OCTOBER 7:

The flight to Seattle was LONG, and adding in the 3 hour time difference meant our arrival was around 6 AM. We got about an hour of sleep on the plane, so we were running on fumes.  Buddy was already waiting for us, so we headed up to Edmonds as soon as we picked up our bags.  They were heading out to church and lunch with friends, so we were able to crawl into the bed and crash.  Although we only slept for a few hours, I felt like a new person.  We unpacked and sorted out our laundry (the biggest chore on an RV trip), then went to Grinders in Edmonds for late lunch.  The sandwiches were good, but MW said the bread pudding was great!  Buddy and Sandy were home when we returned, and we had a good afternoon of visiting and a dinner of homemade soup.  We were all exhausted and turned in early.

OCTOBER 8:

Still trying to catch up on our sleep, MW and I both got a late start.  Buddy had some chores he wanted MW to help with, so they went to get supplies while I stayed behind and caught up on some work and laundry.  Sandy and I visited for a while, and when the guys were done, we all went to Panera for lunch.  (I love Panera.  At home, they are my go to for quick lunch.)  Back at the house, we visited for a bit, then they turned in.  It was so nice to have no schedule and nowhere to be.  We really needed the rest!  MW and I watched the Dr. Who premier that we recorded last night before hitting the hay.

OCTOBER 9:

We were both slow again this morning.  When we finally got ourselves together, Buddy, MW, and I went out to Fall City to do the prep work (tires, reloading, generator prep, etc.) on Penelope.  We split up when we left, and I took Buddy’s car to do a little shopping.  While I did that, MW and Buddy grabbed a bite and headed back to the house.  By the time I got home, it was almost time to get ready for dinner.  Buddy planned for us to go meet Andrew and Sara, who are his great-nephew and soon to be wife.  Sandy was feeling puny, so she ended up staying home.  The rest of us went down to the Pike’s Place area to Etta’s to meet them.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we found out that the reservation was accidentally made for the next week.  The staff bent over backwards to fit us into a really busy night.  We were seated within a few minutes, and the food was great.  So if you are in Seattle, show this place some LOVE!  Andrew and Sara were very nice.  I was amazed at how talkative they were, as they hadn’t slept in 48 hours.  They had been at a music festival in Austin, Texas and their return flight was delayed.  They ended up spending the night in the Dallas airport because they missed the connection.  When they finally made it to Seattle, it was time to go to work and then come meet us.  It was really nice of them not to call and cancel.  We enjoyed the evening and said goodbye so they could go get some SLEEP!  We headed to the barn to do the same thing.

Pics from today:

OCTOBER 10:

We were still dragging a little this morning.  It is amazing how going without sleep just wipes me out.  I remember as a 25-year-old working all day, picking up the kids, eating dinner, then driving to my Grandmother’s house overnight.  (It was the easiest way to go on a long trip with little kids since they slept all night.)  Now if I stay up late one night, I need to go to bed early for the next two to catch up.  We got all of our stuff together, then had breakfast and a little bit of final visiting.  We always enjoy spending time with Buddy and Sandy.  Hopefully now that MW is retired, we can do it more often.

Bears!

Around 10 AM we hit the road, heading back over to Fall City to pick up Penelope.  On the way, we passed several bears, although they were of the statue type.  It didn’t take long to get hooked up and checked out, and we were headed south around 11;30 AM.  We went through Enumclaw to WA-410, which is a scenic route through parts of the Mount Rainier National Park and the Wenatchee National Forest.  The mountain was shrouded in clouds, but there were plenty of spectacular views.

On the Chinook Scenic Byway, we stopped at Tipsoo Lake, which is a pretty, high mountain lake, to walk around a little bit.  There was the strangest bird in the water.  I could never tell what he was, but it definitely didn’t look like a duck.  He was repeatedly diving down to the bottom and digging around for something, then coming up to the surface.  I took a little video to share…Bird in Water.

Next we stopped at a roadside overlook at Federation Forest State Park and walked along the river for a little bit.  We hit US-12 in Naches, then on to Yakima where we dropped Penelope off at Yakima Sportsman State Park and went back into town to have pizza at Tony’s Big Cheese Pizza.  We popped into the grocery store to stock up after dinner, then headed back to Penelope.  I caught up on some work, and we watched a little TV before turning in.

Here are a few more pics fro today: