Virginia Beach

During the first part of our trip to Virginia to visit Eric's family in early September, we took a side trip to Sandbridge VA, just down the beach from Virginia Beach. So Betsy, Eric and I headed out from Richmond and met Aunt Betsy at the beach (she drove 7+ hours from New York to meet us). The weather was super nice in the upper 80's and the ocean water was 76 degrees F. We had a great time.

Aunt Betsy, Eric and Betsy at Virginia Beach


Pictures from the VA beach boardwalk

Maryland blue crab feast...

Riding beach cruisers on the boardwalk at sunset.

Who's that stylish guy?

Richmond, Virginia

Eric and I flew out to Richmond, Virginia in early September to visit his family. His sister Betsy lives there. Eric's immediate family members drove down from New York and Pennsylvania to visit us for a few days. It was great to see everyone, especially Grandma Miller who is 89 years young.

From left to right: Eric's dad Dave, Karen (Dave's girlfriend), Aunt Betsy, Colin (Besty's boyfriend), Betsy, Eric, and Grandma Miller out for breakfast at a neat southern fusion restaurant called Millies.


Eric and Grandma

Brandee and Dave

Grandma and Eric about to head into the Farmer's Market

The Richmond farmers market was really nice.

I had to take a picture - so cute! I think this pup had a disability.

Betsy making pizzas for everyone.

Betsy and Ivan.

Ivan, Carmen's corgi cousin.

This picture was taken along the canal walk in downtown Richmond.

Here we are walking along the James River on a big pipe!

The beautiful James River with it's rocky reaches.

Self Portrait

Betsy, Eric, and I went on a nice afternoon kayak along the James River. We paddled on the slow water portion. Downstream of where we paddled, the river has some class V rapids!

Ahhhh...I had my hair cut and straightened.

Eric and Betsy enjoying some ice coffees. Thanks for the great trip Betsy and the rest of the Miller clan!

British Columbia and the Saanich Peninsula

After our trip to Orcas Island, Eric, Carmen, and I took the ferry to Sydney B.C. via Friday Harbor. The ferry trip was beautiful. We stayed at a nice little B & B called the Lazy Dog Cottage at the tip of the Saanich Peninsula. We did some SUP on our trip and I rode my bike around the Saanich Peninsula (40 miles). We traveled home via the Victoria B.C. to Port Angeles ferry.

A cool Stone Pub near the B & B.

Downtown Sydney on the waterfront.

Carmen playing with the Jack Russel Terriers that live at the B & B.

The kitchenette at our place.

View of Saltspring Island from the waterfront at the B & B.

Another nice view from the B & B

Summer trip to Orcas Island

We visited Orcas Island then Sydney B.C. this past July. The trip started with Kira staying a few nights with us in Olympia then we all headed up to Orcas Island to visit and take her home. There are a lot of great pictures from our visit on the Myles-Era blog. We had a wonderful visit to Orcas Island and enjoyed having Kira stay with us.

Kira and Carmen, cousins.

Our Subaru at the ferry landing all loaded up for our trip.

Carmen enjoying the beach at Anacortes.

Kira and Eric checking out the tiny world inside a saltwater pool in a piling.

Mountains inside the piling.

The ol' Ferry self portrait

Eric showing Ronna how SUP is done. At one point that sunny afternoon everyone was out on the water either on SUP boards or kayaks. Grant even snorkeled. It was a lot of fun.

Another beautiful sunset from the Myles-Era house. Thanks for a wonderful trip.

Summer SUP and beyond

Eric put a lot of miles on the Stand Up Board (SUP) this past summer. Some of his most impressive paddles included from Boston Harbor out to and around Squaxin Island and from Nisqually Reach out and around Anderson Island. Pretty impressive! When I'm not training on the bike, I sometimes am able to join him for shorter paddles. So recently on a night paddle near Olympia's Priest Point Park, Eric and I heard the blows of whale pretty close to us. We paddled quickly away from the blows to find out the next day it was likely a transient Orca whale! It's amazing the things you witness out on the water.

Eric at home on his Tahoe SUP board.

Eric and few of his fellow paddlers at a local SUP race in Olympia.

Mom and Doug came out to watch one of Eric's local races on a rainy summer day. We then had a nice dinner at the Oyster House.

Carmen watching Eric about to win one of many local SUP races.