$5.36 a gallon

Is what I paid for gas today. Yikes! But the price is worth it because where else can you see all the great things I see every day?

Take a look at fishing pictures when friends Hal and Lindy were in town.

Take a look at whales, scenery, boating and bears in the back yard pictures.

Top 10 great things I've seen recently

1. Little Bear, our new neighbor, hanging out in the 'hood and almost coming into the kitchen (I shut the door!). Plus, I saw a mama bear and three cubs and Other Bear, a big old bear rubbing his back on a tree!
2. Whales breeching all over the place at Point Adolphus, a premiere whale watching spot. (Fortunately, our friend Hal's camera was going every millisecond. This was a good thing because my camera broke -- literally -- and Robin's camera had battery issues.)
3. The Coast Guard helicopter doing what they do around here ... which is medivacking patients from cruise ships. This, however, has been happening way too much -- almost every week. (For a mere $75, you can buy a policy from Guardian Air to cover just such a catastrophe.)
4. A boat who's captain didn't anchor in the right place so it was grounded during low tide.
5. Big fish ... and lots of them. (Too bad Hal didn't really catch any...but Lindy made up for that!) We had quite a haul one day, bringing back 8 whoppers!
6. A crazed porcupine being chased up the hill by our friend Tom. It ran back down towards us while we were sitting in the truck, checked for traffic and kept right on running across the road. (Tom looked a little crazed, too.)
7. Unbelievably gorgeous sunshine on the mountains and water.
8. A mama moose and two, yes two baby moose.
9. Porpoises, sea otters, sea lions, moose and eagles while fishing.
10. My awesome fiancee's smiling face every day! (We recently celebrated our 1 year anniversary.)