The Great Escape: Days 9 & 10

Day 9: We drove south and took the scenic mountain pass highway. Gorgeous. Have I mentioned how beautiful Washington state is? Well it is, especially the northern part. You should definitely go some day. We stopped for lunch with Kathleen and the kids on our way through, heading southeast toward Salt Lake City, Utah. It was nice to have another visit before leaving… but saying good bye really doesn’t get easier. Teary good byes, giving the munchkins one last hug and kiss through the tears. Oy. My traveling companions pretended not to notice and we climbed into Toby the CRV and headed south. We drove through Oregon, Idaho, and part of Utah, landing in Ogden Utah quite late for our one night at a hotel on this trip.

Day 10, Thursday, Sept. 9: The plan was to get up and go whitewater rafting, why not, right? Well, it ended up being rainy and like 55 degrees and windy. Pouring rain and freezing, in other words. So we opted out of the rafting and decided to just head east early instead of hanging around there. We drove through beautiful Utah and Wyoming. Made some scenic stops. Had a hysterical bathroom stop I really can't recount here. Saw the countryside, envied some views, enjoyed some cows.  My friend Cathy was flexible and welcomed us into their home in Loveland, CO a night early. We had a nice visit with Cathy and Tim and really appreciated the deluxe accommodations. Have I mentioned that I have really great friends, all the way across the country? I really am blessed!

The Great Escape: Day 8

Day 8 (Tuesday, Sept 7):  We left Kate and Mark’s early in the morning and headed to Seattle. I’m not sure what to say about Seattle, except that I realize the older I get, the less I like cities. Like one of my favorite authors, Jeanmarie Laskas, points out “Being in the city makes me need filters!” I find huge cities to be kind of overwhelming in the vast amounts of traffic, people, traffic, people, buildings… and not enough air to breathe (or something like that) and generally claustrophobic.  Anyway, some of us are city people and some aren’t. As far as cities go, Seattle isn’t bad. We arrived, parked on the waterfront, and changed into pants in the car (much to Katie’s horror). The waterfront was nice to walk along and even in a city, I love being on the water. We enjoyed the famous Pike’s Place market and the beautiful sites therein. Wandered to the Needle to decide it was way too expensive to warrant a trip up. And somewhere in here, while the city-person in our midst was marveling over cool buildings, Reenie lost the will to live. We eventually got lunch and then headed to have coffee with Katie’s aunt who lives in a suburb of Seattle.

And then we headed north to my brother-in-law Mark’s parent’s house… which is much more my speed. Farming country. Outside a very small town. Surrounded by cornfields, rivers, and the mountains in the distance. I could so live there.  We got out of the car and all you could hear was silence—music to my country-girl soul. We had an amazing dinner—seriously, we are still talking about the meal we had there! Almost everything was home grown and it was quite simple but AMAZING. Garden fresh salad, homemade applesauce from the apple tree out back, mashed potatoes, gravy, tomatoes. I think when I die and go to heaven, we will eat like that every day. 

Not to mention that Fred and Anne are some of the cutest people I know. I just love them. Fred insisted I tell my crazy traveling to Montana story since apparently he’d been dying to hear it again since the first time he heard it. Then he told stories, Philip (Mark’s brother) also came and we showed trip pictures and hung out. Did I mention how great they are?  And they have an awesome greenhouse (greenhouse envy). I want to be them when I grow up.  We went to bed in the Veen loft and got up early to head south again. I wish we had more time up there, with the Veens and exploring that gorgeous part of the world. Maybe next time.