Lien-Thanh's Blog: Washington State 2023

Sept 11-12, 2023

At 22 weeks pregnant and after working 7 shifts of triage (which means it was a particularly tiring work week), Bill and I immediately jumped onto a red eye to Seattle. To say I was exhausted when we landed in Washington State on Tuesday morning would be an understatement, but the excitement of seeing friends and family kept me awake during the day.

Our first stop was in Tacoma to catch up with Lee, our friend from residency. Lee made us an amazing brunch of Caprese Salad with chicken and Bill whipped up some lattes. We soaked in beautiful views in Lee's backyard while dipping our feet in her hot tub. I snacked on some ridiculously good nectarines before we left. The fruit cravings have been intense, and those juicy nectarines really hit the spot.

Delicious!

Hot tub

Ukulele

Our original plan was to visit our friend Jenn in Olympia, but she was recovering from COVID so instead Bill and I headed north to meet up with my cousin Jess, her husband Matt, and their new 2 month old Kaia in Seattle. Meeting Kaia was a highlight of the trip, and it's actually what inspired us to go to Washington in the first place. For dinner, we ate Ethiopian food take out, which was especially exciting for me since it's one of my favorite cuisines and Hawaii no longer has any Ethiopian restaurants. Jess and Matt gifted us some really good fruit (a plum, peach, and nectarine), which I ate over the next couple days. That nectarine must have been the juiciest, most delicious one I've ever had and I managed to get nectarine juice all over my pants.

Sweet baby Kaia

Matt, Lien, baby Kaia, Jess, & Bill

Bill and I headed up to Edmonds where we stayed 3 nights with my Uncle Steve, Aunt Myla, and their adorable dog Ollie. Steve and Myla couldn't have been more loving, wonderful hosts. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave next door were hosting my parents from Austin, so we swung by to say hello to the family. My parents had come into town to celebrate and remember my grandpa's (Dad, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Mary's father) life, who would have been turning 100 on Sept 17th.

Ollie

Sept 13, 2023

Bill and I joined my mom, dad, and Aunt Mary on a guided tour to Mt Rainier National Park. We took a bus into a somewhat sketchy area downtown (3rd Ave and Pike Street) and grabbed coffee while waiting for our ride. The tour only had 3 other people plus a tour guide and we were in a 15-seat van, so we had plenty of space to spread out. Our first stop was hiking at Paradise, where we caught views of Mt Rainier, ate a picnic lunch, saw a bunch of wildlife, and visited Myrtle Waterfall.

Me, Mom, and Dad hiking with fall colors starting to show!

Mom with a view of Mt Rainier

Dad, me, Mom, & Bill at Mount Rainier

Mom & Dad

Me & Bill

Lots of chipmunks!

Lots of marmots!

Marmots are so darn cute and make funny whistling sounds

Deer

A mountain goat camouflaging with rocks

Dad, Lien, Bill, & Mom at Myrtle Falls

Following our hike and lunch, we stopped by five more places in the national park: Reflection Lakes, Panorama Point, Narada Falls, Christine Falls Bridge, and Twin Firs Trail. Narada Falls was especially magical because when the sun came out and made a rainbow in the waterfall, my rainbow baby became very active and both my parents were able to feel her kick for the first time! We returned home hungry and tired around 8pm, and we were all happy that Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave had a batch of homemade chili waiting for us at their house.

Reflection Lakes! One of my favorite pictures from the whole trip

Panorama Point with my big belly

Narada Falls with a rainbow - magical!

Christine Falls Bridge

Mom 1982 and me 2023, both pregnant at Mount Rainier National Park

Bill balancing between huge Douglas Firs at Twin Firs Trail

Devil's Club: scary spiky stems and leaves!

Sept 14, 2023

I turned 23 weeks pregnant, meaning my baby had grown to the size of a large mango or a grapefruit. Bill and I were surprised to wake up to a huge amazing breakfast that Uncle Steve had made which included coffee, smoothies, homemade blueberry pancakes, eggs, and sausages. I felt like I was eating the "real breakfast" from Lilies of the Field. Bill and I ate our fill and then picked up my parents and Aunt Mary to drive east for a guided Pedego e-bike tour around Lake Wanatchee. Our group was again small and intimate, with just one other couple and a very enthusiastic tour guide. The tour covered more off-roading terrains and we biked faster than I had expected, but it was still doable enough for all of us first time e-bikers. The whole experience was so unique and beautiful that it ended up being my, Bill's, and my dad's favorite activity of the week (hiking at Mt Rainier was Mom's).

Dad (red shirt), Aunt Mary (blue shirt), Mom (red helmet), & me (turquoise helmet)

How cute is this mysterious little cabinet on a tree?

