I'm not sure how this plan came to be, but Olivia, Zach and I, with a long visit from Dave, vacationed in the Pacific NW for 19 days. I guess it helps that we have lots of family and friends in the area. May I add, July is the perfect month to remove yourself from the sweltering Atlanta heat.
We left July 6, bound for Seattle and our trip took us to Seattle, Issaquah, Portland, Seaside, OR, Scappoose, OR, back to Seattle, Vancouver, British Columbia, Merritt -Monck Park (BC), eastern Washington and back to Issaquah and Seattle. We returned to Atlanta July 24, well it was midnight, so technically July 25. We are still on 'West Coast time'. Maybe we should hurry off to the lake and we can be on 'Alabama time'. That would be Central time to most people. I have so many photos, I'll let most of them speak for themselves.
Ferry ride from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island.
Olivia found huge snails on Bainbridge.
They thought this ferry ride was so cool because we drove our car onto the ferry! I think it's cool too.
Exploring a beachy state park on Bainbridge. It's July and we are wearing jackets!
Happy to be here!
Another park on Bainbridge, wooden city, massive sand area and I couldn't get them to leave. I lured them with the promise of BBQ and it didn't disappoint.
Pine Lake Thursday evening concert on the lawn with the Ulitsch's (John is pictured above). We made it to two different concerts. I have made it to zero Smyrna concerts in Atlanta. Hmm, maybe we should move here?!
Ava and Olivia...the kids immediately took to each other again. They haven't seen each other in over a year. Like minds....a snail (different one than earlier) is in that cup.
A visit to the Space Needle. Zach loved it; Olivia despised it. I'm glad they do not have the glass open on the bottom anymore. She would have really hated it then!
Lounging in the hotel room. T.V. is a treat on this trip since our lake house and Smyrna house do not have cable/satellite. I haven't seen the news in two months. What's been going on...Weiner, Casey Anthony, tabloid failures, debt...never mind.
She looks like she is enjoying herself, right?
Beautiful sunny Seattle. Every visit I have made to Seattle (especially in my old Starbucks corporate days) were sunny. Strange, huh? I love this city.
Space Needle...yes we got goodies!
Gorgeous
Left Seattle and drove to Portland with a quick stop at the Portland airport to change out our Chevy Malibu with a Ford Explorer (it was loaded). Minor sensor error, but Avis told us to come in and we totally lucked out. It had bluetooth, so we played Justin Bieber for 16 days straight. Well, until Dave arrived :-) He's not a fan.
Oregon City, to Uncle Ron and Aunt Judy's house - cousins! Miriam and Asher are pictured here. Breakdown on family: Ron & Judy (my dad's brother) - 4 Kids (my cousins): Andrew - (kids -Julia & Chris), mom, Daria is in Bulgaria for 2 months. Matthew, then Sarah - husband Curt (kids - Madeline, Margaret, Miriam), David - wife Noi (kids - Asher & Amalie) Big family, fun times! Nine little cousins all together for this trip.
Madeline & Olivia
Miriam, Asher, Chris, Madeline, Olivia & Zach
David & Amalie
Miriam, Zach and Lily, the white kitten - she was loved, a little too much. We stayed at my cousin, Sarah's house. Tux and Mittens didn't hang around much, so Lily received all the kids love. Sarah and her three girls all have Celiac Disease, along with my cousin, Matthew. So, I ate and ate and ate at her house. Sarah made homemade Gluten Free cookies. Bliss! Thank you, Sarah.
Portland's Rose Garden - Chris & Zach
Margaret & Olivia. Margaret rode in the car with us most of the time. I think she liked having a break from her sisters, oh and listening to Justin Bieber!
Roses, glorious roses
The gang of White grandchildren
Sarah, Andrew and Jennifer - we bribed a kid to take this:-)
One of favorite places in Portland - The Rose Garden
Water sculpture at the Garden
Look at this gigantic slide. They all went down together.
Silver Lake Falls in Oregon - hiking with the kids
Sarah & Jennifer
Playing at the Falls, eating Salmon berries.
Sack races, three legged race, tug of war, it was all fun and games that afternoon at Silver Lake. We came home with lots of prizes.
The gang of hikers
Jennifer, Andrew & Sarah
Another bribe...
Tug of war
Cousins pitted against cousins....
Olivia & Margaret all smiles
Cookout at Ron & Judy's for Asher's 5th Birthday. Why have friends, when you have this many cousins?! :-)
Adult cousins
Jennifer, Matthew, Sarah, Curt, Andrew, David & Noi
Uncle Ron
Thank you Judy for cooking for this massive amount of people!
