We've Been Searching...

After Wayne and I got married in May, we moved into my 1,100 square foot, two bedroom, two bath, mobile home in the Lazy Acres park and although he took over the little 10 x 14 shed out back, we still found ourselves needing more space both inside and outside.

Wayne is a big, tall man, with a history of being outdoors in massive timber country and my tiny backyard garden, although a challenge at first, soon seemed like a fish bowl for a salmon. I like to garden, too, and there just wasn't enough dirt for both of us.

Gardening is necessary for Wayne's life.

At first we thought we should look for a place to park the RV off the Olympic Peninsula so that we could have both a retreat and a place to launch ourselves on various journeys. As we looked, it soon became clear that any place we would be leaving the RV just wasn't secure enough to be several hours away for weeks at a time. And we kept finding places that had, curiously enough, too many trees.

"What will I do when we are here?" Wayne asked. He wanted to continue his farming life with sunny land and places for dahlias, roses, blueberries and raspberries to flourish.

We started talking about finding some land we might build on, or have a small house on, but then we realized we would be paying large sums of money each month for something that wasn't really an improvement over where we are now.

In July we redirected our focus toward buying a house with at least a half an acre, some sunny space, and close enough to civilization that I could make contact with other artists and quilting/sewing types.

We were drawn to Shelton in Mason County because of all the water near by. But we quickly learned that most homes with water views were far out of our price range, so we began to adjust our vision to include access to water within a short walk or drive. And we found a place.

House in Shelton we almost bought but then we didn't.

It seemed at first as if it was just what we wanted. But it didn't have everything on our list and more particularly, Wayne was adamant that the property boundaries were clearly defined. As we got further into the purchase process (inspection, appraisal, etc.) we discovered that the Seller, through no fault of his own, was using Mason County title information that was flat wrong. They were defining the property based on a lot that no longer existed and the Seller had built a fence along a lot line that was probably two or three feet off the real line, meaning we as Buyers would lose over 250 or 300 square feet of land before we even got started.

We bailed on the deal. And it was a loss, emotionally as well as financially, because of what we had invested in time (driving, gas, meals, etc.) as well as the costs of pre-purchase requirements. But it was the only choice because to go ahead would mean even more costs in trying to get the boundaries clarified.

And after a week of feeling discouraged, we were back on the Realtor.com site looking... and it seemed like every house we liked enough to visit was snapped up by other buyers before we could even make an offer. There was one that was just about to go to auction, a big house, but when we went to see it, it was clear there was foundation damage, roof damage, squatter damage and it smelled of too many unpleasant things to list. But it looked so appealing in the photos!

This is the first house Wayne lived in with his grandfather.
He would have bought that one if the owner was willing to
sell it, but that was not an option. Sometimes hard to compete
against memories like this.

 It didn't take us too long to begin to recognize phrases like "Needs some work," really means, "Take out your check book and plan to spend a year bringing this place into shape." Or "Has wonderful water views..." meant that the view was the ONLY thing to recommend it.

But each time we toured a house or drove by we got a clearer idea of what we really could not tolerate and what we must have. There was one in Hoodsport we loved, but there seemed to be some strange thing going on with the Seller and his Agent about actually accepting an offer. And another one near a lake we put an offer on but were immediately put in back-up position (if that offer fell through, they would consider ours... as the weeks would roll by...) and so it went.

There were some fun aspects of looking. We would text or email MLS numbers for the other one to look at, and then we'd take a day and drive two hours away to see if the house in reality was anything like the pictures. We talked, we argued, we sulked, we cajoled, we laughed and finally after so much action and no results, we took a break for a week - no Internet searches at all.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Lazy Acres garden was a challenge, but not
for long. Less than half of what he once had,
he made the most of it, but Wayne wanted
more space and more sunlight.

These Sands are not Shifting

Not the greatest shot of me at the entrance to the Marvels
of the World in Sand, but it's not really about me.

The last time I was in Bogota, I had time enough to go and visit “Maravillas del Mundo en Arena” (Marvels of the World in Sand), an amazing collection of sand sculptures on display in a series of tents covering 32,000 square feet, created by sand artists from around the world. It took over 6,000 tons of sand from the Rio Sumapaz, determined to be of the right consistency to build sculptures that are over three stories in height using only water to hold them in place.

10,000 foot mountains surround Bogota
which is at 8,000 feet of elevation.

This is another good reason to check into events that are taking place when you are traveling. The event was over at the end of March and I would have missed it if someone had not said to me, "If you have time, make sure you see "Maravillas" and I am glad I did.

The first sand sculpture seen upon entering
the show.

