Merry Christmas from the Haleys - 2009

It’s been a full and blessed year for the Haleys in 2009 and they’d like to share some of the highlights. (The blue, underlined words are links to pictures on smugmug or to other sites.)

As grandparents, they successfully navigated two of their grandkids – Mya and Austin - becoming teenagers. The parents on the other hand…well let’s just say they’ve done a lot of commenting on what THEY must have been like for Cheryl and Doug when they were teens. LOL The remaining nine grandkids: Taylor, Serena and Tanner turned 11, Reghan and Kinley turned 10, Ashton and Makenah turned 6, Ella turned 4 and Josiah turned 3.

The year started with Doug losing his job at Agros due to a lay-off. Through a lot of prayer and networking, he was employed again within a month as the interim Director of Development for LATCH - a coalition of Lutheran congregations whose mission is to build safe and nurturing communities that recognize the right to affordable housing. While there, a response came to an earlier inquiry about an opening for an office manager with a Seattle law firm. After several interviews, he started at Ellis, Li & McKinstry PLLC on April 15th as their Office Manager overseeing office operations, H/R, benefits, IT and accounting. It’s been an incredible opportunity for him – one he is enjoying very much!

Cheryl remains with Skyline Properties where her role has been somewhat modified over the year. She was able to take some of her duties, namely the Bellevue Office Manager role, off her plate and concentrate on Corporate Operations.

Social networking – Facebook, Twitter, etc. – became a part of Cheryl and Doug's life this past year. They both have re-connected with friends from junior and senior high, previous jobs and long-lost friends. As a result of these reconnections, Cheryl spent a weekend in Colville with a “best friend” from High School and Doug attended a reunion of Cordell Hull Junior High classmates – both in October. They’ve connected with friends that are local and as far away as France and Germany. They still enjoy the more personal & private sharing on MyFamily, but Facebook allows them to be a more frequent part of their extended family and friend’s everyday life. They are on face book as Cheryl Haley and as Doug Haley.

With the change in jobs they decided to remain in their Kent home for the time being, although future plans still include selling and setting off on an adventure in a motorhome or 5th wheel.

The year chronologically…

First of all, they had a wonderful 2008 Christmas including time with Doug's sisters Diana and Debbie, and a belated Christmas Eve with Marissa and her family.










January saw them kicking off the New Year in Boise again. Their trip included lots of fun time with family, a ski/boarding trip to Bogus Basin and a 16 hour ride home due to closed passes. Check out the pictures here as well as their blog post about the trip.




Also in January, they had visitors from Germany – Michael and Marit. Michael was a foreign exchange student that spent a school year with Cheryl’s family some 15 years ago. Cheryl and Doug enjoyed showing them the Emerald City. Check out - Michael and Marit.


February found them headed back to Boise to celebrate Arvid’s (Cheryl’s Dad) 75th birthday. A photographer was hired to come take pictures of the whole family!



In March Doug ran his 7th straight St. Patrick’s Day Dash. His brothers Dan and Greg, as well as Greg’s wife Gwen, all from Spokane, joined in on the new, longer course. Snow fell on all of them as they waited to run and they were all wet and cold at the end… It was the first race since Doug's heart surgery two-and-a-half years earlier, where he actually ran the entire race, rather than alternating between walking and running. No speed record set but an accomplishment. Cheryl plans on doing the 2010 dash with him and he is hoping that 2010 will include more runs than 2009.


April found them winging their way to Ventura, California. There they visited with Doug's Mom and Ed, met up with friends of Cheryl for some time at the beach (Doug even tried surfing…), visited Tijuana and of course visited some wineries, this time in the Temecula area. Check out the blog posts and links to pictures:

• California Vacation
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Days 3 and 4
• Day 5

In May they traveled to Salt Lake City where they spent a few days with Cheryl’s daughter Monica at the Lagoon. Somehow Doug can’t find any pictures from this trip… :( They spent time at the park – Doug loves water parks! – took in a movie and enjoyed eating out.