Hey, let's build a cage out of Uncle Ron/granddad's old truck. Olivia was the captured unicorn/pegasis....go figure. Imaginations run wild here. Cherries, berries, flowers, it's an oasis. Kids run wild.
I think I'll take Amalie home with me. Ahh, sweet girl.
Playtime in downtown Portland before dinner
Deschutes Brewery - gluten free beer, burgers, ahh.
Cousins unite
Sarah, Andrew, Matthew & Jennifer
Onward to Seaside, Oregon...the coast. Andrea Ulitsch with Ava and Gage met us there.
Kids playing at Scout's Cottage...courtesy of Sarah & Curt's Aunt Kay. We had a fabulous time, thank you, Kay!
It's not July in Oregon without cherries and strawberries. Strawberries courtesy of Andrea's dad's garden in Scappoose. Road side stand proved bountiful in gigantic peaches, apples, cherries, and blueberries. The kids gorged themselves (we did too).
She likes her berries
Relaxing while Andrea makes a great dinner
Beach camp fire for smores. We worked our tails off to get the wood for this, but it's cool to drive on the beach and build a camp fire. Andrea has had many years of training :-)
Smores
Olivia & Gage enjoying the ocean breeze and warm fire
The kids found Chinese finger traps
Peter Iredale 100+ year old ship wreck close to Seaside, Oregon
The water was freezing, but they didn't seem to mind.
Out for a little clam chowder
Candy store in Seaside. As Zach exclaimed "it's free candy day!!" They were so happy. I was so sick after I sneaked a few tastes of Gage's Pop Rocks. Remember those? Ugh, I think the bubbles didn't like me. Brings back old times...
Cannon Beach - Haystack Rock with Andrea
Gage, Zach, Olivia and Ava
A little evening stroll on the beach looking for tide pools
Ulitsch's
Zach spelled all of our names, I was "mom", then...he had to do it.. he spelled "butt". Ah, guess it's the age. See below.
Ava & Olivia looking for fish. She actually caught one with her hands.
Butt....
Windy
Cool stump
Enjoying my time with the kids
Hot tub anyone? We enjoyed this hot tub multiple times a day at Scout's Cottage. Perfect weather for it.
After leaving Seaside, we stopped by Scappoose to see Andrea's dad. Take a look at this cool swing he made for his yard. You can swing really high. Of course the kids loved it. Hmm, how to build one??
Now this swing, just two ropes in these huge trees, and a wooden seat. You swing out over a cliff, say 30-40 feet high. It was thrilling. Now, only if Edward from Twilight were here to catch me....ha!
Ava and Gage rode with us from Oregon to Seattle (mind you this was my second Friday in Seattle/Portland traffic). Lucky for us, John U. picked Dave up from the airport so he wouldn't have to wait on us. We drove to Vancouver, Canada that night. The kids were asleep as we crossed the border.
We had lunch in a little port town...Horseshoe Bend or something like that....
Hiking to the lighthouse in an old growth forest. Dave said it looked like dinosaurs would walk out at any moment. These trees were enormous. Vancouver gave us our first day of rain, but we acted like locals and pushed through.
Light house in Vancouver
Barry and Heath
Barry, Carla, MacKenzie Connell and Heath drove from Texas (with a trailer and all camping equipement). They met us in Vancouver for a hike to Lynn Canyon and Twin Falls. The suspension bridge during the rain was....death defying? Nah, it was beautiful to stand in the middle and watch the tormenting water force it's way down. Powerful stuff...awesome views.
Connell, Zach and Olivia
See what I mean? It was breathtaking.
Camping in Monck Provencial Park - Merritt, British Columbia
Before our tents were up....waiting on Barry and crew. His alternator went out, but Barry doesn't let things stop him, he was repaired and ready to go shortly. He was bringing our camping equipment. Thank you Barry. Thank you Carla for bringing the food and everyone for cooking. We did not go hungry on this trip.
All set up in time for the rain...
Steve, Lori & Jackson (Carla's sister)
Carla, Jen & Dave
Smores time!
Olivia & Zach off to ride the dragon at Lake Nicola
Dave in relaxed camping mode
Carla and the backpacker, Heath
Barry has worked his tail off and is ready to enjoy the beach
Heath, eating grass :-)
Row, row, row your boat, boys
Connell & Zach with help from Angela, Carla's sister
Olivia & MacKenzie's turn
A little friendly game on the beach
Face painting
Dalmation, dalmation, flowers....black lab?! Zach wasn't too happy with his black lab face or the fact that we started laughing when he walked back from face painting. We removed it quickly.
Grandma Goose (Carla's mom) enjoying a quiet moment with Heath. The only time he would let us hold him. He is a Mom & Dad's boy...
