Movie in the Dark at Carrie Blake Park

Oops, nearly missed the annual Sequim Dog Show but luckily we went for an afternoon bike ride through Carrie Blake Park and noticed all the tents and RVs and of course, all kinds of dogs! What fun, even when your are not a dog owner like us. We watched for quite some time the dog show competitions and were amazed how one judge was able to do all the selection and choose the winning dog. Seemed kind of subjective to us but what do we know. I guess this guy is kind of an expert like the Dog Whisperer!

Anyhow, we wanted to include a link to the dog show but were not able to locate one. Instead we found this site to the Carrie Blake Dog Park, which we mentioned in one of our posts about the Park. Sequim Dog Owners, if you don't know yet, this is a great place where your dog can socialize with other dogs, without being on a leash, and you can socialize with other Sequim dog owners.

We were busy welcoming our first guests at our Sequim 'Bell Hill View' Vacation Rental. Very nice couple from Colorado who want to do the big move to Sequim, maybe. It all depends how things work out with selling their house in CO and also getting new jobs in Sequim. We wish them all the best for their moving project! As Jason from Welcome Home Realty says, Sequim Real Estate is a buyer's market. This is the perfect time for buying a house or land in Sequim!

Looks like I got somewhat sidetracked with Dogs and Real Estate. So let's get back to the original issue. When you are on vacation in Sequim and want to experience something special, how about a night trip to Carrie Blake Park for a movie on Tuesday 31? The animated movie 'Happy Feet' will air at dusk on an inflatable big screen set up for the evening.

This movie at Carrie Blake Park will be the second this summer. The first movie was Grease. Drive your car to Carrie Blake Park, park around the bandstand circle, sit on the hood and take the show. The movie will follow a 6pm concert by Fat Chance, a Port Angeles based band. Don't miss the band or the movie. Sequim local sponsors are providing the free night of entertainment for you. See you at the dark at Carrie Blake Park. The Sequimers

Tags: vacation in Sequim, vacation on olympic Peninsula, Sequim Real Estate

Beautiful Sequim Vacation

Well, our much awaited 2007 Sequim Lavender Festival is history. We had a nice crowd of visitors who joined the fun at the street market in Fir St with music, lots of lavender products to buy and great tasty food to eat. Fragrant lavender scent was in the air everywhere! The lavender farm tour buses were running all day long.

Sure it would have been nicer with sunshine - Sequim summer weather was beautiful before and after the Lavender Festival. How ironic! Sequim Gazette wrote that Sequim had 5000 visitors less at this year's festival. Whether the reason was the overcast weather or not.

Everybody had a great time and guess what we did not have to cope with hot temperatures over the 100 F as so many states had. It was already too much when Sequim temperatures reached a decade high of 94 F on one day at the beginning of July. We even ran our AC with our heat pump. We feel blessed with our moderate Sequim weather. Who wants hot, go to Mexico or just California!

I promised a few lavender photos. Here they are. I took them at Purple Haze Lavender Farm. The colors, the smell and the location! Come and see for yourself on your next Sequim vacation. Don't wait till next year. Sequim weather in August and September invite for some great week or weekend vacation...hiking the Olympic Mountains, biking the Olympic Discovery Trail, picking berries are all favorites of ours!

If you consider moving to Sequim, first come and visit Sequim for a vacation. When looking for real estate or a house to buy in Sequim, we happily share our experience with you. We are excited to help a couple from Colorado to give them our view of life in Sequim! More from sunny Sequim with the blue hole soon. The Sequimers

Tags: best retirement town, sequim, vacation, hiking, olympic mountains, Sequim Lavender Festival

Sequim Real Estate Summer Analysis 2007

Dear Sequim Town blog visitors,
As we know that a lot of our Sequim blog readers are interested in moving and living in Sequim and therefore like to hear how the real estate market is doing in summer 2007, we asked Jason Lee from Welcome Home Realty on his current thoughts of the Sequim Real Estate market. Feel free to compare this one with his market analysis in April. Thank you Jason for sharing your realtor knowledge with us!

"Hello again to everyone interested in a Sequim lifestyle.
This is your midsummer update on our real estate market. Despite all the doom and gloom of the national news media the Sequim realty situation is very stable. Homes sales for the general Sequim area are down about 8% from the year before, which isn't too bad considering the nation as a whole. The surprising fact is that the average and median sold price of a stick built home is up approximately $2500 from last year. This tells me that while the number of sales has tapered off slightly, there is still more than enough demand to live here.

What's great about our market is that even with the relatively small slowdown in sales last year and this year our inventory of homes for sale has grown exponentially to where we have about 450 or so to choose from at any given time. This had led to the greatest buyers market we have seen in years.

Because of this and the need for good buyer representation I have decided that what Sequim needs is a Buyer's Agent. Thus a little over a month ago when my last listing sold, I stopped taking them and have gone to only representing buyers. Having a strictly Buyer's Agent is beneficial to people in that there is never a conflict of interest and concerns with the agent trying to push their own listings. Sellers always have an agent and are represented to the fullest, now buyer's have that option also. Enjoy the summer, come to Sequim if you're not getting enough sun."

You may reach Jason Lee, Sequim's Exclusive Buyer's Agent Accredited Buyer's Representative, Direct # 360-460-8161 Welcome Home Realty

Tags: Moving to Sequim, Olympic Peninsula, Sequim Real Estate Market

Sequim Home for Sale in Sun Meadows

This Sequim House just SOLD! July 2008.

Well, by now after reading our Sequim Blog About everybody knows that we are not realtors but still like to talk about Sequim real estate and Sequim homes for sale. Sequim is a town of steady transition, more so people moving here from California or Arizona or even Hawaii like us than leaving Sequim. When you once live here, there are chances you move within Sequim or even build another house in Sequim.

We never thought we'd sell our home in Sun Meadows till this chance came along to build a new 2-storey Sequim home with extra 1Bd/1Ba guest apartment for our families and friends. Now, we can rest and relax till whatever other chance comes along.

Some time ago, we introduced Bill's and Arlyn's Sequim house for sale to our blog visitors. They are in transition to move into an assisted living home where Arlyn can get the right care when needed. They are still looking for the right buyer of their wonderful home. Our website shows all the details of their Sequim house for sale, with lots of photos & contact information (second property).

Today, we show you Margaret's and John's Sun Meadow Home for Sale. They were nor ready to retire and built their new house with big RV garage and workshop on 2 acres. Now it's time to sell their very unique house which you can easily fall in love with...light and bright and open, inside and out! Lots of privacy behind the house with nice BBQ area in garden setting.

This beautifully landscaped 1788 sq ft Sequim home with 2 Bd/2.5 Ba plus Office is located in the gated community of Sun Meadows with CC&R's, just minutes from John Wayne Marina, (voted the "Best Small Marina on the West Coast"), 7 Cedars Casino, all major shopping and entertainment, Carrie Blake Park, and all the amenities of "Sunny Sequim". See for more photos and detailed Sequim house description.

If you need help contacting the owners, please, let us know with subject 'Sequim Home for Sale Sun Meadows'. Hope our Sequim Town blog helps you find your perfect home in Sequim. Greetings from the Sequimers

Tags: Best retirement town Sequim, Sequim Home for Sale, Sequim, Retirement town

Sequim Lavender Festival YOUtube Video

Wow, I have to share this video with all of you, Sequim residents who are proud of Sequim and its Lavender Festival, and everybody else who plans a visit to the Lavender Festival this year.

Get a taste of the Sequim Lavender Festival with this Youtube Lavender Festival video by travel channel with Mark de Carlo. The Travel Channel's "Taste of America" visits the Annual Sequim Lavender Festival. Watch the full video below.

The 11th Sequim Lavender Festival is awaiting your visit. Have a great time in Sequim.

Tags: Sequim Lavender Festival Youtube Video, Sequim Vacation

Sequim Lavender Festival

Before we moved to Sequim at the beginning of 2006, we had done our homework and read everything what was available on this small retirement town on the Olympic Peninsula. Most impressive features apart from the amazing beautiful location of Sequim, embedded in Sequim Dungeness Valley between the Paicific Ocean and Olympic Mountains, was the special Sequim weather & the love for festivals. It was then that we heard for the first time about Sequim is the lavender capital of the world and about the Sequim Lavender Festival!

