Summer of Sitting Still

Hello, everyone! Sorry we disappeared, but we were enjoying our Summer of Sitting Still, spending time reconnecting with our kiddos in the area and also friends from our former lives before we became nomads. We also joined a gym. It is the first time we have been in one place long enough to do that. Steven was militant about his daily workout routine. Me, not so much, but I did spend time on the gym bike while watching the Food Channel. That was really my goal, so I was happy. We also revisited places in the area we love from our old life, it was fun to see how things have changed, or not, depending on the place. 

So all in all, we had a wonderful time, but it’s great to be back to blogging, we have a lot to catch up on. How was your summer?

I’m going to catch you up on the past several months by way of photos rather than me blabbering on. Well, I’ll blabber about each photo, because I want to share the people, places and things we’ve enjoyed over the summer, just mostly in a condensed form. This will get us caught up enough to bring you blog posts about our recent trip to South Korea and Japan, which I certainly don’t want to gloss over. Korea, especially, was more adventure than we’ve had in a long while and it was beyond fabulous!

I’ve mentioned before, but just as a refresher, we have been parked up at the Skagit Valley RV Park in Mount Vernon, WA since mid-June, right after we attended our son Zac’s graduation from Western Washington University in Bellingham. Zac lives about 20 minutes north from us, and our daughter, Zoe and her partner, Dan, live about 45 minutes south of us toward Seattle. 

It was great to be close-ish to the kids so we could get together. We celebrated Zac’s birthday when everyone came for dinner at Ruby Red. Our boy turned 29. College grads in our family are late bloomers. I graduated from college at 29, and my Dad, married with two children, also graduated at 29. It’s like a tradition. It has been a very long time since I got to celebrate a birthday with my kiddos, so I went full out making a cake and homemade ice cream. I enjoyed it very much.

Home Sweet Home. Ruby Red’s spot for the summer. There is a beautiful park setting behind us, but rigs in front. Because we faced west, the sunset beamed right in our window, so we had to install a big 2-ring shade to keep the sun and heat out. It made Ruby Red look like Mr. Magoo.
After eating dinner, cake and ice cream, we went for a walk along the berm that separates the Skagit River from the RV Park. Ruby Red is just off to the left of the photo.
The cake is Claire Saffit’s Blueberry Buckle. The cake part was delicious, but I think the blueberries I used could have been better. They were a bit tart. The ice cream was heaven on a spoon!
I have owned one of these KitchenAid mixers since my 30s, but when we went on the road in 2014, I gave it to Zoe. She sold it, with my permission, because it was leaking oil. We should have tried to get it fixed because, after it was gone, neither one of us got a new one. UNTIL NOW!!!!! We were shopping one afternoon and came across a whole bunch of them on sale, and they were even better priced on Amazon. I guess my lament was just too vocal for Steven to tolerate, because he went online to Amazon and had it delivered that afternoon. Oh, happy days!!
Zoe and I have been obsessed with baking, she says I am in my Buttercream Era, and she is in her Macaron Era. I have dedicated an entire cabinet to baking ingredients. I have experimented making Swiss and American buttercream, which thankfully freezes beautifully. While I am also in my Vanilla Era, we flavor the buttercreams and use them in the macarons.

Zoe has become obsessed with making macarons, and I have signed on as her accomplice. I drive to her house and we spend the day making these delicate little treats. We made some really delicious ones, but also some of them got chucked into the trash. I still can’t get the taste of those undercooked orange abominations out of my mouth! Yuck! We have signed up to take a macarons-making class from the OG of baking, King Arthur Flour. They offer classes from their facility in Vermont, but oddly, the only other place in the country where they offer in person classes is right here in the Skagit Valley, about five miles from where we are. It is because they have a wheat grower here. How lucky are we? That’s going to be on December 13th and we are looking forward to it!