May also included a trip to Westport, WA for some Halibut fishing. Doug joined Wes (the organizer), Kenny, Colin, Inder, Abhinav, his Dad, Uncle Tom, Uncle Kenny and his sons-in-law Johnny and Stephen. Stephen however, had to leave early due to the death of his grandpa. Check out some pictures here. Doug came home with some great halibut and lingcod.

June included a sturgeon fishing trip to Astoria, Oregon where they got skunked (NOT EVEN a bite!), celebration of Doug's sister Diana’s 50th birthday (Doug is not sure how she got to be OLDER than him…) and the arrival of Monica’s kids – Mya, Tanner and Reghan for a week-long stay. Oh and they can’t forget Doug's Dad’s motorhome catching on fire in front of there house! No one hurt and the motorhome was repaired and back on the road within a couple of weeks.




In July they headed for Ocean Shores with Mya, Tanner and Reghan for the 4th of July weekend. They were blessed with a hotel right on the beach and a wonderful time. And upon their return to Seattle activities included a Mariner’s game and drive-in movie where they all sat outside in lawn chairs and watched Ice Age 3. Check out some pictures of their fun with the grandkids here.



Later in July, Austin (Talya’s oldest) arrived for a two week-stay. He started his visit and ended his visit with Doug and Cheryl, mainly due to their proximity to the airport. He visited with other relatives, including his Aunt Marissa, his Dad Tony and his Grandma Diane. Here are some pictures of some time with Marissa.




August saw the arrival of Caleb to spend a SeaFair weekend with his Mom.







Doug had the opportunity to go on a “guys” motorcycle ride to
Loomis, WA and was gone for the weekend.





August also included a visit from Cheryl’s other son Greg, his wife Megan and their children Makenah, Ella and Josiah. They were in Seattle for a long weekend and Doug and Cheryl managed, as usual, to cram a LOT in!







September started with the bi-annual Darrington reunion over Labor Day weekend. Over 200 pictures of the weekend that included nearly 100 members of the family can be seen here.

Cheryl’s nephew Brian married Courtney in September. This allowed Doug and Cheryl a trip to Sandpoint, Idaho and a stay on Lake Pend Oreille. They actually rode the Gold Wing to the wedding - 870 miles roundtrip!

September also included a weekend visit from Cheryl’s brother Kevin and his wife Janet. They all enjoyed the sites of Seattle, including a visit to the Seattle Underground and you can read more about it here and take in some pictures here.


October was a little slower for them… Cheryl went to Colville for the weekend to reconnect with a “best friend” from High School and Doug attended a small reunion of friends from Junior High. What fun to reconnect and hear about everyone’s life. You look back at where they have come from and realize they have all turned out pretty darn good considering the curve balls life has thrown them.

They did manage a day away when Doug surprised Cheryl with an Amtrak ride to Portland and a play - August: Osage County.

Cheryl’s parents visited in October and included a trip to Paradise, Mount Rainier for lunch!

And did someone say October was “slower”?





November brought Doug and Cheryl's 4th Anniversary and a weekend trip to the Olympic Peninsula planned by Cheryl as a surprise. They did some wine tasting, attended a wine-maker’s dinner and did some shopping. Read all about it:

• Part 1
• Part 2

November also included a Seahawk game – Doug's first in 6+ years and Cheryl’s first. They experienced a rare win against the Lions! Yeah!!


They also rented a condo in McCall, Idaho where they spent the Thanksgiving weekend with Cheryl’s children and their families. They had a great time visiting, watching movies, playing games, sledding and of course, eating! Haha Check out the wonderful (if Doug says so himself…) pictures here.

So far December has included a 2nd Seahawk game (they beat the 49ers) and Christmas parties galore. Doug and Cheryl will be celebrating Christmas Eve with Doug's daughter Marissa and her family. Then on Christmas Day they will head to Spokane where there will be skiing at Schweitzer Mountain and visiting with Doug's family – Dad and Linda, and brothers, sister, nephews and nieces.

Well, wow…it really has been a full year! And they didn’t even tell you about Taylor’s baseball and Ashton’s football games, or about all of there motorcycle rides – they put over 11,000 miles on the Gold Wing between April and October. Doug has even been riding it on 16 degree days this month so far!

