We were tired from all of our travels and adventures, so we tried to relax on our last day of vacation. The day was perfect. We spent the morning and afternoon North of Seattle in a small town and ended up at Gasworks Park on the North side of Lake Union. We found a grassy spot on the side of a hill overlooking the lake so we could watch the boats going by. We also had an amazing view of downtown.
Nice face Josh.
Our first day in Seattle started with a water taxi ride across the sound to downtown. We walked through Pike's Place Market, listened to the street artists, ate some ethnic foods, saw the sand sculptures, rode the monorail, walked to Lake Union, visited the Center for Wooden Boats, went up the Space Needle...I think that is most of what we did. We stayed with some family friends of Josh's our couple of nights there. Thank you Kristi, Levi and Mr. and Mrs. Barr!
Pike's Market
Our second day at Mt. Rainier was spent driving to various "photo-ops" and taking short hikes to see various points of interest. We went to a gorge, a few waterfalls, Longmire, another hot spring (once used for curing ailments even though it was saturated with iron), and Reflection Lake. The picture of Reflection Lake and the mountain is by far my favorite that I took the whole trip.
I miss having this place in my backyard! It is so beautiful and full of adventures. I remember so well all the times my family came to this mountain to hike, ski, and tube. I love it so much!
Unlike our day at Mount St. Helens, our day at Mt. Rainier was absolutely clear and the brightest of blues! We drove the breathtaking, cliff-hugging roads up to Paradise. Paradise is the highest point on Mt. Rainier that you can drive to. The whole way up (and the whole time we were up there) we kept oooing and awwwing. Nothing in this world compares to God's creation! I have way too many pictures I would like to share with you. We chose to hike the Skyline Trail that takes you up 1,700 ft. in elevation to a height of 7,000 ft. above sea level. Mt. Rainier is an elevation of 14,411 ft. so we were about half way there. The most amazing thing about this trail is that in just a couple of hours you go from meadow and lush green trees to slate gray rock and snow and back. I think what makes it like paradise is as you walk amongst glaciers and rock you'll turn a corner and there before you is a patch of the greenest plants and brightest flowers growing in and around a flowing stream of the clearest, coldest alpine water. It truly is amazing. We stopped to eat lunch at Panorama Point, from where you could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood. Also at Panorama Point were fearless chipmunks we called "mini-bears." These little creatures were all over Josh's lap with a mission of scoring an Oreo or two. We also saw a few marmots, lots of Indian Paintbrush wildflowers (that go from a bright red-orange to a hot pink as you gain altitude), and many other wildflower species I can't remember the names of. In any case, they were all species you don't see on a regular basis. We were pretty wiped out after our 5.5 mile hike, after which we headed back to our campsite. (Just after starting our descent on the mountain, clouds rolled in and covered the peak. We were so glad we started the day early so that we were towards the top without a cloud in the sky.)
My finger is pointing to Panorama Point where we at lunch. This is where the picture of Josh's leg and the "mini-bear" encounter was taken.
Well, these pictures show exactly what we saw at Mount St. Helens...no mountain! We were in the middle of a cloud and therefore could not see the crater. You couldn't even see more than ten feet in front of you. At the visitor's center we watched a movie about the May 18th eruption. At the end of this dramatic production, the screen and scrim recess into the ceiling to expose this huge glass window and view of ... white! The whole audience erupted into laughter. We were bummed that the view was non-existent, but as we headed back down the mountain we saw a herd of elk and some beautiful scenery.
That night we headed to Ohanepecosh Campground on Mt. Rainier. We got there just in time to set up our tiny backpacking tent, take a 2 mile hike to a hot spring and huge waterfall, cook brats for dinner over the campfire, and go to bed.
Heading North towards Portland, we made a stop at Willamette (Will-am-it) Vineyards to do some wine tasting and add to our collection building up in our suitcases. We spent that evening and night at my cousin Brad's house with his family and my other cousins and Aunt and Uncle. Brad grilled up a tasty dinner as the girls made me join them in their freezing cold pool. Their neighbor Burt also took us for a ride around the block in his tractor trailer. And as you can see in the campfire picture, Josh fits right in with the family.
The day after our perfect day wasn't perfect. Josh was able to experience typical West coast weather: fog and drizzling rain. We stopped at a few sites along the coast on our way to Newport, OR including the Devil's Punchbowl, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, and Cobble Beach. It's amazing what you can see there in just a couple of hours. At Yaquina Head and Cobble Beach we spotted starfish, lots of sea lions, a banana slug, anemones, etc. Hopefully you'll be able to spot a few of the sea lions in one of the pictures. They blend in really well with their surroundings. We ate along the bay in Newport for lunch. It was a classic coast meal of clam chowder and fish and chips. Yum! We also didn't forget to stock up on salt water taffy and some fudge.
After a couple of hours spent in Newport, we headed inland to Corvallis where my Grandpa lives. I am glad Josh has finally been able to meet him and his wife Ruth. It was great to spend some quality with them since I hadn't seen them in a few years.
How fast can one year go by?! We both can't believe it's already been over a year. My Aunt Deb was generous and booked a room for us at a hotel in Lincoln City, Oregon. The day was absolutely GORGEOUS! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. The drive along the coast was breathtaking. I could probably go on forever, but I'll try to keep it brief. In Lincoln City we spent quite a bit of time at the beach walking in the sand and wading in the waves. We stopped at a wine show where we bought quite a few bottles of Oregon wine and an art gallery where Josh bought me
some beautiful unique earrings. For dinner, we ate at Kyllos (Thanks Mom and Dad!). Kyllos is a restaurant that is built on stilts above the beach, almost on the ocean's edge. We indulged in gourmet salads, fresh seafood, a bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris, and a slice of scrumptious coconut pie. Afterwards, we were full, satisfied and a bit tipsy.
After a long and troublesome night in Seattle (we flew in over an hour delayed and couldn't get our rental car), we immediately headed South along the Oregon Coast to Rockaway Beach. There we met my mom's family, spent some time at the beach, grilled freshly caught salmon, hung out with family, visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory, among other things. 
This is a picture of me with my second cousins Jordin, Courtney and Caitlin. It was so much fun to spend more time with them. Unlike at our wedding, the girls opened up to Josh and actually talked to him!
After barbecuing burgers and brats at Como Park for lunch, the gang headed to Midway Stadium to see the Saint Paul Saints play some baseball. Unfortunately the Saints lost, but we had a great time joining in all the craziness that makes the Saints' games so great! The night's game was sponsored by yoplait so between innings they had contestants play games including a yogurt slip and slide and a mystery slime bucket (getting yogurt dumped over your head), etc. And of course, we got out our rally hats and flags by inning 7, hoping the Saints would make a comeback.
And if that wasn't enough fun, after the game we went to the new creamery in town for yummy gelato! Thanks everyone (Marla, Roger, Cindy, David, Laura, Kristen, Aaron, Ryan, Trevor) for coming up and spending an awesome day with us!
My parents' actual anniversary was June 12th, but since all of us couldn't get together, we celebrated today. The night before I baked a cake and decorated it to resemble one of their wedding cakes. They were very surprised! Congratulations mom and dad!
I just finished my two most recent sewing projects! The one on the right is a medium sized tote bag and the other is a small clutch purse. They are samples for the Rosemount shop Quilter's Haven and will be on display for a few months or so.
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