Seattle

Thursday, September 8 – Wednesday, September 14

I had a great couple of days in the Seattle area with Laura, Jeff and the kids! On Friday, Laura was off, so we went to a yoga class on Friday morning (ouch – I was tight!). Then we were able to sneak in lunch and a little bit of downtime before it was time to pick up the kids from school. We went to a local beach; Houghton Beach is in Kirkland, on the eastern shore of Lake Washington.

I have had exceptionally good luck with weather when it comes to the Pacific Northwest. Sometimes I think that everyone who lives there is telling fibs about the weather so that others won’t move there.  It was a gorgeous day – sunny, warm and not a single cloud in the sky. I continued to read Harry Potter #5, and then jumped into the lake to play with Owen and Fiona when it got too hot.

On Saturday morning, the full James family was booked in early at the dentist in Redmond. I got up early with them, and they dropped me off at the Redmond Farmer’s Market while they had their fun at the dentist.

Oh wow – there was so much beautiful, organic produce at that market! And some cool artisans represented. Here are some scenes from that morning.

That afternoon, we went to the beach again to enjoy another gorgeous day. This time, we went farther up the east side of Lake Washinton to Denny Park, where we whiled away the sunny afternoon again. I continued my Potter reading (#5 is the fattest Potter book of the whole series), Laura was reading “The Help,” and because Jeff forgot his book, he was pulled most often into the water for playing.

During one of the adults’ play breaks, Owen decided that covering himself with mud from the bottom of the lake was a cool idea. (Don’t spas charge hundreds of dollars for that???)

We had a really fun, lazy day on the lake again!

That evening, we chilled at home. Fiona thought it was a good idea to put a bear on Auggie’s head.

It was also the night that I promised Owen he could sleep in the RV with me. Auggie came with us – he snuggled (cutely) with Owen for the night.

For heaven’s sakes – Sunday was yet another gorgeous, hot day in Seattle. (See what I mean???) It was also the 10^th Anniversary of September 11^th, so I went to church with the James family as a way to commemorate the occasion for myself and with others.

After that, it was back to Houghton Beach for another wet, sunny and fun afternoon. Jumping off the dock into chilly water hasn’t been this much fun in a long time!  J

Monday morning was back to work and school. And time for me to go through my massive pile of mail that had arrived from home. I spent the day doing paperwork and catching up on bills. It was a very productive day.

And it was gray and chilly that day (and for the rest of my stay, actually) – I finally got my glimpse into real Pacific Northwest weather!

That evening, Jeff came home from work and took me along with him to his Shotokan karate dojo. I hadn’t been in my gi since Minneapolis, so it was great to train again and kiup loudly! I think I’m gonna be sore tomorrow!

It was a nice, sweaty class with Sempai Kris Haight and Sempai Beckie Brocies at the Western Washington Shotokan Karate Club.

Tuesday was the big day for me … on Laura’s recommendation, I had made an appointment at Salon Bellezza in Bellvue to have my hair done. Wow – what a luxury!!! Close to two months on the road, and my hair was looking more than a little ratty. (For those of you who don’t know this about me, I am the child of a hair stylist. One’s hair should always look good, you know. Even in an RV!)

Katie did my color and cut, and I left feeling like a new woman. Aaaaaaaah! It was probably the last splurge of the trip, so I enjoyed it immensely.

I was hitting the road again the next morning, so I spent the rest of Tuesday doing laundry, cleaning the van and pulling myself together. I had dinner with Laura that night to catch up – just us girls. And then it was time to put the kiddles to bed and catch some ZZZZZs myself.

But wait – I’m just about done Harry Potter Book #5. Egads … I stayed up till 1.00 am finishing the book! I am gonna be so sleepy tomorrow. But … totally worth the sleep deprivation. These books just keep getting better and better. I like how the dark undertones of the first few books are no longer undertones, but rather the main themes. I like the political intrigue. I like the kids growing up and being really funny at times, really annoying at others, and coming into their own personalities. Only two more left. Like the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series,” I know I am going to be sorry when I finish the final book!