Bill exploring the Curiosity Cabinet

Big smiles from Mom (Bill & I are in the background)

Dad & Mom

Rest stop at Lake Wanatchee

Mom & Me

Bill skipping rocks with Dad. The view was a little hazy due to wildfires that morning

The tour ended with ice cream bars, which was a nice little surprise. We were still hungry for lunch and the five of us headed onward to Leavenworth, a cute Bavarian-styled village in the mountains that I hadn't been to in 19 years. Aunt Mary decided to explore Leavenworth on her own, and the rest of us stuck together. I was feeling nostalgic so we ate white chili in the Soup Cellar, a meal I remembered eating with my grandparents as a child. Then we stopped by my favorite store in Leavenworth: The Taffy Shop, which sells over 50 flavors of saltwater taffy.

The taffy flavors I couldn't resist

Cute little Leavenworth, with bags of taffy in hand!

We returned to Edmonds where Uncle Steve made some pre-dinner cocktails for Bill and Dad. Then we went next door to Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave's for homemade stew and apple cake. My cousins Erik and Karl (Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave's two sons) joined us for dinner. After dinner, my cousin Maddie (Uncle Steve and Aunt Myla's daughter) and her dog Mango also came by for a visit. It's always fun to catch up with cousins.

Sept 15, 2023

Bill and I split off from the family and headed to Port Ludlow to stay with my high school friend Jenna and her 3 cats Spike, Archie, and Nero for a couple of nights. Our commute included a stop by Top Pot donuts for breakfast and a pretty ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. Jenna took us into Port Townsend for brunch. We walked around the cute historic city and over to Chetzemoka Park while eating cones from Elevated Ice Cream. Cardamom ice cream is insanely good and it's now one of my favorite ice cream flavors ever.

Bill on the ferry ride

Jenna and Bill with a 42 foot grey whale skeleton in Port Townsend

Bill and Jenna at Chetzemoka Park

Giant trees at Chetzemoka Park

We returned to Port Ludlow for a quick walk around Ludlow Creek & Falls and then went kayaking where we saw a bunch of seals! I was crazy about the blackberries in the parking lot, so Jenna took us on a trail near her house to a gazebo where we could pick blackberries all along the way. For dinner, we went to Finnriver Cidery to enjoy tasty food, outdoor live music, and a gorgeous sunset.

Bill at Ludlow Falls

Jenna kayaking with seals

Sunset complete with a red rubber ball sun at Finnriver Cidery

Sept 16, 2023

Bill and I enjoyed another trip to a national park, this time to Olympic National Park with Jenna. We packed various snacks that we ate throughout the day: the hand-picked blackberries from the evening before, blueberries, tiny green grapes, cheese, crackers, and the type of really sweet cherry tomatoes that remind you tomatoes are a fruit. Our first stop was at Hurricane Ridge, where we walked High Ridge Trail to Sunrise Point. The views were smoked out by a recent wildfire and it made it a bit harder to breathe, so we couldn't see much or stay super long.

Hurricane Ridge

Bill, me, & Jenna

Fortunately, the rest of the trip in Olympic wasn't as affected by smoke. We enjoyed a series of short hikes: Sol Duc Waterfall, Ancient Groves Trail, Salmon Cascades, and the Spruce Railroad Trail to Devil's Punchbowl at Lake Crescent. We ended the day with dinner at Lake Crescent Lodge, which overlooks the lake.

Bill & Jenna at Sol Duc

Me at Sol Duc

Autumn colors showing up at Sol Duc

Giant trees at Sol Duc

Sol Duc Waterfall

Me & Jenna at Ancient Groves

A nurse log (fallen tree that feeds new trees) at Ancient Groves

Salmon Cascades - such clear green water!

Jenna & me on the Spruce Railroad Trail

Bill, Jenna, & me at Devil's Punchbowl

Devil's Punchbowl at Lake Crescent - a popular swimming spot if you don't mind freezing!

Sept 17, 2023

On our last day, Bill and I took an early ferry back to Edmonds so we could catch some of my family members we hadn't yet seen. First we met up with and said goodbye to Uncle Steve and Aunt Myla's clan: Maddie (their daughter) and her fiance Mason, Nick (their son) and his girlfriend Kenya, and the two pups Ollie and Mango. Then we headed to Aunt Mary and Uncle Dave's where we saw my parents along with my Uncle Peter (another one of Dad's siblings) who had flown in from Colorado. Jess, Matt, and baby Kaia came up from Seattle to join us, and we grabbed some take out at PCC Community Markets for breakfast.

Me on an early morning ferry ride. We saw seals in the water!

Mom, me, & baby Kaia

Bill, Aunt Mary, Uncle Dave, Dad, Me, baby Kaia, Uncle Peter, Jess, Matt, & Mom

We drove my parents and Uncle Peter into Seattle where they were meeting up with six of our other family members for a Mariner's baseball game. Bill and I stopped by Big John's PFI to buy some pasta we're crazy about, and then snuck in one last visit with Jess, Matt, and baby Kaia at their home in Seattle. At the airport, we met up with our friends Cynthia and Mayur, who were flying home with us from their own Washington trip. Back in Hawaii, our four dogs lost their minds when they saw us again, for they thought surely we must have been gone forever.