Vashon Island Strawberry Festival

This morning Clarissa, Jennifer & I took the ferry to Vashon Island for their annual Strawberry Festival.  I was thinking mid July is pretty late for strawberries, and I was right.  We found out that they don't grow strawberries on Vashon Island anymore, but kept the name of the Festival.  Hence we didn't find any strawberries for sale.   Despite that little misnomer, we still had a great time just hanging out and checking out the event and all the quaint shops.  Jen & I had never been to Vashon Island before.  The ferry trip over was short, but scenic.  We saw great views on our way back after the clouds had lifted.  All in all, not a bad way to spend our Sunday. 

Walking onto the ferry.  Passengers board first.  It was a  great deal, only $5 to Vashon.  It was free on the way back.  I guess they want you to visit, but not stay.

Saw this little guy when we were docked.  My new camera zoom worked pretty well.  This was taken looking through the glass windows on the ferry.

On our way there...you can see it was really cloudy still. 

There was a car show as part of the festival.  I loved all the old time Mini's. 

This shuttle went back & forth between the ferry dock and the festival.  The little old lady driving thought she was a race car driver.   Jen sat next to me, and on the curves she had to brace herself so she wouldn't go flying into the aisle. At one point we even caught some air.  It was a little frightening at times.  Yikes! Luckily we lived to tell the tale. 

Boarding the ferry to head back to Tacoma.  The sun was out for the return trip.

Vashon Island

Tacoma Harbor and peekaboo of the top of Mt. Rainier. 

Top deck of the ferry boat. 

Clarissa & me

Other side of the ferry. 

Lake Sylvia Hike & Montesano Car Show

This morning we drove to Montesano to hike at nearby Lake Sylvia State Park.   Lake Sylvia was beautiful & the trail we hiked was short, but picturesque.  There were many bridge crossings and even one covered bridge.  We did get a bit turned around because the trail was not well marked, but it only added about an extra (steep) mile.  

After the hike we stopped in town at the Montesano Historic car show.  There were more cars than we had anticipated, which was a nice surprise. We were really impressed with the lovely older homes in the town.  We finished our visit with a delicious lunch at  the Bee Hive Restaurant.  It was another successful Connors family adventure. 

Beautiful Lake Sylvia

Getting gas before the drive. 

Getting our hiking shoes on.

Gabby showing her enthusiasm for hiking.

First of many bridge crossings.

Not sure what flower this is, but it sure is beautiful.

Tons of beautiful daisies.

Tiny sapling to repopulate the clear cut area.

We are trying to figure out at this point if we should turn around or take a different trail.

There's the trail!

There had been a recent cougar sighting, so they put out this sign, which did not instill confidence.

Covered bridge. Photo using the timer. 

Awesome shopping cart car!

Grays Harbor County Courthouse