In this entry, I am going to type the exact (mostly) words from the journal that I kept while on my visit.
Day One
9:19am
I actually slept decently last night. Considering I was barely packed, that was surprising! I guess that's why I woke up so early this morning. I love the anticipation of flying... acting like I'm a pro at anything "airport." I really wonder what it would be like to have to fly somewhere every week for a job. I'd feel so fancy with my leather carry-on and pantsuit and heels. Ha! The take-off wasn't too bad, although my seat is. Hopefully I can move up towards the front of the plane once some people get off at Albuquerque for the connecting flight.
I'm hoping I fall in love with Washington. I'm not really sure why... maybe Twilight has something to do with it. :) I'm thinking it's just a place I've never seen, so I want to experience something amazing! I guess we'll see...
9:12pm (Seattle time)
Wow, this place is gorgeous. I finally landed at the Seattle airport after talking to two ladies on the plane ride here for quite a while. Missy and Aunt Mary picked me up and on the way home, a drawbridge was pulled up! I didn't realize how close Seattle is to the water. I guess I need to touch up on my US geography! Missy drove us to the school where she works at and showed me her classroom where she teaches four-year-olds. It was a very contemporary looking school; apparently it was built in more of a building way. We went to lunch next at a restaurant called Anthony's Seafood. The decor was very cute and the majority of the walls were windows looking out over the water where all the boats were docked. Next up was a stop at Missy's condo to meet up with Michelle and Nathan for a quick swim. Her building was gorgeous! It was so cute to watch little Nathan show off his newly acquired swimming skills for our group. He was so enthusiastic and never seemed to stop moving!
Missy had class at 5:30pm for her graduate program, so the other four of us headed over to Aunt Mary's home. Their neighborhood reminds me a lot of Aunt Pam's in Minnesota. I unpacked and then it was time for spaghetti dinner (which also meant soda night for Nathan!). Michelle, Mary and I talked for a while after dinner while Nathan kept himself entertained with his car toys, a.k.a "the boys." Little did I know that Michelle was a psych major! After Michelle and Nathan went home, Aunt Mary and I took Sassie (Missy's dog) for a walk around the block. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Aunt Mary and I watched t.v. for a little bit but then called it quits at 9pm... although it was still bright out! Uncle Rick was at work today, but I'll see him in the morning.
Pictures:
Day Two
7:18pm
Although I was planning on trying to wake up before my relatives did, I failed! I guess I'm still not used to the time change. I went downstairs and was greeted by Aunt Mary, Uncle Rick, and a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and bacon. Uncle Rick was still up from his 24hr shift that ended at 7am. Yikes! We enjoyed breakfast and so did Sassie, who got the last piece of bacon. Later in the afternoon we headed out to Twin Falls for a hike. Although the trail was marked "easy," I'd probably disagree! There were a lot of uphill climbs on the way (which made for an easy trip back, thankfully). After about an hour, we finally made it to see the falls! There were about four levels total. It was gorgeous. On our way back, a man also walking asked if we'd stopped at the "low falls" mark, which we hadn't. Apparently it was the best view! Oh well, maybe next time. We also met a lady who I ended up talking to about Baylor; she started the conversation as she'd noticed my BU sweatshirt... that's right, sweatshirt! I told you this weather was awesome. On the way home we stopped at Fins Bistro, a small restaurant near a theater that Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary had seen Elton John's "Aida." Apparently our waiter looked just like the lead from the play! I had an awesome leg of lamb and we all shared crème brûlée and apple pie for dessert. Yum!
10:24pm
Missy came over a little while after we got home. Somehow, we all ended up watching old home videos. Missy and I decided that it's definitely a Dermody thing to document our lives so intensely. We even ran across an old video with no sound from the days when Uncle Tom was still a teenager! Kate looks just like her mom. Also, I realized that Chris and Michelle are twenty years older than me! There was a shot of Missy and Shannon holding me and Colleen on grandpa's front steps. Beth and Kate were cheerleaders. Grant could almost drive a go-kart at age three, and Tom loved Uncle Rick's trampoline. It was all good fun.