Barry & Carla
Look Barry, no baby! All smiles....
Connell, Zach and Kenzie
Master campers
The coveted trailer and smoker nearby....good food was delivered frequently - ha!
The girls going in to enjoy some quality girl tent time
No close-ups after camping for a couple of days. Barry told us to shower, but we only got 30 seconds on the clock. Just kidding. The shower felt nice.
They love the marshmallows and I ate three too many smores due to Carla's thoughtfulness of bringing gluten free graham crackers... I just couldn't say no.
Camp fire snuggles and silliness
Our two room tent
The wind almost blew it down the last night we were there. It was strong and kept waking me up. The pine beetles attacked most of the trees in the area (along the entire Western U.S. too) so the trees weren't around to protect from the wind.
Group shot on our last day of camping
I didn't get one with Carla's family, but we had 17 people in all camping with us. We did a little hiking, beaching, playing, cooking, laughing, looking for bears, necklace bead making and exploring. Oh, and eating!!
The Pryor's camping in BC
After leaving Canada, and being harassed by the U.S. border official....we worked our way down eastern Washington, stopping in Levenworth, WA. It's an Alpine village, like Helen, GA. So, we had a little dinner of schnitzel. This wasn't a planned part of the trip, but was fun none the less.
A local fish hatchery nearby...salmon and trout. Did I mention how wonderful the fish and sushi was in Vancouver? We had sushi for lunch and dinner and were ready for more. Mmm... we even convinced Olivia and Zach that they like it!
We also rode horses along the way. Levenworth had it all. I rode Gus, Zach had Post Office (branded with a P.O. box sign and a number...?), Olivia rode Juniper and Dave had Duke. Gus needed a little reminder to keep up sometimes, but we had so much fun. This is the first time we were able to ride as a family. Last year, Zach wasn't old enough. He loved it and asked "Can I take riding lessons when we are in New Jersey?" That boy loves anything that moves that he can steer. Of course he was 'steering' quite a bit on the trail when I'm not sure it was necessary. Poor old Post Office. It's interesting that he loved it so much. It would be great if both kids rode together.
Olivia on Juniper, nice helmet
Thumbs up
I was a wee bit sore for a few days after riding. My new knee held up nicely during all the hikes, rainy hikes and horseback riding. I got stuck coming off my horse because my knee still isn't ready to bend all the way. It was funny.
Gus (my horse) took a leak as we came into the stables.....5 gallons later.....he was finished.
Pryor's with Post Office
Feeding the fish at the hatchery
Back to Issaquah and hanging with the Ulitsch's again. It seems I spent most of July with them. This was my second Pine Lake evening concert. Do you like our "no alcoholic beverages" coozies? Aluminum foil and a dish cloth.....yes, we all have southern ties.
Kids giving Molly all their love
What?! He lost his first tooth at Mimi & Papa's two weeks ago and now his top tooth falls out, with the help of dental floss. John U. brought our the rusty pliers to help, but Zach politely declined. If only he lost it a day earlier, it would have been a Canadian toothfairy!
Pike's Place Market in Seattle
Zach fell in love....all the samples of fresh fruit, jams, everything!
Seattle Aquarium visit...my third time, the kids first. They have a great outdoor area with sea lions and it's very interactive.
Spent Friday afternoon at the Loch's watching boats pass through the loch system - pretty cool. Another gorgeous sunny day in Seattle. Yes, I know all my Seattle friends have words for me....
Chinook's for dinner - fresh fish (the only way to have it - unless you like old stuff!)
Saturday hike at Rattlesnake Lake
We had a few kids moaning along the 2 mile hike, but once you got up, it was glorious. It was also on a sheer cliff, no need to look over!
Jen & Andrea
The Pryor's made it...just don't fall off!
Dave & John - catching up
Dave missed Molly as much as she missed him.
Museum of Flight in Seattle
We toured an old Concorde, Air Force One and made this plane...can anyone name it? Hope so, I forgot, but other people on our flight home to Atlanta, called it out by name. Airplane geeks....:-)
Can you tell these kids had a fun 19 day trip?
But wait, another tooth was lost! This time it was lost on the Tram at the Atlanta Airport. We had to leave the tooth fairy a note. Believe it or not, we were not exhausted when we came home. Maybe because we are still on West Coast time!
I seriously loved every minute of our trip. I am so thankful we were able to spend time with our family and our friends. It was a nice way to bridge our move to New Jersey. Of course, we got an offer on our house while we were in Canada (with phones turned off due to sky high roaming rates). We are hoping all goes well for a house closing. We also hope the tooth fairy isn't broke because Zach is keeping her busy.
We love the Northwest and we'll be back soon....
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