Consider visiting San Juan Island, WA.

What a beautiful place San Juan Island is to celebrate the 4th of July. You have your choice of watching the fireworks at Roche Harbor Marina or in the heart of town in Friday Harbor. Both are great places to kick back with your favorite beverage & people watch.

I started the festivities by watching our local parade with my dog, Brook. If you haven’t watched a local parade, you’re missing something; the energy is infectious. My day continued with our Pig War picnic’s great food, music and more people watching.

In… read full article

Some natural objects are so profoundly moving they actually have a species of visual poetry about them, singing of glory and wonder. In my estimation, there is no spectacle in the world so inspiring as the soaring Bald Eagle floating on outstretched wings. A bird of unsurpassed power and majesty with a beauty that is both royal and splendid, the Bald Eagle is truly a study in the anatomy of flight.

The San Juan Islands have the most significant Bald Eagle breeding population in the continental U.S. with approximately 94 pairs of nesting eagles. Monogamous and mating for… read full article

According to a recent study, done at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, San Juan county beat out all the others in Washington as the healthiest county in the state. This study was based on how healthy residents are and how long they live. It considered health behavior, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.

Does it feel healthy to live here? That’s an interesting question for someone who has lived here since 1977; therefore someone who is getting older. Still, the answer would have to be affirmative. I… read full article

You don’t want to see a lot of changes in the islands – the quaintness of our surroundings is what makes us so unique and distinct. However, the new Lopez Village Market is a nice change! The new market opened a few blocks down the street from the old store in Fisherman’s Village and has many great updates and new offerings. The new store feels much larger with spacious, well marked isle ways which makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. The addition of Bonnie’s Deli is great – with seating and even a fireplace –… read full article

I was first introduced to Kenmore Air when living at my family’s beach compound near Tacoma in the mid-1980’s. At the time, I was cooking professionally aboard large private yachts and also provisioning for long-distance sailboat races. Given the time-sensitive nature of food for these races, for any race with a Northwest start, I would charter a Kenmore float plane to land on the beach in front of my home to be loaded with two weeks of food in dry-ice packed fish chests and off we would go!

Since that time, I have been a regular on Kenmore… read full article

The market is beginning to show some movement here on Whidbey Island. We had a very early spring and then the weather did turn for a couple of weeks, keeping buyers away. And of course, Mother’s Day isn’t a time to go house hunting, particularly if you want to stay on the good side of Mom!! But things are definably feeling different, with calls from out of town buyers, renewed interest from people who have kept away for a couple of years and most importantly, a good economic outlook on a federal level. Areas of California are showing… read full article