Pictures:
Day Three
afternoon
Today I woke up around 6:45am so that I would have time to pack, shower, and eat before the seven of us (me, Uncle Rick, Aunt Mary, Missy, Michelle, Chad, Nathan) went to take the ferry over to the San Juan islands. It was about a 1.5hr drive to the ferry and then we had an hour wait until the ferry left. We went over to the restaurant near the ferry and I had a bowl of clam chowder (delicious). Nathan was very excited about the display which showed some mechanics of how the boat worked: steering wheels, pistons, etc. Once we were all ready to board the ferry, the car wouldn't start! A friendly family helped us out with some jumper cables and after a few minutes we were good to go. We paraded onto the ferry and got out of the car. Missy and I mostly read while the others looked around. There wasn't a cloud in the sky today; perfect weather. We found our bed and breakfast but the room wasn't ready yet. We walked over to one of the many docks, where Nathan found his way down to the rocks to try and play at the "beach," which was mostly rocks. He even brought a shovel and pail with him. Uncle Rick found a snake near the rocks, which Nathan scared away! We grabbed a bite to eat (prawns, fish and chips) outside because it was gorgeous! We all walked back to the bed and breakfast and were able to check in. The suite is absolutely gorgeous... how many times have I said the "g word" now?! Well it's true, everything here is gorgeous.
8:36pm
After settling in at the suite, Michelle, Chad, Nathan, Missy, and I drove over to Jackson beach, about a two miles from our bed and breakfast. Nathan was really excited to go. The beach was full of driftwood... I mean full. It was something I've never seen before! Michelle tested the water and told me it was bearable; I tried it and told her I'd never take her word again. It was freezing! We started picking up some of the smaller logs and noticed hundreds of tiny little "jumping bugs" emerging. Ah! So gross. I found a safe spot on the towel. Nathan and Chad kept themselves busy building a circular sand castle and then began to surround it by putting the logs in a square shape around it, sort of like Lincoln Logs. They nearly built a log cabin!
I fell for a "parent trick" today. Chad told Nathan to stay away from the jumping bugs because they bite... but they don't really. I fell for it! Missy also informed me that when they told Nathan at the pool the other day that we had to leave because there was a scheduled cleaning in fifteen minutes, there really wasn't. I guess I'll learn the tricks of the trade when I get older. Haha! We went back to the suite and Uncle Rick began to make dinner (salmon and chicken, risoto, corn, rolls, edemames (sp?), and chocolate cake for dessert). After dinner, I finished Twilight again unexpectedly, and talked to Nana on the phone for a little bit. Hopefully kayaking goes well tomorrow!
Pictures:
Day Four
6:53pm
Today was a long day! Good, but long. Once again there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was in the 80's for most of the day. We were up and packed to go to breakfast at 9:30am (after Nathan excitedly made tea for everyone in the suite) and were treated to fruit, granola and yogurt, pancakes with strawberry sauce, delicious sausage, and tiramisu for dessert. Who eats breakfast with their dessert?! Well, we did. After breakfast, Uncle Rick, Aunt Mary, Missy and I prepared to kayak and the others came with to see us off. Unfortunately our instructor showed about thirty minutes late so the others went back to go kayak on their own at Jackson Beach and later see Wall-E. We met our instructor Aileen who was very nice! It was just the five of us as a group, so that was nice. She spoke about life jackets, spray skirts, how to use the oars, how to steer... pretty much Kayaking 101. Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary shared, while Missy and I were together. Missy and Uncle Rick had the pleasure of steering! Ha. We kayaked near the coast most of the time but didn't see much wildlife. That's okay, because I was too busy focusing on paddling and trying to not fall out of the kayak. The waves from larger passing boats created some current, which was tough at times, but we prevailed! Aileen had planned on having us cross the channel, but there was a lot of boat traffic (due to the gorgeous weather). We decided to stay near the coast for a while longer and then turn around to go back.
By the end of the trip, Missy and I decided to be lazy and coast a majority of the way back to the dock. She didn't feel like using the turning pedals because the left one had broken multiple times! We pulled into the dock like pros... no joke. It was awesome! After we all finished, we decided to stop and eat at a Chinese restaurant near the docks. We later found the others at the movie theater and then took a group trip to a lighthouse on the opposite side of the island. Supposedly it's a great place to spot orcas, but we didn't get to see any today. Apparently when Michelle and Chad came here after their wedding, they saw a huge pack of them. We hung out on the rocks for a little bit and then came back in time to park in line for the ferry back.
nighttime
We arrived back at the house to find it very warm! Since it usually doesn't get too hot during the summer, Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary didn't have an AC unit. We turned on lots of fans and opened the windows... it doesn't feel that hot to my Texas native self!
