How we spent our summer vacation…
We have been a little lazy when it comes to keeping our blog up to date. It’s been a busy summer and we’ve tried to make the most of it and we’ve kept pretty busy. Lisa has been working hard at Eddie Bauer getting her store whipped into shape and doing a great job. She is regularly praised by her corporate office for all of her efforts. I have been working equally hard at Heath Northwest. Our sales are improving and I added another salesperson to our staff.
Labor Day weekend we decided to take our boat up to the San Juan Islands. Lisa and Melissa had to work, so the boys and I headed out early Saturday morning for Anacortes where we launched the boat. 
How we spent our summer vacation…
Once on the water we headed northwest on a heading through Thatcher’s Pass on a course to Jones Island, a small state park where we planned to spend the night. It took us about an hour to get there and once we arrived we were able to tie onto one of the anchoring buoys there. We made lunch and then took the dingy over to the beach and hiked around. Jones Island is really nice and offers some great hiking. We camped there back in 1996 and 1998 with our old boat. We went back to the boat in the afternoon and made dinner and Skyler and Alex fished off the back of the boat. Sky caught a flounder! I think this was his first fish he has ever caught on his own! He was thrilled and I think it’s made him a life long fisherman. 
After it got dark we rolled our sleeping bags and down went to bed for the night. Sunday morning we awoke to the sound of light ripple on the water lapping on the hull of the boat. I got up and started preparations for breakfast, scrambled eggs, sausage and orange Juice while the boys slept in a little. It was a beautiful morning and the water was calm as glass. Skyler, Alex and I spent the rest of the morning hiking on the island and rock climbing along the beach.
Then at about noon we went back to the boat and made lunch. Right after lunch we untied the boat from the anchor buoy and headed over to Orcas Island to top off the fuel tank for our next waypoint, Sucia Island, then we made a heading northeast for about a 18 mile boat ride to Sucia . We arrived at Sucia Island in only about a half hour and began scouting for a place to anchor. We were surprised by how many boats were there. I’d say Sucia Island is probably one of the most popular islands in the San Juan Islands for camping. It’s also a state park. On this island there are a lot of camp sites, lots of hiking trails, and also fossils and caves. We circled the island and decided to anchor in Shallow Bay, on the northwest side of the island.
We rowed the dingy ashore and hiked a trail that took us to what was called China Caves, a sand stone rock formation with some really interesting erosion patterns. Most interesting though are the caves in the sandstone that were apparently eroded by wind, water and animals. Legend has it that smugglers bringing in illegal Chinese immigrants hid them in these caves from immigration officials in the late 1800’s, hence the name. We rock climbed on these rock formations and Alex and I went really far up the cliff, so far that he got a little spooked and was unable to get back down without some help from Dad. 
After hiking on the island for another hour or so we went back to the boat for dinner. When we got back to the boat we were a little surprised to find that we had drug our anchor a ways getting really close to another boat anchored close by. We pull up anchor and moved over to another spot in the bay where I dropped two anchors to make sure we’d stay put for the night. The sunset from Shallow bay was spectacular! 
I had checked the tide charts and thought we’d be fine in the 14 feet or so of water that the depth finder said we had under the boat. But I woke up at about 3:30 in the morning, about 45 minutes before low tide, only to find that we only had 5 feet of water under the boat! I could see the bottom very clearly. Our anchors held tight, but we were getting really close to the bottom. Kyle woke up and came out to see what was going on and we both sat up until absolute low tide to make sure we didn’t hit bottom. At the lowest point we only had 4 feet of depth! I guess that’s why they call it Shallow Bay. Duh! Kyle and I went back to sleep and slept until about 7:30 when we all got up and made breakfast. We wanted to get back to Anacortes early before every one else in their rush to get back home from the holiday weekend, so we pulled up our anchors and set our course south for home. The water was like glass and perfect for cruising at speed I was able to even go full throttle for a while which got us back to Skyline Marina in Anacortes in short order where we had their hoist take our boat out of the water and set it on it’s trailer and headed for home, only about an hour and a half drive. Traffic was light and we were able to get away for the Labor Day weekend and back home without hassling with any of the holiday traffic. Everyone had a good time and it was really nice for dad to be able to spend some quality time with his boys!
8/18/07
Lisa, Alex, Skyler and I loaded up the racecar on the trailer and headed south to Portland to race at Portland International Raceway. Read more on my racing blog….
http://stevesampson.blogspot.com/
August 4th – 11th.