With a little less sleep in me than I had wanted, Wednesday morning I said good-bye and a huge thank you to the James family for having me and Auggie for a few days. We also gave Stryker a huge hug and kiss for allowing Auggie to stay in his castle, too.

We always love Seattle – we hope that we’ll be back again soon.

Whidbey Island / Drive to Kirkland

Thursday, September 8

The next morning, we got up and broke camp, with the goal of a nice morning hike in Deception Pass State Park. And we were not disappointed. We first hiked to Little North Beach, where you can see Vancouver Island on the far-away horizon and the bridge to Whidbey Island in the other direction. 

Then we went up the mountain toward Goose Rock, where we were treated to beautiful views of the Puget Sound waterways surrounding Whibey Island. The forests in the morning sunshine were also lovely.

After that, we drove the length of Whidbey Island until we got to the southern tip. We poked around Langley for a bit to stretch our legs and window shop. And we also found the cute little town of Freeland, where we did a little wine tasting. Auggie was allowed in this shop, which was great. I could let him snooze on the floor while I talked to the cool woman behind the counter and the other folks tasting with me. Turns out the owner is a lawyer, who practiced international law in Kazahkstan for 12 years! When she came back to the States about six years ago, she knew she didn’t want to practice law again here in the U.S. She and her husband decided to start growing grapes, and voila, there you have it – their label, Spoiled Dog, was born. 

Not only did I like the Spoiled Dog moniker (there was one of those snoozing lazily at my feet), but I also liked the spirit of complete turn-arounds that this woman represented. Career change mid-life? That’s a spirit that I can appreciate on this journey, and I thanked her for her inspiration.

They also had nice wines – I liked the Syrah the best (welcome to red country!), so bought a bottle of that in memory of a good afternoon’s conversation.  

Then it was off the few miles to the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry, which would take me back to the mainland and off to Laura and Jeff’s house. I was targeting to be there about 6.30 that evening.

I arrived in Kirkland close to my target time. (Kirkland is on the other side of Lake Washington from Seattle.) Laura, Jeff and their kids, Owen and Fiona, were there to greet me. It had been a year since I’d seen them all, and it was great to see them again.

We had some light dinner, I gave them all a tour of the Champagne Chevy, and then it was off to bed for the kids, which gave Laura, Jeff and me a little time to catch up. But the travel had caught up with me, so the adults went to sleep shortly afterwards, too. Was very nice to sleep in a warm cozy bed again and have a real shower. Little things certainly mean a lot these days … J

Bellingham, WA

Wednesday, September 7

I spent the next morning with Chris and Tom, who spoiled me with breakfast. Tom and I took Auggie for a walk around the nearby Lake Louise, and then they showed me around the area a bit. I was able to talk through a number of driving and hiking options for my way into Seattle with Tom, too. It was a tough choice between mountains (North Cascades National Park) and water (lots of state parks along the coast and Puget Sound islands).

In the end, I decided that I had just come from a number of gorgeous mountains and that it was time for some water. I followed Tom’s directions and headed off to Padilla Bay and a hike on the dike around the bay. We didn’t see any seals there, but it was a nice hike just the same. I had discussed with Tom possibly staying there at nearby Bay View State Park for the night, but it was still early and the prospect of getting to Whidbey Island was enticing. So off we went.

My friend, Laura, and her husband, Jeff, had gotten married on Whidbey Island in the mid-90s, so I had technically been there before. (This trip has been about new things to explore, not revisiting places we’ve already been.) But I wanted to go, and so I did. 

I didn’t want to drive too terribly much, so we ended up at the State Park at Deception Pass just over the bridge onto Whidbey Island. Wow – what a cool state park! It was gorgeous there! Big, beautiful Pacific Northwest green forest. A nice, quiet campsite. And a pretty sunset over the water. We had a great evening.

Return to the U.S.

