Hi everyone!

Two weekends ago, Kris and I went out to Whidbey Island with Kris' mother, Kathy. We stopped by this old fort, Fort Casey, that was built in the 1890s, and used lightly through WWII. It's built at the mouth of the Puget Sound, and was considered a critical location for blocking enemy ships from entering the Sound.

An enormous gun. These move up and down from being exposed to fire, then after firing immediately lowering below the fort so the enemy ships don't know where the shots are coming from.


I have no idea what these are for. I assume...loading shells?

From the top of the fort. The entire fort is built into the side of the hill, almost obscuring it from view from the water.






The old switchboard...unfortunately, the door was locked. But you can see inside during the guided tours :)





A view of the bay, looking out toward the sound.



And of course...some deer! They must love this place now that its a state park :)

We've been having a heat wave all this week, but today was the hottest! I've never seen the temperature gauge register 107' before. So glad we had the air conditioner installed last year. That unit has paid for itself five times over already between last summer and this summer so far! :)

The zucchinis haven't done well here the last couple of years, so I bought this bush cucumber plant on a whim when we were at Sensinger's. Apparently it likes this spot, because it really took off. The tag said that the cucumbers grow best on a trellis, so dad put a tomato cage over it.


You can't see all of them in this photo, but we have 5 cucumbers coming so far!


We're going to harvest this cucumber to put in a salad for tomorrow night's dinner! :)