Helen & Bill's Renewal of Vows

The Stone family (Jane's side) is famous for their pig roasts. On Friday night Joe and Alan, Jane's brother, Jane, Colin (Jane's son) and various other folks prepared the pig by stuffing it with apples and onions, lacing it with garlic and coating it with lard. You have to do this so that the skin doesn't burn. Beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday morning, Joe, Colin and I loaded the pig onto the spit and Colin tended it all day.

The scene during the party. Helen and Bill had invited about 200 people and about 150 showed up. We provided the pig, buns, baked beans and beer and wine. Invitees were asked to bring appetizers and salads. It was a really hot day (about 90 degrees). Needless to say, the timing of the pig controlled all and it wasn't finished when predicted. So, people sat around and drank beer and ate appetizers and crowded into the ever-diminishing shade. Eventually it was decided to do the ceremony before eating.

Helen and Bill had new rings made for their 50th anniversary by a Native goldsmith from melting down four other rings. Here Bill is trying to get his ring on. Granddaughter Jeri has oil in her hand and he's trying to grease his finger. Maria (Rob and Lisa's youngest daughter) is supervising. Father Frank had them repeat their vows and had all their children and grandchildren come up and bless them. There was the inevitable kiss which had to last until he said they could quit so all the photographers could get their photos taken. Jeri, with the help of Lisa, had made about 300 mini cupcakes, all decorated, and mini cheese cakes, all of which were set out in a beautiful design. She is heading off to culinary arts training to be a pastry chef.

The carvers, Joe, Colin and Bob, cutting the pig up. The meat was absolutely delicious and the event ended with the carcass being thrown onto the fire. Joe is a cook by profession and Colin has proven he can roast a pig. We ended up staying on Sunday to help clean up from the party. After finishing the clean-up we all (Joe, Jane, Bob, me, MaryAnn Wood and her daughter Olivia [from Tetherow Crossing and Enterprise and Coos Bay]) and three dogs all went swimming at an abandoned limestone quarry. The weather was beginning to change, but the swim still felt fabulous after all the work of cleaning up. Various other folks also helped.

Taku Resort, Quadra Island BC

About 40 Burton relatives gathered at Taku Resort on Quadra Island, across from Campbell River, for 3 days of eating and activities. Helen and Bill, with the assistance of their four kids had all the food arranged, which was fabulous. Breakfast and dinner were provided and everyone was on their own for lunch. When we arrived at Quadra Island it was pouring rain, but by mid-day on Wednesday, July 8 it was beginning to clear. Everyone at Taku had either A-frame cabins or rooms and we also took over the beach house with its two floors and decks where we all ate. Bob and I camped in a lovely area above the resort. One of the highlights was taking care of granddaughter Anita for a few hours while her parents went for a run. We went down on the beach to build rock stacks and Anita is busy showing her grandpa the nice rocks and shells she has found. Note all the shell hats on the piles.

One morning, Joe and Jane (Helen's son and daughter-in-law), Goldie (Bob's daughter) and Gail and I took a 10 km walk around Morte Lake. This is a view of the lake from the first time we saw it. The trail went through lush forest and we even saw a sunken boat. It was good exercise to help walk off some of the food. Bob and I also took a three hour sea kayak tour out of Taku across the open bay and into three other bays where we saw an eagle and some ducks. We all took a walk on Rebecca Spit, across from Taku, played bocce and a game Bill built involving golf balls tied together on 20" strings which you throw towards a fence and try to get them to wrap around the rails. A wonderful time was had by all.

Sunset off of Taku. All the mountains in the distance are either other islands or the BC mainland. The land on the right is Rebecca Spit. On Friday morning we all packed up to leave and stopped in Nanaimo to take the pedestrian ferry to Protection Island to see Sarah (Bill and Helen's daughter) and John's new house and the 400 square foot cabin they have been visiting for years. We ate dinner there before heading down to Joe and Jane's farm to camp in their back field. We loaned Snoopy to Alice, Jens and Anita and Joe outfitted us with a huge 3-man tent with the thickest air mattress (1 1/2 feet) I have ever slept on. They had provided port-a-potties for all.

