Ross Lake

Sep 14, 2018
After having only been home for 5 days, I took a red-eye to Seattle after work. This was my third trip to the west coast in 2 months - each time for a wedding (and that's not including my brother's wedding in Alaska last month).  This time, I also took the opportunity to visit some friends and family.  The highlight of the trip was a surprise from my dad, so my mom requested that I write a blog with this title.

Me with Dad.  But that part of the story comes later.

Sep 15, 2018
Bill picked me up at the airport in Seattle.  He had been visiting friends/family on the east coast, so we hadn't seen each other for about a week.  I took a quick nap and mooched off the complimentary breakfast at his hotel.  Then we headed to our AirBnb in Poulsbo for nap #2.

Our AirBnb was an adorable house overlooking a pond

Gabby, our AirBnb cat.

My parents joined us and we spent the afternoon strolling around and picking blackberries at the nearby Kitsap State Park.

Mom let me play with her hair

Kitsap State Park

A super fluffy 9-month-old puppy!

Bill, my parents, and I went to my cousin Jess's rehearsal dinner which was at a house rental overlooking Hood Canal.

Creepy face in a tree

Mom heading to the water

Getting to know Uncle Charly and Aunt Ruth

We watched sea otters playing in the water as it got dark outside

Sep 16, 2018

Uncle Charly and Aunt Ruth joined me and Bill at Bloedel Reserve, a series of peaceful gardens.

Charly and Ruth

Bill and Lien

The whole crew

The best part was the Japanese Garden

Bill and I took a walk in downtown Poulsbo.  We grabbed some pastries from a bakery and I tried Boehm's, my dad's favorite chocolate brand, for the first time.

Downtown Poulsbo.  We found more blackberries here.  :)

Jess's wedding was at a lovely outdoor location in Port Gamble.  There were lots of games and homemade pies.  After the wedding, Bill and I took the ferry to Edmonds where we spent the night.

Jess, her husband, and a couple of her siblings

Playing Hearts with Grandpa and Dad.  Grandpa gave Dad the ace of spades.

Me with my cousin Maddie

Sunset

Sep 17, 2018
Bill left early to fly back to Honolulu.  My parents, Uncle Peter, and Grandpa picked me up later in the morning to celebrate Grandpa's 95th birthday over breakfast.  A group of family members gathered at Aunt Mary's house and we sang him happy birthday.

Grandpa's 95th Birthday.  I was impressed that he is still so sharp.

I played Grandpa's favorite song "La Vie En Rose" for him on ukulele.

Mom, Dad, and I drove to Howard Miller Steelhead Park, which is about 90 miles north of Seattle.  We hiked, ate blackberries, and relaxed along the Skagit river.  Dinner was in a teeny tiny town called Concrete.  We spent the night in a trailer, which was a first for me.

Mom's feet

Mom and Dad

Mom and Me

I hadn't seen a snake while hiking in a long time

I'm not home right now, I'm walking into spiderwebs.

Sep 18, 2018
My parents and I woke up early which was probably easier for them than for me (3am Honolulu time = 9am Virginia time).  We drove to North Cascades National Park and took a hike down to Ross Lake.

Me and Dad hiking

Dad surprised me by using a random phone on the trail to call a "ferry" which was a small motorboat that took us to the other side of the lake.  Then came the really big surprise: Dad had rented a motorboat for us to take out on the lake for the day!  My Dad is so cool.

Phone to call the "ferry."

Our "ferry"

Driving our boat.  I was nervous at first, but got the hang of it pretty quickly.

The weather started out cold and cloudy, and it was neat seeing the scenery open up as the sun came out.

The most spectacular part of the boat ride was going into Devil's Creek, which got progressively more narrow.

View of Devil's Creek from the boat

We docked our boat and took a gorgeous hike along the lake.

All three of us had a late flight to catch, so we put the boat on top speed to get back to the resort, hiked quickly back to the car, and drove about 3 hours to get to the airport on time.  We grabbed our last meal together at the airport.  My parents flew home and I took a quick flight to Spokane.  Abby, my pen pal of ~17 years (and therefore one of my most long-term friends) picked me up and we settled in at her apartment.  It was my fifth accomodation in five nights.

Cora, one of Abby's cats

Sep 19, 2018

Abby left in the morning for a full day of work / meetings / school.  She suggested I hike Mount Kit Carson at Spokane State Park, which turned out to take me all morning and afternoon.  I was lucky that she had a work car so she was able to lend me her personal car.

Abby with her conspicuous work car

Coleen, a fellow hiker.  She's 70 years old, though you'd never guess it.  She pointed out the huckleberries for me to eat.

The valley behind me is Spokane

The mountains behind me are Idaho

The mountains behind me are Canada

I ate a late lunch and then lay down at Abby's apartment.  I was feeling drained and it was only getting worse hour by hour.  By the time Abby got home that night, I was full-blown sick with what seemed to be food poisoning.  Abby, who has only seen me in person 5 times since we met 17 years ago, definitely did not see me at my best.  She was very sweet about the situation, made me tea, and tucked me into bed.

Sep 20, 2018
Fortunately, I was feeling better by the next morning and gradually returned to close to my usual self during the day.  Abby dropped me off in downtown Spokane, and I explored Huntington Park and Riverfront Park while she was at work.

I'm always chasing rainbows.

Look, look, look to the rainbow.

I rode this hand-painted carousel, which made me feel quite nostalgic.

Abby joined me for lunch at Steam Plant Brewery and then we took a walk at Riverside Park.  We ended the day with dinner at Abby's friend Lianna's house.

RiverFRONT Park

RiverSIDE Park.  These names are needlessly confusing.

We stopped along the side of the road to pet somebody's very tall dog.

Lianna's dog Bubba

Sep 21, 2018
Abby and I spent about 7 hours in the car on our road trip to Portland.  We took a detour to the Columbia River Gorge to visit Panther Falls and hike to Falls Creek Falls.  Both waterfalls were incredible.

Panther Creek Falls

Me and Abby at Panther Creek Falls

Me and Abby at Falls Creek Falls

We made it to Portland in time to grab dinner with my friend Jamie at her favorite restaurant.  Jamie and I relaxed in her cedar hot tub before bed.

Jamie and her cat Jello

Sep 22, 2018
It was my only full day in Portland, and what a day it was!  It started with breakfast at the Portland Farmer's Market, followed by apple and tomato picking at Berry Smith Farms.

Fractal broccoli at the Farmer's Market

Picking apples!!

Picking more apples!!

Different colors of apples

A tomato changing colors

Delicious Green Zebra tomatoes

I love these tomato leaves

Our loot

Jamie and I saw the musical Waitress in downtown Portland, which was fantastic.  We met back up with Abby and my other friend Lee for dinner.  Abby, Jamie, and I completed the day at an amazing circus show called Aureum.  l love getting to see two shows in one day!

Show #1

Me, Lee, and Jamie.  We all met during residency in Hawaii.

Show #2

Sep 23, 2018
Jamie, her husband David, Abby, and I went to a Cuban restaurant for breakfast where I had a plantain omelette.  David went home after breakfast, and the rest of us walked around the Japanese Garden and Rose Garden in Portland.  We grabbed a last beer at Deschutes Brewery before saying our goodbyes.

My second Japanese garden of the trip!

Japanese Maple tree

What's in a name?

Painting the roses red.

Jamie saying goodbye.

I flew home to Honolulu while Abby drove home to Spokane.  Bill greeted me at the airport with my puppy Zoltan in the backseat and the soundtrack of Waitress playing in the car.  He knows me well.

Bill saying hello.

Love coming home to these guys.