Bainbridge Island

[Artyczar]

What I've been up to has been a long visit to Bainbridge Island off Washington State. Hannah and I went for our 25th anniversary, and it was gorgeous! We stayed in a sweet little "boat house," looking over a bay with lots of sailboats and trees surrounding it. It rained the first day or so, but then the rest of the time, it was perfect weather—a little bit cold, the way I like it.

Hannah is the picture-taker, so I'm waiting for her to download her pics. I only took a couple of Blue Herons that came near our window fishing in the shallow water when the tide was super low.

We saw some wonderful wildlife while we were there: seals playing and a few Bald Eagles! Raccoons were digging on the beach looking for something (I don't know what), and so many bird, some somewhat rare for the area (like a Purple Martin). I saw lots of Dark-eyed Juncos and Spotted Towhees, robins, and many more. It was great to see these birds because they are not the species we have here in the desert. We have tons here, but not these.

Here are my two attempts at the Great Blue Heron:

I'll be back more with Hannah's pics, which, no doubt, will be more exciting.

 

[Enyaw]

Congratulations on 25th. That’s a feat theses days. That second shot is nice.

 

[snoball]

Ayin, I hope you and Hannah had a wonderful, relaxing time. We have all those birds, as well as the Raccoons, and Great Blue Herrons, here in Arkansas too.

 

[Artyczar]

Thank you Wayne and sno. Here are a few more pics, courtesy of Hannah. You can see the house we stayed in:

 

[Enyaw]

That’s a nice get away.

 

[Terri]

I wouldn't have wanted to leave! Beautiful house, grounds, and local critters. How restful and serene it looks!

That's quite a tree in the last shot. Wow!

 

[john]

NIce! Glad to hear that you had a good time and congrats on the 25th!

 

[JennieJo]

Thank you Wayne and sno. Here are a few more pics, courtesy of Hannah. You can see the house we stayed in:

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Wow. That's a great spot for a getaway

 

[Donna T]

Wow indeed! That place looks like heaven to me. I hope you feel rested and refreshed and congrats on the anniversary!

 

[Sanlynn]

Congratulations on your milestone anniversary. Looks like a beautiful place to celebrate and so different from your home environment. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.

 

[Artyczar]

Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes on our anniversary. We had a very restful and sweet trip. But now that we've been back in the desert, it's been almost 100 degrees here. Summer hasn't even officially started! I'm scared for what the next couple of months will bring.

 

[Terri]

We're getting a bit of a heat wave next week, too. At first we were threatened with temps up to 101F for three days straight. But that's been knocked down to a tepid 98F.

After that spike it is supposed to settle back into a more typical pattern of mid to upper 80sF, but we'll see. Eek!

 

[Artyczar]

It hit 100 the other day here. ICK!

 

[Artyczar]

After returning from the flight from Seattle, I was getting migraines every day and feeling run down. I didn't equate it to the trip at all. Then, by Thursday, I had a high fever. Oh shit, I thought. I really hope I didn't get Covid. I took a test, and it was negative.

The rest of the week, my head and chest were filled up and congested. I had a hard time breathing. I was wheezing and coughing. The fever stayed. I kept taking over-the-counter cold & flu medicine. My body ached, and I slept and slept. How isn't this Covid??

By Sunday, still feeling awful, I took another test. Still: Negative!

Sunday night until this morning has been a blur because I sleep the entire time! I'm finally feeling better this morning. I can tell it's the end.

What the hell was that?

 

[Sanlynn]

That sounds awful, sure glad to hear you’re on the mend! We’ve heard some of the home tests are not very good. Unless you went to a clinic to have one.
Covid is apparently having another run up here. I didn’t know until I was talking to our eldest daughter, she works in the hospital system.
Take care.

 

[Artyczar]

The home tests we have are from the CDC. At least I think they are.

 

[stlukesguild]

Thanks, everyone, for the well wishes on our anniversary. We had a very restful and sweet trip. But now that we've been back in the desert, it's been almost 100 degrees here. Summer hasn't even officially started! I'm scared for what the next couple of months will bring.

Yes, we're in the mid-90s with high-humidity here. We've been under a Heat Advisory for the last 3 days with advice on what actions to take if we lose power. One suggestion was to put a fan in the window to draw in some air from outdoors.

 

[stlukesguild]

Arty... there are other things... upper respiratory infections, Influenza, and of course Pneumonia (which put my wife in the hospital last October for some 10 days) all of which can be brutal. Glad to hear you are feeling better.

 

[Enyaw]

That sucks. Our tests here are similar. I’m sure I had Covid on two occasions but my home test were negative. I did three or four each time. Some people get Covid and it’s just a bad flu while others get really sick. Take care of yourself. Time is the healer.

 

[Artyczar]

Thanks all. I feel like I'm coming out of it, but still have a slight fever and feel shitty. I'll tell you, though--I am SICK and TIRED of being sick and tired!