Our vanilla shells always turn out beautifully, but when we add color, things go sideways. Our Halloween macarons looked like mini-hamburgers (stuffed with Oreo buttercream) and they were so undercooked, I couldn’t eat them. Steven could though.
While Zoe makes her macarons, I am obsessed with making this little Bento Vanilla Cake. It is only 4 inches around, but it is three layers, so it can serve 8-12 people depending on the size of the slice. Here I frosted it with American Buttercream and used the leftover Oreo filling. It was so delicious. I have made this cake at least five times this summer and it has been so delicious every time.
Afternoon meetup with fellow nomads and nomad-curious folks at Bellingham’s Boundary Bay.
We took a day with two of our favorite friends, Dan and Sherrie, to go visit the sweet little town of La Conner, not far from Mount Vernon. We had a lovely walk and a poke in all the shops before tucking in to a fabulous lunch at a Mexican restaurant called COA.
In 2000, when we moved to Washington from Texas, Jim and Mary were one of the first couples we met. They had also just moved with their two young girls into the same apartment complex as us. So we have known them a very long time and we thrilled when they reached out to invite us over for dinner. It is always good to see them and catch up on all the goings on in our lives.
This is a “Good Morning, we are on our way!” selfie that we took and sent to Rich and Cheryl, who we were meeting on Whidbey Island to go on a long coastal hike. We first met them through the Senior Nomads FB Group, and then in person in Wales last year. They have been instrumental in our planning and preparation for our trip to South Korea. They did most of the same bike ride we will do a couple of years ago, in fact, I learned about it from them!
And here we are! The weather didn’t hold, but the walk was fabulous! Afterward, we met up with Dan and Sherrie at a restaurant in Coupeville for lunch, then drove to their stunning home which sits on a cliff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The view, and their home, is unbelievably gorgeous!
Years ago when Steven worked for Starbucks, he and Jeanie worked the same shift and became good friends. They make a point to meet up whenever we are in the area, this time in Mukilteo!
Tara and her partner Dave made a trip to Seattle to see friends and us, so we all gathered at Zoe’s house for pizza.
Steven took the Amtrak train from Mount Vernon to Portland to see his buddy Glenn. Here, joined by his wife, Kris, they went out to photograph the annual return of the swifts at Chapman Elementary School. This is a month-long event that brings hundreds of spectators.
One downside to full-time travel is leaving behind good friends. When you’ve been gone as long as I have, things change, people move away and move on with their lives. It is not easy to get everyone together, but this time I had the opportunity to join the gang in Capitola, near San Francisco for a three-day girl’s weekend. I cannot tell you how much I have missed these wonderful ladies and how restorative it was for me to spend time with them. I loved it so much!
Beautiful Capitola.
We took an evening sail around the coast and some of us very nearly went over the side! The sunset was gorgeous and we saw whales spouting off in the distance. Really lovely evening!
Calm waters after returning from the evening sail. Capitola is a beautiful area.
Of course I had to take my Bento Vanilla Cake to share. I carried that thing in my carry on suitcase and assembled it with frosting I made there! Yummy, as always.
We took the opportunity to meet up with a couple of members from the Senior Nomad group on FB, Georganna and Thomas. It’s funny, we have all been to amazing cities around the world, but what are the chances we end up meeting at the Acme Diner out in the boonies in Acme, WA. It was fun to meet up with these active travelers and share our mutual love of beautiful and interesting places around the world!
Day trip to Diablo Lake near North Cascades National Park
We love summer picnics, so we met up with Zac on this day in a state park and had lunch.
Though we spent a lot of time on the bikes at the gym, it was real world experience we were seeking on this day when we rented e-bikes in Bothell and rode all the way to Gasworks Park in Seattle and back again. Zac joined us on his 1984 Schwinn Cruiser, not an E-bike, obviously. He had no trouble keeping up with us!
Over the summer we went through the process to become camp hosts at Washington State Parks. In just a few days, on December 1st, we will move to Rasar State Park and camp host for the month of December. This park is in the foothills of the Cascade mountains, so it is a bit isolated, even though it isn’t too far from where we spent our summer. While we are here, Steven will celebrate his 60th (!!) birthday! Our friends from Portland, Kris and Glenn have rented a cabin at the park and will join us to celebrate. I tried to keep that a secret, but that lasted a hot minute before I had to spill the beans! We are very excited!

So there you have it, our Summer of Sitting Still. It has been a good one, but after Christmas with our kiddos and completion of our hosting gig at the end of December, we are looking forward to getting back on the road. Thanks for sticking with us, and stay tuned for our post about what’s coming up in 2025, as well as our trip to South Korea and Japan! We have so much to share with you!

Next up: South Korea by bike!

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14 Comments

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      Oh, so sorry about that. I double checked and I am seeing all the photos in both the email and on the blog site. Maybe check on your end and try to reload the photos? Hope you guys are doing well and will get back to traveling in 2025! Happy Holidays!

  3. Kristin Lambert
    Reply

    Missed your travel posts! Great to see you both again, and in the PNW. Happy Holidays from Alaska, where it’s winter which means long, dark, and icy cold. No travels planned, but Mexico calls me. It’s been a very hard year.
    Kristin

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      Aww, Happy Holidays to you, too! I remember those long, dark winter days in Alaska during my time in Anchorage. It was so cold, I had to plug in my car so nothing would freeze. I’d go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. My only saving grace was a sliver of a window at my office in the Sohio building where for a few hours, I could see daylight. It is a long season, to be sure. I hope it passes by quickly for you and you can get out to the places you love. Take care, and thanks for taking time to comment.

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      Thanks, Yvette! This is the longest amount of time we have stayed still in the decade we have been full time travelers. It feels weird, and we’re ready to get going again! Happy Holidays to you and yours!

  5. Vernon Hauser
    Reply

    Good to hear from you two and to see your blog. Sounds like you are in a great area and surrounded by beautiful scenery. Now don’t take this wrong but almost every day I would scroll down the side bar of a blog I read that has you listed to see if you had an updated blog. Today was the day and how great. Also answers why I haven’t seen any of Steven’s art on FB. Happy Thanksgiving. Always tagging along. Vern

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      Oh, Vern, I am always happy to hear from you, too! It makes me happy that you missed us. We write this blog to document our own history, but it’s nice to know others appreciate and enjoy reading our travels. Steven is still dedicated to his art, but lately he has focused his artistic drive in another direction, and in the next couple of blog posts, we will share that here for your enjoyment! As always, so good to hear from you. Happy Holidays!

  6. Jodee Gravel
    Reply

    I laughed at your title – as if!! With all your baking I can understand Steve’s commitment to the gym :-)) Wonderful to see you catching up with so many long-time friends. Your girls trip sounds amazing. How fortunate you could hold on while still capturing friends being swept into the sea!! Great memories. Love the Diablo Lake area, I’m still hoping to get back up there and finish the route without fires.

    1. 2chouters
      Reply

      So good to hear from you Jodee. I’m gonna be in touch with you once we get settled in to our hosting gig. We will be heading your way at some point and I want to make sure we meet up. Look to hear from me soon!

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