I guess the Haleys just need to to say they have a very blessed life. They are thankful to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for their health, jobs and beautiful family.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Weekend - Part 2

So….

Our way home today started with a very lazy and relaxing morning at the Quality Inn in Port Angeles…

From there we went Christmas shopping… Oh wait! We weren’t going to do that this year…

Then on in to Sequim for lunch. We ate at Sawadee Thai Restaurant. Yummers. Cheryl had a chicken and broccoli dish. MINUS 1 star. I had Swimming Rama – chicken with spinach – smothered in peanut sauce. 3 star – brow sweat very visible! Haha

From there, we headed to Port Townsend where the last two wineries of our Passport Weekend are located.

First winery was FairWinds Winery – located in a converted horse barn!

They have some fine wines, including the first Aligote varietal I have ever tried. I am not much of a white wine drinker, but this was pretty good. “Aligoté is a white grape used to make dry white wines in the Burgundy region of France, and which also has significant plantings in much of Eastern Europe including Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria.” Read more here. Apparently there are only about 6 tons harvested in Washington and this winery takes about 2 to 2-1/2 of these.

My favorites though are the 2005 LEMBERGER - Oaked and unfiltered this wine is gaining popularity in Washington State, Bronze Medal ~ Northwest Wine Summit and their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot blend - Pure friut flavors and aromas mark this vintner's blend of two Washington grapes, 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot.

Here we were treated to some unusual windmills and some friendly chickens!

And our final winery for the weekend was Sorensen Cellars in Port Townsend. They also had some fine wines, my favorite being their recently bottled Malbec!

It was at Sorensen Cellars we were introduced to some wonderful goat cheese they included in miniature Panini sandwiches being served. The cheese is from Wild Harvest Creamery in Chimacum. They offer cheese-making classes – which I plan on attending in January or February of 2010. I am excited about this! I LOVE cheese!

Three cases of wine and plump bellies full of fine food…we head home.

Our goal – the 5:30 Bainbridge to Seattle ferry. Not going to happen. Next ferry is almost an hour-long wait. It’s then we realize – if we take the 5:30 ferry, we get home at about 7:00 – MAYBE. If we drive all the way around the sound via the Narrows Bridge and Tacoma we are home BEFORE 6:30. Uh, duh! We drive around. We are home at 6:26 (even with a potty break), car unloaded and relaxing BEFORE 7:00. Nice call Cheryl and Lola…

A wonderful weekend, new friends, good wine, great food and a strengthened foundation for many more years to come! Thanks for coming along with us!

PS A few pictures of our weekend can be found here.

Our Weekend - Part 1

Our Saturday consisted of a lazy morning waking up in Port Angeles overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sounds - seagulls, a local church bell tolling on the hour - one ring for each hour, ship's bells and horns in the harbor... Just behind our hotel you can look up to Hurricane Ridge - where I learned to snow ski in 1969 or 1970. Check out their live webcam.

We finally got out of here after 11:00 and went to our favorite store in PA - Swains! They have a bit of everything and at good prices. I found a nice wool coat to "dress me up a bit" says Cheryl and a long-sleeve fleece vest for motorcycle riding. Cheryl found a beautiful purple (can you believe she picked purple?) sweater.

Then it was on to some wineries as part of the Harvest Wine Tour of Olympic Peninsula Wineries.

We started at our favorite winery over here - Olympic Cellars Winery. There was a festive atomopshere with fall in the air and beautiful freshly powdered snow-capped mountains as a backdrop! They were serving raw and baked oysters as well as locally produced products - clam dip and hummus (made from "root vegetables" including carrots).

From there we went to Harbinger Winery. They started up about four years ago and are housed in a warehouse with their Kayak rental business! They were serving local cheeses. They also brew beer - but passed on that. They have a large "gong" (what else do you call it?) that they allowed you to hit. So I did. I asked them what they used it for. They said to get people's attention. It did. They said it's a real kid's magnet. I said, "Yup!"

From there we went to Camraderie Winery. Beautiful grounds and a new tasting room to enjoy. Oh, and a beautiful golden retriever waiting for us with tennis ball in hand. Uh, I mean in mouth... Yes, I did play with the dog.