We already talked at our Sequim Town blog about a number of other big festivals, one of the biggest and oldest is the Sequim Irrigation Festival. The Sequim Lavender Festival is much younger but as it is in the middle of summer and people spending some fun vacation on the Olympic Peninsula anyways, it seems to attract many more visitors from other states and even around the world. The 11th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival takes place July 20, 21, & 22, 2007.

If you have not booked your vacation rental or Sequim B&B yet, you might be already out of luck. Here are a few Sequim Hotels & Lodges you want to try.

City of Sequim Lodging
Sequim Econo Lodge
Sequim Ramada Inn
Sequim Sunset Marine Resort

When here on your Sequim vacation or coming for a visit to the Sequim Lavender Festival, get the most out of your stay and join the eight beautiful Farms on Tour in the stunning Sequim-Dungeness Valley. Enjoy the fragrant essence of purple lavender fields swaying in the breeze, the seemingly never ending fields of beautiful purple lavender plants and the many tastes of lavender. Visit the Street Fair, featuring Northwest crafts and Olympic Coast cuisine. Join more than 35,000 visitors from all over the world in this glorious Festival!

As newcomers to Sequim, we liked the recent articles in the 'Sequim This Week' about two big Sequim Lavender Farms. Owners Randy and Pam Nichols started their lavender farm Jardin du Soleil Lavender in 1999 and have turned it into one of the regions most successful oil producers.With the lavender festival approaching, they are preparing to greet thousands of fans of the unique fragrant calming herb.They offer a wide variety of lavender products at their farm store and through their online store at JardinDuSoleil

Another successful Lavender Farm in Sequim is Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb Farm which celebrates its 40th anniversary. This lavender farm is the state's oldest and first herb farm New owners Gary and Marcella Stachurski, who bought the farm in 2005, watch over thousands of lavender plants and other herbs and flowers. They feel lucky to be part of the history of the oldest lavender farm in the state.

In preparing for their third Sequim Lavender Festival they told Sequim This Week that they have plenty of surprises for people who visit their farm. One open secret is their new restaurant Cafe Provence (former Petals) will have music each evening and serve a buffet-style meal to limit waiting time.

The Sequim Lavender Festival is a production of the Sequim Lavender Growers Association. The SLGA is comprised of over 30 lavender farms in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. Find out more on the SLGA website. For Lavender Festival Information email 877-681-3035 (toll free).

With our visit to Sequim lavender farms at the festival, we will try to snap some good shots of lavender fields and flowers. It's not just for our blog. We also intend to make those into beautiful photos. Wal Mart offers this great service to make your photos into posters. We see you at the 11th Sequim Lavender Festival. Don't forget we have a leave a comment button. Sequim vacationers and vistors love to hear from your and your visit to the festival.
Thanks a lot. The Sequimers

Tags: Sequim Lavender Festival, Sequim Vacation, Vacation on Olympic Peninsula

Pick berries in Sequim

Dear Sequim visitors,
One of our first posts when we started our Sequim town blog reporting casually about our retired life in Sequim, one of the best retirement town in Washington state, was about picking berries in Sequim.

We were impressed by the variety of berry farms in Sequim which offered u-pick berries. Ever since the beginning of berry season this June - remember we noticed that strawberries were ripe very early this year due to the nice weather - we are regularly picking fresh berries for our morning cereal and just for eating them by themselves.

We woke up to a nice sunny Saturday morning this weekend (some early fog lifted soon). At around 10am I took off for picking strawberries at Graysmarsh Berry and Lavender Farm for u-pick berries. After I had picked enough strawberries, I decided to check on the raspberries and believe it or not, there were already quite a number of ripe and sweet fruits (they need to fall into your hand, otherwise they are not ripe).

Well, we were not done picking berries for the day. We decided we check on the blueberries (great anti-oxydants) of a small organic garden where we had picked last year. We were really lucky and picked 1/2 lb of great ripe early blueberries and even some sweet Rainiers cherries.

Well, this is your chance to stay in good health with fresh, vitamin rich berries. Enjoy berry season in Sequim. Greetings from the Sequimers

Tags: Sequim, Picking berries in Sequim

July 4th in Sequim

Dear Sequim town residents and visitors,
Here is a short update on our Independence Day. What a nice celebration of the 4th of July we had! The gorgeous summer weather was enjoyed by everybody to the fullest. First, we got to know new neighbors at our new Sequim house neighborhood of Carrie Blake Park area. The pot luck food was delicious. We definitely made new friends as well. It goes without saying that we will join the next July 4th pot luck party next year.