Chocoholics

On July 2, 2009 Bob, Darwin and I took off in Snoopy again for about nine weeks. We began in Seattle where Bob was playing in a disc golf tournament (where he came in second in his division [out of 4]) July 4 and 5, with a practice day on July 3. We stayed with delightful friends Randy Signer and Jane Levine. On Friday I took a chocolate tour through the Chocolate Box (which I highly recommend to anyone who likes chocolate). The three and a half hour tour began at the Chocolate Box with some history of chocolate and the most amazing hot cocoa I have ever had. Some facts: 1) chocolate grows in a 20 degree belt around the Equator, 2) it's a very delicate tree, 3) the cocoa beans grow right out of the trunk and are pollinated by midge flies that can't really fly, 4) it doesn't self propogate because the cocoa pods don't drop and rot, 5) once the pods are picked they are left out to ferment for 7 days going from alcohol to acid to water, 6) once the seeds are freed from their mucilageonous coating, they must dry for 21 days (in the rain forest) which involves a lot of moving in and out, 7) the pods on a tree mature at different times and 8) a regular size chocolate bar only has as much cafeine as one cup of decaf. We then headed off for Theo Chocolates, the only organic, fairly traded chocolate maker in the US and the home of some wonderful, interesting flavors such as ghost chili, coconut curry (really yummy), where we were given a tour on how the cocoa beans are turned into chocolate bars. For all you health food nuts, chocolate has the second highest level of anti-oxidants of any food (so eat up). Then we headed to Oh Chocolate! through the Fremont district, past the statue of Lenin. An American history professor was in Czechoslovakia at the time of the fall of the Soviet empire in a village where they were destroying the large (i.e. 30' tall) statue. He was horrified at their destruction of history, but they pointed out that he hadn't had to live under communism. Instead, they sold him the statue for $40,000 and he paid $80,000 to ship it home to Seattle where he put it in his front yard to the consternation of his neighbors. Upon his death, his kids tried to sell the statue at the Fremont farmer's market. Needless to say they were unsuccessful, but ultimately the Fremont neighborhood donated a piece of property where the statue now resides where it is still for sale for $250,000. At Oh Chocolate we learned how to temper chocolate by getting our hands all gooey and dipping graham crackers and marshmallows. The Hawaiian lady who founded Oh Chocolate learned how to temper chocolate and during WWII would gather up local kids and teach them to get them involved and less upset after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The next day they would deliver their goodies. Lastly we went to Fran's Chocolates, the home of the grey salt caramel which is the Obama's favorite candy and given to all visitors to the White House. The story goes that when Barack was guaging a run for the president he came to Seattle to give a speech and was given a "Welcome to Washington" basket that included the caramels. Michelle popped one in his mouth as he went on stage and when he came off he asked her what it was and said it was the best thing he had ever tasted. I highly recommend the tour.

While the guys played disc golf I went to the Seattle Art Museum and its Asian museum, went to the Pike Place Market and wandered in the UW Arboreteum with Darwin.

On Monday July 6 we headed towards Ft. Flagler State Park at the far northeast corner of the Olympic Penninsula. In 1966 or 1967 I attended a Seattle Symphony music camp there. We parked Snoopy in the rain and walked to the fortifications, created around 1900 when the port at Bremerton was developed. There are three forts in a triangle guarding the entrance to Puget Sound. They were equipped with guns and search lights, but most of the guns were shipped out to Europe in 1918. The fort remained operational until 1963, but is now a state park. We drove over to Port Townsend to see it and to taste the beers at the Port Townsend brewery. They have 12 different varieties and you can put small glasses down on a placemat to indicate which beers you want to taste. The photo above is of the campground at Ft. Flagler from Port Townsend.