another sister trip to Seattle - Feb 2010

Okay.  THIS will be the last old post I have to catch up on.  Really.  I think.  Geez Louise, I have been so behind on blogging some of my favorite adventures!  I better just get to it then, huh?

We had some airline credits that we had to use or lose, but only enough to put towards one ticket.  Where to go, where to go...and in February?  After discussing a whole bunch of ideas, Gary decided that I should visit my sister Keni (again-yippee!)...especially since he was going to head to Florida the following month for a fishing tournament with his dad.  Well, what was a girl to do but honor her husband's decision?  :)

So I booked a flight to Seattle, with a connection in Chicago...in February....during winter....the same weekend we had a forecast for 9-16" of snow.  Did I mention that it was a non-refundable flight??  Yeah, I was a little concerned I wasn't even going to make it to the airport, let alone to Seattle.  Oh, and if I did make it to Seattle, I was in for a treat:  rain predicted for my entire trip.

Luckily, I made it out of Columbus on time.  Only to be stuck in Chicago - but only for a couple of extra hours.  The lady I sat next to on the plane was also flying to Seattle to babysit her granddaughter, so we had a lovely dinner together at Harry Caray's restaurant.  It sure did help to pass the time!

Josh picked me up from the airport around 11:00pm their time (2:00am my time), so we didn't stay up too late chatting...I was whipped.

The next morning, I was gently woken up by my cutie-pie niece and I went with Josh to drop her off at preschool.  It stopped raining on the way home, so Josh and I went for a little hike near their house while my sister finished up her work stuff.  Then Keni and I went to get a mani-pedi (they have early morning happy hour discounts - so fun and great marketing on their part!) while we talked about home decorating ideas.  I asked her to stop at Home Depot and I ran in (wearing those cheap-o pedicure flipflops--quite a site, I'm sure) and grabbed a bunch of paint swatches and idea books.

We went back to her house, grabbed Josh and then went to happy hour at The Tides, in Gig Harbor.  We ate a bunch of appetizers and had a few drinks while picking out wall colors, tile colors, countertop colors, etc. etc.  It was very fun for me to help give them ideas, knowing that I wasn't going to do ANY of the work (especially since Gary and I were still working on his parents' house)!!  BTW, Keni and Josh's remodel turned out fabulous!!

That evening, Gabby schooled me in x-box playing Lego Batman.  I totally sucked and she totally rocked.  In fact, she had to put my guy on "hold" a few times because I was keeping her guy from advancing and even told me, "Aunt Val, I think you need more practice".

The next day Josh and Gabby left for an overnight trip with a friend and her dad.  Keni and I took off on a trip to Ocean Shores, WA.  Another trip to the WA coast, but with a beachfront hotel (the Shilo Inn) and no hiking required.

(This is definitely something we don't have in Ohio.)

We got there in time to get settled in our room, pour a glass of wine and head to the beach for sunset.

It rained the entire drive to the coast (almost 3 hrs), but right when we got to the beach the skies seemed to brighten up around us in a giant circle.  So we spent a good hour walking around, taking pictures, drinking wine, being silly, etc.

(taken with my phone)

 Just when the sun went down and we were finished exploring, the skies darkened up again and started to rain.  We had to run back to the hotel, but the heavy rain came just as we made it inside.

We had a few restaurant options for dinner, but we drank so much wine we decided to just order a pizza and have it delivered to our room.  :)  We ate, played games (dirty scrabble) and read books.  We were out cold by 9:00 pm...so sad...but sleep was one thing we were looking forward too.  :)

The next morning, we drove Keni's car out onto the beach (totally legal there...and it was raining again) for another look at the angry, crashing waves.

We had the most delicious and hearty breakfast at the plainest looking dive of a diner (I can't remember the name of the place, but they were trying to sell the place to move closer to their children/grandchildren).  The husband and wife owners were a hilarious comedy team too.  So fun!

We fed our bellies and cruised the beach strip one more time...and did a quick stop at a jetty.

(Get off the rocks!!  It's dangerous!)

(a little blurry, but you get the idea of what happened...you should never, ever stand on a jetty...the dude above was lucky he wasn't knocked INTO the water)

(and these people evidently didn't learn or care that medics were carting someone off after being knocked around on the rocks by the waves)

After the jetty drama, we headed back to Keni's house, stopping at the mall on the way home, and then The Melting Pot for yet another happy hour.

The next day we took a hike across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (do you remember that bridge from the History Channel and history books?? That was swaying crazily?? Famous for crashing into Puget Sound only 4 months after it was completed??

Yep, this is the same bridge, only brand spanking new).  It was crazy windy, but luckily not raining.  We were on the lookout for the local orca pod, but didn't see them.

this silly little girl makes my heart happy

 Making wishes.

On my last night, Keni and Josh went out to dinner (it was Valentine's Day after all) while I watched Gabby play SuperGirl and packed.

Later, we all hung out in their hottub to chill one last time before heading home...which was quite an adventure because I got stranded in Chicago overnight because the Columbus airport was snowed in.  I took advantage of my extra day of vacation and had one of my favorite Chicago pizza pies delivered to my hotel room (if only the Weber Grill delivered--that would have been heaven!).  I ate pizza while watching some chick flick and slept comfortably in a big 'ol bed....much better than the other option of camping out on a cot at the airport, for sure!  Good call Gary.  :)

I cannot wait to visit with my sister again (I wish we lived closer) - we always have a great time together!

sister trip to Seattle - September 2009

Thought I'd share some of the 500+ pictures from my trip to visit my sister in September 2009.  Geez Louise, it took me long enough to get these posted!!

