Thanks to a recommendation from friend, Mike Zimmer, we set our sights on Sandpoint, Idaho. For sunset we made our way around Lake Pend Orielle ( pronounced: pondoray), to Hope, Idaho and the Hope Marina with the Floating Restaurant. What an awesome end to the day!

If you are a Northern Exposure fan, Roslyn, Washington is a must- visit. The remains of the set can still be found, from KBER radio, Dr Fleischman's office and the Brick to the infamous Roslyn Cafe sign. It's a cute town otherwise. We had a beer at the Brick and got our Northern Exposure fix.

Marla loves it! Not only do they have the original Starbucks, but great food and flowers galore. It was crowded, but colorful and tasty!

The National Watercolor Society's 2009 Exhibition will include my painting, "Neon Rain" among the 90 or so paintings selected. This piece hasn't been shown anywhere yet. What better place to make it's debut?!

I’ve always liked Seattle, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to live here. It’s crowded and busy and there are already enough weirdos here. Yesterday we made a pilgrimage to the Original Starbucks at Pike Place Market, visited the Space Needle and the Seattle Music Experiment. The Seafarer’s Parade is going on this weekend,…

Watching the sunset from Orcas Island was magical. We can't go any further west on this adventure and this was a nice way to end our pacific fixation. Tomorrow we'll ferry back to the mainland and spend some time in Seattle before turning inland and east toward home.

The highest peak on Orcas Island offers stunning views of the San Juan Islands. The trail up is quite vertical and not something I wanted to traverse after sunset though. I'll bet it would be spectacular from here, but a beach location would be awesome too.

Marla really liked the "cut it yourself" option and had fun in the lavender fields.

Oh my gosh, what a find! Orcas Island is awesome! Buck Bay Farm is one of the jewels in the crown!