Carefree Days on Vashon Island WA USA

What a wonderful time on Vashon Island.  I had the good fortune of being invited to the wedding of FO and LG.  

Two years ago I was fortunate to spend the week of July 4th on the island.  This time the weather was just as good and our view from the KVI Beach House was spectacular!  

So generous and sweet of my dear friends R and JG to invite me to share their house for the week.  We had the good fortune of having KP in the house as well. Having KP and JG playing and singing for us was a great treat.  E and JG also joined us for part of the week with the adorable EG.  I'm not usually a big fan of 3 year old children, but this one was extra special.  What a great source of entertainment!  Those young parents surely know what they are doing.  

Took some lovely long hikes on the beach and in the woods.  A first was to see kids pulling the logs off the beach into the ocean to play with... not something you see everyday on an east coast beach.  The beach house was equipped with kayaks as well and JG and I had a fun spin on them one day.  Getting them down the hill to the beach was a bit of a challenge but once there, being out in the sound was great.  We thought perhaps we saw a seal playing in the water.

looking a Rainier everyday was a special treat

KVI beach 

on a walk by the beach

Of course the main event was the wedding and I don't hesitate to say it was an amazing one!  Held at the Old Chaser Farm on Vashon and catered by Matt Dillon, Seattle chef and winner of a James Beard award.  The food was spectacular.  My favourite was the lamb with mint yogurt sauce cooked on a wood fire.  The wood fire pizza with peas and buffalo mozz, king boletes, smoked turnips, and shrimp with morels were delicious as well.  No cake but the chocolate chip cookies with rye flour and salt were almost as delicious as the pecan shortbread and fresh apricots (I thought they were some odd type of nectarine...they were so sweet and peach like).  

During the cocktail hour were we serenaded by the fab JG and KP.  The wood smoke pouring over them didn't stop the music.  The negroni cocktails made with Cynar were delicious.  

l 

enjoying the cocktail hour

 party girls 

lovely ladies - the bride and Mom

 

getting their wedding band tattoos

So much delicious food and fun times with dear friends, I am truly grateful for having such great friends that allowed me to attend the wedding.  

Keep your eyes open for the The Ruby Brink, the bride and groom's new restaurant on Vashon expected to open in the autumn.  https://www.instagram.com/laurenthebutcher/

Spent the last day in WA state with another old friend, LD. https://www.laddecker.com/  Took the Bainbridge Ferry and drove up to Port Townsend for the day.  Another great breakfast at Endolyne Joe's.

  

Off to Denver on June 27th.  1st stop Westin Riverfront in Avon, CO.   

Out of Florida...1st stop KCMO

Hope all the Dads had a wonderful Dad's Day! 

Wonderful time in Kansas City Missouri (KCMO) and surrounds.  

I left Florida on June 14th and everything I own now fits in my 5X5 storage unit or is in my duffel or backpack. Still dragging along a small "overflow" bag as well but looking to eliminate that ASAP.  

Many thanks to all of those that helped me with my transition out of Florida, whether or not you were there. The joy of giving things away is great.  

Special shout out to FG for putting me up my last night in Florida. One last delicious meal before leaving and a night full of repacking and slimming down the duffel.  I filled another big trash bag with stuff I didn't need or was too heavy.  I'm still working to lighten my load.  

Did some biking along the Missouri River near Parkville. The Big Muddy was looking good and everything in KC was green and blossoming.  The cottonwoods were pumping out the cotton. A couple big thunderstorms rounded out the hot days.  My last day was fab perfect early summer weather.  

It was heartwarming to see the improvements in downtown KCMO including the streetcar that runs from River Market to the Crossroads Arts District.  Some of my old haunts were relatively unchanged (Grinders...still great) and lots of new stuff.  The city is bustling and now finding parking can be a challenge.  A great problem to have in a downtown that was struggling less than 20 years ago.  

A special treat of attending the KC symphony at the gorgeous Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.  An impressive building that is gorgeous both inside and out.  Michael Stern is the music director and conductor as well as the son the famous Isaac Stern.  The Rachmaninoff symphony was perfect way to finish off the program at their season finale. 

Many thanks to JD for her hospitality! Of course, hanging out with Walt and Church (JDs kitties) was a pleasure as well.   

Arrived in Seattle yesterday morning and on Vashon Island for LG's wedding (@laurenthebutcher) on Saturday.  Staying at the KVI beach house. Hoping to capture some pics of Rainier later in the week when the skies clear up a bit.  

Compassion for those in Portugal who have suffered with many dying in wildfires this week.  It happens to be quite near to where I'll be in a few weeks.  Many people were caught in their cars trying to escape the fire. May all of those who passed rest in peace.

Back on the blog, still figuring out my new Surface Book and Windows 10. Also posting on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hklndn/

Happy Summer Solstice!  

Here we go again...Ellie's Big Adventure Part II

Nothing like a new page on the book of life.  I had a hard time logging into my old blog but finally figured it out.  It made me happy to see "blogger since 2005".  I haven't posted a thing since 09 and lots has happened but...yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift, that's why we call it the present!  I've never been able to determine unequivocally who said that but it's a nice sentiment.

I resigned from my corporate job effective 12APR17.  The last time I did this was 30APR09.

I am checking out of the rat race and joining the human race.    

As of 14JUN17 I will be homeless, once again. It is quite amusing not to have a response for..."permanent address". In fact, I copied some of this verbiage from my post in 2009. This time I'll do it even better.

No partner, no kids, no car, no mortgage, no job, no debt.  I AM FREE!!!  

I'm leaving FL on June 14th, leaving USA on July 17th.  

I've spent the last 6 weeks getting rid of crap.  I now have only 10 days till I leave FL.  While I've had my fair share of beach time, I've also worked hard at ridding myself of crap.  It has been loads of fun watching other peeps take the crap and enjoy it. 

