Space Needle, Gum Wall, Alki Beach, Packing the car again and We're Off

7/3/2016

Yeah, I know it was Fast Sunday today, but we didn't really have enough time to do everything in Seattle that we wanted and my dad said he wasn't super excited about going to church on Fast Sunday, so I booked tickets for the Observation Deck at the Space Needle for early Sunday morning for a discount and I had my dad drive us down there so we wouldn't have to worry about parking and he could spend more time with us.  So, we went to the top deck of the Space Needle and walked around.  It was a bit cloudy still, but we could see everything in the downtown area just fine.  The kids loved the interactive screens they had all around the inside.  There was a selfie camera on one side that you could use your card that they took a picture of you with a green screen background on the way up and you could take a selfie with that camera.  It was pretty neat.  We walked around and took lots of pictures for about 45 minutes. Then, we found my dad who was parked around the corner and he drove us to Pike Place Market.

The kids don't enjoy shopping that much at the market cuz it's too busy for them, but I brought along some different types of gum and we started chewing it so we could add our gum to the recently cleaned gum wall beneath the market.  After that, we ended up walking through the lower levels of the market to find a bathroom.  We stopped at a bakery at the top to grab some donuts and sweets.  There were some giant Texas-sized donuts we took pics of.

Then, down the stairs to the waterfront.  I don't mind going down the stairs, but it's a little different when you're going up.

My dad picked us up down below and drove us around Alki beach next.  There were some volleyball tournaments going on, even with the cold weather.  The kids wanted to go out on the beach, but the tide was out... way out!! We had to wade through a couple of feet of soggy seaweed mush to get out there, but we managed it.

Then, after drying off the best we could, it was lunch time.  Dad took us to Taco Time!  I have't eaten there in years.  So, I got my crispy meat burrito, with lots of hot sauce.  I haven't ever found anything that comes close to that.  So good!!!

We topped it off with some ice cream from Baskin Robins and then headed back to pack up to hit the road again.

We left and then, got a call from my dad when we were about 5 miles away that one of the kids had left his sandals there, so we swung back around and went back to get them.

I had made arrangements with a family friend, the Maxfields, to crash there at their house that night. They live just outside of Port Townsend, and we were looking to stay the night somewhere in that area so we could get through all our activities for the 4th without it getting too late.

The drive was good and we were there in 89 minutes, the time it took Monty Python and the Holy Grail to play all the way to the end.  LOL.

We set up our tent on their deck and had some dinner and talked until it was bedtime.

Here's our "green screen" shot before getting to the top

Here's our selfie cam pic

The gum wall!

Making it stretch

Getting the right spot

Look!

Getting it ready

Smash!

Mission accomplished

I think that's mine, the green one with the loop at the bottom

Gum wall mission, done!

Giant Texas donuts

Famous Sign

At the bottom of the Pike Place stairs

Seattle from Alki

Harbor Island to the right

wading out

and splashing back

Our Alki Statue of Liberty

Space Needle in the background

Home Depot, Seattle, Tillacum Village

7/2/2016

Well, it was the first Saturday of the month, and my boys usually go to Home Depot to go to the free Kids Workshop.  So, I scanned the area around my dad's house and only a couple of them were having the workshop that day.  So, we got up and headed to Sodo on 1st Ave, close to Starbucks, to the Home Depot there.  The kids made their projects quickly (just a few nails and stickers, no paint) and then we stopped at bought Krispy Kreme on the way home (it was right there on the way!!).  Then, we drove over to Renton to see our our old house and the school the Daniel and Tyler first went to there.  Then, we went down to Coulon Beach and walked around a bit there, getting some pictures and playing at the beach and the playground.  Coulon Beach was empty since it was only about 70 degrees that day.  We had fun there and then we headed home.  I didn't want to go down to the waterfront yet, and I really wanted some seafood, but with all the construction down by Ivars, I opted for going to Wally's in Des Moines instead.  We stopped by Grandma's grave first to see the headstone they put in, they off to Wally's.  It's been a while since having their clam chowder, but it's the best!!!

