My trip back to Washington Part 1

This is a little late to be writing about my trip back to the land of rain, but I basically went straight back to work when I got back.

I left Sunday late morning and drove to Brigham City.  My mom's side of the family has a tradition of taking flowers to the cemetary on Memorial Day.  It wasn't Memorial Day, but I'd been doing a lot of family history and I wanted to stop and take some flowers and I have a lot of relatives burried there.

End of my visit

This time next week I'll be on my way to Boise (yay Millers!) to visit my fabulous dentist.  It's been a long two months with lots of memories to think about.  Here are some of the things I'll remember in no specific order:

1.  Watching Mike pour cement footings for his house
2.  Not having a single day over 100 degrees
3.  Sleeping on the pull out sofa every night but three
4.  Discovering things about my ancestors at the Church History Library
5.  Taking Lincoln and Sawyer out for lunch!
6.  Watching Danny play all day in the Sandbox.
7.  Hanging out in the Infusion center at the Huntsman Cancer Institute every other week
8.  Climbing in and out of the basement window opening at Mike's new house.
9.  Staying over at Russ and Chris' cabin
10.  eating lunch at the Highline trailhead parking lot and being bit by mosquitos
11.  Eating the first cherry tomato of the season from Mom & Dad's garden
12.  scanning family pictures
13.  Watching Midsomer Murders and eating ice cream just about every night
14.  Fourth of July Extravaganza - especially the frog firework
15.  24 th of July Ice Cream and Cake Pops
16.  Naming the fireworks on the 24th after apostles and prophets (Lincoln had awesome names)
17  Watching fireworks with Crew & Danny
18.  watching all my nephews swim at the JCC
19.  Seeing my relatives at the Smith Family Reunion - especially playing with Darren and Kezlyn's youngest!
20.  Driving by East High School and singing "High School Musical"  everytime I passed by
21.  finishing the last block for the dreaded Butterfly Quilt
22.  Completing lots of other craft projects
23.  Visiting quilt stores with mom
24.  Taking Dad through the McDonald's Drive Thru for breakfast
25.  Salivating over the cheap fuel and food prices in Utah
26.  Shopping at Walmart
27.  The Kitty fiasco
28.  Having glitter toes done at the Miller's house
29.  Going to Andy & Alina's house for the first time. 

I'm hoping to make a few more memories this week. See you soon Washington.

Mom & Dad

The Miracle of the Kitty

Yesterday Dad & I drove down to Delta Utah to see his dad for Father's Day.  While driving down main street a kitty popped up under my car.  I didn't run it over, but I did drive over it.  When we got to Grandpa's house and got out of the car, we could hear meowing from under the car.  We couldn't see anything, and we hoped that it would climb out while we were inside.  When we came back out, couldn't see anything under the car and there was no noise.  We drove all the way home.  Today I left and ran errands.  When I got home I hear meowing, but it sounded like it was coming from the neighbors that have cats.  When Mom & Dad got home, I told Dad I thought the kitty might be underneath the car still, but I that still couldn't see anything.  Dad got down and looked and again didn't see anything, but then the cat started crying again.  Mom got down and saw the kitty.  We opened the hood and still couldn't get it out or see it.  Mom & Dad figured out where it was and tried to get it out, but it was stuck.  We decided to drive to a tire place to put it up on a lift and see if we could get the kitty out.  We only made it about 15 feet before I heard a bang on the bottom of the car and saw a little kitty scamper out from under the car.  We cornered it under a tree and Mom coaxed it out.  It wasn't hurt, no broken bones, maybe a few bruises.  We gave it some food and liquids and now she's wandering around the house - meowing and finally purring.  Here she is the cat my Dad thinks should be named Fusion after the car it traveled in for 150 miles and lived to tell about it.:

The Ocean

As Melody walked down the hall toward my room this morning at 10:30am she said, "I guess I have to get up and do something today."  Feeling the same was, I asked "What fun and exciting thing would you like to do today?"  Without a moment of hesitation she said "I'd drive to the coast and put my feet in the ocean."  It only took me 5 minutes to talk her into it and we were out the door by 11am. 

The drive was beautiful.  We went down through Tacoma, Olympia, and out to Ocean Shores.  We were very excited to get out to the water! 

Before we even got to the water we were met by a beautiful sky full of kites.  All shapes, sizes, and colors were soaring through the air.  There was not a cloud in the blue sky and so the kites were amazing.

One of the things I wasn't expecting was the fact that you could drive your car right out onto the sand!  The whole beach was full of cars and RV's, tents and umbrellas.  Some drove their cars all the way into the water. 

The other crazy thing was that the beach was littered with crab shells.  Arms, pinchers and in some cases whole shells were all over.  As were broken sand dollars.  Pile after pile of broken sand dollar shells were all over. 

The water was really quite warm.  If I had my swimsuit I would have gone all the way out.  Knowing the pacific current is a cold current (thanks Mel) I expected the water to be very cold.  The current was really strong.  There were a few people in the shallow water, but none very far out.

I loved every minute of it.  I seriously couldn't stop smiling.  Sometimes I forget how much of a water and beach girl I am.  I'm sunbunt and loving every minute of it.  :)

 

The drive home was eventful.  We saw a police car pulled over, protecting a bear who was laying down on the side of the road.  Checked out the massive cooling towers for the nuclear power plant never finished in Elma, WA and enjoyed chocolate dipped ice cream cones.  :) 

We noticed all the Tsunami Evacuation Route signs, both on the drive in and on the way out.  It was interesting though, that some of them pointed towards the ocean?  Not sure that would be the best route.

We ended our trip with a stop at Camping World!  I needed new grilling tools and a cover for my grill!  It was an awesome day!  I still can't stop smiling!  I LOVE the summer in Seattle.  I'm looking forward to many, many more Saturday trips and sunny days!