On August 4th Lisa and I took a trip to Cabo San Lucas to celebrate our 22nd wedding anniversary. Rick and Marie offered us the use of their time share there at the Sol Mar Suites, and it was a spectacular week! Lisa and I spent our time there walking on the beach, sitting poolside sunbathing and swimming, exploring around town, shopping, eating at some of the restaurants around town, sleeping a lot, getting tatoos (henna), jet skiing, etc. We took a sunset cruise that was awesome! We jet skied right through the “Los Archos” rock formations right at the tip of Baja. That was incredible! One day we just stayed in bed all day and didn’t get up until it was time for dinner. We’ve had a tough year and we felt like we deserved the rest. Our hotel was right on the beach on the Pacific side. We could walk down the beach a short way and hike over the boulders to a secluded and pristine beach they call Lovers Beach that’s normally only accessible by boat. But for the determined, the hike over the boulders made it all the more rewarding experience.
We took lots of pictures of the beautiful scenery there. The beaches were spectacular and awe inspiring. The weather the whole time was very hot. As we landed in Cabo the pilot came on the intercom and said the temperature was 100 degrees! It stayed in the upper 90’s for our entire stay, but our hotel room had great air conditioning that made the heat much more bearable. We haven’t had many vacations without the kids tagging along and this one was very special for us and time that we both needed together to recharge our batteries and refresh our marriage. Of course the time went by much too quickly and soon it was time to catch our shuttle back to the airport Saturday morning for our flight back home where, unfortunately, we had to contend with Mexican airport official disorganization. But after 11 hours in the airport and in the air we finally made it home safely.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Summer with the Sampson's
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Summer fun!
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After outgrowing our last boat and selling it last year, we finally replaced it this summer with bigger and better boat. We've been searching for a decent used boat that we could fit all six of us all year. A couple weeks ago I found one listed on Craig's List that was for sale in Electric City, WA, (Grand Cooley Dam). After exchanging e-mails with the seller and speaking with him on the phone, I decided to make the drive over to check it out. It actually worked out pretty well because I needed to go to the city of Moses Lake for a project I have going on at work, and Electric City is only about one hour north of Moses Lake. So Friday morning I took Alex and Skyler with me and we drove to Moses Lake to take care of the business I needed to do there, and then after lunch we drove up to Electric City to look at the boat.
It's ironic that after months of searching for a boat that suited our needs and our budget that the one we bought was in Electric City. Electric City is on Banks Lake, our family's all time favorite cheap vacation get away spots. I had gotten pretty jaded after looking at so many used boats I was wondering if we would ever find one that I felt was in good enough condition. We checked out the boat and liked what we saw. Alex and Sky really liked it, so much so that Alex said right in front of the guy selling it that he was sure we were going to buy this boat. So much for poker faced negotiations! I should have told them ahead of time to play it cool and let Dad do all the talking. I just said, "we'll see" if everything checks out".
We water tested the boat on Lake Roosevelt, the lake just above the Grand Cooley Dam. There had been a thunder and lightening storm that passed through just as we were towing the boat to the lake, and a lightening strike had started a brush fire along the road to the lake and the State Patrol closed it down stopping us from getting to the lake. The fire was very close and I was getting a little nervous that we might get caught in it, so I decided to get out of the truck and run up a small hill side next to the road for a better look. When I reached the top of the hill I was shocked at what I saw, there were huge flames only about 100 yards from us, and the wind was blowing our direction! I ran back to the truck thinking I was going to run the road block rather than risk getting caught in the fire. Just as I was pulling out of line, the state patrolman opened the road back up for us to escape. That was cutting it a little too close for comfort!
We finally reached the lake and launched the boat. It seemed to run very well and handled the water great. After about a 45 minute test ride, we loaded the boat back up and returned to the seller's house to negotiate the deal. Alex kept saying "I know we're going to buy this boat, Dad", as I tried my best to remain objective and focused about the impending transaction and tried not to let the boy’s enthusiasm sway my decision. A deal was finally reached for substantially less than the asking price and soon we were loading up the boat and trailer onto our truck. The boat's name is "Aquaholic". Cute, but we're thinking of changing it to something else.
We drove right to Banks Lake and launched our new boat for its maiden voyage. After spending a couple hours on the water in our new boat, it started getting dark, so we headed back to shore. We had decided to spend the night on our boat moored at the dock of the little marina there. It was a very hot and humid night, but it was great sleeping on the boat together with Alex and Sky, and they thoroughly enjoyed it!
Saturday morning we awoke with the sunrise and headed back out after gassing up the boat. We drove the boat down the lake to one of our favorite beaches at Steamboat Rock State Park and played in the water there for a while before exploring more of the lake. We decided we better get on our way home and loaded the boat back on the trailer and headed for home at about noon. It was a fun trip, just Dad, Alex and Sky and some quality time together, something they'll always remember.
