Monday after breakfast Todd and I headed for his local upfitter shop to see if we could get parts to fix the Serenity exhaust and rear stabilizer.
Todd took me to 'Better Off Road' where he has family connections, his son went to school with the owner. They had in stock what we need to fix the exhaust, a new tailpipe and the clamps to put it on. We left the stabilizer bracket so they could either find a replacement or weld the broken one.
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| New Exhaust Tailpipe and Hanger |
We returned to Todd's and cut the tailpipe to size and a little welding to make a hanger, we repaired the exhaust, it was a pretty simple job. I am grateful that cousin Todd got the handyman gene and has a complete shop for working on anything mechanical.
Once we got that done, we had lunch and headed out for some more touring. On the way, we stopped by Better Off Road. Although they could not find a replacement sway bar bracket, they welded the broken one back together and did a fine job.
Todd took us on a driving tour through the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. I did not take any close up pictures because we did not want to meet the MPs personally.
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| EA-18F Growlers, from a distance |
We saw lots of aircraft, including their primary fighter jet the The EA-18G Growler which I thought was an F/A-18F like the Blue Angels fly but it is a specialized electronic warfare (EW) derivative of the F/A-18F Super Hornet. It is cool to see them and watch them fly over Todd's property, which they do frequently.
Both Todd and Ann worked on this base when they were active in the military and have many personal stories about their experiences. Todd was in the marines and Ann in the Navy, the banter is entertaining and never stops 😊.
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| Tulip Town |
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| Tulip Farms |
The place gets mobbed with people from Seattle and tourists (us) but what you see is truly spectacular.
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| Tulip Town |
With the flowers and mountains in the background, the scenery is second to none.
We were very lucky to hit Tulip Town when the flowers are in bloom, it is a little early this year.
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| Taylor Shellfish Farm |
We stopped at one of the local Taylor Shellfish Farms where they farm oysters.
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| Taylor Shellfish Farm |
It was another beautiful day and everyone was having a great time. It made me wish I liked oysters 😐.
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| Taylor Shellfish Farm |
It was clearly low tide.
From the coast we drove Chuckanut Drive which was the first road (1896) connecting this section of WA with points south, before then you needed a boat.
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| Chuckanut Drive |
The views are spectacular.
Todd and Ann are great tour guides and took us to more places with beautiful views and then we eventually made our way to the port town of La Conner for dinner.
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| La Conner |
La Conner, Washington is a renowned historic waterfront village, it is really beautiful.
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| Ann and Todd |
We browsed the shops and walked the boardwalks; it was gorgeous on such a sunny day.
We had dinner at La Conner Seafood & Prime Rib House, it was delicious.
We had another fantastic day, Tuesday we plan to depart for home.
Tuesday morning we made preparations for our trek back east.
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| Repaired Rear Sway Bar Bracket |
I installed the repaired Rear Stabilizer Bracket, it will probably be good for a long time, but I do plan to replace both brackets when we get home.
Ann took June to the Commissary for supplies. I washed the Serenity Falcon and we departed around 12:30. We have had a fantastic visit and really hated to leave. We hope that Todd and Ann come east soon and we can show them the same hospitality that they have treated us to.
Our next planned stop was to visit Steve and Patti's son, Jack and his wife, Katie, who now live in Seattle. We stopped at a rest area that had a dump station on the way to Seattle and I found that I stole Todd's hose nozzle....oh well Todd will have to come to Vermont and get it.
We set a plan to meet Jack and Katie for dinner around 17:00 but I arrived 2 hours early, no traffic. I had no idea that Seattle has streets on hills much like San Francisco, I even dragged the scooter rack on several intersections.
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| Jack |
Luckily, Jack was home and we got nice walk in with Jack and their dogs, Luna and Kona.
He has great views around his house in all directions.
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| Katie, June, Fred, Jack |
After Katie got home from work we went to dinner at Cafe Lago, a very fine Italian restaurant.
We enjoyed our time with Jack and Katie, they seem very settled and happy in Seattle.
Wednesday we are planning to either head east to Idaho or south to Nevada....not sure.
More beautiful scenery! We are lucky Todd could help with repairs to the RV, we can breathe a little easier. Hesitant to leave but we must start heading East. Jack and Katie have a beautiful home with magnificent views. We were very happy they made the time to have dinner with us.😍
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