And the last one for the day was Black Diamond Winery. They specialize in fruit wines. We particularly liked the Strawberry-Rhubarb Wine.

From there we went to a newer local restaurant - Joy's Wine Bistro for a wine-maker's dinner. This restaurant is owned by Olympic Cellar's winemaker's (Benoit Murat) wife - Joy. Joy and Benoit prepared a wonderful 4 course meal paired with wines from Europe.

We were told to sit where we wanted. We chose a table for six where one other couple were just sitting down. Eventually another couple joined us. To describe the other two couples as "free spirits" would be an understatement! They were outrageously funny and risque. Our cheeks hurt (and still do) from laughing so hard for three hours. We were the loudest - and the most envied table - in the place!

The couple we first joined were in their 70's - Patricia and Michael. Pat has lived in the PA area for 20+ years and Michael is from "the dessert" in California. Pat had been married for 40 years and raised 4 boys. Sounds like Michael was married before but no kids. They knew each other in Jr and Sr High but never had anything to do with each other. Pat commented that in those days you didn't date, you went steady. She continued with an interesting comment of, "And that was a mistake". They attended a high school reunion 4 or so years ago (after her divorce), talked, discovered some common interests, he called on her and they were married three years ago.

The couple that joined our table last are a local couple - Jan and Jacque. Jacque is a patent attorney (maybe 70 or 71) and Jan (his third wife) is 51 and his secretary. She had more one-liners and movie quotes than you could find in a book full of the same.

Play on words was common...kept us all on our toes trying to be quick witted enough to understand what was said and be able to respond just as cleverly.

The scene that played out at our table could honestly become a long-running sit-com sure to win awards for best humor! We all exchanged contact information and who knows...

Today (Sunday) finds us enjoying another lazy morning listening to sounds of the harbor and watching people come and go. We are atop steps that descend down in to town with benches to sit on and look out over the Strait. People are up and down the steps, sitting, standing, walking dogs, taking pictures...

There are three other wineries that are part of the Passport Tour, all in Port Townsend. We'll check out of here later, get a good lunch, do some shopping and then visit the wineries on the way to the Bainbridge Island ferry enroute to home.

Part II to come, but no way will it be as interesting as dinner last night...

Just Stuff #5

From “Hack A Day” comes Farm hacking: 7 amazing corn mazes.



Check out their story about some amazing corn mazes and then browse the sites listed below to see a number of corn mazes across the nation.



Before you are done though, be sure to check out Making a corn maze…

• Corn Mazes America
  
• Jonamac Orchard
  
• Larson’s Farm Market
  
• Liberty Corn Maze
  
• The Maze
  
• Sever’s Corn Maze and Fall Festival
  
• Skellys Farm Market
  
• Tom’s Maze and Pumpkin Farm
  
• Uncle Schuck’s
  

And speaking of mazes…

Check out this program that will help you design your own maze. No corn field needed!

Create My Maze


Check out this and 24 more Funny Design Sandwiches.


Just how many “Periodic” Tables are there????

• The Periodic Table like you’ve never seen it before…
  
• Periodic Table of Beer Styles
  
• Periodic Table of Typefaces (fonts)
  
• Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad
  

And laughing out loud to good health…
Laughing 100 times is the equivalent to 10 minutes on the rowing machine or 15 minutes on an exercise bike!


And in closing…

New Life Form Found in Sewer



Cheers!

Kevin and Janet's visit to Seattle (Kent actually!)

Yup, twas a full day Saturday the 19th...

Picked Kevin (Cheryl's brother) and Janet up at the airport at 9:00 AM. Then went back to Kent for breakfast at the Golden Steer - yummers.

Then over to the lightrail station for the ride to Seattle. We got off at the Pioneer Square where a short walk took us to Seattle's Underground Tour.

The tour takes 90 minutes including "setting the stage" in the Doc Maynard's Bar (the bar is no longer open. It's a good basic introduction to Seattle's history and very interesting to learn about how the "underground" came to be.

Afterwards we went over to Starbucks where we had coffee and planned our next moves...