First of all, it is quite a feat of coordination from loved ones to allow me to get away, so a huge thank you goes to them...I love you!!  So a week before I was scheduled to leave, Michael gets sick.  I take him to the doctors and it's just a cold that we need to ride out.  No big deal.  But then he's home all week and not getting better...all that coordination just flew out the window and now I have to ask my m-i-l and mom if they still want to watch Michael while he's sick (G couldn't take off work and he had a golf tournament that weekend).  They said yes, whew!  I'm good to go again.  On Thursday, THE day, I was due to fly out, Michael is still not better and seems even a little worse.  Quick call to the doctor who wants to see him to make sure it's not developing into something else, like pneumonia.  I have my m-i-l follow us to the doctors; his appointment is at 11:00am and I need to be at the airport by 11:30am which is...30 minutes away.  Needless to say, I am torn....do I leave my poor, sick little boy in the waiting room?  He needs me, I can't be so selfish and leave him.  My m-i-l told me that Michael would be fine and that I NEEDED to go. One of those mommy breaks you take so that you can be a better mom and wife.  So I left.  And I cried all the way to the airport.  While boo-hooing, M's doctor left me a voice mail that said Michael was fine and she gave a prescription to grandma for antibiotics to fill if he's not better in 2-3 more days (I don't think we had to fill it).  What a wonderful doctor to call and tell me that.  While waiting for the plane, I called my m-i-l to see how M was doing, and I'm not lying....I heard him laughing and playing with one of his favorite toys in the background.  He was fine.  She was fine.  Everything was fine.  And that made me feel....a little better (did you think I was going to say fine?) and the "sup-sups" started to subside.  I could finally breathe.  And I started to relax a little and look forward to some much needed me time.

On Friday, Keni and I went on a little hike near her house and then got massages (thanks Josh!).  Then we went shopping with our bday money (thanks Kita and Keni!!).  You know, there's nothing better than shopping with someone that will be totally honest with you when trying on clothes - for me, my sister is that person.  After shopping, we headed to The Melting Pot, in Tacoma, for happy hour....and a little bit of heaven for my taste buds.  Oh yum!!  Once back home, we got our gear lined up for our backpacking/overnight trip on the WA coast and then hung out in their hot tub until bed time.

On Saturday, we met Keni's friend, Noelle, bright and early at McD's and then the three of us took off for our girl adventure.  We basically did an entire loop driving around the Olympic National Park.  I think it's the 101, the only road that goes around the park.  It rained on the way there, as well as the first part of the rainforest hike...go figure, it rained in the rainforest.  :)  But the rain stayed away for the rest of the hike.

We head straight to our destination:  our plan is to hike the 9.2 mile Lake Ozette Loop.  The hike is basically a triangle:  from Lake Ozette 3 miles through a rainforest that comes out at Sand Point; then 3 miles along the rugged, rocky, log-strewn beach to Cape Alava; then 3 miles back through the rainforest to Lake Ozette.

(photo credit to random stranger)

Keni timed the hike with the tide tables so that we could hike along the coast w/o worrying about scrambling for higher ground.  She also timed it so that we would finish the first rainforest leg and the entire beach leg just in time to sit on the beach, have some snackies and wine, and watch the sunset.  It was perfect and so amazingly beautiful!

It threatened to rain a couple of times on the beach hike (as it often does in the pacific northwest).

There's a place along the beach trail called Wedding Rocks that showcased some very cool petroglyphs.

(photo credit to Keni or Noelle, I don't remember)

Once the sun went down, we packed up and put our headlamps on so we could hike the remaining 3 miles through the rainforest in the dark.  It was crazy (but we did it safely)!  Part way through the night hike, we turned off our lights and stared up at the clear night sky and gazed at the Milky Way.

 (photo credit for one of those sunsets to Keni-I think one was hers, one was mine)

(photo credit to Keni)

This bridge was a little scary to cross in the dark, along with fear of being eaten by bears or cats or other fearsome creatures on the way back.

 (photo credit to Keni)


I was SOOOO glad to finish the hike!  :)  I look exhausted while Noelle looks like she was just getting started!  That is so not fair.

(photo credit to Keni)


Once we made it back to the car, we headed to our hotel in Forks.  Forks used to be a logging town, but is now famously known as the home of Bella from the Twilight books.  There were tons of kitschy souvenirs and tours and "No Vampires Allowed" signs throughout Forks.

For breakfast, our hotel recommended a diner in La Push (home of Jacob, the werewolf, from the Quilette tribe in the Twilight series).  The diner was pretty empty, but the food and the views were uh-mazing.

Here we are at First Beach in La Push, WA (just down from the diner).

(photo credit to random passerby)



La Push is managed by the Quileute Indian tribe and we had a lovely conversation with a mom (Lummi) and daughter (Kim) selling woolen souvenirs.

(photo credit to Keni)


While Lummi knitted the earflaps onto Michael's wool hat (a bear, which means strength), we talked about what the town and the kids thought of the Twilight books.

They said that the boys are all growing their hair longer like Jacob's and they've had some craziness when the film crews were in town...bombarded by fans...they even had to set up a decoy film location.  One of the actors (not Jacob or Edward) even did a seminar at their youth center for the local kids about acting.

They also pointed to an island just off shore (in the picture below, on the left) and told us that in the old days, if any enemies or unidentified people were spotted in the water, the women and children would escape/hideout on the giant sea stack/island on First Beach using secret passageways.

These pictures are on the drive back to Keni's house.

(photo credit to some random passersby that took multiple pictures of Keni's butt as she climbed to the top of the sign)

Absolutely breathtaking views everywhere and a fab-u-lous sister trip!!!   :)