Sand artists have been building castles and other structures for decades and some of them probably got their start at a beach, building moats and then watching the tide take their work away. You can see some of the internationally renowned sand artists and their work here. I was unable to get a list of those participating in the Bogota event, but am fairly certain some of them were among those displayed at that web site.

All of the "Wonders of the World" were re-created in sand, including the Pyramid at Giza, the Sphinx, the Great Wall of China, the Buddha, the Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and more. There were tableaus of the U.S. Space Program, a nativity scene, South American indigenous archeological finds, the Tower of London and Big Ben, a giant chess set in sand and other artistic creations.

What follows are some photographs of the sculptures. The lighting was difficult for taking photos, so some are not as clear as I would have liked. I could have done a better job if I had taken a tripod with me, but this is not something I normally do. This presentation of more than 100 sculptures was sponsored by Foto Urbano, an international training company which has sponsored similar events in other places world wide.

This photo of the Buddha is credited to eltiempo.com

If you look closely at this you will see the 'shadow' of
the Twin Towers in this NYC structure in sand.

The U.S. space program featured in sand. Notice the
people to the right, giving you an idea of the size and
scale of the sculpture.

One of the artists at work near the end of the exhibition.

The Nativity scene was given a place of honor at the end of the show,
taking up about 10 meters in length - very impressive!

Close up of the Nativity scene. The standing Joseph is,
in my estimation, approximately 18 feet tall.

If you are interested in learning more about sand sculpture, here is a short video of the 2011 world competition in Washington state.

The Miracle of Flight

Last weekend we crossed off another objective we've been meaning to accomplish. We went to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, right next to Seattle's "Sea-Tac" International Airport. Every time we have passed it the comment is made, "We have to go and see that one of these days..."

Well, we still have to go back and see more of it because it is huge in space and massive in terms of the amount of information. And they are big enough now that they are offering a changing menu of other things to see and do, including an upcoming photographic exhibit called "Spirit of Flight," which I hope will be around for awhile. And sometime this fall they will show again the various styles of gear worn by airline attendants over the years.

We decided to go aboard the retired Air Force One Boeing aircraft (first picture) that flew President Kennedy to Dallas and to see the inside of a retired Concorde jetliner. (Jey-hu is standing - in the shade - next to the wheel of the Concorde, to give you some idea of how big it is.)

It was a late afternoon choice on a blisteringly hot day and by the time we arrived, it was already 3 p.m. Too late to start to see everything well... when you go, be advised there is enough to keep you busy all day. There is a small restaurant on site. It is wheelchair accessible, all except the outside aircraft displays.

So we saw the outside planes and zoomed through all the exhibits, barely taking time to stop and read about the people and places. There is a wonderful exhibit showing the beginnings of Boeing, another one about how rockets evolved, some very informative stuff about the space station including a mock-up of a portion of it, and perhaps the item I liked best was a "Land the Space Shuttle" game where you sat inside a little space with a joystick and a screen which simulated being able to see the field where you are landing. Oh, and there were plenty of gauges and instrumentation to see whether or not you were right side up or otherwise. (Not the frame shown below... that is in the early years exhibit.)

I could have sat at that all afternoon. Sadly there are only two of them and the little boys around me, standing in line for their turn, were fidgeting because "that Granny is taking too long, Daddy." Guess what? I got the shuttle to the landing strip the first time!! I didn't land it very well because I forgot the flare at 2000 feet, but at least I didn't destroy it completely in the desert like someone else I know, even after he tried it several times....

There are full-size models of the gossamer wings that got man started trying to imitate birds, smaller models of the planes that made history, but plenty of other full-size aircraft that boys and girls of all ages can sit inside to pretend they are flying or for grand-dads to show their grandchildren what they flew or what their fathers were flying in. Women in aviation were not in large numbers back in those days.... and still are limited today, but perhaps more because the little girls weren't drawn to flight the same way little boys were. Perhaps that is changing. In any event, there is a very large area for tots to play around and I peeked in, thinking about small ones I know. There was a very cute miniature Blue Angels jet in there and a little angel with corn rows was smiling from ear to ear looking up at her Daddy as she 'flew' around.

The displays are informative, all of the equipment inside is in great condition and there are planes from various countries as well, not all Boeing. Since I cannot post all the photos here, you can go and see a few more on this site: Flickr (click on the set "Museum of Flight") or click on the link for the museum above - or both.

Some years ago I took my son to Cape Kennedy (formerly Cape Canaveral) to see the Saturn V rocket - a real one - and all the Apollo Project history, including a real spacecraft module, and we went to the IMAX movie there which was impressive. This was all to share with him my experiences as being involved in that effort. The reason I mention it is because at this museum there is a substantial exhibit for this project, including a mock-up of the Lunar Excursion Module and other artifacts. More on that in another post. Hope I haven't worn you out!