In the afternoon, we went to Carrie Blake Park for listening to the Sequim City Band on the big park stage. There was quite a crowd assembled. We did stay for about half an hour and then left for attending the next pot luck party.

Our good friends from our 'old' neighborhood in Sun Meadows had invited us. We caught up on the latest neighborhood and Sequim town development. This town is growing daily. Not all appreciated by residents but this comes with progress. Seeing more and more big businesses settle in Sequim and new townhouses and condos develop, only proves that it's a wise decision to invest in Sequim real estate. The market value of our Sequim houses will go up.

We had a wonderful time with lots of friends and great BBQ, appetizers and lots of good cake. Too much to eat but we loved it. Thanks so much to our good friends Gail and Gayle for putting this great party for over 30 people together. We will remember this July 4th in Sequim!

The day ended with a spectacular firework which Sequim residents all over town put on for us. We watched at least for half an hour magnificent fireworks! With our 180 degrees vies of Sequim, we were loving this Sequim firework show.

We would like to thank those who already contributed to our 'Sequim Restaurants - Where to eat' post. Please, join and let us know about your favorite place to eat in Sequim. Greetings from the Sequimers

Tags: July 4th Sequim, Sequim, travel, vacation

Sequim weather in June

Dear Sequim Town Blog visitors,
First of all, we are happy to see that more and more people who intend to move to Sequim find us in Google searches. That's great news.

As promised, we want to supply you with useful information about Sequim Life aspects how we experience life in Sequim. Here we go again. One of the biggest concern for our final decision to make our retirement town was the Sequim weather. Coming from warm sunny Hawaii, we were looking for a sunny place in WA state with not too much rain as in Seattle. Believe us we checked each Sequim weather chart about Sequim annual rainfall, monthly precipation and sunny days per year.

The research result about Sequim weather was accommodating our expectations. Bellingham was not an option anymore when comparing the annual rainfall. After living in Sequim for nearly 1 1/2 year we learnt that most of the Sequim weather predictions were quite accurate. The fact that each mile you go from Sequim to the East in the direction to Tacoma or to the West in the direction to Port Angeles increases the rainfall by an inch proved true. We love our Sequim "banana belt", even though our Hawaii friends are kidding us about it. Sequim's unique location in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains keep the average annual rainfall in Sequim at only 16 inches.

Why do I mention the Sequim weather in June? I guess it's because nobody told us about the special weather in June, no website and no weather chart did. Last year, we experienced quite a number of sunny days in the spring months. So when June approached, we got all excited because we expected the breakthrough for summer. Actually the opposite happened...June came cloudy and foggy and unfriendly 'nippy'. Doing some plant shopping at a Sequim nursery and mentioning this 'strange' June weather, we heard for the first time that it's always that way in June and we just have to wait till summer shows up in July.

That's what we did. Summer of 2006, especially July, was quite hot but lasted long into October. Great for hiking in the Olympics and RVing in Washington. Well, we made it through our second June in Sequim, which was somewhat better this year so that berries really ripenend earlier. Let's enjoy the summer In Sequim. It's here with sun and blues skies! The Sequimers

Tags: sequim weather, sequim rainshadow, sequim blue hole

Sequim Town Blog Link Exchange

Welcome Sequim Business owners to our Sequim Town Blog

Please, let us know about your Sequim business. We would like to introduce it to our Sequim Town blog visitors. If we find your Sequim business of special interest for people interested in moving to Sequim and what life in Sequim is all about, we might actually ask you to provide us with an article about your business. We will publish it as an indivual post with link to your website URL. Your article may have the chance for inclusion on our page 'Popular Articles'. Submit your request by email with subject 'Sequim business post request'.

For all other Sequim business owners who are interested in a link exchange with Sequim Town Blog, please, let us know your business URL and a short anchor text for your link with subject 'Sequim business link exchange'. Link exchanges with other Washington state sites or blogs will be considered as well. We will get back to you a.s.a.p.

Thank you for your interest in exchanging links with Sequim Town Blog. The Sequimers

Tags: Link Exchange, Sequim, Olympic Peninsula