Mini-moon #3

When B and I got married last September, we had a hard time deciding what to do for our honeymoon. There were so many trips we wanted to take that we had a hard time narrowing it down to just one. So, we decided to take a bunch of honeymoons-- "mini-moons", if you will. Our first one was three days in Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast at the end of September. Then, we were in Hawaii in January for a wedding so that was #2. Our most recent mini-moon was just this past week: kayaking for four days around the San Juan islands in Puget Sound.

Our good friends, Geoff and Julia, organized the whole trip through a guide company called Discovery Sea Kayaks out of Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. They offer a trip package called "guided rentals" which is perfect for people like us-- outdoorsy types who know how to camp, cook and survive in the outdoors, but don't know squat about tides, currents or the islands. They provided the boats, safety gear and a guide-- we provided the food, camping gear, and man power.

Here is little photographic taste of our adventure:

Bryan and me on the ferry to San Juan Island.

Boats in Friday Harbor the night we arrived. Being Portlanders, we were used to the fog. :)

Sunset shot near Jones Island of our guide Michelle.

Julia and me both in the driver's seat for a sunset cruise.

Sunset looking west toward Vancouver Island.

Lunch on Turn Island. Bryan, Geoff, Julia and Michelle, probably pointing out our afternoon route.

A shot of all of us at the end of the trip.

Bryan put some more photos from the trip up on our flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/bdhoybook

Photos can't capture everything though. We were never fast enough on the shutter to catch the harbor seals that would poke their heads up out of the water just yards from the kayaks. They'd be gone just as fast as they showed up. And we couldn't capture the sound the bald eagles make when they talk to each other. Or how glassy the water is at 7am. One thing I wish we could get on film was the bioluminescense. We stayed out until after dark on our sunset cruise on Tuesday night so we could see it. Tiny little organisms in the water light up when they have been disturbed. It was as if we had sparklers attached to our paddles. So very cool.

We had such a great time and will definitely be back. You how I said a couple of weeks ago that I needed a boat? Make that a kayak.

Gotta get us a boat.

B and I headed to Seattle on Sunday to spend the day with some of my family. My aunt and uncle live in Pullman, WA and my grandparents come out to visit usually once a year. They were all headed to Seattle to see my cousin so we decided to meet them for the afternoon.

We spent a sunny afternoon at the locks in Ballard on one of the channels from Puget Sound into Lake Union. Forgive me for sounding like an eight year-old, but it was so cool. Gorgeous, manicured grounds with plenty of deck space to watch the locks up close in action. All I have to do now is get me a boat............

The first days of summer

People in Oregon say that summer here is from the 4th of July until Halloween. I always thought they were kidding, but believe it or not, the 4th rolled around and it was 96 degrees. And, it has been sunny ever since. And how do the Hoybooks like to mark the beginning of summer? With a trip to the beach of-course.

As I have blogged before, the Pacific coast is a great place to go when the weather in Portland is crummy. Even when it is windy and rainy, you can still stroll along, hunt for shells, and duck into a coffee to warm up. Since the ocean is so cold, its not like you get in the water anyway. The coast is also a great place to be when the weather in Portland is gorgeous. When the weather is hot in P-town, the beach is the place to be.

B and I headed west yesterday, stopping for awhile to shop in Lincoln City and then north up to Pacific City, mostly to get a bite to eat at the Pelican Brew Pub, but also to check-out the beach our friends call their "favorite." Pacific City hides behind this huge sand dune cape and it is one of the coolest spots on the coast. The dune is probably 500 feet high and climbing it is no easy feat. B and I made it about halfway up and then walked out on the cape, Cape Kiwanda, for some big wave action. This a popular spot along the coast for photographers to set up their cameras on tripods and wait all day for that one big wave that hits the cliffs just right. Its also a popular surf spot and while we were there, we saw probably 50 trucks and SUVs parked along the beach. Its one of the few spots where vehicles are allowed and people will tow their dory boats (fishing boats with high front bows for riding waves) down and launch them from the beach.
Pacific City is now my favorite beach. We haven't made it to the entire Oregon coast yet, but so far, this is the best.

A day of Independence

B and I are notorious for not making plans. Especially when it comes to holidays. New Year's Eve? Ask us two days before and we probably won't know what we're doing to celebrate. Valentine's Day? That most sacred of holidays to a couple? Since we haven't yet planned anything for my birthday (the day after V-day), we probably aren't doing anything. The three day Memorial Day weekend? You guessed it, we planned our camping trip the night before. So, it really did come as a shock to me when we made some plans for the 4th of July. We made plans 5 days early. That has to be a record.

Jody and Travis came over and after some really fantastic BBQ'd chicken (B should have his own cooking show), we headed downtown for the Portland Beavers baseball game. Not to be confused with the Oregon State Beavers, the Portland Beavers is the minor league team in town. It was hot, it was baseball, and there were fireworks afterward. God Bless America.In case you couldn't guess, Jody is super pregnant right now, she could pop at any moment.