Elizabeth and David in Seattle

My beautiful granddaughter and her husband David were visiting this weekend from South Africa.  Well, they didn't come all the way here just to go to Seattle.  But that was a bonus for us!

They came on Friday, we did some shopping that evening in Federal Way.  Saturday we spent the day in Seattle.  Went to the Experience Music Project and SciFi museum, then took the monorail to Westlake for lunch.

 We had other plans for the day, but the time just flew, so we headed out to Safeco field for the Mariners vs the A's.  They didn't win, but it was a good game.  We had totally radical seats besides!  Second row from the front and looking right at home plate.

They headed home on Monday.  I miss her already, but we kept telling each other that it was just 6 more months until we see each other again in South Africa!

First Roadtrip for the Season

We didn't really know where we were going yesterday, we got in the car and Dave says..."what direction?" and I said east. That's the way most of our day trips begin. I wanted to go to Black Diamond just because I hadn't been there and it is quite close. Didn't get any pictures there, don't know why. Being only about 5 miles from busy Auburn it was a delight to drive through and see the farms and stop for brunch. Then it was again which way? And I said east again. It was kind of agreed upon that we wouldn't go to Yakima this time, we didn't find much to look at last time.

We got a picture of Mt. Rainer from this same stop last year but it looked completely different this time with the cloud formations.

Just beyond Chinook Pass the snow got quite deep, but it didn't last for too long.

We intended (if anything is actually intended on this type of trip) to turn off at this point and head in another direction, but couldn't find the road, so we ended up going through Yakima anyway.

It was about 60 degrees near Chinook Pass, and 84 in Yakima.  We drove on through Yakima into Ellensburg.

Then through Leavenworth and on home down Highway 2. What I love about Washington is that you can go from snowy mountains to treeless hills and back in to farmland again, just ine one day.  We got home about 10:30 last night after 395 miles.  Next week the plan is to go to the ocean. 

Sequim Lavender Festival

We've heard about this festival for years but never had the time to go, so decided to do it today. It's about a two and a half hour drive over the Narrows and up Highway 101. I always enjoy driving (or riding) this Hwy. Okay, so the first picture isn't lavender, but it's another of my favorites. We parked at QFC and took the shuttle into town, and as soon as we got out of the car the smell of lavender permeated the air. Lavender is suppose to have a calming effect, but I didn't necessarily find that in Dave or in the crowds. It was incredible how many people were there from all over. At one farm while we were waiting for the shuttle I was talking to a woman that came from Buffalo New York. Not to visit friends or family, she came by herself on a 4 day weekend, just for this event.

Do you see the bumble bee below?

There was an organization called Gentle Paws that trains guide dogs that were doing dog sitting, so we were able to leave Walter there while we enjoyed the farms. From the street fair we took the shuttles to the different farms. We were only able to visit three farms, as it was 30 minutes between shuttles. I think there were about 12 farms in all.

At one farm there were a few other flowers, and I came home with three different varieties of lavender and 5 lavender plugs of the same variety, Folgate. Oh yes, and a perennial blue grass. I plan on using these in the new flower bed I will be building in the side yard.

The smells were fantastic, but I have to say that I have enjoyed the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival much more and it didn't cost $30.

Looking for Leaves

We decided to go for a drive to Enumclaw today to see the fall leaves. I've never been to Enumclaw that I can remember, and it is so close to us now. So we headed out.

We came to a fork in the road and it said Mt. Rainer one way and something the other, so we said sure, let's go to Mt. Rainer. It's been a long time since we've been there. It's definately a different route than I've ever taken, and Dave too.

When you see it from a distance you don't even see this little peak on the side.

Not too many fall leaves up here. We came to another fork and it said to Portland one way and another something else the other. Thinking we would miss Rainer if we went the Portland way, we went the other. Oops... wrong way. Oh well, we'll enjoy it anyway.

So we get up to the summit of Chinook Pass and got out to take some pictures. Oh yes, most of these pictures were taken through a dirty windshield. I asked one guy if he knew how far it was to Yakima and he said he thought it was about 45 minutes away. So we thought, hey, that's not so bad, let's do it.

These pictures got a little mixed up as I posted them, sorry. Most of the ones with the fall leaves are from the west side and then it began to get more barren as we got closer to Yakima. Oh yeah, it wasn't 45 minutes, more like double that. But that's okay, we needed an escape today.

This one made me very sad. This was just coming in to the eastern side of Washington. We could see the hillside behind a ways back and I thought that there were deciduous trees interspersed with the fir trees. But as we got closer I saw that they were dead fir trees. Years ago when we returned from taking Carla to Prairie Bible School in Canada we came back through Montana, Idaho and in to Washington. There was a progression of dying trees and it was a beetle that was destroying all the pine trees. As you got closer to Eastern Washington it diminished some until you got to the west side and we had our nice green fir trees again. I am wondering if this is from the same beetle that is destroying the pine trees of the east side.

Out of place picture. The next two are from Chinook pass looking onto the William O Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness. We do still have some wilderness left, thank God.

As we got closer to Yakima, we saw less and less trees until there was nothing but rock. Homes sit where they literally cut them out of rock and built there homes. No yards, nothing but rock on every side.

But we did get to see some pretty trees before crossing over. Not as many as I would have thought. I was so afraid of missing them as I do every year and guess I was a little early.

When we got to Yakima and filled up the tank I washed the windows so we could get better pictures, but there just wasn't anything worth photographing there. I am so glad that I live on the west side of the Cascades.

There was one thing that we were not early with. We were sitting eating dinner in Ellensburg in a nice little family restaurant and I had this thought.... I asked Dave what day it was... and he looked at his watch and said "the day after our anniversary." It hit us both at the same time. Oh my gosh, 34 years and we both forget?! I'm sure he felt better that I forgot too, because last year I remembered and he forgot. So I told him that for our 35th we are going to have to plan something really BIG! Maybe a trip to Hawaii? I'll make him pay for forgetting two years in a row..... hehe.