After that, we had just enough time to get to the waterfront to shop a bit before getting on our Ferry to Tillicum Village.  I remember the experience there as a child from a field trip there, and I wanted the kids to have that experience, too.  We ate fresh steamed clams in a savory broth and then smashed our shells on the path like everyone else before us.  Well, Daniel and I enjoyed the clams, the kids didn't like them.

After that, we went inside and got our meal which was served buffet style.  Salmon cooked on spits placed around an open fire!  Yum yum.  Then, we enjoyed a great presentation of various Native American Legends.  Then, the ferry ride back to Seattle.  The host told a lot of legends about the Raven and He Who Sits (and Stands) on Tides and other stories that the kids loved.  I ended up buying McKay a baseball hat with Raven on it, because he is a disturber, just like Raven was.

The mountain came out while we were on the island, so we got some good pictures of it on the way back and then, we got the famous picture of the Alki lighthouse with Mt. Rainier lined up underneath when we passed Alki.

My dad was able to pick us up at the pier.  I'd forgotten how light it stays in Seattle.  We got back at 8:15 or so, and it was still light out.  Home for the night to get some laundry done.  We're leaving Grandpa's tomorrow evening.

working on his project

hammering away

finished bowling alleys

Coulon Beach 

Grandma's Grave stone

Seattle Wheel from the Goodtime II

Seattle Skyline complete with a sailboat

Tillicum Village on Blake Island

preparing the salmon for the buffet

he wasn't too happy posing for a picture

cool totem in the back of the longhouse

two of my boys with my mountain behind them.  McKay has his Raven hat on.

My mountain-Mt Rainier

Alki Lighthouse with Mt Rainier

Jorren in his favorite spot, at the front of the boat

This was on the way back.  It's about 7:45pm.  See how light it still is!

Temples, Oregon and Washington

7/1/2016

Well, we slept better last night, well, at least I did.  I think most everyone else did, too  This KOA had a digital temperature control, so we could set the temp for a nice 72 degrees and we didn't have any issues being too cold or too hot.  We got ready pretty fast in the morning and the store didn't open until 8am, so we had 10 minutes to wait, so we decided to drive over to the Twin Falls Temple to get our picture in instead of just waiting around.  It was a nice drive over there, going across the bridge over the river by the falls.  We got our pictures and drove back across the bridge again, back to the KOA to check out and buy our ice to refill our ice chest.

Then, we were on our way to Boise for another picture of a temple.  The sprinklers were on and even after having to have 2 kids go next door to the stake center to use the restroom, the sprinklers were still on.  So, the kids and dog ran up to the sign and sat there while I snapped a picture while they were getting a little spinkle on them.  It was just a few minutes more to the Meridian Temple construction site.  We took our pic there and then headed for Oregon.

We stopped just across the border in Oregon at the Welcome Center, and then realized, we forgot Jorren's dirt from Idaho. We we had to head back across the border to Idaho.  Luckily, the first stop across the border was another rest stop, so we got Jorren's dirt and then, turned around and back across the border again.  We made it through 2 passes with no problems, but the last pass through the Blues into Pendleton, we were running on fumes.  So, I asked everyone to say a prayer that we would make it down the hill.  We made it and stopped at the very first gas station and gassed up.  Then, across the border into Washington.

Once we got across into Western Washington, we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls and got some pictures in, then onto Grandpa's house.

We were hungry, but I wasn't sure how the kids would behave sitting in a restaurant, so Grandpa and Daniel went and got Azteca to go and brought it home.  It was delicious!!

Twin Falls KOA-McKay got a Darth Tater shirt there

Twin Falls Temple

Close up of sign

Beautiful stained glass

Boise Temple

The sprinklers were on!

Meridan Temple-still under construction

This was at the Welcome Center, first stop on the freeway after crossing the border

A view of Mt. Adams from the top of Yakima Valley, at a rest stop close to Ellensburg

Snoqualmie Falls

Longest Drive Through Nevada Ever!!

