Stehekin

 

 

 

 

Stehekin is a small village at the north end of our 50 mile long Lake Chelan.  It has 75 permanent residents and can only be reached by boat, air, horseback, or hiking.  The summers bring many visitors to this remote area who enjoy camping, fishing, and the beautiful pacific northwest.  Julie and I took our first camping trip here since 2001 and spent the night on our boat.  We camped at Weaver Point campground, about 40 miles from our house and did enjoy the trip even though we had some high winds and rough  water.  As always whenever we travel, we do meet some interesting people.  It was hot when we arrived so I jumped in to cool off.  I forgot how cold the snow runoff is and didn't stay in long at 54 degrees.  Gees! I couldn't find my boys until the next day.  Lunch at the local Pastrey company is something you gotta do while in Stehekin.  We have seen some really beautiful country while living in Europe during the last 6 years.  I believe Lake Chelan, and Stehekin  rates right up at the top of the list during the summer months here.  It's been 2 months since I've posted a blog and do need to keep the stories going.  Our blog will not be   'Phil & Julie's UK Adventure anymore but will have to be renamed.....I'm thinking about that.....

The three C's

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every one's heard of the three C's to a successful relationship,  if you haven't, this could really help.  Today My bride of about 30 years returns to the US where we will start a new chapter in our lives.  For the first time we will live together 24/7 which is something we've never done.  I am usually gone about 3 months a year working on my projects.  Shown here packing out is my final inbound flight to the US from England. I will miss the outstanding service on a flight that I've taken a dozen times.
 As I relax in business class I gave a lot of thought to this adjustment we will both have to make.  I truly believe the secret is in the 3 C's and that's all I will ever ask of Julie.  Cook, Clean, and Comply,,,It's just that simple.  I will do all the rest no matter what it will be.  She might want to add something to that but it just won't be necessary.  So this evening when I pick Julie up at Phoenix Sky harbor, she will began a one year break from her busy and stressful career.  It will be huge comfort to her when she finds out that I've totally removed any and all stress from our lives going forward.

Crownline 266

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we will be living at our Lake home for the summer we need a boat on the lift.  We sold our last boat 4 years ago as we weren't there enough to use it much.   I searched on-line while in London and found this 2000, 266 Crownline with only 106 total hours on it, in Sacramento California.  I flew into Sacramento this spring and did a test run on Folsom lake.  A full mechanical check sorted our a few issues so then I bought it.  We needed a boat that was big enough to overnight on but would still work fine for day use, fishing and skiing etc.  A covered bow and a plenty of  power is important on this lake where rough weather can happen on any day.  This boat is 26 ft long with a big block motor and weights 4700 lbs dry.  The fuel tank is 75 gallons so with a few people and gear this will be all our 6,000 pound lift can handle.  Our garage is deep enough to store this inside during the winter months.  Skimpy bikini's get free rides.

Baby Owen

Owen Lawrence Summers was born May 17, 2013 at 1;52 AM.  7.8 lbs, 19 inches tall.  This is our first Grandson,  and the first child for Brooke and Scott Summers.  I was able to stop in the middle of a trip to Sacramento California, and fly into Phoenix in time to welcome Owen into life.  It sure brought back vivid memories of our two children being born.  Very proud of Brooke who was in labor over 30 hours without any food or sleep.  Finally she gets to hold her child and he dumps his very first payload all over her and Scott gets the cleanup duty.  I'm telling you,  they never quit doing that.
 I was in the hospital with Brooke and Scott, and also stayed with them at their house for the first 3 days with their new child. It's a tough adjustment for a young couple bringing a newborn home.  Every parent knows there's not much sleep in the house for a few weeks, but I actually slept quite well in the spare bedroom with the door closed.  I do enjoy being a Grandparent and am really lucky to have my two granddaughters living only 10 minutes away.  Too be honest I wouldn't want to start all over again but this is really fun.

Career Break

Barclays Announcment;  Senior Executive Julie Roddy, Director of Retail Lending Services has decided to take a career break with effect from 4 May 2013, to allow her to return to America to spend more time with her family. Julie has made tremendous customer centric improvements within Mortgage Services over the past two years including the implementation of the Mortgage Originations Program. We'd like to thank Julie for her personal support and her contribution to Barclays to date.

This is what Julie decided to do in December of last year.  We have missed out on family and friends, and would like to spend time with our grandkids in Arizona who we hardly know.  Julie will take up to a year off and will have a job with Barclays to go back to if she chooses.  We will now adjust to living together 24/7 which we've never done.  We will live at our lake home in Washington State for the summer and then be in Arizona for the winter. 

Beer Bike

 

 

 

This might be the greatest invention I've ever seen and found it in downtown Budapest.  This can be rented for 180 euros, ($230.00).  This includes seats for 12 beer drinkers, up to 60 mugs of cold beer, music, and a sober driver.  You can tour the city but of course everyone has to peddle. Go where ever you want in 4 hours, with frequent pit stops also included.  I can't think of any better way to see Europe. 

 

Budapest, Hungary

 

 

 

 

Last weekend we flew to Budapest, the capitol city of Hungary, for the Easter holiday.  A short 2 hour flight got us out of the cold London winter to a very popular European city.  The modern 5 star Budabar Hotel was our base and it worked out well as it was in the heart of the city center.(bottom pic)  Ranked as the 25 th most beautiful city in the world, Budapest still couldn't hide the destruction of WWII which we see often in Europe.(second pic).  The name Budapest came from 2 military forces in 829 AD, Buda and Pest, each based on opposite sides of the Danube River.  We had brilliant weather half the time and more nasty rain our last day.  A local river cruise was a good way to see the city on a rainy day.  The Hungarian stew and the hot spiced wine kept us warm as we checked another great European destination off our list.