Tuesday, September 6

I ran into David and Gretchen the next morning and they helped me laugh about my meltdown the previous night. I told them as Canadians to not take this personally, but I had never wanted to get back to the U.S. more than I did that day. I wanted my phone to work again. I wanted not to be charged a bank surcharge for every debit card purchase I made outside the U.S. And I wanted to pump (less expensive!) gas in gallons again, not liters.

We exchanged contact info, and I hope that David and Gretchen really will come visit me in DC some time. They were awesome folks!

Remembering my state of mind the previous night, I reluctantly climbed back in behind the wheel of the Champagne Chevy and started her up. But my incentive was that it was time to go home, so off we went!!!

It was gratefully an uneventful drive down to the U.S. border. We waited about 25 minutes in line for the border crossing into Washington State. The Customs guy kept asking me if it was just me and the dog in the van and if I really had done all that traveling by myself.

Yes, sir. Why does that seem so strange to you?

But there were no inspections for alcohol or fruit/veggies. It was a pretty painless crossing and then … we were home! I waited about 10 minutes into the drive in Washington State before I turned on my phone, but I was never so happy to have cell service back in my life. Let’s hear it for maps. Texting photos to friends. And the weather on my phone again. Waaaaaahoooooooo! 

(I never thought I’d see myself so excited about phone service. Am I losing it???)

I still had that annoying “Check Engine” light on in the van. Now that I had gotten myself back into the U.S., that was the next thing I wanted to get taken care of. I was going to see my college friend, Laura, in Seattle. Her parents live in Bellingham, Washington, just about 30 minutes south of the Canadian line. So I stopped and called her parents to see if they had a garage that they trusted that might be able to look at my Check Engine light.

They did, indeed, have a recommendation for me, so I drove to the Bellingham GMC dealer/ Dewey Griffin and found myself again in the waiting room of a car shop for a few hours.

[Note to self: you are getting very tired of this.]

The first diagnosis was a potential mass airflow sensor. I do not know cars. I had no idea what this was, so I googled it quickly. But that didn’t help me to answer the larger and more troubling question of whether the mass airflow sensor was going to finally stop this problem from happening.

So I texted and called two friends at home to ask them a million questions. (Scott and Kevin – thank you again!)

(Scott, this is yet another “Damsel in Distress” call – I owe you a full case of wine now when I get home!)

As I was on the phone with Scott, asking him his thoughts on the mass airflow sensor diagnosis and whether I was asking the right questions to see if there was anything else we should be checking, the service rep came out and said the tech had found the problem. And it wasn’t the mass airflow sensor.

Turns out the vacuum hose had been (improperly) laying on the exhaust manifold, which had burned a hole in the hose. Since the vacuum was thereby broken, it was letting air into the engine that shouldn’t have been there. All Dewey Griffin had to do was replace the hose and not the mass airflow sensor. It was a smaller repair, and I was out of there for about $100 (not the several hundreds we had been discussing – whew!!!). What a huge relief! 

I paid my bill and said thanks to the Dewey Griffin folks.

But at this point, if I don’t set foot in a mechanic’s garage again for the next 12 months, I’ll be more than OK with that. Enough already!!!!!

Laura’s parents, Chris and Tom, invited me to stay with them in Bellingham that night, which I did. It was nice to see them again and catch up on how they are doing. Was a nice time and a lovely location – I enjoyed the time with them very much. 

Vancouver + Meltdown

Monday, September 5 - Labor Day

We took off late morning and headed north into Vancouver. It really is a very pretty city.

We first drove over the Lion’s Gate Bridge (modeled after the Golden Gate), heading across the water to Stanley Park. This is an island in the waters that surround Vancouver that is entirely set aside as parkland. (Think Central Park in NYC.) There is also supposed to be a super aquarium in Stanley Park, but we didn’t go – they don’t allow dogs, you know.

We got out of the van and took a gander at the coastline from Prospect Point – pretty! (Question to self: why doesn’t DC have more pretty water? This is really lovely!)