Last Wednesday after work, I took Kyle and his friends Andy and Charles, along with Alex and Skyler out on the boat at Lake Washington for a couple of hours. We stopped the boat off of Seward Park and the boys swam for awhile. They hadn't planned on swimming and ended up having to swim in their skivvies.
Friday after work Lisa and I loaded up the boat and launched at Magnusson Park. This was Lisa's first time on the boat. We drove down to Andrews Bay at Seward Park and anchored there for the night. The weather had been rainy all day and it continued into the evening, but in Andrew’s bay it was very calm, and with the temperature about 70 degrees, we decided to go swimming. Saturday morning we awoke and the weather was beautiful. We had breakfast on the boat and then drove around the lake before heading back to the ramp and going home at about noon.
We're planning to make a trip up to the San Juan Island for a weekend soon and also explore more Washington waterways before summer is over. Like they say, Life is pretty dry without a boat!
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Sunday, May 13, 2007
Mother's day
Saturday we took flowers to Mom and Grandma Sours grave for Mother's Day. It was a beautiful sunny day for a visit to their grave site to pay our respects. We thought it would be nice to take a couple pictures and post them here in case any family might want to see them. It doesn't seem like it's been almost three years since Mom's passing. We sure miss Mom & Dad.
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Sunday, Melissa and I made dinner. We BBQ'd chicken and salmon and had Lisa's Mom and Dad over to join us. It was a pretty relaxing day and a great dinner, if I do say so myself.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Weekend on the Oregon coast
Last week we drove to Cannon Beach, Oregon for the weekend. Lisa and I spent three days there enjoying our time together there with all the beautiful scenery and sights in and around Cannon Beach. In our opinion, Cannon Beach is the most beautiful area on the west coast of the United States.
Friday I only worked a few hours in the morning, then Lisa picked me up from work and we made the drive toward Cannon Beach, about a 4 hour drive from Seattle. The weather Friday was sunny, perfect weather for a drive to the ocean. We stayed in the Hallmark Suites, a nice hotel perched on a small bluff right on the beach with a spectacular view of Haystack Rock, the ocean and all of Cannon Beach. This is the same hotel Lisa and I spent our honeymoon almost 22 years ago!
Saturday the clouds came out and it rained much of the day, but that didn't stop us from relaxing and doing a little sight seeing. We had dinner Saturday night at a nice restaurant to celebrate my birthday (albeit 2 days early). Sunday morning the weather was mostly clear. We got up and walked on the beach and around town a little before checking out and leaving for home at about noon. The drive home went pretty quickly, and before we knew it we were home. It was a very pleasant weekend away from the hustle & bustle of our normal routine, and it was nice to recharge our batteries a little.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Bringing flowers to Grandma and Grandpa Sampson's grave on Easter Sunday
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After church today we visiting Grandma and Grandpa Sampson and put a pretty Easter Lily on their grave, this is something that Grandma use to do every Easter for Grandma Sours, we plan on carrying on the tradition. Uncle Brent joined us and we had a nice visit. Whenever we visit their grave Alex and Sky can't help but spend time in the tree in front of their grave. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I am sure grandma and grandpa were smiling down on all of us.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Check out my new hairdo!
I am now a red head with blonde chunks through the front, is that fun or what!
I have a great stylist that loves that I am willing to go out on a limb and have fun with my hair. The back is super short so if you look at the hair from the side it is long in the front and angles up in the back. The hair style is a little shorter, thicker version of Victoria Beckams (Posh Spice) but the color in my hair is much brighter then hers and chunky not streaked.
I will send the professional shots when they are taken next week. The stylist is entering my hair into a national stylist contest.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Dad and Sky Day!
Last Saturday was Dad and Skyler day. They spend the day together at the Seattle Center where they went to the Science Center to see the Grossology Exhibit. They also went up in the Space Needle and spend some time at the International Fountain. They had a great time spending the day together. Check out the below photos to see a glimps of the Seattle Center and some of the fun things there.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Seattle Waterfront
We took advantage of a beautiful spring like day to spend time together on the Seattle Waterfront. We couldn't have asked for better weather or for a nicer time spent together.
Skylers Polar Express Reading
In Sky's 1st grade class the students had the opportunity to create their very own version of the book the Polar Express. Parents where invited to attend a special reading of these very special books and enjoy hot chocolate and cookies with their students. Each student was invited to get up in front of the class and all the parents and read their books. Sky did an incredible job and we are very proud of him...Way to go Sky!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Snow, Snow Go Away Come Again Another Day!
Today is day six of snow here in the Pacific Northwest and it is finally starting to melt...yippppppeeeeeee!
