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Today's photo is of the Jeep, parked in front of a Birch Bay sunset with the cat tower on top. :P Morgan's idea.

Spent 8 to 10 hours cleaning our apartment today. I'm not entirely sure how long because we had no official starting time and made supply trips. The last of our furniture was moved out yesterday, and all that was left in there for today is our cleaning crew of bottles, scrubbers and rags. So tired! All is well. Going to Birch Bay to spend the night, then start moving everything from there back into Bellingham to our new apartment tomorrow!

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Packing and packing and packing...few more days before our new place!

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The gal who cut my hair today was great! She was personable, and overall a gorgeous woman - think Brigitte Bardot vs. Marilyn Monroe. After the incredible scalp treatment, I started thinking up ways to get Sara up here to get her haircut. I even offered to cover the tip if she does.

More packing this evening and watched Dawn of the Dead (2004). Awesome!

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Two trips to Birch Bay tonight with Sara. We fit our love-seat in the back of her van and still had room for boxes. AWESOME!

She discovered black mold growing behind our dresser as we were moving it. Not so awesome. All that's left here is our coffee table, small kitchen table and our mattress with sheets and pillows. I like it on the floor - it's the closest I can get Morgan to camping.

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I got a raise. AWESOME!

Another evening trip to Birch Bay to store our furniture and worldly possessions.

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Woke up early, made us breakfast. Morgan woke up just as the hash browns were going into the pan. Great timing, that one.

Today was spent watching the last five episodes of Dexter: Season 3 while packing more things. Where did we get so many things?

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What a day!


Rewind to last night, approx. 8:30 pm


Morgan had trouble turning the steering wheel on the 1977 Ford F250. Checked the amount of power steering fluid - out. Stopped by Schucks, refilled, all is good.


Fast forward to this morning, approx. 10:30am


Morgan and I left the house for the two-hour drive to Federal Way for a distant family reunion of his. Made it south by barely two exits on I-5 when thick white smoke started billowing out of the hood. Shit. Pulled over on the shoulder - looks like a power steering fluid leak, and now it is burning along the hot metals under the hood. Awesome. Started walking North to find a mile-post for our exact location when a kind stranger pulled over to give us a hand. We hauled ass back down the stretch of freeway to meet up with him (as we did not know right away he that he'd be a kind stranger and our wallets were in the car). Found out where the heck we were and were able to call for a tow.

Took about an hour for the tow-truck guy to get there. I was pissed at first but Morgan's laid back attitude fixed that. I'm thankful for him most of the time. Put the tailgate down to sit and watch the traffic fly by at 70 mph - not one of his brightest ideas but it was a neat experience. Relaxed for a bit in the cab and explored the plants and road-side litter. lol, it's amazing what accumulates along the freeway.

Our driver was rad! I imagined he'd look more like a lumberjack but he was pretty clean cut and didn't smell bad (again, like I imagined). The ride was pleasant. I asked a million questions about his job and he happily answered and conversed with us. I found out that tow-truck companies are fully responsible for the cleanup after fatal car wrecks. Fully responsible. Yeck! lol He towed us to Morgan's aunt's place about 20 minutes away, and Jamie (thankfully) met us there and drove us further to Morgan's parent's where his car stayed while we borrowed the truck. What time is it now? Oh yes, it is around 2pm. The family reunion is in full swing now with 3 hours left.

We hit the road and got there with ample time. These distant relatives of his were hilarious and very nice. We were served with food within five minutes. Great hospitality! The reunion ran about two hours later than expected. Left around 7pm and made it home after 9pm. What a day. I hope we can get that truck back! :)

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Another evening spent packing and finishing the day off with a trip to store our boxes at Birch Bay until our new apartment becomes available on the 1st.

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More packing tonight...

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Trip up to Birch Bay. Beautiful, golden afternoon!

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Packing our belongings to take to our new apartment on the 1st...

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Tonight I made my own personal history by hearing Emiliana Torrini live at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. YES!

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Floated down the Stillaguamish River for most of the day.
I only got a few photos prior to getting in the water. Brought two waterproof disposable cameras - waiting for those to develop. Aside from incredible, this sand carving was huge! Here is a human for scale:

Weather was a bit cool around noon, we got in around 1pm and the sun came out soon afterward. The water was rough getting in - I still don't understand why we go in that way - and had some trouble keeping people safe. It turned out alright, everyone was fine. After the first part, the rest of the river was smooth sailing. Great company and all in all an awesome day.

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Another birthday cake for Morgan? Yes.

Celebrated today with his family at Birch Bay.

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Happy Birthday Morgan!
I love you!

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Happy Birthday Allison!

Whatever she's doing, I hope she's having a great time!

This evening I went to hear The Senate at the Downtown Sounds concert series in Bellingham. Morgan's brother's family came down (who is how I even heard about The Senate) and it was fun! The music was AWESOME.

This guy was the entertainment between musical acts tonight.

   
And of course, The Senate

Came home to start Morgan's ice cream cake before he got back from work. Rush rush rush!

All in all a great night.

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I stepped out my front door to go to work this morning and left my keys in the apartment. Morgan was on the road to a meeting two hours away and my landlord is not helpful. No keys at all! Took the bus to work anyway, waited for the office building's landlord to become available to open up for me. What a day!

Morgan and I made ziti tonight - delicious! Went out after 10 to catch a glimpse of the beginning of the annual Perseid meteor shower for the night. Saw a few shooting stars, only one of them having a long sreak. The best time for viewing tonight is between midnight and five in the morning - no thanks, maybe next August. :)

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Quick trip after work to Costco. This is our last grocery run before we move in a few weeks. Saw this neat vehicle - cannot remember what it is but Morgan was pretty excited to see it. He'd only ever seen one in the US before.

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Lame photo today.

On the 1st, Morgan and I signed a lease for this great apartment downtown.

It's on the third floor, has secured entry and the other 16 units are rented by people who are mostly private, kind and pretty trustworthy. No more midnight knocks on the door from college kids frying on shrooms! And no more empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans scattered around my front door! The only difficult thing about getting into this place is that it is not available until September 1st - our lease is up on August 31st.

Morgan and I have slowly been packing our belongings, and made a trip this afternoon to store the first group of boxes about twenty minutes away at his parents cabin at Birch Bay. We'll continue to do that until the end of the month, and when it comes down to it we'll end up living at our current residence with nothing but cleaning gear, a suitcase and a mattress for a day or two. After the new apartment opens up, we'll start hauling our goods from Birch Bay back into Bellingham. Is it worth going through all this crap? I think so - this new place is awesome!

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Today's photo is from a new pizza joint in Bellingham - New York Pizza & Bar. The food was amazing. Had a Caesar salad followed by the Mickey Mantle - Cool! May treat Morgan there for his birthday if he wants. :)

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Quick shot during dinner. Morgan's parents and his dad's cousin came up to Birch Bay for a visit, then to meet us in Bellingham for dinner. All in all a great night. Morgan's family always cracks me up...what great company.

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Cool VII

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Pushing through the last day 'Cool' pictures for the week with a photo of tonight's dessert at Morgan's parents house - lemon cheesecake topped with crisp, tart blueberries. Cool!

Cool VI

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Bite of Bellingham!

Sara and Hunter came up to join us for the Bite of Bellingham. So much great food! They also featured a sidewalk art competition. No food photos, just art. So many entries were amazing! These two were favorites: