Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend. I know I did. One more day!!! YEAH!!!

Debbie

PS Is anyone else here on myspace?

I had a VERY busy weekend and was gone most of it. My house is a wreck, and I have a million things to do. The good thing about Monday is that the next day is TUESDAY ,and I'll get to see the Wiz boys back in action!

I can say I had a FANTASTIC weekend. Hanging out in Seattle/Seaside was great. Went down to the boat yard, jumped on the Time Bandit for a bit and got to hang out with Scottie Hillstrand and Eddie, toured the boat, talked about this, chatted about that...good times. Still, as awesome as that was I just loved getting to set foot on the Wizard, that was a real highlight. Seeing the deck, the wheelhouse, all the staterooms, bait lockers, engine room, all of it was so surreal! The innards of the boat were a lot smaller than I thought though! The stairs, STEEP! There are a hundred ways you could get hurt on the boat alone if you're not careful, never mind the Bering! We got pictures pretty much everywhere...my camera died midway through of course, but everyone else kept clicking away so it's copies for me! (Thanks guys!) Matt was awesome Capt. Keith, he was great with info and gave us a fantastic tour...and the fact that he was wearing a threadless shirt was just bonus points! LOL! The kids had an especially good time running around and seeing this and that, just delighted the whole time! I can't say thanks enough for letting us all come aboard! Also, the cup o noodles...that was a priceless moment. When Matt opened that box and started handing them out, I can't even tell you how delightfully funny I thought that was! Enjoy yours too! ;)

We also got a look at the Northwestern and the North American while we were in town, not to mention scads of other boats, the Billikin, the Sea Star, the Rollo, and many others. We also toured the Ballard locks and got to see them open and close...very cool! The gardens were beautiful and the water ways were amazing.

We actually skipped the festival...as some of you guys said it wasn't so hot...no crab...what the heck? Although we did find a great seafood place in Seaside, crab, salmon, everything, you name it! Awesome. We also walked a few miles on the Oregon coast and had a fire on the beach, followed by some good times at with some locals at Dundee's bar...all in all, a completely excellent, exhausting weekend! It was fabulous to meet all of you guys and I hope it happens again in the future! For those of you who weren't there, I hope we get a chance to hang out some day!

PS. Deb, yeah, I'm on myspace, I think most of us are. URL is Lhiiiz. Look me up if you like!

WOW is all I can say. It sounds like you had a beyond fantastic weekend. Good for you. I will look you up on myspace right now :)

Thanks

ok well maybe I am not very smart on Mondays but I cannot find you :( I did a bunch of different searches but still did not work.

Hmmm...I'll give you a link when I get home. I can't access myspace at work.

I found you. Great page. I am reading your blogs. You also have wonderful pictures also.

Oh good! I'm glad you like it! I'll have some pics up from this weekend soon...may be a day or so...my body's telling me sleep's going to be highest on the priority list! lol!

im on there too debbie.
i had a pretty good weekend got to go bass fishing in the river even though its slow its still a good time.
and my URL
is
www.myspace.com/wyocowboy3 so tootles

WOW what a weekend!

Liz it was really great to meet you and PJ out in Seattle.

My Australian friend Jo and I headed to Oregon Friday with our boys (mine is 9 and hers is almost 4). We attended the Astoria crab festival however I would say it's not really the greatest place for kids. I think we might have enjoyed it more if we were by ourselves.

Astoria / Seaside Oregon is absolutely beautiful!

Saturday we headed out to Seattle and got the honor of hoping onboard the Wizard. That was the highlight of my weekend. You can certainly see why there is a 100% injury rate in this profession. All of the stairs on the boat are very steep and if you fall you're going to be hit by any number of metal objects.

hehehehehe I think I have about 100 pictures of the Wizard - I was snap happy. So exciting and so much to see. Watching the next episode tomorrow night will feel very different. It was amazing to see everything I've been watching on TV in person.

My son had so much fun looking at the boat. He wanted a picture in absolutely every room. I think poor Liz may have a few pictures of him running through as she's snapping away.. oopps.. Sorry Liz

He talked about the visit all the way back to Oregon and has already written a report for school. He was very excited to show his autographed photo and pictures of him in the Captain's chair, crab totes, and pot launcher to all his class mates.

Thank You Captain Keith... I think the "Cup O Noodles" was the cutest gift! Thank you Matt for taking the time to show us the boat - I know my son Nick asked a million questions and you were very gracious!

Sunday we had a great breakfast before heading back to Chicago absolutely exhausted. Can't have asked for a better weekend.

Debbie - In case you wanted my myspace here is the URL
www.myspace.com/Bettina77

LOL! Bettina, your son was a cutie and I don't mind having a few shots with him in them at all! ;) Part of the memory I say, besides, I bet everything was even more impressive for him...isn't everything at 9yrs old? lol! I'm still just grinning from ear to ear when I think about that trip...so great, so great.

Bettina, you're fantastic and I'm really glad Jo got to come too (also fantastic!)...how cool that we all got to meet up for one crazy weekend!

Awww thanks.. he can be cute sometimes...hehehe.. You're fantastic too..

hehehee I'm also still grinning from this weekend. It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long long time. The Wizard was sooooo amazing! What an added bonus to meet a few peeps from the forum!

Jo got to meet Ms. Shirley tonight so she was excited. The only bummer was that she didn't get to meet the rockin Sheila.. but maybe next time!