Now that I have the new hat story out I can return to our trip and some of the delights we’ve enjoyed over the past week. Most of it has been spent in two cities: north Seattle and Saanich north of Victoria.
We thought about it and realized that after almost two weeks of only camping in Babe we will have spent close to a week only camping in friends homes. Talk about two very different modes of living / travel! (And aren’t we super lucky to have friends who will both put us up and put up with us!)
This blog entry is part one of two. There are too many stories to tell to force them into one short tale.
City One: Seattle
After coming all the way across the northern states we had finally arrived in Washington. Almost at the Pacific shore. We’ve never come this far west with Babe before so this was a landmark destination. And this was intended to be the beginning of a slowed-down pace for our trip. The previous few days, with stays of two nights in two places, was the first step toward this. Staying with friends for a few nights was the next.
We had elected to have our “Twin Peaks” moment in North Bend and Snoqualmie before heading into Seattle. If you’re up to date on this blog you know that a stop at Filson is a part of the beginning of our visit to Seattle. The motive for coming here was friendship, not commerce though. Sometime during our visit the length of Andrea’s and Hanson’s friendship came up and and it seems my earlier guess was about right… they got to know each other in grade 3. I don’t know many people who have maintained friendships from that early in their lives. Knowing that Andrea has a couple of dear friends who go that far back speaks volumes of who she is and what true friends mean to her. Gotta love that.
Our focus was time to visit. We had a few ideas about what we might like to see. And it was all totally flexible. On our way to their home we stopped in at the Washington Park Arboretum, which you can see in an earlier post. We also snaked our way through a Huskies home game on campus… I think that was our first official tailgate party! Then it was on to their home.
We simply rolled in to share hugs and chat. And eat! Not that food was the plan or focus; it’s just the way things worked out. I thought I might have been losing a little weight before this. If I still am it’s not from under-eating. We had some great feasts that were woven through with delightful conversation. We also had some fun expeditions.
Pancakes. Bikes. Baseballs. And Glass.
Our first evening was really just catching up. It has been that long and there have been that many events that it took all evening to even come close to catching up. And it felt great to do that. Good food, good company, good conversation, and lots of good wine to blend them all together.
This was our first night not sleeping in Babe since Indiana with Nancy and Pete. A king size bed was delightful. Might make getting back into our smaller space a challenge, that’s not decided yet so stay tuned.
The next morning I awoke to quiet sounds of activity upstairs in the kitchen. As promised Rose was busy preparing a pancake breakfast and Andrea (always an early morning person) was already up there learning about the recipe Rose was using for this meal. I think they collaborated well… Andrea providing height to be able to reach where it was beneficial and both of them learning the subtleties of the recipe. The fact that blueberries were involved had Andrea on board from the start. When they arrived at the table they didn’t last long. It’s a great recipe and Rose was up to the challenge.
Next up was a quick tour of the UW campus where Hanson works. This was accomplished by bike. Hanson on his recently acquired Brompton (something our neighbours back in Toronto just got seriously into… kindred spirits?), Andrea on her Super Gary, and me on Hanson’s GoCycle (we’d talked about his ebike a few times before this outing so I was interested in trying it out). This was all ahead of two planned outings so it was great to be able to squeeze it in. And Hanson is really fortunate to have this as his work home base. I’m sure it must be inspiring on many levels.
The Double Header
Hanson and Hendrix had tickets to see the Mariners play in the afternoon and we had planned to go to the Chihuly Gardens and Glass exhibit… we were all set for an enjoyable afternoon. It turns out the Mariners won their game, Hendrix and Hanson got to go down onto the infield and really enjoy their day. Andrea, Heather, Rose and I went to downtown Seattle to explore the Chihuly exhibit. Friends have commented on it, all I can say is: Go if you can! It’s outstanding. (Andrea says: I’ve been saying Chiluly all this time. Glad to be corrected)
Let me share a few photos… I don’t have any from the game: these are all from our Chuhily outing.
And then there was cork footie… Hendrix and I had a great contest for world domination going. It ended in a 1-1 tie so I think the world order should be stable until the next time we’re back in Seattle.
Another night of king luxury followed and in the morning it was time to get ready for the next leg of our trip… back to Canada for a few days. That’s for the next blog entry though!
