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We’re back on dry land after the cruise to Alaska and does it feel goooood; although, it’s strange coming back from a cruise to another vacation! (It still feels like this 365 day trip is one long vacation.)
On the drive to our hotel, I was fixated by Mt. Rainier. It is so majestic! Maybe I just wasn’t used to driving after a week on the cruise ship, but I could hardly watch the road. My eyes kept veering over to the snow capped mountain. I’m not sure if the buttes around it are really hills or if they just look like it next to Rainier, but Mt. Rainier towers over the rest! Fortunately, we didn’t get into an accident or anything with my distracted driving. I figure at least I wasn’t texting about Mt. Rainier while driving.
Here are some highs and lows from Washington:
Worst Meal: My Greek and Italian Restaurant in Puyallup where the qualifications to receive the free kid’s meal were a mile long, and it took us about an hour to comprehend them. It would have been fine had the food been worth it, but we just felt like they were cutting corners right and left. For instance, the Greek salad was really just bagged salad with a Kalamata olive on top. It turned out that My Big Fat Greek Restaurant was just overpriced. Hindsight is always better.
Favorite Meal: Well, the yak burger we had in a little restaurant near Mt. Rainier wins hands down for tastiest burger, but as for favorite meal, it has to be our “dinner and a movie.” We had a light dinner at Dairy Freeze, if you can you call a shake, “light.” The Black ‘N White was deliciously rich – chocolate and marshmallow crème combined in a shake…mmh. Then we had a movie night with popcorn. Since our hotel room had a DVD player, it was the perfect ending to a fun day. We selected Karate Kid and Hachi from the local Redbox. Karate Kid was a blast from the past - the kids loved it! Hachi, on the other hand, was quite a tear jerker. The loyalty was impressive, yet the dog never being happy again was disheartening, even unsettling. I hope I’m not like Hachi, placing my happiness on something that isn’t returning. I’m trying to place my happiness to on Jesus who will return one day!
Biggest Disappointment: Chihuly "Bridge of Glass". Oh, it’s a fine work of art, if that’s what you’re expecting to see. On the other hand, if you’re expecting an actual bridge made of glass that you can walk across, then it’s not so impressive. Again, the Mom takes grief for a wild glass chase, I mean goose chase…
Biggest Surprise: How comforting it was to see Carmen, our van! (We named our van “Carmen” for the GPS voice and the game “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?”) When the valet pulled Carmen up after the cruise, I was amazed by my feelings. It was silly, but I got that warm comforting feeling like when you walk in your house after a long trip…”Ah, home!” For us, it’s a van...
Most Un-American Moment: Not going into the original Starbucks in Seattle. I thought about using their bathroom, but that makes it even worse!
Worst Closure: The whales. The boat has a 97% success rate with a guarantee that if you don’t see whales, you can go again for free until you do. That means 3 in 100 trips don’t see whales. Would you believe we were one of those statistical three? Apparently, the whales were closed for the day. Actually, we learned from the naturalist that the day before our trip the whales did something they hadn’t done in the 8 years he has worked there: the pods headed up north to feed and hadn’t been spotted since. Go figure! The only cool part was the realization that even the whale experts, who follow the whales every day, can’t predict them…that’s in God’s hands alone.
Note: We did see whales the next day: three Minke whales. They weren’t breaching and spy hopping - just 3 solitary whales happened to be feeding in the area, but it was whale watching, and it did qualify.
Best Sight Seeing Spot: Snoqualmie Falls. Now, this was a waterfall! It’s not the tallest or the widest, but it is a beauty. The water was hitting the bottom with such force that its spouting was taller than the whales! :) It was the perfect excursion for a beautiful, sunshiny afternoon in Washington.
Best Hotel: Holiday Inn Express in Spokane where they have a dog named Kip who lives at the hotel and welcomes guests. He even has a business card, and his title is “Stress Manager!” I celebrated my birthday while we stayed at this hotel, but since we’re together so much on the road, it’s a little difficult to plan birthday surprises for each other. Mike asked the hotel staff about ideas, and they had a balloon bouquet waiting for me at breakfast. In addition, the breakfast manager baked a special muffin for me complete with a candle. They really go above and beyond at this hotel when it comes to hospitality!
Worst Memory: Getting the oil changed and the tires rotated at the Puyallup Walmart. This was our worst experience with those required tasks. First of all, I had to stand in the WA drizzle while the guy checked in the car. He asked weird questions that I’ve never had to answer before about lug nuts and such. I don’t know! I usually just drive up, and they take care of everything else. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?
After shopping and getting haircuts, the van still wasn’t done. We waited and waited. Finally, we got Carmen back, but the windows weren’t clean and the floors certainly weren’t vacuumed. When we drove away, we couldn’t help but notice an awful smell. Turns out, they spilled oil all over the engine. We drove back and made them clean it up - and vacuum the interior. We got free wiper blades out of the deal, but I’m not sure that it was worth the time and hassle. One day in WA wasted.
