pics and videos: Achievement Unlocked - Just Married: Joe and Sarah Dieruf - February 27, 2022

Congrats Sarah and Joe!

below: Kim, Suzi, Joe, Sarah, Granma Carol, Granpa Mike.

below: Jeanette, Sarah, Kent, Josie

below: Sara and her brother Misha

Below: Best person Joshua with Sarah

Below: Joe with Best Person Justin

Below Joe and Grooms people doing thier rendition of YMCA

Below:  Sarah and Brides people being super people?

Joe and Sarah with their best people Justin and Joshua

Below:  The Rings

The videos below are posted on youtube.

Below:  The wedding Party walking down the aisle.

Below:  The Vows 

Introducing Joe and Sarah Dieruf:

Achievement Unlocked - Just Married 2/27/2022

Below:  The Toasts

Below Bouquet Toss?

Garter Toss?

below:  Dance with Parents / First dance as married couple

below: Footloose dancing

With the highlight of our winter adventure completed, we just have to figure out how to get back to Montana now.  Passes are closed due to avalanche danger. 

Farm near urban wine tasting hub -- Woodinville - Redmond, WA

We found a lot of the RV parks in the puget sound area have gone to monthly only, and to find a spot we would be having to travel a long distance at a premium price. A friend told us if we were having a hard time finding an RV space in our winter journey to try looking on the website https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US  (thanks Corey)

We found a great centrally located spot labled Farm near urban wine tasting hub just south of Woodinville, WA.  It was more expensive than some other spots, but it was in the center of all the things and people we wanted to do and see while in the Puget sound, so location, location, location.

It is actually a Christmas Tree/ Pumpkin Patch working farm.  Since it is winter we had the place to our selves.  No hookups, but we have a generator and are fully contained so we are fine here.  Love the view of the christmas trees Boomer walks the trails on leash and loves the smells!  The property hooks up to a trail that will connect with the winerys to the north.    

Boomer meets Pirta

Boomer here, and I got to meet my little niece Pirta for the first time.   My family tells me it's the Inuit name for Blizzard.

She is a little white fluff ball with tons of energy.  I really enjoyed playing chase with her.   She is quite a bit younger than me, but I showed her the ropes.  Sometimes I wish I was small too because I can't be as rough and tumble as I want!

I loved playing with Pirta and I can't wait to see her again.    It's so much fun to meet my new family members!

Marymoor Park -- Redmond WA

 

We Finally made it to the Puget Sound.  Our first stop was to take Boomer to the Marymoor Park off leash area.  It is 40 acres dedicated to dogs.  We headed out to the trails of the park and once we were too far from the RV to grab our raingear, it started raining.  Not the light mist we are used to in the puget sound, but a heavy cold rain more in tune with Montana.

Some of the local dogs welcomed Boomer to the park, they had a meeting of the minds.

The Great Blue Herons had their nests built, but in a different grove of trees than we are used to.

Boomer got really excited when a lab took a dive into the water for a bit of fetch.

Shelton, WA

 We stopped at Little Creek Casino at the RV park on the side.  They have pull thru areas with grass and full hookups.  We were concerned about the noise with all the people and the highway right behind our RV, but the noise was not a factor. Actually most noisy thing near us was the neighbors furnace on the RV next to us.  We did see security drive by on occasion. 

We came on a Friday night and already the place was bustling.   I went into the wrong area at first and got lost in a maze of slot machines.  They were everywhere!  I was searching for the main desk and kept getting further and further inside with no clear path out.   With it being early in the day, there were people my age and older sitting at the slots with blank expressions on their faces, pushing buttons.  It looked very dystopian.  There were overhead speakers stating that someone won $100 dollars in a drawing and still everyone had the same foggy expressions.  Flashing lights and moving pictures were everywhere on the slots.   I finally had to ask someone for help and it still took me a while to find the exit because it was so easy to get turned around.

There was a beautiful dog area at the back on a mowed trail around a pond.   

The frogs were singing a loud choir each night and it was so much fun to hear!   In the morning there were several red wing blackbirds sitting on reeds and chirping a greeting to us.  Boomer really liked it there!  

