Tons of updates

We have been busy with normal stuff like unpacking (we are almost done!) and with some play. Last weekend we headed up the Skagit River to see some bald eagles along the river. We actually see bald eagles on a daily basis right around Anacortes, but hundreds of them congregate along the Skagit in January for a steelhead run. But it was pouring and the river was too high for lots of good feeding. So we saw a lot of rain and not many eagles. Oh well - we went for a walk in the rainforest instead and that was gorgeous.

Common merganser

Jay eating lunch along the Skagit River

Neat moon halo over our house (Jay's pic)

Here are some photos of our new house and rooms in the house. We are 99% done with the inside and just have to deal with our junk in the garage (kayaks, camping gear, ski stuff, grill, etc.). I just painted an ugly bureau I got at a thrift shop for the guestroom. Jay and I love buying used stuff! After all, sometimes it just needs a new coat of paint. We managed to get the following stuff used for the house: a almost new mattress for the guest room, the guestroom bureau, a bureau for me that didn't need a paint job, a futon for movies in the office, and an end table for the family room! We scored and so did the planet. It feels good to reuse.

Our bedroom

Jay loves the kitchen!

Office (Darwin on the futon)

Where you get to sleep if you visit us! All under the warmth of my Grandma's quilt

Today we had planned on going skiing up at Mt.Baker. But our alarm didn't go off and Jay and I are experts at sleeping in. At 8am we realized we had missed our window to get up to the mountain and still have a decent amount of time to ski. So we decided to hold off on hitting the slopes for another week. Instead we broke out the kayaks! Yipee! It was a gorgeous day - no wind and small tides. A perfect day to cross some open water and check out Saddlebag Island. This island has a campsite for boaters on it and the sites looked awesome! We had an interesting encounter with duck hunters that I won't go into. I didn't enjoy it though. It is fair to say that the hunters blended in so damn well that Jay and I didn't know what we were paddling into. Ergh...we had no clue there were hunters out on Padilla Bay!

Padilla Bay

Saddlebag Island and our boats