Milan Moss

 

 

 

 

 Our very dear friend Milan Moss passed away on Sunday at his Seattle home.  He was 87, and was preceded in death by his wife Gwen in 2005.  Julie and I met Milan and Gwen in 1994 when we bought our Lake Chelan cabin as they had the cabin next to us.  He and Gwen both spent a good part of the summers on the lake and they became a part of our lives there. I spent countless hours fishing with Milan in his boat and became very good friends.  The summer days always ended at their house for happy hour and usually dinner with all the neighbors as well.  Although Milan's health was not good in the last few years he still managed his Seattle business and came to the Chelan cabin that he loved so much. Milan always opened his door to our family and friends, and there were many.  No matter how tough health and business problems got for Milan, he never complained, ever.  We should all try that.  While passing through Seattle 3 weeks ago on my flight home to London,  I had a great visit with Milan for about 3 hours at his home.  Bless you my friend and thanks for being a part of our lives.
.  There will never be a day at the lake that I won't think of you both...We sure had some fun....

Venice Tour

 

 

 

 

Here in Venice we had half of our time touring the local sights in the sun and half in miserable rain and wind.  We did see local attractions such as St Mark's Basilica, The Grand Canal, and the Piazza San Marco.  The one hour gondola ride was the most fun for us and the most popular with canals jammed with other tourists doing the same.  This city is often the threat of high tides where the water can rise over a meter above the high mark.  This flooding has caused all lower floors to become useless and even forces most shops to shut down during the flooding.  I am so glad that we took the time to visit here.  So many of these historic European cities are within 2 hours of our London home and yet it's so frustrating that we just can't get to them all.

Venice, Italy

 

We just returned from a visit to the northern Italian city of Venice this last weekend.  This was our 4 th trip into Italy and out first to Venice.  Our flight was less than 2 hours from London Gatwick airport and it was sure great to escape the bitter cold and snow that has hit the UK.  We stayed at the historic Hilton Malino Stucky in Venice,  which is a beautifully restored flower mill.  Our flight to Venice was full as most are with over 50,000 visitors a day traveling to one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations.  This city of 300,000 dates back to the year 421.  It was built on 117 islands, has 177 canals and 409 bridges.  All transport is done either by water or by walking.  The pics show Julie boarding our Easy Jet flight, the snow covered Swiss Alps, the Grand Canal, and the Hilton hotel.

Cardiff, Wales

Sunday we took a 3 hour train ride to Cardiff, the capitol city of Wales.  This west coast city of 350,000 is the most popular tourist stop in Wales with about 20 million visitors each year.  The Cardiff international sports village and Millennium Center, make this England's biggest media center outside of London.  Julie had a business meeting here on Monday and I tagged along to see the city.  As usual I had to endure the elements to see the local sights and get my story.  Again I could see the Romans had a lot of influence here as I toured the 11 th century Cardiff Castle.  Although it was bitter cold there were no lack of tourists at the castle, museum, and the very modern  Millennium Stadium. The most popular sights were within walking distance of the train station.  I had a chance to chat with a few tourists and see a beautiful city.  

Silverstone

Silverstone is the home of England's world famous Formula 1 race track, one hour north of London.    Today I did the ultimate driving experience, starting with a driving techniques briefing teaching safety, car handling and passing rules.  The race cars were a 1.6 liter Ford Duratec 16 valve, that would do  0 to 60 mph in 4 seconds with a 4 speed gearbox.  We followed a pace car for 20 minutes getting used to the cars and picking up speed.  Then about 10 of us got the green flag to race for another 25 minutes.  A lap was a bit over a minute with an average speed of around 70 mph and a top speed of 90 to 95 mph.  It was dam cold at 32 degrees, wind blowing,  and snow falling before we finished.  I got passed once and made 3 passes but could have gone another 30 minutes even though I was freezing.  Sure brought back some old racing memories.  Great Christmas gift from Julie, Loved it!

The Bodyguard

Last night Julie and I stayed at the classy Mayfair hotel in Green Park, London.  We took in one of the newest West End shows, The Bodyguard, which has recently made its debut at the Adelphi Theater.  The musical is based on the smash hit movie which stared Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.  This romantic thriller that featured the music from the late Whitney Houston, was a sold out show.  To make it even better there wasn't any rain on a rather warm London night which meant a lot of people on the streets.  Just the way I like it.

Hot Tub

The tub has been on our bucket list for years and now is here at our lakeside cabin. I built the deck for the tub last year as we never really had a good place to put one, out of the way.  Last week while in cold Lake Chelan, I bought this jacuzzi tub in the nearby city of Wenatchee.  I hired a boom truck which had a reach of 60 feet and we needed every bit of that to set it on the deck below down by our dock.  It will get plenty of use this summer as the lake only gets to 70 degrees max in the summer, but mostly in the mid 60's.

Horse Meat

 

 

 

 

 

Yup, DNA testing has found it here in the UK and many of the European countries.  Discovered first in Ireland, this has now affected distributors in the UK, France, Sweden, Romania, and Poland.  Now recent tests have found up to 100 % horse meat in many frozen prepared foods such as Lasagna.  The DNA testing  doesn't lie and  this is  now believed to be the work of a criminal conspiracy.  We do much of our  shopping at the Tesco supermarket chain here in London.  They are pulling many beef products off  their shelves as horse DNA was discovered there.  I cook tacos every week, shown here, and I thought they tasted like beef, but I don't really have a clue. Maybe I need to go to a vet and get checked out if I get the trots.