Let the Project begin!!

The morning came swiftly and our waking ritual was interrupted by a knock on the door....

We had come up to Camano Sunday afternoon to do a major dump run. The garage and our storage room had much to contribute! We have come to love the local dump. The people are friendly and helpful; the policies are terrific. We hauled off years of stuff. Recycling, chemicals, fluorescent tubes, you name it! On our second pass over the scales, the cashier recognized us and gave us a "frequent-dumper" discount! We had made a huge dent in removing a lot of trash and it felt good.

Back at the beach, things were really empty.

But the Aero bed was remarkably comfy.

We brought the picnic table and plastic chairs in for furniture. Our dinner was carefully planned to be reheated in the microwave; the eating implements and plates were disposable. With the fireplace warming us up, we watched a DVD on my laptop. I love 'Mystic Pizza', and can watch it over and over.

A very productive day, and a very comfy last evening in the old house.

But I digress. Back to the knock on the door, it was Sebastian, who heads up the deconstruction crew.

He was ready to go with two of his team. They got right to work removing the interior walls and insulation and deconstructing the upstairs while we hurried about emptying the downstairs. This is how it looked when they went to lunch.

Deconstructing looks like this. Not just a heap of stuff in the dumpster.

Meanwhile Jeff and Jim worked hard to get the kayaks situated in their berths. It was windy and storms were in the forecast, so they worked hard to lash the kayaks down firmly.

Our friend Shelly made this wonderful owl. She spent many summers on Hood Canal and made these little critters so often that after many years on the high plains of Bend, she still remembers and put this sweet thing together on a recent visit. We call it the Shore Owl and think that it will be our new travelling partner. Here, Shore Owl is pictured as we leave the beach; our storage locker is in the background. Hopefully future locations will be more inviting!

The ride home turned ugly. As we got onto I-5 the wind was whipping up. A big blast hit the side of the car and Jeff feared that the kayaks had shifted. We pulled off the highway to find that indeed they had. The hardware that was attached to the car and holding the kayaks, had popped off.

Luckily Jeff had recognized a 'disturbance in the force'!

You know the saying "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb". Maybe it will hold true for our project

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This is our farewell portrait. We'll miss the old house.

But, there's another wonderful story to follow! That's for another day... I'm tired.