid lines of fish showing up at about 75 ft, like this:

Wouldn't it be cool if it just showed you the orcas, like this, just once?

We got into Langley (on Whidbey Island) at around 12:30pm, washed off the boat, paid for two nights, and headed up into town for some food and some wandering. We had lunch (and delicious espresso drinks) at Useless Bay Coffee Company. Look at Kevin's latte art:

We shared a jalapeno burger and some fish tacos and both plates were excellent! After lunch we stopped at Callahan's Firehouse to watch some glass blowing. Next we stopped into The Star Store and picked up a few things: a nice pair of wool fingerless gloves for Kevin, a pretty sweater for me, a new tea towel for the galley, and a proper captain's hat for whoever happens to be manning the helm. Score!

Next we stopped in at the Ott & Murphy Winery Tasting Room for a little wine tasting (with a view!):

We shared one tasting and brought 4 bottles back to put in Airship's wine cellar: a viognier, a syrah, and two bottles of their red blend called L'Entente (syrah, petite syrah, mourvedre, and viognier).

Here's a quick snap of the (full!) wine cellar:

Now we're just chillin at the boat (watching Deadliest Catch, heh). It's rainy and a bit windy outside and we plan to stay put and wait out what is supposed to be a windy day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we'll go back up into town and explore some more, and probably hit Kalakala for lunch. When we passed by today it looked like they had a couple of ramen specials that sounded perfect for a gray rainy Sunday.

Gray marina at Langley:

Tonight we're going to use some of the pulled pork we made and froze at home last week in some Cubano sandwiches. (Kevin brined the meat for 4 hours, smoked it for 4 hours, cooked it in the sous vide for 60 hours, then finished it on a hot grill to get a good bark on the outside. I made a Carolina vinegar sauce for it — apple cider vinegar, red chili flakes, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, and pepper.) It came out so good and works wonderfully on a Cubano.

Oh yeah, I forgot to post these shots from yesterday. This is as we were about to enter the Swinomish Channel, between Anacortes and LaConner:

Here's a map of today's route (about 30 nautical miles):

No whales today, but we did see a few seals and some porpoises. They're out here though…we'll see some this trip…I just know it.

Wine Tasting in the Okanagan Valley

Laura Domela — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Yesterday after we did some work in the morning, we joined up with Leigh & Brian, Tiffani & Deke, Amanda & Tim,and John & Laura for some wine tasting here in the Okanagan Valley. It rained last night and still a bit this morning, so it was a fine day not to be sitting on the beach. We stopped first and had a delicious lunch for Brian's birthday at the restaurant at the Old Vines restaurant at Quail's Gate. A lovely day, even with the occasional rain.

Awwwww.

And today, we're on our way to Glacier (where we likely will not have internet)!

It’d be cool if it stopped raining for more than 10 minutes

Laura Domela — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:44:36 +0000

We moved over to Stub Stewart State Park today. Kyle will follow later this afternoon and Lisa & George Mehallik will be joining as well. We'll be grilling up some salmon, roasting some sweet potatoes and green beans, and likely adding some martinis and hors d'oeuvres to the mix.

We plan to do a little wine tasting in Forest Grove tomorrow (David Hill, Apolloni, and Willamette Valley Vineyards/Tualatin Estate). The winning event will likely be the "Bacon Bash" at David Hill. Yep, bacon paired with wine. What could be better, really?

(Posted by Laura)

wine tasting – Riveted

LaConner to Langley

Wine Tasting in the Okanagan Valley

It’d be cool if it stopped raining for more than 10 minutes