Pictures:
Day Five
8:52pm
Today was another long day! WA folks live busy lives. I woke up around 8am to share eggs, toast, and bacon with Aunt Mary, Uncle Rick, and Missy. Missy slept over last night since it was so late when we arrived home. Missy went off to church with some friends while the rest of us hit the road to Seattle. We stopped at Michelle's on the way to pick up a cooler for the fish we planned to buy later. Nathan gave me a lovely tour of the house as well (I'm pretty sure the playroom is his favorite room). We continued on to Seattle and made our first stop at the Space Needle. On the walk there, we passed the "Experience Music Project" building and part of the old fairgrounds. We went up in the elevator for 41s. It was a little shaky but not too bad. We looked around for a bit and then began following a tour guide. The most interesting thing to me was that the first high school in Seattle has now been converted into condos. All the residents have to keep everything the same way it was (chalkboards, water fountains, etc.). We ate a quick lunch high in the sky and then floated back down.
We walked over to the monorail station, which was unfortunately broken down. After waiting about 15min we were able to board. It was a quick 60s ride over to the mall, which was near Pike Market. We made our way to the market and were greeted by the yells of the famous fish market guys. It was too funny! They threw a (fake) fish into the audience. We made our way out of the crowd and passed a street performer who was singing a song that Uncle Rick knew, and Uncle Rick joined in! He sang along and played the tambourine. After the performance, I was amazed at all of the gorgeous flowers for sale. The bouquets were huge yet so cheap! We walked around the market and bought a few things for dinner and then headed back to the monorail station. We were standing in line when... wait, what?! Is that her?! I recognized my friend Gabby from Baylor. I knew she would be in WA for school this summer, but running into her in such a crowded place was crazy!
We made our way back to Michelle's for dinner, and it was delicious! While Uncle Rick and Chad played golf on the PS3, I was busy petting Nanji. What a cutie. We came home and I messed around on the piano for a long time. Uncle Rick found lots of his favorite songs for me to play and I didn't butcher them too badly!
Pictures:
Day Six
9:49pm
After we all woke up and had breakfast this morning, we drove over to Lake Washington for an afternoon lake cruise. There were about twenty others on the boat with us, which had two decks. We sat down on the upper deck outside and enjoyed the sunny weather. During the 1.5hr cruise, some of the highlights were seeing Bill Gates' house, a piece of land for sale for $22.1mil, elevators used to go down the hill to the shore, and Martha Stewart's boyfriend's house. Next we went to eat lunch at a sushi restaurant called Blue Fish, near the docks. Uncle Rick and I both love sushi, so we had to make sure to eat it for lunch while I was here! After lunch we drove to downtown Everett where Uncle Rick works. We also walked along the docks (I know, there's water everywhere!!!) and then went to see the botanical gardens as well. The gardens were free to the public. We drove home and I took a nap until dinner time, where we barbecued and ate outside. Uncle Rick asked if I wanted to take his inflatable kayak out on the small lake near their house, and I definitely said yes. I took it out on the water for a little bit, and let me tell you: kayaking is so relaxing! The water was so smooth and beautiful, I could've stayed out there forever.
Pictures:
Day Seven
5:10pm
I woke up early to pack and eat a quick breakfast before Aunt Mary, Uncle Rick, and I headed to the mall to meet Missy for lunch. Missy had to leave early so we ate afterwards at California Pizza Kitchen. We drove straight to the airport after that, and I said my thank-yous and goodbyes.
late
On the flight home, we were supposed to stop in Albuquerque again for connections but there was a storm, so we had to land in Amarillo. We proceeded to fly BACK to Albuquerque, and then to Dallas. Instead of arriving at 10:15pm Texas time, I landed at 1:30am! Yikes!
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It was so awesome to be given the opportunity to come visit! I will be forever grateful to Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary. I definitely was able to make a week full of lifelong memories that won't be able to be replaced. I had an amazing time with them and hope to see everyone again sometime soon.