I'm calling it Ellie's Big Adventure Part II.  😀

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

How does one follow 6 months traveling around Asia? Spend some time in the lovely UK and ROI.

Here I am in the County Carlow countryside near to County Wexford.

Southeast Ireland is full of rolling hills and fantastic coastline.

This is Huntington Castle in Clonegal where I attended a Samhain festival.

The grounds and the gardens around the castle were gorgeous and still quite green even in November.

I stayed in the lovely towns of Enniscorthy and Wexford.

Check out the videos of the coastline and the gorgeous beach Curracloe near Wexford.

Back to London after my 8 day romp and have been visiting all my old haunts as well doing a bit of museum viewing. I also had the good fortune to spend a bit of time in the lovely English countryside in Sussex.

Walking in the South Downs and seeing loads of pheasant, some deer, and tons of mushrooms.

My next journey was to the highlands of Scotland on the sleeper train from London. 12 hours to Fort William from London Euston. This is some of the most gorgeous scenery in the world, in my opinion. So much water everywhere.

This is my view from my little townhouse cottage in Isleornsay on the Isle of Skye. After taking the overnight train to Fort William, I took the local train to Mallaig, the end of the line. This is the train route used in the Harry Potter movies. Then I took the ferry over to the Isle of Skye.

What a trip. I saw a huge heard of red deer, thought they were elk, and more waterfalls than you could ever count.

A couple more days left in London and I'm off to Baltimore. This stage of my big adventure is coming to a close.

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” –Freya Stark

How to spend your last week in Asia...

Pictures tell the story...

Live as you will have wished to have lived when you are dying.
- Charles F. Gellert

I saw a leopard in Yala!!!

As I sit watching the sun rise over the Irish Sea in Wexford, it is hard to believe I was in Sri Lanka a month ago. My plans to go to India were thwarted by the fact that one cannot get an Indian Visa in Singapore unless you live and work (i.e., valid work permit) in Singapore or are Singaporean. Such is life and I figured it was just meant to be. Go with the flow and be pleasantly surprised.

Sri Lanka offers free Visa on arrival for 30 days for many nationalities so off I went.

I spent the first 9 days at the Barberyn Beach Ayurvedic Resort in Weligama. This is the real thing, no lavender in site, it is all stinky and I was rubbed with, washed, drank, and swallowed all kinds of things.

I had planned to do the pancha karma but on the third day developed a high fever which resulted in the lovely ayurvedic doctors changing my whole treatment plan as well as having many new things to drink and swallow. The importance of food is quite fascinating and I was carefully monitored while I had the fever. Oddly, to me at least, you are not allowed to have anything "cooling" while fighting a fever.

In the ayurvedic way, the fever and its associated illness are encouraged to work their way out. Easier said than done in some ways. I NEVER get fevers but am quite accustomed to my occasional bouts of boiling hot flushes. On the second day I felt as if I burning from the inside out and then was told to drink hot water and I couldn't have any fruit except bananas as my favourite tropical fruit, papaya, is too cooling. The daily massages and herbal baths were lovely and the setting of the resort is quite spectacular overlooking the Indian Ocean.

I left on the 9th day feeling clean inside and out. Needless to say, my fever and illness resolved.

We also had very nice daily yoga and meditation sessions.

The food was mostly vegetarian and was delicious. When I was encouraged not to have the spicy condiment as it adds to my dominant pitta dosha, I ignored it and ate it anyway. This was my typical breakfast:

Oat porridge, sauteed shallots (big red ones as are typical in Asia), lentils, and Sri Lankan chili paste...YUM!!!

The Sri Lankans are quite adept at making vegetarian food delicious although fish figures heavily in most areas.

Like India, cows are sacred in Sri Lanka and wander all over at will. Some sources quote Sri Lanka as the original seat of Buddhism.

I never ceased to be amazed at the different types of Buddhism all over Asia. The heavy influence of Hindu gods and practises is evident in Sri Lanka. I even had the luck to see animist ritual which wandered down the street at 4 a.m. one night. See the video.

The most important event for me while in Sri Lanka is reflected in the title of this post and here he is:

What an experience. I made the right decision to go to the park VERY early and was the first gov't jeep entering that day. Seeing the leopard was the highlight even if he was just acting like a cat...lying around sleeping. At first I couldn't see him as the spots are such good camouflage. The sun shines through the trees and creates spots on the ground and this guy just looked to be part of it until I saw him flapping his tail and occasionally shaking his head.

Yala National Park is a huge park on the SE of the island of which 2/3 are pure reserve and not open to the public. I was quite lucky to see the leopard. It has always been a goal of mine to see a big cat in the wild and now I've seen one of the most elusive. The landscape is desert savanna and so different from the lush tropical south coastal areas.

Many tourists and locals died in Yala during the 2004 tsunami (Sri Lanka lost 40K+ people in all) but none of the big animals are known to have been lost. Apparently, the animals felt the vibration well before the first and more damaging second wave and had made their way to higher ground.

Going to the park early allowed me to see many other animals as well:

Sri Lanka grey langurs

Asian elephant, in this case a young female on her own

estuary crocodile

small spotted deer

rarely seen jackals

We also saw tons of birds, including some eagles, and a full family of wild boar with 11 piglets.

Sri Lanka is exceptional in its variety of fruit and spices. If it is a fruit or spice, it probably grows in Sri Lanka. The wood apples were in season and very interesting. Seeing sandalwood, cinnamon, and licorice trees was a special treat.

Most of the rest of my time was spent close to the sea in various guesthouses along the SE coast. Next time I will do a bit more exploring as this island is so diverse that I imagine it would take many visits to take in all it has to offer.