From there we caught a city bus and rode to Pike Place Market. We'd just crossed the street to get to the market entrance, when a man came darting out of a store with a clerk behind him yelling, "Stop that man!" So I chased him... We darted in between cars crossing 1st Ave (one who wasn't so inclined to stop until I slapped his left front fender), through a parking lot and down an alley before I caught up with him... It was at that point that two things happened...

• First, I didn't even know what he'd done or what he took - so what do I say? I said, "Just drop it!" Whatever "it" was!
  
• Secondly, he all of the sudden had two accomplices... Kind of changed the odds... As we came to a stop, he wouldn't respond to me, but told one of his buddies, "Get this guy off my back man!" His buddy came over and chest bumped me telling me to "Get lost bro".
  

Well, to this point, no one else was coming to help, it was three against one and to top it off I have no idea what to ask him to give back... It was very frustrating to watch them walk down the alley... All I could do was yell "THIEF". One of the accomplices turned around at that point and looked at me like I was off my rocker or something. Or maybe he just didn't like being called what he was! At least I tried... (It did feel food to run though, albeit in cargo pants, boots and carrying a back-back! haha)

So, back to Pike Place Market where Cheryl, Janet and Kevin were wondering where I'd gone... Kevin actually was on his way to help, but didn't know where we'd gone. It was that run down the alley where everyone lost us... At the market we looked at all of the beautiful fresh flowers - Janet was so amazed a big bouquet would cost only $10 - and frustrated that she couldn't buy any (as how would she get them home?). We went by the fish market, into a couple of t-shirt/sweatshirt stores, a toy store, and tea store and just wandered around the Market - always, always an interesting experience.

Our last stop before getting back on the bus was at Beecher's Handmade Cheese. They make wonderful artisan cheeses! Janet bought some Sharp Gouda and I bought some No Woman and some Marco Polo.

The we boarded the bus again for a ride to Safeco Field to watch the Seattle Mariners play the New York Yankees.

Well, the seats were good, the sausages from the outside vendors were good and the online replays of the Husky football game were good... Mariners lost 10 to 1.

And how about those Huskies! Here’s an excerpt from a blog I read – “I am not predicting a certain upset on Saturday however this game is on every experts upset watch list. Washington has a 25-30 percent chance of beating these guys at home this week.” UW Dawg Pound. Well upset the number 3 USC Trojans they did - 16 to 13 with a well orchestrated drive and game ending field goal!

Took the light rail system home from Safeco Field, catching it at the Stadium Station.

Got home around midnight. A fun full day…


Sunday saw a very, very lazy start to the day...

Cheryl made waffles and eggs for breakfast. We got up at various times from 7:30 to 10:00! haha

We finally left home at nearly 12:00 and headed for my office for a panoramic view of the Puget Sound area. It's amazing what you can see from 49 floors up!

Then we headed for Deception Pass.

But of course we couldn't take the direct route...

We headed north on I-5 and then east on the 520 bridge. This is a floating bridge that crosses Lake Washington. From the bridge deck you have a view north to Mt. Baker and a view south to Mount Rainier. Can't figure out what the all commotion was about. We just stopped to get some nice pictures...

From there we intersected with and headed north on I-405.

Eventually we re-intersected with I-5 and headed north.

By now it was nearly 2:30 in the afternoon and we were all ready for lunch. We headed for the Skagit River Brewery for a very tasty meal. Afterwards we found a nearby cache enduring the scrutiny of an over-ambitious security guard. LOL

So now back on to Hwy 536 which took us northeast to Hwy 20 and on to Fidalgo Island.

Our destination was the Deception Pass Bridge that spans the strait separating Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island. We passed over the nearly 200 foot tall bridge and pulled off in to a rest area. From there we were able to walk back over the bridge and look down on to the strait. Water runs through this strait at a rate of 5 to 8 knots (about 6 to 9 mph) and can literally take control of a boat if it's not careful as it passes through the strait. Beautiful scenery and views. We are pretty confident we could see some thirty miles west where Canada (the southern tip of Vancouver Island) and the north end of the Olympic Peninsula (maybe the Dungeness area?) could be seen. And we discovered an Earthcache.

