Sunday AM (01JUL) we caught the Edmonds ferry to Kingston to
visit kids/grandkids at their new house in east Bremerton & deliver
plants. That afternoon we all headed to a
small street fair in Port Orchard, & then back to house for dinner. Monday Dan started to “organize” all their
stuff in garage; while Corrie spends most of the day gardening w/Rebecca. Tuesday Corrie took the grandkids to beach,
then returns to do more gardening; while Dan installed three large shelfs in
their garage. Wednesday (the fourth) we
left Bremerton early AM & drove back to our house (ie we didn’t take ferry)
– two hour drive w/o traffic, & a $5 toll on the Narrows bridge. All-in-all, cheaper & faster if (and
that’s a big if) if there is no traffic on I-5 thru Tacoma & Seattle.
Thursday (05JUL the “official” start of Seattle’s summer) very
hot. Dan decides that the walkways in
Corrie’s new & expanded raised bed vegetable garden needs improvement. Presently they are just exposed clay soil
which are very slippery & muddy when wet; & weeds constantly want to
grow there! His plan is to frame them
w/pressure treated wood & fill them w/one cubic yard of 5/8th minus
rock. Friday another hot, hot, day &
Dan decides to unload 2500 lbs of 5/8th rock into veggie/fruit garden; while Corrie
works on emptying the pool because of algae.
The reason Rebecca is here is to pick-up her best friend from
Houma, LA, Beanie (& her son Ethan) at the airport & sightsee starting
from our house. So Thursday, 12JUL,
early AM Dan & Rebecca head into SeaTac area to them pick-up; then fight
traffic northbound into Seattle for sightseeing. First stop is the Seattle Center where we up to
the viewing deck of the Space Needle. We
noted in our May BLOG that the Needle’s restaurant will soon have all glass
floors & walls after remodeling.
What we didn’t know was the viewing deck would have all glass walls
& benches! The floor is still steel,
but it is still disconcerting, especially when you sit on glass bench &
lean back against a sheet of glass angling outward. From the Center we took the monorail downtown,
visited Pike Place market (home of the world famous gum wall), walked the water
front, visited Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, lunched at Ivars, then to Pioneer Square
(torn-up due to construction); back to car & over to Fremont (center of the
universe); & home.
Friday Rebecca, Beanie & Ethan went tubing on the Icicle River & sightseeing in Leavenworth, WA. Our son Joe & faithful companion Remus showed up at lunch. They had driven from Louisiana to our house in Joe’s jeep. Dan & Joe took the jeep to the Reiter Rd offroad park they had discovered back in January. That evening with everyone back from their adventures, was a family fire in our fire circle.
Saturday AM Rebecca, Beanie, grandkids & Ethan load
Rebecca’s car & head to her house in Bremerton. Joe followed later w/Remus in his jeep. Early that evening we headed to the Sultan
Shindig (Sultan’s small annual summer festival) for quick walk about (even
though early evening, still too hot for comfort).
Sunday, 15JUL, more hot weather; Joe returns from Rebecca’s &
helps Dan w/projects where a little muscle needed. That afternoon Dan & Joe check out the car
show at the Sultan Shindig.
Monday, 16JUL, more record heat, we visit Aunt Madeline; & Joe goes rock crawling at Reiter ORV Park in his jeep w/Remus. Tuesday hot & sunny; Dan & Joe go kayaking on Skykomish River from Gold Bar to Sultan (10 plus miles in 3 hours).
Wednesday cloudy & cool; Joe helps Dan w/some projects where extra muscle is needed; then late that night Joe heads to SeaTac to pick up his friend Bethany. Thursday AM Joe & Bethany take off hiking, followed by rock crawling at Reiter Rd ORV park.
Friday (20JUL) Joe & Bethany go kayaking on the Skykomish. Later that day Rebecca, Raymond & kids
show up; after dinner another fire circle.
Saturday, 21JUL, Rebecca, Raymond, Joe & Bethany go white
water rafting on the Skykomish; followed by fire circle & smores after
dinner.
Sunday AM Joe takes Bethany to
SeaTac; at lunch time Rebecca & Raymond head home leaving grandkids
w/us. Late that evening Joe starts drive
to LA but has tire issue & returns to our house. Monday morning Joe solves tire issue &
once again departs for Louisiana.
Wednesday, 25JUL, more record heat, early that morning we take
grandkids to Flowing Lake Park/Beach. Flowing
Lake Park is a county facility w/a very nice beach, & a RV/tent camping
area. Thursday very hot; Raymond shows
up after dinner to take kids home tomorrow.
Friday more heat; Dan empties & disassembles pool; Raymond departs
w/kids & pool.
Saturday, 28JUL, continued heat, not much done. Sunday more heat, not much done. Monday more heat (in fact we have already had 12 - 90 degree days compared to “normal” four per year).
Tuesday (last day of July) the temperature is only in the
80s. We head into Everett to check out
the Grand Avenue Marketplace in Everett.
The building is the first building as part of a plan to “revitalize”
Grand Ave. The upper floors are very
nice condos; w/the ground floor retail space dedicated to produce, meat & other
artisan products from the local area.
Then we headed to Edmonds to check out the parking in the
vicinity of the Edmonds ferry terminal. We
did this because daughter Rebecca has new job in Bremerton where she works part
time – Thur, Fri & Sat, starting in late afternoon & going until 11PM. Since Raymond works during the day, we will
pick up grandkids from ferry on Thursdays & return them to him on Friday or
Saturday. Lunch was at Demetris
Woodstone Taverna. The Taverna is part
of a small chain of Mediterranean/Greek style Cafes started in 1991, located in
& around Edmonds (Arlington, Marysville, Mill Creek, Kingston). Pretty good, we’ll be back!
