NOTICE

Up to more than one noise this morning. There are birds preaching in the trees, alarms tending to the accident on the highway, and a dog barking in surprise that I’m here (Bella has a love/scared relationship with me). Grandma can’t sleep with all the racket either, but we also can’t figure out how to get the TV contraption to work with all the remotes. When Amanda comes downstairs she will grab one we didn’t try to catch me in a nap in one of her super comfy recliners.

Grama makes a Dutch baby pancake for breakfast with strawberries. Still feeling hungry, I will have the rest of my biscuit from Mr. T’s and a slice of olive bread from Macrina. Today’s goal would be to make it to the Whidbey Island Distillery via the 20 over and then south through the island with a return to the mainland via ferry. Our first stop would be at the Berry Barn in Mt. Vernon.

They sell aprons, fruit, wind chimes, pies, and vintage signs, but not their old radios – those are just for decoration, but I would’ve bought one – or two. Better that I didn’t; I already have some radios – one that plays records, one from my childhood, and another that I used to hang off my bike handlebars – now I have an iPod. As convenient as internet radio (and online song purchases) are, I still miss my seafoam green boombox and the one with removable speakers that my sis and I covered in stickers.

Hedge Maze

Grama buys a strawberry rhubarb pie that it seems only me and her will be eating – Amanda doesn’t like rhubarb and Scott doesn’t like strawberries. Then Amanda buys us tickets to their Hedge Maze – a first for all of us. Caleb calls and I get to talk to him while getting last in the tall bushes. There is a slide in the middle where we can see the nearby farms and the mountains in the distance. Grama knows better than to take the slide, but Amanda didn’t want to miss out on the fun, even though it would hurt her back.

That doesn’t slow her down though. Amanda drives us on to Deception Pass, the most visited park in Washington, where we walk to both sides of the bridge for some pictures while Grama waits by the car. It is nearing lunch time and we are planning on getting lunch in Oak Harbor. I text Uncle Ed for recommendations and he gives great directions to Seabolt’s Smokehouse so Grama can get more fish ‘n chips. I order fries, garlic bread, and a Stone IPA. Grama and Scott split a fish sampler and Amanda gets a burger.

Ed also offers to show us around his work and asks if we are going to Canada. I told him we are headed to the distillery and he says to try the loganberry liqueur on vanilla ice cream; Grama wants to try it on limoncello gelato. We pull into the driveway and wonder if we are trespassing on private property. There is a lady washing her car, but then we see signs for parking and distilling – Beverly assures us we have made it and takes us downstairs. On slow days, she figures it best to get some chores done – I agree.

Deception Pass

Once inside we are greeted by Steve, the distiller with an engineering background. He tells us where the ingredients come from, what he does to them in his machine, and then a little about the bottling and selling process. Some states have heavy export fees, taxes, fines (money of yours that they want) making it harder for small businesses to share their products. They are working on growing, but us ladies agree that we enjoy the drive, the visit, and the personal interaction – and the free chocolate samples.

Once done with the distilling part of work, it’s on to the tasting side. We approach Beverly who tells us more about different flavors, and the glasses, jams, and candles they have for sale. She gives us each a small taste of the loganberry liqueur and when we buy a bottle we get another taste, and some more chocolate. Each bottle is $32.80 with a list of the taxes charged posted on the wall. It’s 23% ABV and 46 proof – too much science. It’s delicious.

We had planned on taking the ferry back. Amanda has never driven onto one before – and then we see the line with the sign that says, ‘Wait time from this point approximately 90 minutes.” Now we have a decision to make. We can drive the two hours back (and use gas) or sit in this line for 1.5 hours and experience the ferry for 15 minutes – we choose ferry. It’s a nice day out and warm enough that jackets come off to reveal that somehow we all wore purple shirts today – three representing GCU and one that got hers on sale.

Whidbey Island Distillery

My Grama works in the transportation business – escorting people to and from the airport, so she has learned a lot about planes in the years she has run her business with her co-manager Dan. This entices her enough to ask Amanda to stop at the Future of Flight: Aviation Center & Boeing Tour to take some pictures. Tours are better on weekdays, so we skip that to go home for a slice of pie.

We will watch an episode of King & Maxwell – a new TV drama about two private investigators and then four episodes of Goodwin Games – a show about a dad that dies and makes his kids play games so that one may win his fortune. Bedtime will come early and while I’m in the bathroom brushing my teeth I happened to notice a bruise – one I got from jumping into the back of Uncle Ed’s jeep on the way back from Leavenworth.

I remember yelping in pain so I text him to let him know that I did hurt it worse than I thought. I think I was getting a little stir crazy in the backseat. He texts me back that at least I will have another reminder of my adventure, even if only temporarily, but now it’s in my blog for permanence. I’m just glad I didn’t break my tailbone on his seatbelt buckle. Time to rinse and go to sleep.