We found another cache along the way at a Veteran's display in front of a small restaurant right off the highway.

Back in the car and back on Hwy 20 and in to Oak Harbor, home to the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. (AND my cousin Jenny and her family - Hi Jenny!) Here we found one more cache, but alas, no Seattle sweatshirt for Janet...

From here we headed to Clinton where we boarded the ferry for a short 20 minute ride to Mukilteo.

Once in Mukilteo we decided we were hungry again and headed for Ivar's Mukilteo Landing Restaurant where we were lucky enough to get a window table overlooking Puget Sound!

After a scrumptous meal we headed home arriving there at about 10:00 PM. We were all in bed by 10:05! haha Afterall, 4:30 this morning came very early!

It was a fun visit with Cheryl's brother Kevin and his wife Janet and we look forward to future time with them!

Darrington Reunion 2009

Not a lot to say ... just want to share some pictures - Check 'em out here!

Ride to Artist Point - Mt Baker

Well, Saturday found both of us headed for the office… So much to do! But then…

It was time to play!!

We left Bellevue about 6:00 PM and headed for Mount Vernon where we spent the night before a day of riding on Sunday with Cheryl’s cousin Keith.

Along the way we called my daughter Marissa who lives in Oso, between Arlington and Darrington. They often go to Mount Vernon and surrounding towns like Conway and La Conner. We thought maybe she could refer us to a good place to eat near our motel.

Well, she came through with a recommendation of Skagit River Brewery. Great setting in an old building right next to an active railroad track, where freight and Amtrak trains rumble by…mere feet from our table in fact! Have you ever noticed how BIG locomotives are??? Service was great, food was delicious and the prices were good. Oh, and the beer wasn’t bad either! Haha I had the Skagit River "Steelie" Brown Ale – “Favored for its luscious malt character and smooth finish. The Brown Ale's caramel, roast and chocolate flavors go well with many foods.” We both had hamburgers and waffle fries while we played Five Crowns. Cheryl had a cheddar cheeseburger, and I had a blue cheese burger with bacon added. Yummers.

We slept in Sunday morning – oh yeah… Then about 10:00 we headed out to the next exit north on I-5 where we were to meet Cheryl’s cousin Keith. After meeting up with him we rode Chuckanut Dr to Fairhaven, where Keith’s wife Jane met us for breakfast.

The drive along Chuckabut Drive was beautiful and fun. Hwy 11 travels along Samish Bay and then Bellingham Bay, passing through Larrabee State Park along the way to Fairhaven. (Fairhaven is actually part of Bellingham, but shhhhh… Don’t tell the status conscience people of Fairhaven…). Here’s another site with pictures of the beauty of Chuckanut Drive.

We met Jane at the Harris Ave Café, on yes you guessed it, Harris Avenue. (Thanks for the material Jane!) “The Harris Avenue Café is the kind of place that instantly invites you off the street and into its cozy bosom. Located at street level in a vintage downtown Fairhaven building, this café’s warm and earthy yellow and orange walls at once put you in the mood to just relax and gaze at the world going by.” After waiting for about 25 minutes on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, petting the dogs that sauntered by, we ended up in the patio area – beautiful setting. I had Texas Taters – a scramble with potatoes, chorizo, serrano chiles, a couple different kinds of cheese, and topped, by me, with a healthy douse of Tobasco sauce! Yummers…

After breakfast, Jane headed off to school… She is a principal and getting ready for the new school year requires some extra hours! Keith, Cheryl and I headed for Keith and Jane’s house in Lynden…via backroads of course!

Once to their house, Keith realized we were locked out…but ahhh, there was one small window open. Oh, sometimes it’s not good to be 6’ 5”! haha Anyway, we got in and were able to see the house and meet Sasha and Buddy, their very friendly dogs!

And now… On to Artist Point at Mt. Baker. What a ride! Artist Point – “There may be gold at the end of a rainbow, but that would pale with the reward of reaching the end of the Mt. Baker Highway at Artist Point – a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic view of lakes, meadows, snow and steep mountains. This area is open for only a short time in the summer.”

