Sunday, August 6, 2017

Seattle/Richland Vacation 2017

Last week we returned from our annual pilgrimage to our respective homelands.

We spent the first four days in Seattle and visited a lot with John's parents and sisters. We enjoyed dinner with Grandma Kay and Grandpa Doug and Aunt Betsy almost every night. We also had a reunion dinner with a great circle of friends from Seattle, including Kathy and Mark and their kids in town from Myanmar. This whole circle of friends met when none of us had kids; now we all have teenagers.

This year Audrey flew to Seattle two weeks before the rest of us and attended Hidden Valley Camp. John worked there as a counselor for two summers in college: 1981 and 1982. We drove to camp to pick up Audrey a few days after we arrived. The camp is still run by the same family and it was great to see them again, and to revisit camp. Audrey definitely wants to go back next year, and Charlotte is considering it.

The next morning we had breakfast with John's sister Tricia and her husband Frank. John's sisters and Frank are building a house together in Puyallup, to sell. We visited it when it was nearing completion. Tricia and Frank are also selling their current home in Puyallup and moving to Yakima. The girls helped them out by mowing their lawn with their riding lawn mower.

Then we headed over the Cascades to Richland to stay with Carol's parents. Richland is always very relaxing. We watched the entire 5 hour broadcast of the Tour de France every day (some of it through eyelids). Carol played cards with her parents every evening. And we had two wonderful boat outings on the Columbia River, one of which was with Carol's childhood friend Kim and her family. It's the second straight year we've done that and it might need to become a tradition.

One thing that does seem to have become a tradition is driving back to Seattle via Chinook Pass. It's a "minor" pass over the mountains that is closed in winter. It's very scenic, and there is a 3-mile loop hike that leaves from the summit that is very pretty. The kids thought it was a death march this year, but they survived.

Back in Seattle we turned into tourists for three days. We visited the Museum of Flight, Alki Beach and Pegasus Pizza, the Pike Place Market and the University of Washington.

We also enjoyed a lovely backyard feast with Carol's brother Bob, his wife Torii and cousin Alex and his wife Jade. Bob and Torii are foodies and the vittles are always fantastic. This year it was steamed clams and cowboy steaks - huge steaks that take special preparation and then everyone carves off what they want.

On our last day the girls got to swim in Greenlake, which is always a must.

This vacation felt nice and long, which is always a good sign. And by the end we were ready to head home.

But man, was it fun.

No comments: