After an hour delay taking off in Seattle we had a fairly smooth flight to Chicago. A speedy cab ride brought us to our hotel in the Loop. It is midnight here, so time for bed. No time for ukulele practice.
Lots to do tomorrow. The Art Institute beckons.
Off to another adventure. Waiting for a ride is almost as bad as flying, but not quite.
Our summer camping trip came to an abrupt end today. Friday afternoon, while taking a hike along the Nooksack River with friends Marc and Ace, Jean tripped on a rock and planted her face into the rocks. Since we were a bit ahead of her and close to the river, we didn’t hear her cries for help. She got up off the ground, bent her glasses back in shape, and limped to where we were sitting by the river. The sight of her coming down the hill sent me reeling. It was evident that something was wrong. Her face had dark smears and her grimace conveyed to me that I needed to get up that hill. I helped her down to the river where she sat and recovered her equilibrium while we assessed the damages. With bruised and skinned eyes, nose, and forehead as well as a badly bruised rib it was apparent that we needed to get her back to camp.
Jean as she arrived back at camp.
The four of us returned to camp and Ace used her nursing skills to expertly clean Jean’s wounds and apply dressings.
Getting cleaned up
Almost done with the clean up and first aid
We iced her ribs and Jean settled in for the evening dinner with our extended clan and slept as well as could be expected that night.
Ice on the appropriate places
On Saturday she began feeling more pain in her ribs and we decided she could use an elastic bandage. We drove 30 miles to a drug store where we could get a wide elastic bandage to wrap her ribs. Doses of aspirin, ice, and some (legal in WA) hits on a vape pen with high CBD kept the pain at bay for our evening group dinner and music. This also was a celebration of our 28th wedding anniversary.
After a restless night Jean needed to return home. Therefore, at 10:00 this morning I began breaking camp and readying the trailer for our trip home. We left Mt. Baker at 11:30 and arrived home about 2:45. Jean is much more comfortable at home and a trip to our local green store provided a new vape pen. Tomorrow she will see the doctor to further assess the damages.
However, I want to leave you with some photos of a few of the beautiful things we saw since leaving civilization for the wilds of Mt. Baker. It is a wonderful area.
Tomorrow is another day!
Paul
Today we started at Ana Spit on the north end of Whidbey Island. Lots of birds greeted us and we took a walk with them. However the soft sand and piles of driftwood precluded lugging painting gear. That’s why we ended up at a favorite spot – the rocky beaches below Deception Pass bridge.
Jean At Work
Artist Selfie
And some closeup pics.
Mossy Rock
Jellyfish
Tomorrow we head to the mountains and no internet. I will catch up on posts when we return to civilization.
Paul
We slept late, had a leisurely morning, and the spent the afternoon on top of Mt. Erie. The views are stunning with the Cascades to the east, islands to the south and west, and the Olympic Mtns. farther west.
We did some sketching.
Aloha from Washington’s islands.
Paul
Picasso is loaded and hitched to our faithful Ford Escape and escaping we are.
The heat finally arrived in Seattle and we are headed to (we hope) cooler places. First we will try close to the sea and then we will go into the mountains. More later.
Paul
Our recent trip to the southwest included a visit to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Back in my studio I am finding new inspiration from my memories of the trip and, particularly, the entire span of O’Keeffe’s work.
This is a small oil just completed that I call Violet Flowers. It’s only 4″ by 12″ (almost the size on your computer screen), but packs a lot of intensity in that small canvas.
Now I’m working on bigger pieces inspired by the trip.
Paul
It was 49 this morning for our walk. Storms last night with lots of wind and rain. I love the drops on our garden plants.
And the wind didn’t topple a new rock sculpture in our neiborhood park.
Drawing class day is off to a good start.
Paul
Just one more picture sent to us by our friend, Kathy, in Flagstaff. She joined us for a wonderful day at Marble Canyon. This is Jean and me standing on the banks of the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon.
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
Cold water and hot sun!
Paul
Two days of driving brought us home last night. Of course the most difficult part of the trip, the worst traffic, and the worst drivers all happened in the hour plus it took us to get from the Bellevue city limits to our home in north Seattle. Denver at rush hour was nothing compared to Seattle on a Saturday afternoon! Go figure.
Anyway, we arrived safe and sound. Today we are unpacking, doing laundry, rescuing our gardens from three weeks of neglect, and I’m practicing ukulele for tonight’s rehearsal with Ukestra Seatte.
This was a trip with many new sights, happy memories, and lots of new people. We met our nephew’s family at the wedding in Colorado and got to spend time with Jean’s family. In addition we got to be with Jean’s sister, Pat, for her birthday! In Flagstaff we spent time with our friend Kathy and visit sights in the area. Finally, in Santa Fe, Flagstaff, and St. George Utah we saw many places new to us. The Marble Canyon in northern Arizona was beautiful. We enjoyed a great day in the “back door” of Bandelier National Monument. A day at Ghost Ranch revitalized our interest in returning there to paint. Bryce and Zion National Parks were totally new to me and as impressive as their hype. We definitely want to spend some extended time in the SW doing some serious painting, so stay tuned for future adventures down there.
Although our visits with family and friends and our going on excursions every day limited our time to do art. However, we did manage to sometimes grab a quick sketch along the way. Here are a couple I did in a few minutes in Santa Fe.
I did a few very quick water color sketches of landscapes.
And I experimented with pastels as a quick sketch medium. I used several different surfaces to see how easy they were to use for quick pieces.
Finally, perhaps the most fun was with a little box I bought at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. This is Zen art requiring only water and a brush. It lasts for a minute or two and then disappears! I love it!
Now it’s time to get to ukulele practice. Tomorrow I will get into my studio to paint.
Paul
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Jean’s Flickr Photos