6/30/2016

Day Two of our West Coast Trip started off good in Kingman, although I'm not sure how much sleep I actually got.  It seemed I tossed and turned most of the night.  Scout  was pretty good and didn't bark or whine to get out, but he was restless as well, so I heard him walking around the cabin most of the night.  I think part of the issue was I didn't turn down the A/C so it was on high all night.  I don't know what time it was, but I crawled into my sleeping bag at some point in the night because I was too cool to sleep on top of it anymore.  I think everyone was sleeping on top of their bags at the beginning of the night because it was still too hot to get inside them when we went to sleep.  I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't really go back to sleep after going to the bathroom and taking the dog out, so I just lay there and checked my Facebook feed.  I got everyone up at 6:30 and we got everything packed and ready to go on the road by 8:00.  There was a microwave in the room, so Daniel and I were able to heat our breakfast burritos in the cabin before we left and the kids wanted protein shakes.

We made a quick stop at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign before continuing on our way through eastern Nevada.  We stopped briefly at the junction of the 375, ET Hwy and had our lunch and took a picture at the sign.  McKay kept asking if we were in Idaho yet.  Nope, Nope Nope.  When we finally crossed over into Idaho, and started seeing some farm land, both kids had their heads out the window,smelling the air (there was a storm coming in) and looking at the crops of wheat and corn on the sides of the road.  It was pretty funny to see.  We got to our KOA just before the storm hit so the kids didn't have much time to play at the playground.

Kingman KOA

Welcome to Las Vegas-We've been a few times, but never got this picture!

This is how we travel.  See the long stretch of road behind us, that's about what it looked like in front most of the way

We didn't go this way, but got a pic by the sign

West Coast Trip-Day One

6/29/2016

First leg of the trip, we're overnighting at the Kingman KOA.  We ended up leaving about an hour later than I planned, but Kingman wasn't too far away and with it being summer, it was still light out when we got here.  The kids played in the play area and had fun taking the dog around to the dog run area and meeting new friends.  I didn't get a chance to grab a shower at home before we left, so I was left having to take one at the KOA.  Guess who forgot to bring her towel into the shower?  First time that's ever happened to me.  Not that it would have done a lot of good if I had remembered since my towel was in the back of the van trying to soak up all the water (about a gallon) that spilled out of our water jug when it tipped over in the back of the van during the trip.  I dried off the best I could with my dirty clothes.  I know, that doesn't sound ideal, but it was about my only option.  I wrapped my hair up in my shirt and used my pants to dry the rest of my body.  However it worked, I feel much better and ready for tomorrow.  It will be a long, boring drive through Easter Nevada, straight up to Twin Falls to camp out at another KOA that night.

Kingman KOA

Some Revamping of my Plans

6/27/2016

Well, it's been a little while (3 years) since my initial post on this blog.  My plans had to change slightly as my job situation changed drastically.  I was actually laid off from my consulting job so I was out of work for a long time.  11 months to be exact.  That was very hard on me and family, since, as a widow, I am the sole provider for my family.  We did go on the trip that I had planned.  I didn't even have to take vacation for it.  LOL!  I'll post some pictures of our adventures sometime.  But, now I have a new job and we're getting ready to go on another trip again.

My plans to visit all 50 states are still very much in place.  I just had to modify the timing a little. Since I only get 2 weeks of vacation a year, and I don't have a back-up while I'm gone, I can only take about 1 week at a time. This year, we're going back to Washington to visit my dad.  My mom passed away just a few months ago.  We were hoping to visit her before she passed, but she was just too sick to hold on that much longer.  So, since this is a repeat of some of the same states that we visited 3 years ago, I decided to make it interesting by going a different way so we can see different things. We going to come back down the 101 Coast, so the kids will definitely enjoy that.

And, I already have my plans for next year!  Gotta plan ahead for something of the things I'm dreaming up.

Can't wait!!