The kids have been out of school for six days and believe me when I say it is time to go back to school.
The below photos don't even begin to show the snow we had, today is my day off and I finally had a chance to take some photos, the problem is now it is starting to melt.
Don't get me wrong I love the snow, it has been very pretty to watch but I would have been happy with just a couple of days of it. Now it is time for the snow to go bye bye!
Alex Favorite Thing To Do
For Christmas the family received an X-Box 360 from santa...Thanks a lot Santa, we owe you one. Alex has always loved video games but the 360 takes it to a new level. I guess you could say Alex is an X-Box 360 addict.
Sky Showing Off...
His Christmas present from big sis Melissa. Melissa got everyone huskies presents from the company she works for, The Huskies Headquarters in the U District.
Sky Primping
It starts so young....I swear it takes Skyler and Alex longer to get themselves ready in the morning than any of the rest of us. Between the three boys we go through a bottle of hair gel every week!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Merry Christmas From the Sampson Family
Dear family and friends,
What a year 2006 has been, full of new challenges and changes. At the beginning of 2006 we were beginning our third year in Vancouver Washington. As 2006 comes to an end we find ourselves in more familiar surroundings and back home in Shoreline Washington. Here is a brief year in review from our family.
The first part of the year brought Melissa home from college after being away from home and our family for her senior year of high school and her first semester of college. We missed her very much and love having her home with us again. On the flip side was the challenge of Steve’s Fathers failing health, and his ultimate passing away in early February. Although it was a sad time, it was also a time of strength and a faith building experience for our family. We find it so very comforting that Blaine and Eleanor are back together again and back in the presence of our Heavenly Father.
Melissa has taken part of the year off from school to reevaluate her plans while working fulltime. She’s taking marketing classes at Shoreline Community College while she decides what she wants to do. While in Vancouver Melissa worked for the GI Joe’s Sporting Goods Flag ship store in Portland as department lead. Before moving back to Shoreline, Melissa secured a job with the Husky Headquarters in the U-district where she was the store manager. We said was because Melissa has just been promoted to Merchandising Manager for all six stores. This is a position of considerable responsibility for a 19-year-old kid. We’re so proud of her! She has so much going for her and she’ll be a great success in anything she undertakes.
Kyle is in his junior year of high school at his mom and dad’s old high school rival, Shorewood, where he has been able to reconnect with many of his childhood friends he’s grown up with. Kyle left behind some very good friends in Vancouver that he continues to keep in touch with. Kyle is enjoying his junior year of high school where his favorite classes are social psychology and photography. This year is also a milestone for Kyle. He turned 16 and completed drivers ed! He’ll be getting his drivers license as soon as his waiting period is up in a few months. That will certainly increase his independence and open up a whole new world of adventure for both Kyle and his parents.
Alex continues to be an incredible kid. It is truly amazing to see how well he is doing considering all he has over come in his short life. Alex is in the third grade back at Echo Lake where he went to Kindergarten. Last year for Christmas Alex received a pocket bike (mini motor cycle) from Santa that he enjoys getting out and riding as often as possible. He picked up on riding very fast and shows quite a knack for it; much to his dad’s pleasure…looks like we have another potential racer in the family. Alex also enjoys playing on the computer and video games, which he usually masters in one or two days.
It’s been a big year for Skyler. He started first grade this year and loves school and loves his teacher, Mrs. Nichols. Skyler is a fireball of energy. Never slowing down, he even moves in his sleep. Skyler favorite past times are playing with our cat, dog and rat, and playing on the computer, video games and riding his bike. Oh, and keeping his older brothers on their toes. He always has to be in the thick of things. If we only had all his energy!! Skyler is showing a very competitive nature giving both of his brothers a run for the money.
The beginning of this year found Lisa speaking with State Legislators regarding WASL issues in addition to protesting at the state capital along with other locations around the state. Lisa still sits on the board of directors for Parent Empowerment Network where she fights for the rights of children in our education system. Lisa has been published in numerous newspapers around the state and continues to speak publicly on educational issues and counsel parents helping them to navigate the educational system. A month before moving back to Shoreline Lisa accepted the store manager position for the Alderwood Romy Boutique. Romy is a European style fashion boutique for women. Lisa loves her job and the team she works with and hopes to move up quickly in this new company. In addition Lisa is back in the scouting program as bear den mother for Alex’s Cub Scout Bear den, adding to Lisa’s all ready busy schedule.
