I know it's been awhile since I posted, I can't believe how fast life goes when you are busy. The last week of March I went to Washington to visit with my cousin Tiffany. We had a blast. We stayed up until 6 am talking the first night and then drove to Portland, OR to attend the temple. I am so grateful to be living within a hours drive to 7 temples. I think my attendance would significantly drop if I had to drive 3 hours just to go. We spent the night in Portland at one of Tiffany's "new" sisters. Tiffany and I went on a senior trip to Seattle 15 years ago. We drove in a broken down car that took two hands to steer and which you had to keep your foot on the gas pedal when stopped at a stop light or else the car would die. We got miserably lost in Portland, Oregon the first time and miserably lost this time. I hate Portland! Seattle on the other hand was great! One of my favorite places was Pikes Place Market. We visited there again this time. There is a great restaurant on the pier, called Ivars, that serves excellent seafood. I have waited 15 years to eat there again and it was worth it!
One of the days, we drove to a town named Leavenworth, which is basically a tourist town mimicing a small German town. The town was beautiful and the mountains were majestic. It's hard to impress someone who was raised in the mountains but they were really beautiful. It was snowing there and silly me didn't know it snowed in Washington. I was wrong, it does!
We spent one day learning and blowing our own glass at a glass gallery in Tacoma. We got to keep our masterpieces (now I hope my kids don't break it!) I really like the bowl I created. It has the pattern of red, black, and white flower in the bottom and flowing up the sides.
The highlight of the trip was visiting the town of Forks and La Push. I am a huge Twilight/Stephenie Meyer fan and the book series is set in the town of Forks, Washington. Normally, I would not have made a trip like this but I was already so close I couldn't resist. The town and the area are just like they are described in the book. (I completely see now that I live in a desert.) Everything was so, so green and wet! It was raining all day but only a mist like rain with overcast skies. The people of the town of Forks were the nicest people and not at all bothered by all the sightseers, and we were not the only ones by far. It was fun to see the other fans taking pictures and getting excited like I was. La Push beach was gorgeous and totally intimidating but freezing cold. We were soaked by the mist and rain by the time we picked up some rocks and enjoyed the beach until our faces froze. Port Angeles was larger than I expected. We didn't get to see much because it was dark by the time we arrived but it looked like nice town to go back and visit. It all was so surreal. I absolutely loved it!!!
I was gone nearly a week. The longest I had ever been away from my kids. Even though it was nice to not have to worry about them or the household and have a break where I could just be me, I missed them terribly.
When I got back, Ron left for Las Vegas to see the professional drag races. He got sunburned on his vacation and I froze and got to experience the storms twice, once in Seattle and again when they went through Salt Lake. Something is wrong with this picture :) He had a great time and even had one the drivers sign his shirt!
While he was away I took the kids bowling and we stayed up late every night watching movies. What a week and a half of fun!!