Then, we walked through the park on a path that led us down to Beach #3, a nice sandy beach that was populated with people enjoying their Labor Day Monday. We poked along the seawall that leads around the circumference of the island, crossed back under the Lion's Gate Bridge, made it back to Prospect Park and climbed back into the van.

Then we did a drive through town. I maneuvered us through Robson Street, Vancouver’s trendy shopping district. Then it was on to Gastown, the charming heritage area of the city with cobblestone streets. Adjacent to that was Chinatown. (Vancouver is home to one of the largest Chinese communities in North America.) The van was a beast to park, so we didn’t get out and walk too much. We ended up finding a place to park and wallow away a lovely afternoon at Sunset Beach, which overlooks English Bay.

I had read that English Bay boasts some spectacular sunsets, so I got into my swimsuit, found a sunny spot for me adjacent to a shady spot for Auggie, took my Potter book and spent hours reading and on the phone catching up with some folks. It was a great, lazy Labor Day afternoon. Aaaaaaaaahhh.

And the sunset truly was spectacular.

Darkness was setting and it was time to head back to the campsite. But before I made it back to the campsite, I had a complete meltdown on this drive. Everything just started to collapse within the space of about 30-60 minutes, making for a drive from hell.

In Canada, I didn’t have data service on my phone since I was in international territory. I therefore could not use my phone to help me navigate my way back, and I did not have a GPS device with me on the trip so far. So I was using a paper map from the visitor’s bureau to find my way.

One of the things I hate about getting older is that I just cannot see small print anymore without my glasses and a lot of bright light. I was trying to drive the van, look at the map and read small print on a dark map with no light. It just didn’t work – if I was lucky enough to get a red traffic light, then by the time I finally re-found where I was on the map, I could not see the street names well enough to tell where I was going before the light turned green and I had to go. I had to pull off the road multiple times to put on my glasses, get out of my seat to look at the paper map under a bright light in the van and try to figure out where I needed to go.

It did not help that I was looking for routes 99A and 1A, and that the road signs in Vancouver used MINISCULE font to display the “A” on both of these road signs, which led me to make several wrong turns thinking I was not getting onto the proper road.

Then, once I had finally found my way back to 99A/1A to take me out of the city, I realized that my shortcut/direct route on these “A” roads was a huge mistake. They were very (read: VERY) local and there were stoplights what felt like every 50 feet. My shortcut very quickly became a long cut, and I was rapidly starting to lose my cool.

To top things off, the compass in the van kept telling me I was headed east, when I was supposed to be headed south or southeast, and I kept worrying that I was headed in the completely wrong direction. The Maps function on my phone would have easily helped me see if I was at least traveling in the proper direction, but again, I did not have access to my data services. I was fit to be tied and losing more cool with every minute that passed.

What should have been a max-40-minute drive turned into an hour-and-45-minute nightmare. I was sooooooooooo tired of driving and just needed to be “home” and out from behind the wheel of this blasted van.

Annoyed beyond belief and after having gotten turned around yet again as I got close to the campsite, I finally pulled into the campground and drove to my spot … to find someone else’s camper on it.

WHAT?!?

Who are you and what are you doing on my campsite?

Don’t you know you’ve got a grumpy female here and she’s about to attack?

I got out of my van and knocked on the door of the offending camper. A sleepy guy answered, and I said, “This is my campsite.”

At this point of the evening and the end of the long holiday weekend, there were plenty of campsites available and I didn’t really need this particular campsite. I just wanted the dog tether I had left tied to the leg of the picnic table and to get out from behind the wheel of the van.

The sleepy offending man told me the office had told him to take any spot that was open. (Great – so you had to pick mine?) He told me he wasn’t moving, and I said that was fine, I wasn’t expecting him to. He climbed out of his camper, found my dog tether for me and then I went and quickly found another spot. I was never so happy to get out from behind the wheel of a vehicle as I was that night. 

Oh. My. Word.

So much for the peace and serenity of the sunset over English Bay! It was gone gone gone!!! My bed felt sooooo good that night.

Happy Labor Day, Chris!  ;-)