BLOG #3...……...DAY #1

Making Waves & Tracks & Babies & A Whole Lot More…

Life as a big family is never boring.  We departed late Saturday, after Peggy threw a Baby Shower for our youngest daughter, Emily earlier in the day.  Emily and her husband Nick are expecting their 1^st baby on September 10^th.  Little Baby Nora, who today is about the size of a cantaloupe, will be our 6^th granddaughter and 8^th grandchild, and so we have much to look forward to upon our return by mid-August so we are here in time to greet Nora.

But before Nora, we will have missed the birth of Baby James, as Sarah, our eldest daughter is ALSO pregnant and due July 7^th with our 2^nd grandson.  Unfortunately, we “conceived” of our Alaska plans prior to Sarah and her husband, Andrew, conceiving little Baby James.  Since this is their 4^th (first boy, with three precious girls), Sarah graciously insisted that we not change our plans because, with such a large family there won’t likely be any 3-month window where we won’t miss something!  So in honor of these two special ladies, sisters, and best friends:

Nicole's two beautiful sisters, both pregnant at the same time!

Sarah (right) will have Baby James in early July;
and Emily (left) will have Baby Nora in September.

What blessings, our cup runneth over!

Can't very well show our daughters and not our sons: meet Matt and David!  So blessed with amazing sons who are also wonderful brothers and fathers, as well as best friends too. 

For that matter, I can't very well not show the entire family with our kids' spouses, our grandchildren's other Moms and Dads.  The Leopold Crew: 16 as of last Thanksgiving; will be 18 by this Fall.

We are very blessed, and Nicole LOVES being an Aunt to so many nieces and nephews!

The "Ski" and "Tracks" part of "Sea & Ski:
Making  Waves & Tracks"
Since we are meandering across babies, family, and other topics today, I'll further digress to provide context to the meaning behind this blog's name: “Sea & Ski”.  We Leopold’s don't discriminate: we enjoy all varieties of water: salty or fresh; liquid or frozen.  When we had our cabin along the shores of the Skykomish River and kayaked the Class III rapids out front, we liked to say we were into “recycling” - enjoying the summer snowmelt after first enjoying the snowpack of Winter on the slopes of nearby Stevens Pass.

The Pacific Northwest is an amazing place to live and raise kids to enjoy, respect, and appreciate God's bounty of natural wonders.  In our last blog, I shared some pictures of our first “shake-down” cruise on Seaquel out to Watmough Bay.  In typical Leopold fashion, the boating came fast on the heels of the ski season.   We had just ONE DAY to transition from skiing fresh powder to boating across Rosario Strait to those lovely, sunny views at Watmough.  So in honor of a great ski season (when much of the rest of the countries ski areas were starving for snow), here is a quick look back at Stevens Pass, circa 2017-2018 season and some of the "Tracks" that made for great memories.

 Steep & deep at its best:

 

Fast & fresh corduroy groomers in the sun - another great way to make tracks:

"Tele" (Free Heel) is my preferred way to make tracks….

Another way to make tracks: building life-long relationships

Four former Ski Laufer Ski School Instructors, now graybeards, who began skiing together as teenagers. Above: Tom Hansen, Mark Schoening, and Mark Leopold; and below with Dan McHenry

Making tracks with (a growing) family: Emily and Nick (above); and with the next generation with Granddaughter Olivia, 6 (below, with David)

Making Waves and Tracks....and Small Ripples too....

Factoid: Campbell Lake has the largest island (above) that is on a lake, that is on an island - in the entire U.S.!

There you go, impress your friends with this wealth of useful knowledge gleaned from this blog!

I enjoyed a last row on Campbell Lake the morning of our departure.  On the island in the very middle of Campbell Lake I usually see one or two Bald Eagles perched on the tallest trees (their nest is directly across the lake from us).  I was disappointed they were not there as I circled the island, but just as I turned away to head home, I heard their high-pitched chatter and sure enough, one then the other landed on their favorite tree.  As if to say: “Farewell, and say hello to our extended family as you make waves and tracks along the Inside Passage!”

Finally...making waves!
We launched Seaquel around 5:30 pm Saturday, and after the logistics of bringing our truck and boat trailer back home to store for the summer, good friends Dave & Shirley Vacanti drove me back to the boat where I'd left the girls, and we finally departed from our home port just before 7 pm.  Dinner on the boat en route to Spencer Spit/Lopez Island, where we dropped anchor for our first night on a trip of of a lifetime...

Departing West from Cornet Bay, through the rapids of Deception Pass and beneath the bridge and into fading sun and open water that will connect us to the Inside Passage, to British Columbia, and finally Alaska.

Tomorrow we aim to clear Canadian Customs and then begin our push North....

~Mark