What the Heck Have I Been Up To Part III: Travel (Including the tale of Winston and the Sea Otter)

There hasn't been a ton of travel this fall, just a couple of quick trips, but there are some fun pictures as a result, so here we go. For Labor Day weekend, Dave, Winston, and I decided to head back to our campground from last year, Ptarmigan Creek - just outside of Seward. We headed down on Saturday, which was a gorgeously sunny day. After setting up camp we headed into Seward to visit our friends, Chad and JuLee at their boat. Here are Winston and I on the docks. Now Winston had been on the docks before but for some reason this year the fact that the floor moved got to him and he was a wee bit nervous.

This is JuLee & Chad's boat, the Lean-To. It is a very nice boat! I had heard a lot about it and it was great to finally get to see it. I also got a tour from JuLee of the entire set up and I got to meet their new granddaughter, Mikayla. Little babies are so sweet! She was snoozing so I don't have any photos of her, but she's beautiful, take my word for it.
Here I am making a funny face and I'm engaged in conversation aboard the Lean-To. While JuLee and I visited, Dave and Winston headed further down the docks where Winston had a very exciting adventure!
There was a creature in the water! A Sea Otter - one of the more playful creatures of the sea!
Winston and the mysterious creature make eye contact. Winston asks, "What is that thing Daddy?!"
Then the mysterious creature comes right up close to Winston and had the audacity to splash in his face! Winston is beside himself, he's just not sure what to do!
The mysterious creature seems to have realized that Winston has no food for it, and so it turned and swam away. Winston asks, "Daddy where is it going?!" And then the creature was gone. Winston didn't know what to make of this encounter. Part of him wanted to jump in the water after the creature, because Winston does love to swim, and this would give him a closer look. But, Winston realized that this creature was a stronger swimmer than he, and decided to follow Daddy's advice and just stay on the crazy moving floor!
Back at a sunny and peaceful campsite
Winston poses with a curious look.
Saturday night was lovely, but by the time we awoke on Sunday morning clouds had moved in and the news on the radio was that a storm was headed toward Seward. We went back into town for a walk about, but it started to rain. By the time we got back to camp it was really raining and so we decided to pack up and head home where we would camp on our couch bed (aka The Pillow Palace). So, our trip was a little shorter than originally planned for.
The other trip we had this fall was in October, and it led us here. This is Sandy's new houseboat on the Multnomah Channel outside of Portland. Dave and I headed down the weekend before Halloween for a short visit.
The fall colors were all out and lovely in Oregon. Which was beautiful especially since there was snow at home.
The marina had this warning sign that we thought was pretty funny.
The sunrises on the channel were lovely. I love the mist on the water.There's our group for the weekend. Dave, Paul, Katie, Sandy, and Kate all soaking in the morning sun on the deck. It was a nice weekend trip, very fast, maybe too fast, but enjoyable all around. Sandy is a fabulous host!

And the house boat comes with its own gaggle of geese.