Best Memory: Mt. Rainier. The best part was, well, the view, but after that it was hiking through and playing on the rocks in the riverbed. The kids had the best time exploring up and down the water. I joined them for some discovery but also enjoyed sitting and enjoying the splendor of Mt. Rainier with the hubby.
Biggest Revelation: I figured out why there’s a coffee hut on every corner – it’s so cold and damp here! Love the sunny days. Hate the rainy ones. The weird thing is one minute it’s rainy, and literally the next it’s sunny. I guess that’s why there’s a coffee hut on every corner…
My WA Hike: Mt Rainier is one awesome volcano! We discovered it is an active volcano, which frightened the kids a little, but we decided to do a 2 mile hike to a waterfall and back anyway. :) We were just about ready to give up and turn around (it must have been the elevation!) when we asked some hikers, “How much further?” Their reply was, “About 10 steps.” To think we almost turned around and missed it, when we were that close.
What We Missed: Cascade mountains, Olympia National Park, Leavenworth, Grand Coulee Dam, and Fairy Tale Bakery to name a few.
In Summary: Washington, when you’re sunny, you’re beautiful. I need to learn to love coffee before we return, though.
Biggest Surprise: How comforting it was to see Carmen, our van! (We named our van “Carmen” for the GPS voice and the game “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?”) When the valet pulled Carmen up after the cruise, I was amazed by my feelings. It was silly, but I got that warm comforting feeling like when you walk in your house after a long trip…”Ah, home!” For us, it’s a van...
Most Un-American Moment: Not going into the original Starbucks in Seattle. I thought about using their bathroom, but that makes it even worse!
Worst Closure: The whales. The boat has a 97% success rate with a guarantee that if you don’t see whales, you can go again for free until you do. That means 3 in 100 trips don’t see whales. Would you believe we were one of those statistical three? Apparently, the whales were closed for the day. Actually, we learned from the naturalist that the day before our trip the whales did something they hadn’t done in the 8 years he has worked there: the pods headed up north to feed and hadn’t been spotted since. Go figure! The only cool part was the realization that even the whale experts, who follow the whales every day, can’t predict them…that’s in God’s hands alone.
Note: We did see whales the next day: three Minke whales. They weren’t breaching and spy hopping - just 3 solitary whales happened to be feeding in the area, but it was whale watching, and it did qualify.
Best Sight Seeing Spot: Snoqualmie Falls. Now, this was a waterfall! It’s not the tallest or the widest, but it is a beauty. The water was hitting the bottom with such force that its spouting was taller than the whales! :) It was the perfect excursion for a beautiful, sunshiny afternoon in Washington.
Best Hotel: Holiday Inn Express in Spokane where they have a dog named Kip who lives at the hotel and welcomes guests. He even has a business card, and his title is “Stress Manager!” I celebrated my birthday while we stayed at this hotel, but since we’re together so much on the road, it’s a little difficult to plan birthday surprises for each other. Mike asked the hotel staff about ideas, and they had a balloon bouquet waiting for me at breakfast. In addition, the breakfast manager baked a special muffin for me complete with a candle. They really go above and beyond at this hotel when it comes to hospitality!
Worst Memory: Getting the oil changed and the tires rotated at the Puyallup Walmart. This was our worst experience with those required tasks. First of all, I had to stand in the WA drizzle while the guy checked in the car. He asked weird questions that I’ve never had to answer before about lug nuts and such. I don’t know! I usually just drive up, and they take care of everything else. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?
After shopping and getting haircuts, the van still wasn’t done. We waited and waited. Finally, we got Carmen back, but the windows weren’t clean and the floors certainly weren’t vacuumed. When we drove away, we couldn’t help but notice an awful smell. Turns out, they spilled oil all over the engine. We drove back and made them clean it up - and vacuum the interior. We got free wiper blades out of the deal, but I’m not sure that it was worth the time and hassle. One day in WA wasted.
Best Memory: Mt. Rainier. The best part was, well, the view, but after that it was hiking through and playing on the rocks in the riverbed. The kids had the best time exploring up and down the water. I joined them for some discovery but also enjoyed sitting and enjoying the splendor of Mt. Rainier with the hubby.
Biggest Revelation: I figured out why there’s a coffee hut on every corner – it’s so cold and damp here! Love the sunny days. Hate the rainy ones. The weird thing is one minute it’s rainy, and literally the next it’s sunny. I guess that’s why there’s a coffee hut on every corner…
My WA Hike: Mt Rainier is one awesome volcano! We discovered it is an active volcano, which frightened the kids a little, but we decided to do a 2 mile hike to a waterfall and back anyway. :) We were just about ready to give up and turn around (it must have been the elevation!) when we asked some hikers, “How much further?” Their reply was, “About 10 steps.” To think we almost turned around and missed it, when we were that close.
What We Missed: Cascade mountains, Olympia National Park, Leavenworth, Grand Coulee Dam, and Fairy Tale Bakery to name a few.
In Summary: Washington, when you’re sunny, you’re beautiful. I need to learn to love coffee before we return, though.
- Mom
cannot imagine that you would learn to love coffee for any reason ;)
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