#17 - a Gun Emplacement?

1. Host mah jongg night.

2. Make jam.  (Done!)

3. Host brunch. (Done!)

4. Go for a picnic. (Done twice!)

5. Go grocery shopping on my bike. (Done!)

6. Finish my year-end photo albums.

7. Take Fred to Lost Lake.

8. Rearrange the backyard.

9. Eat at the Space Needle.

10. Stay in bed all day.  (Done!)

11. <edited for privacy.>

12. Have a really girly slumber party.  (Done!)

13. Play a round of mini-golf. (Done!)

14. Get the craft room sorted and gorgeousified.

15. Go for a weekend in the San Juans. (Done!  Orcas at Memorial Day!)

16. Have an individual date with each NGS.

17. Go for a hike.  (Done!)

18. Plan and cook a week’s worth of dinners.

19. Go to Portland to see old friends.

20. Perfect a signature recipe (one slightly more nutritional than Bundt cake.)

21. Go to the drive-in movies.  (Done!  Harry Potter at the Blue Fox on Whidbey Island)

22. Get a mani-pedi every month. (Done for Jan, Feb, March, April and May)

23. Go ice skating. (Done!  Colorado with the parentals!)

24. Find the perfect shade of lipstick.

25. Host a big tea party in the back yard.

26. Make a quilt top.

27. Take six dance classes of any kind. (THREE down.  Love the Little Red Hen.)  (Done!)

28. Ride on a Ferris wheel.  (Done!  Puyallup Spring Fair!)

29. Organize our finances and filing system.

        30. Plan an awesome 30^th birthday party.

OK, #17 was a little trickier than I'd planned.  Schedules and weather prevented me from getting in the long, high quality hike I would have liked to send this one off on.  However, this weekend we were at Fort Ebey State Park to celebrate the wedding of two friends, and I managed to take a quick hike down to a gun emplacement on my way to find the showers.  Gun emplacement?  I know, sooo unlike me.  But the walk along the bluff was the really noteworthy part.  I took a couple of photos:

 

 Which in the way of all outdoor photos ever, don't even come close to describing the awesomeness of the vista.  In the true sense of the word, awe-inspiring.   

 

The sound is vast and serene, the geology of the sharp bluff rising out of the water is amazing, the mountains beyond the sound perfectly frame the whole thing in a show of nature's most impressive features.  Amazing!  I also highly recommend Fort Ebey State Park.  I didn't snap a pic of the actual gun emplacement itself, but the park is awash in scenic spots and awesome camping opportunities.  So thanks Fort Ebey for being awesome, and for Chris and Emily, being so awesome that they want to marry each other.  That's #17, brought to you by love and gun emplacements.