We wound our way UP Hwy 542 where there were numerous 15-mph switchbacks…and I MEAN 15 mph! The scenery was beautiful – well, at least what I dared take my eyes off the road to view that is! Cheryl actually had the camera out and was taking pictures from the back seat of the motorcycle! She did a great job.

We reached the top where there were still patches of snow! We walked a bit, took some pics, hit the pit-toilets and then headed down. And on the way down we did a lot more scraping of the kickstand and running boards on the way up! Woohoo. Good thing my wife loves and trusts me! Haha



Then we headed for the Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro in Bellingham to meet Jane for dinner. “A no smoking, all ages establishment, The Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro has been in business since 1995, catering to locals and out-of-towners alike. While our beer has won award after award, it is balanced by a selection of food that will bring you back all on its own. All presented to you in a unique atmosphere of energy, artistry, community and hospitality.” Cheryl had the Yam Alechiladas and I had chicken enchiladas accompanied by a “Scotch” - With a similar malt profile to its more famous cousin Scotch whisky, this smooth, strong beer is complex with a lingering hop finish. Original Gravity 1.064

After eating and visiting, Cheryl and I began our 110-mile ride home. We got home at about 10:30 PM, tummies full of good food, lungs full of fresh air and smiles on our faces. And went straight to bed…

All of the pictures from our trip can be seen HERE.

Greg and Megan's Visit - August 2009

Greg, Cheryl’s son, his wife Megan and their three children - Makenah, Ella and Josiah - (representing 27% of our grandkids!) flew in to Seattle the evening of Thursday, August 13th.

In preparation for the visit we realized our Mazda wouldn’t be sufficient for transporting seven people. It was either go everywhere using both the Mazda and the Gold Wing (my choice – haha) or rent a van/SUV (Cheryl’s choice). We decided to rent and found an incredible deal through Budget for a 7-passenger SUV.

Cheryl shows up Thursday afternoon to pick up the car and they have a small 5-passenger rig ready for her. She calmly explains we reserved a 7-passenger rig and shows them our reservation confirmation. They respond with, “Well we told corporate to take that special off of the web site. Why that vehicle rents for $108 a day, not $144 total.” Cheryl responded with, “That’s not our problem. We asked for and need a 7-passenger van.” They said they might have something… Oh yeah, we have a van that just came in but will need to clean it. A minute later they pull in with a new GMC Yukon (4500 miles on it) saying they just “found this one”. It was a nice ride – leather, power everything, xm satellite radio and plenty of room for seven people. Not bad for about $40 a day. :)

We all enjoyed a quiet evening Thursday just catching up on life.

While Doug worked Friday, Cheryl took the gang to the Seattle Aquarium. One of the highlights for the grandkids was the Life on the Edge display. This tidepool allowed the kids to actually touch the sea life, or more appropriately gave them permission to play in the water! Haha After visiting the Aquarium, they toured the Seattle waterfront for a bit before coming up to Doug’s office.

Doug works on the 49th floor of the Two Union Square building where he is the office manager for the law firm of Ellis Li & McKinstry. The highlight of the visit for the grandkids? Feeding paper in to the paper shredder! haha After enjoying the incredible views of Seattle from the 49th floor, we headed off to the Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner. Doug’s fav – the Brown Bear Brown.

Saturday found us headed to the Tukwila station of Seattle’s new LINK Light Rail system. The grandkids all got window seats for the 36 minute ride to Seattle. We passed through a number of Seattle neighborhoods – Rainier Beach, Columbia City, SODO. There was even a long tunnel along the way, somewhere near the Mount Baker station, where the kid's eyes lit up as they realized we were in a dark tunnel. We arrived in Seattle inside the Seattle Bus Tunnel, the only joint bus-rail tunnel in the United States. Well, that is except for the one in Pittsburgh ... but it doesn’t have stations. Read more here.

