America 2015 - part 2

We took the ferry to Shelton, as we always do, to stay with my dad a couple days.


He traded in his white corvette for a yellow one. As usual, he insisted that I take it for a drive and "punch it up this hill" to experience the power. It's intimidating to have so much power, but how fun would it be on the Autobahn!


We had to go back to the Shelton Denny's because of this lady - Debbie - who is the epitome of the cheery, intrusive Denny's employee. She calls everyone by name or simply "mama" and the whole restaurant knows what's going on in your life when Debbie is talking to you. It's awesome, the complete opposite of a European restaurant experience. We called in advance to make sure she was working, and were rewarded with her, "Oh honey you away so long!" greeting when we arrived.

And if you happen to live by a Denny's, you must try the chicken/sausage quesadillas with avocado. I couldn't believe how good they are. You know how the menu photos make everything look better than it actually is? In this case the food tasted better than it looked. The quesadilla is thin with the perfect crisp/soft balance, and the fire roasted peppers balance with the sausage. The avocado was just perfect, and they didn't skimp. You almost don't need to dip it into the Ranch dressing, but I didn't say that.

As usual, I ate Mexican at every opportunity, which sometimes worked out to three times per day.


A Shelton high school's wish list.



All the places I've lived in the Seattle area have these magnificent Madrona trees. In fact, they exist no where else on earth outside the extreme West coast from Canada to California.



They drop bark and leave crispy red sheets of paper underneath, a natural phenomenon.



Life clinging to a bulkhead on the water, waiting for the tide.



Starfish holding hands.




The pier was covered in barnacles.




I thought everyone knew about Barnacles but J did not.




Looks just like the herons in my backyard that get caught in our fish nets. I find it interesting that we share many species of animals, Europe and America, but I liked experiencing the ones that don't exist in both places. For example, what they call a robin in Europe is a totally different classification of bird than North America's robins.




Drought even on the wet side of the state.




We're on Harstine Island and hiked down to the water on lovely, dense trails.




We were the only people out there, enjoying our private woods.




Strange, we found an abandoned geocache by accident when I was examining a huge rusty chain.




Mossy cedar.




Licorice ferns make it into a fairy wood.




Finally we made it down to the water.




The mountain looks strange, peeking out from this perspective east of us. It had been so long without rain that most of the month the mountain was hazy, which was frustrating for me because I wanted some sharp photos.




I took a photo of a seagull? What is the matter with me.




Dead crab in ultra-green seaweed.




Sandeuro.




I found an oyster shell bigger than my foot! Made me very hungry for grilled oysters, that I had to wait a while for due to red tide. I actually saw red tide for the first time in my life, the waves washing up to shore were bright red. Ew.




This old tree has barnacles on its "legs."




Ah, there's the menu. Where's the waitress? I would like the Dungeness please.




I took this photo simply because its an example of a sign you'll never see in Germany. Too reminiscent of the time when neighbors spied on each other.

And it works - we were geocaching Port Orchard along a busy highway and a cop pulled over and questioned us. It was our first time being detained by police for geocaching. I was so glad I'd renewed my International driver's license, and had our passports right there with us. The officer was nice, but another one showed up too. Supposedly a neighbor called 911 because he thought we were disassembling the guardrail! The cops took our names down and questioned us about how long and where exactly we're staying on our vacation, and then wished us good luck. I am always confident, almost cocky around American police, cuz they're my guys. But my husband was pretty shook up - foreign police are always more intimidating than your own. He apologized to me twice afterwards, as if it were his fault. I had to recall how I felt the one time I was pulled over in Germany, and I was pretty nervous.

Later our geocaching friends had to laugh at us - they say they get stopped by police all the time while geocaching.



Back at my dad's house, when I looked out the window I saw a deer harvesting apples quite bravely in the backyard. I knew a horse who would do this to get to plums, but that's the only other time I've seen such resourcefulness. The fresh, good ones are on the tree, not the ground!




I took a video too of her (?) munching away on apples.




Across the street from my dad is a horse lady who has funny signs on her fence.




I was astounded at how "nevergreen" our state has become, and asked my dad to take my picture. It was SO hot out.




This is not some crop or hay, it's just grass next to the highway. I could see we'd have to give up our plans for campfires.



 
The neighbor lady obviously doesn't like people as much as horses.

That's it for our Peninsula time, we still had so much to do at this point.

Next: The ferry ride back