The first half of he year saw continued growth and profitability for Steve’s company, ES&A in Portland, OR. It also saw continues efforts by one of their Portland competitors to recruit Steve to run that company’s Seattle division. When Steve started his position with ES&A in December 2003 it was with the understanding that this company would be re-establishing their Seattle offices and move us back to Seattle within two to three years. However, after over two years it became apparent that it would likely be much longer before his company would be able to move back into the Seattle Market. While we enjoyed living in the Portland – Vancouver area, it was always our plan to ultimately return home to Seattle, sooner rather than later.
In April Steve began to seriously consider accepting a position with Heath Northwest in Seattle. After several meetings with the owners and a visit to their Seattle offices, we decided to accept their generous offer and move our family back home to Seattle. This was a very difficult decision for Steve as he was seeing some great successes at ES&A and felt loyal to them. But the lure of moving back home and working for great company, offering a better a compensation package really made this decision a no brainer for us. They even paid for professional movers to move us, so we didn’t even have to contend with the always-tedious ordeal of moving ourselves. We simply packed boxes and directed the movers where to put everything. Steve started his position as Vice President of Sales for Heath Northwest the first week of August. Although he has his work cut out for him, he has a great staff and the full support of their parent company backing him. He has already seen some great success and has landed some great accounts, and the coming New Year is looking to be a promising one for his business.
We feel blessed to have such a wonderful family and fortunate for all the blessings we have received, as well as for the challenges we have endured and overcome this past year. We wish all of our family and friends a very merry Christmas and a joyous, healthy and prosperous New Year.
All our love,
Steve, Lisa, Melissa, Kyle, Alex and Skyler Sampson
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Just when you think things are going great...BAM
While Melissa was in Seattle on Tuesday interviewing for jobs she was in a car accident on Highway 99. First let me say she is okay, just a little sore and bruised but it could have been worse and when you see the photos you will understand why.
The women that hit Melissa traveled across 4 lanes of traffic doing about 40 miles per hour and hit Melissa in the driver side door. The police and fire department where called and the lady was ticketed. Melissa limped the car home to grandma and grandpa while we started the process of filing claims.
The ladies insurance company has been awful to deal with refusing until today to issue her a rental car. I think the BBB complaint we made yesterday aided in getting the car today.
Now here is the topper and it is pretty unbelievable, the insurance company after talking to Melissa and the women who hit her has determined that Melissa is 10% at fault for the accident because she didn't use "evasive action" to get out of the womens way who had travels over four lanes and hit her. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT! Melissa didn't see the women coming until right before she was hit. Now take into account that the lady hit Melissa square in the center of her car and if Melissa could have use "evasive action" she still would have been either hit in the front of the car or the back of the car. Who knows it could have been even worse than it was. The insurance adjuster has made this determination with out seeing the police report or talking to the witnesses so we feel that when this info is out they will reverse their decission and if they don't than we will get a lawyer. There is no way that Melissa is going to have this on her record, she did nothing wrong, she was simply driving down the road.
UNBELIEVABLE! The good thing is Melissa is okay and on her way home tonight. I will post photos of her car later tonight.
Just so you all know the insurance company that is giving us a hard time is AARP Hartford.
Going Home!
Well it is official we are coming home!!
After moving to Vancouver almost three years ago, it is time to go home! When we moved to Vancouver we knew it was only temporary and that we would be back home.
I can't wait, and either can Melissa or Kyle. Steve would have liked to have stayed in Vancouver, but honestly I think it is only because of how close we live to the race track. Now instead of a 10 minute drive to go racing it will be a 45 minute drive to race. Alex and Sky are really too young to really know the differance. Although Alex is showing signs of his anxiety again, I hope the SM doesn't come back in full force but I am expecting a little of it. Whatever may come we will deal with it as always.
I never did feel like I fit in here, like I did in Seattle, although I have met some great people here and have been super successful in fighting the WASL here. Now it is time to put my energy else where...watch out Shoreline here I come.
I think my mind set changed from thinking yes I could live here in Vancouver to NO WAY I want to go home when I had a shot gun point at me at my house and a creep tried to push his way into our home. And to think we live in a nice area in Vancouver. It was at that point that all I could think off was going home where I have family, friends and support. I didn't have that here and dealing with the trauma of thinking I could have died by gun shot wound was just to much to handle.
So we will be moving on the 3rd and 4th of August. Steve will start his new job with Heath Northwest at the Portland office on July 31st and then start managing the Seattle office on August 7th where he will be the Vice President of Sales. That same monday the 7th I will begin my career with Romy Boutique as the store manager and I am truly looking forward to this opportunity. Melissa will start a job as assistant manager of the Dawg Pound (Husky shop) in the U district.
It is going to be a challenging year but one that I look forward to.
Seven days and counting until the move....hummmm, maybe I should get packing.