From the tunnel we went up to ground level and caught a Metro bus to Ballard, where we visited a Cupcake Royale location. Amazingly, there is frequently a line all the way out the door – for cupcakes. Greg and Megan bought “cute” little travel coffee mugs. We visited here with Greg & Megan’s friends from Germany Michael and Marit in January. They bought similar cups and it was fun for Greg and Megan to now visit this store and buy the same cups! After our cupcakes and some coffee (it is Seattle afterall…) we were back on the bus to the Ballard Locks.

The Ballard Locks, officially the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks were a fun time. We watched boats enter and leave the locks, even a boat where a group was gathered on the deck and singing as an accordion player played to the delight of the crowd along the lock. Watching the boats rise from below us to over us as the lock filled up was amazing. The Fish Ladder was a real hit with the kids! HERE are someone else’s pictures of the locks.

When we were done watching boats, salmon and a few seals…we headed for the Lockspot Cafe for dinner. This appears to be a famous diner… After the Catch and After the Catch (episode 2 season 1). They had great clam AND salmon chowder, seafood platters and beer! There was a carved seaman in the restaurant and Josiah would go NOWHERE near him! We tried showing him it was just wood but for some reason it was really scary to him…

After dinner we caught a couple of buses that were to get us back to the bus tunnel, but… There was a festival in town, the Seattle Hempfest where thousands and thousands had gathered and the crowd over-loaded the buses and jammed the downtown Seattle streets. We finally got off the bus and walked to the tunnel!

After getting home, Greg and Doug headed for the RAM Restaurant and Brewery. They have a Saturday special where you can fill your growler (a 64-ounce bottle) for half price - $4.99 rather than $9.99. We refilled the one I had with Buttface Amber Ale and purchased a second one filled with Barefoot Wit White Belgian. Yummers.

Sunday found us on I-5 headed North for the Puget Park Drive-In Swap Meet. For $1 per adult, you can roam the Drive-in lot exploring the wonders people brought to sell. As soon as we parked and got out of the car, Ella sat down to play in the dirt. You know, the dusty, stick to everything kind of dirt. And she was wearing black pants… Oh yeah. Haha We wandered around for awhile and came away with some great deals – a pair of work gloves for $2, 6 CDs for $5, 2# of Malaysian dark roasted coffee beans for $4 and finally a folding cribbage board that holds the cards and pegs inside - $5. Score.

Afterwards we headed for the Taste of Edmonds, but decided we needed a snack on the way. The snack turned in to a full-fledged meal at La Palmera Family Mexican Restaurant in south Everett. Their food is delicious! But then we thought…eating before going to a Taste?!?!?!?!? LOL But really, eating at the restaurant saved us big bucks over eating at this booth and that booth at the Taste…

The Taste of Edmonds featured crafts for kids, rides, craft booths, retailers, roaming artists, wine and beer gardens, live music (at least three stages) and of course booths featuring food from local restaurants. We started at the port-a-pots… LOL Then moved on to bracelet making and crown making. From there we went to the pony rides followed by time on the inflatable toys – the kids (and Megan ;)) really liked these! Then Greg tried the rock wall climb. There was $100 cash waiting to be plucked at the top. But alas, it was rigged… Or at least seemed that way. A little over half way up, the wall juts out a bit. I think that, along with the position of the auto-repeller and limited foot/hand holds, made it nearly impossible. But Greg made it higher than anyone else we saw try! Now on to the desserts… HUGE vanilla, soft-serve ice cream cones for the grandkids and strawberry shortcake for Grandma and Grandpa.
We found a vendor we plan on going back to that manufactures firepits - Outdoor Living Concepts. Very attractive and beats burning wood on the deck in a metal firepit!

As we headed home, all of the kids fell asleep and were put in bed as soon as we got home. Us adults bought Papa Murphy’s pizza which Megan, Greg and Doug enjoyed with some of their RAM brewed beer.

Morning came early as the trip to the airport was at 6:00 AM. Greg and Megan made it back to Boise in time to get to work… Cheryl and Doug went to work, exhausted from a busy weekend, but with a smile on their face.

It’s always strange though to come home in to a quiet and empty house after a visit from family… Seems sad…but quickly we turn our thoughts to the next visit, hanging on to memories of the fun we had during this last visit.


~~~ More pictures here. ~~~