We got to see Shandi Saturday afternoon and we stopped for some Teriyaki on the way over.   We got to see her new place and we went for a ride to a local frisbee course.   Shelton has a beautiful park that winds around the trees.

It was so good to see her and I wish we had more time!

Last day at beach -- Pacific Beach State Park Washington

 We came here for 4 days expecting everyday to look gray and gloomy, what a gift to have all the great sunsets while we were here!

Our last day at the beach we had no sunset.  It was the highest tide we saw while here.

 

RV park -- Pacific Beach State Park, Washington

Getting to stay here for a couple of days it's been so much fun to watch the tide ebb and wane. 

For those not used to coming out to the coast there are TSUNAMIS ALERT signs on all the highways when you get close to the ocean.  One sign tsunamis alert sign pointed to the right.  The only road to the right was a logging road with sharp switchbacks going up a recently logged hill.

We found this interesting sign that explains what creates tsunamis.

Boomer spends alot of his time rolling on the beach.  

 

 Kim found a great camping spot overlooking the water.

There are huge boulders to help with erosion so while we some some climbing down the boulders, it's a lot easier  to take a hike and get on the beach via one of the trails.

What a gift to be able to come to the ocean this year.   I feel so lucky to be able to spend a few days here.

A girl and her dog -- Pacific Beach State Park, Washington

It was hard to choose just one shot of Suzi and Boomer, I have tons, they are sooooo very cute together romping on the beach!

Joe Creek -- Pacific Beach State Park Washington

Joe Creek flows past the campground at Pacific Beach and joins with the Ocean.

These old pier remnants line the creek. At high tide, you can't distinguish the ocean from the creek.   We arrived during the full moon and the high and low tides were very pronounced.  A storm came through and at times the ocean appeared angry, with large waves, one after another sweeping over the sand.

Kim got excited thinking there were fish jumping in Joe Creek, but it turned out the running water is slowly eroding the sides, and you can hear the sand falling into the water as you walk.

Each night as the sun sank below the horizon, beautiful hues of dark peach lit up the sky.

Crow Crab with crab leg -- Pacific Beach WA

This crow landed next to our RV with a fresh crab leg.

below is a video of him with his treasure:

Boomer agrees with the crow, One of his favorite pastimes is finding crab legs to eat.  we try to catch him and have him drop it because the shells can be dangerous and most times he crunches twice and releases it with a huge grin on his face.  

When Boomer is not hanging out on the beach,

He spent his time in the RV watching (and talking about) the other dogs playing on the beach.

Another great day at the beach!

Pacific Beach State Park, Washington

Our new campsite is at Pacific Beach State Park has a gorgeous view of the ocean.  

Boomer absolutely loved it here and did lots of running on the beach.  One of his favorite pastimes is finding crab legs to eat.  Crunchy and yummy, this is followed by shouts to 'drop it!'

Right from our back window, we could see the sun setting on the horizon.  We watched as it slowly dipped down and disappeared.  

 

Dismal Nitch, Washington

After we left the Astoria-Megler Bridge we turned right and pulled over at the rest area Dismal Nitch.  It's called this because Lewis and Clark stayed there during a storm and were stranded for 6 days in the little cove.   It's also the last place they camped before seeing the Pacific Ocean.

While we were there we saw a pod of seals.  There seemed too many to count. In addition to the pod below, there were smaller groups scattered all across our view.

  Each had a unique low voice as they talked to each other and fished.  It was amazing to see how long some of them dissappeared from view when diving heading upstream.

Above is a video of the seals, Sorry for the jerky video, in all the excitement I did not think to get out the tripod in time. 

  The seagulls stayed close beside them, I bet to get some remnants of their fish.

Some seagulls only dipped their beaks in the water, others dunked their heads like the one above, but some even dove like Ospreys into the water.

The seals were beautiful as they swam together, and you could make out their heads and beautiful tails as they dove.

When we arrived they were headed inland up the Columbia River

Then they stopped for a few minutes,

Before heading back out towards the Pacific Ocean.

it seemed like they only fished while heading upstream, when the went with the current they did not stay under the water near as long and moved a lot faster with the current.

What a treat!