The big boat parade and the local scene

The annual Opening Day on Lake Washington was truly cool. It started when one of the canals was opened for the first time linking lakes Union and Washington to the sea. The Ballard Locks near us are what keeps the water in. It was a big deal, so they keep the tradition alive with pomp, circumstance, and, we guess, a lot of alcohol. The dragon boats were first. A little less syncopated than the rowing crews, it was fun to see these huge canoes. Note the cowboy hat on the dragon bowsprit. The theme was the "Wild Wild West".

The crew races were next, and U. of Washington, second best in the nation, pretty much dominated everyone. Mo was impressed at the strength and sheer size of the UW Amazon women. Blain thought the skinny little Brazilian team was more photogenic, and surprisingly less amazonian.

From the Montlake Bridge, the view of the races was amazing. When all the boats paraded past underneath, the sight was remarkable.

Here's the Montlake Bridge loaded to the gills with people. The Seattle fireboat started the parade off in fine style. Good thing we were all in rain gear.

The western theme soon became more obvious.

These pocket steamboats had the loudest whistles, without a doubt.

And what parade would be complete without the amphibious car/boats?

And some ducks? The loon was cool. too.

So a great parade.

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We thought we'd show you a bit of the neighborhood. After a wet parade, the coffee in Fremont was nice and hot. Fremont is a bit eclectic and home to large Google and Adobe offices. The central core, i.e. "The Center of the Known Universe", is packed with import shops, cafes, bike stores, and perhaps had a bit of a vagrancy problem.

These plasma-looking benches caught our eye.

And yes, there is a statue of Lenin. Not sure why, except we heard the owner picked it up cheap after the Iron Curtain fell. At least one locally made beer celebrates him with their "Red Menace" beer. Blain can attest that the beer lives up to its namesake. All of the Hale Brewery beers are great. And that, from a beer snob. Their Hale Cream Ale is fit for a god.

We blew up the kayak and paddled around Shilshole Marina to a sweet little beach on the breakwater for a frisbee session with Chance.

Shorthly after this shot, we were skedaddling home before a huge rain cloud rolled through. We dawdled a bit too long and got soaked. Good fun.

It's been asked, "Just what language does Good Life and Oystercatcher use the same letters?"

In case you didn't guess, the answer is:

Upper Glix'wqni. It's a native dialect from coastal BC. After the very hard winters they faced and the supplies of dried dogfish and catfish became dangerously low, the annual black oystercatcher migration would pass through their area. Often, entire villages were faced with starvation but the almost miraculous timing of this migration brought food o'plenty to their tables.

The villagers would lure the oystercatchers into their kitchens by pulling on a string attached to a large oyster shell. Being predatory, the birds would attack these giant shells, thinking they were their preferred food, Crassostrea marioandretiicus and hang on like Croatian pitbulls, thus allowing the Glix'wqni to reel them in like a large walleye.

So thankful for this heaven-sent abundance, the Glix'wqni term for these birds and living the "good life" is "qktnig'kxka".

Sadly, there are no living speakers of the language, so verification can't be done.

Sold the house, and a special guest

Sold one money trap, and bought a new one. Just kidding Laura!!!

Our good friend Peter, who in fact is a Landscape Architect, sure signs a mean contract. He forged our signatures on all the house sale documents, but even his sloppy cursive is better than Blain's best writing. It just has to fool Laura. That's all. Don't tell her.

Yes! We sold the house. And our friend Laura got a great little place. We were certainly happy there for almost ten years. A lot of love still left though. Have a great house-warming party Laura, and all our best wishes. She's yours to love.

Speaking of Landscape Architects, Mo's former boss Jeff Dillon was our first official guest aboard. We got to pull out the fine plastic and did a right lovely little tea party. A walk to the nearby Golden Gardens beach park , because that's what Landscape Architects like to do, and then dinner at Ray's famous restaurant. We all got a kick out of the trashcan soccer goals, and the creativity on this otherwise very negative sign. The trees that grow in sand are also something of an enigma. Folks have asked what we do all day. Besides running to various marine stores, and the grocery run, Home Depot, the bank for more money, etc... we prepare the boat for a long cruise in some very wet country. 'Oystercatcher' is a fine a solid 1982 fiberglass pilothouse, and though the former owners did a great job of maintenance, there are still a few things to do. One of the front windows had a crack in it, so Blain called a guy that does these things, and screwed up the courage to pull the glass himself. Luckily, it went smoothly and the new glass should be ready tomorrow.

While Blain was prepping the window frame and helping a guy hoist another guy up his mast, Monique was removing that old name. We know, we know, it's supposed to be bad luck to rename a boat. So we're not. We're re-lettering. It just so happens that the new letters spell 'Oystercatcher'.A heat gun and a scraper - in this case a credit card- and it's good bye to the good life...

Tomorrow, we think we'll re-letter.