We do have an out and about group and all we need is a suggestion and then whoever wants to go, goes.  This time it was Carolyn who wanted to see Lettuce and Lovage playing in Lake Oswego and it was a delight.  Before the theater, nine of us dined at the Terrace Kitchen.  None of us had been there before and we all loved it.  It was a bit pricey, but well worth it.  We even lucked out with a live jazz band playing in the background.  After we headed over to the play and met Lynette there, with her friend from Tacoma.  We had a fun evening and next time, I hope you will join us.

Starr and Vicky where at the walks last week but are just getting a chance to load in their pictures.  Since they stayed in the cabins I think it will give you another view of the walks. Pam and Margie are two gals that Starr knows from Oregon City who came up and stayed with her and did the walks.  I'll be posting them as they send them to me.  This is also the narrative that Starr sent along.  One of the gals that went with them was Shirley, a friend of Vicky's.  I'm going to try and put their pictures in another folder so you don't have to go through the other pictures a second time.  So have a look.

Day one at Camo Beach State park. First walk was the "Camo Beach" 10K and then the Camano Island 10K. Check point at the water front. Then a wonderful Pot Luck...look at pictures of pot luck, ( Joe & Carol...I think that's their names are eating...right behind the lady in the blue jacket with the white hair..) Then to end the first gorgious day, Vicky & Shirley relaxing in front of their cabin.
 
Everyone was all excited about the Orcas that had attacked a Grey Whale right in front of where the Potluck was earlier in the day...quite a buzz!  We only saw seals and Loons on the first day!  

We ended up taking the wrong trail, but in a way, it was the best trail with the best views.  We had a chance to meet up with 2 Portland walkers, Kathy ad Mjarna,  right about the time it was for lunch.  Was that a great lunch:  halibut and fries.  Very good.  

Chris, the physical therapist from Providence, will only be able to speak to us on the 10th of May.  So in order to accommodate him, we called the YMCA and changed our meeting to the 10th.

From a float plane ride, beautiful tulips, hiking all over Puget Sound, going to the most unique movie theater to see Date Night;  eating everything from the best grilled salmon sandwhich, shrimp, corn chowder, and diving into the largest free birthday dessert ever, we did it all again.   We met up with Merrywalkers and we gained a new Merrywalker.  We walked with new friends and old friends.  Starr will be adding her photos when she gets back and maybe the story about them seeing 3 whales! 
A big THANK YOU to the Tulip Trekkers for providing us with a great weekend experience.

Actually I'll talk about last night first.  After the walk we headed over to the Stanwood Cinema to see Date Night.  Whoever wrote the reviews for that were wrong, it was pretty darned funny.  We walked into the show and what a pleasant surprise.   We are posting up some pictures, but we're not sure of how they will turn out because of the light.  It had the most beautiful mural on the wall plus the Amigo Restaurant, where we had some pretty good Mexican food.
Today we got to the walk right on time to meet up with the rest of the group.  OMG, what a hill.  We were out there for 2 hours and at least 3/4 of the time we walked straight up hill.  Great views, but coming down, we thought my knee caps were going to fall off.  John, the president and his wife Judy, were so nice to walk slowly with us.  We finished the same time as the 10k walkers.  After we headed over to Diamond Knot for a great sandwich and they gave Angela the best looking birthday dessert ever.   This afternoon we just hung out and did some touring of Arlington.  Starr and her entourage won't be heading back till Thursday or Friday, but we will be back tomorrow night.

Vicky, Starr and Angela did the 10k, while Mary Ann, Ruth and I did the 5K.  I want you to know that those 10k walkers did a 2+ at record speed.  I think the rest of us would have died out there, in fact Angela just took some pain meds, but the rest of the day was very pleasant.  The 5k was very enjoyable.  John, president of the Tulip Trekkers gave us ample time to check out the Beaver Marsh and to take a lot of pictures.  This afternoon the highlight was the Spit.  Debbie, one of the locals, took our picture and gave us a rundown on all of the ins and outs of living on the island.  She said the bay in front of us actually becomes one big mudflat when the tide is out, or is it in.  But she actually walked from the far right out to the end with her little rescue dog Sasha.  After visiting with her we entered the Hobbit and then after we had to stop and tell Bill, his wife Ann and their dog Rocky, what a beautiful spot they picked to have a volkswsalk.  You can see their pictures in the album.  Ruth had to return back home today, so now we are only a group of 3, but hopefully tomorrow we can catch up with some of the others.  Today we all gathered at the local cafe where we did have a chance to break bread with all of our new and old friends.  We even managed to check in with the Kellys. Ah, tomorrow is Angela's 39th birthday, so if anyone would like to leave a comment for her .....

We still haven't met up with Starr and Vicky, but hopefully we will get together tomorrow.  It might be till Wednesday before we get her pictures up there.  But today we had a great walk, but the four of us felt like we walked at least a 12K.  It took forever.  Every turn was more beautiful then the turn before, wait till you see the pictures.  It's always so funny to come back to the room and do the pictures and we spend so much time laughing while Angela does the tagging and Ruth and Mary Ann are behind her coaching.  We must have gone through a box of kleenex' because we were laughing so hard.
Ruth decided to become our newest Merrywalker and proceeded to give me some classes on using walking sticks, wait till you see that video.
Curt Myron was there to welcome us as we checked in and was there when we finished.  We were going to join them for the potluck, but after the walk, we were so tired we didn't want to be cold on a beach, so we decided on Diary Queen!  We so Joe and Karen Kelly heading down to the beach and we walked with Dick from East County Windwalkers.  We met quite a few other people that we had walked with before and a new walker Nancy, who was doing her first walk.
Tomorrow I think Mary Ann and I will opt for the 5k while the adventurist twosome, Ruth and Angela will head out for the 10k.  So far the weather is holding up well.  So bye for now. 

OMG you will have to see the pictures to believe it.  Today was another first for the Merrywalkers + one (Ruth).  What a blast.  Another great time and we'll tell you more later.  What a blast!

I've packed my Sunset Magazine with all of the information needed for LaConnor.  One of the gals we walked with a week ago Wednesday is meeting is someplace in LaConnor tomorrow and will be doing a walk there with us on Sunday and she might be heading over to do the walks with us in Camno.  Ruth called today, one of the walkers from this past Wednesday, and she will meet us in LaConnor as well.  So tomorrow we will have a nice walking group of five before heading out to do the Island Walks.  On Sunday, we will meet up with vicky and Starr from the Merrywalkers, so it should be fun.  I just love going to someplace out of the ordinary and then meeting up with all of the people we know, it makes it so much fun!  We will keep you posted.  We pick up Angela at 3:30 and then we head out to Tacoma (I think) and then LaConnor for the Tulip Parade.