The trip from Norfolk to Seattle/Tacoma was on Southwest Airlines with a layover in Midway. Because the attendants were looking for 11 people to check their carry-on bags to their final destination on the leg to Midway, I purchased a (one) priority boarding pass to make sure our one carry on stayed with us. Yes, I was the fourth passenger on the plane while Vicki had to wait for group 8. And we got our carry-on into an overhead bin. However, Vicki in Group 8 could have placed a carry-on bin.
Nathaniel met us at the SeaTac airport around 1pm and we drove to a small restaurant (Andalucilla) for lunch/dinner. The restaurant was halfway between Tacoma and the airport, and the back patio overlooked the sound. Overlooked may be a strong word, there were still plenty of trees between us and the sound.
We got to Nathaniel’s home and settled in. Nathaniel taught me a new cooperative game: Tamachii. The game’s characters had certain fixed attributes, and then there were dynamic attributes that depended upon the monster you were fighting. And the warrior that you were using. The game has a prelude that walks newbies through the mechanics of the game. Since it was a prelude we ended up winning. The game was interesting but there were a lot of variables to track.
We left early Monday morning to catch the train to Vancouver, WA. The details for that trip are in another blog. Nathaniel was working Monday and Tuesday, so we weren’t missed much while we journeyed. But Nathaniel dropped us off at the Amtrak station Monday morning and was there to pick us up on Tuesday.
Wednesday was Nathaniel’s birthday and he was not working that day. We spent the morning at home relaxing, and went to Snoqualmie Falls in the afternoon.
Nathaniel and Steve took a hike from the top viewing area to the bottom viewing area. The falls did not have a lot of water but they were still impressive.
After the falls we went back to the town of Snoqualmie and visited the Northwest railroad museum. We walked along a track that had many old train cars lined up. Most of the cars had placards that described the car’s personal history and how those types of cars were used.
The inside of the museum had a gift store (perfect for gifts for grandchildren), and showed a vision of a roundhouse that was going to be added to the museum in a couple of years. The roundhouse looked very cool and we look forward to returning.
After Snoqualmie the three of us drove to Seattle to meet Christopher and Nick at G H Pasta and Pizza (to celebrate Nathaniel’s birthday.) It was great to see everyone together, and we included a round of sto lats!
The food was very good, Nathaniel ordered a pizza and the rest of us ordered a pasta plate (two red sauces, two green sauces.) there was enough pasta and pizza for everyone to try a little. The restaurant automatically charged 22% to the bill: 16% for the service workers and 6% for the management company. The charge for the service workers was surprising, but the charge for the management company was unsettling.
Nathaniel had to work Thursday, so Vicki and Steve drove to Olympic National Park alone. It took two and a half hours to get there. We started late (around 11:30) but there was still fog over the water. We drove over the Tacoma-Narrows bridge without noticing any shakes. But there were signs warning of high winds as we approached. We arrived at the visitor center and watched a 25 minute film about Olympic National Park’s different ecosystems.
Unfortunately we only had time to visit a couple of waterfalls: Madison and Marymere.
The Madison waterfall was close to the parking lot and on level ground, an easy walk.
Marymere Falls was 3/4 of a mile away from the trailhead, and uphill until you got to the stairs. That hike would be too much for Vicki’s hip, so Steve went there as quick as he could! And Vicki explored the Lake Crescent shoreline.
We left the National Park around 5pm, the picture on the left shows one of the mountains within Olympic National Park.
We got back to Nathaniel’s around 8pm. Nathaniel had dinner prepared for us: Chicken Parmesan.
Nathaniel was off-duty on Friday, so we played Tapestry (Vicki won) and Catan: Cities and Knights (Nathaniel won). We made a bulgogi that night with lots of Korean barbecue sauce.
Nathaniel returned us to the airport Saturday morning. We took the eastern route back in hopes of seeing Mount Rainier, but there was too much fog. We did see Mount Rainier from the plane as we were flying east (picture on the left.)
We took Alaska Airlines’ non-stop from Seattle to Cleveland. The flight only got exciting because the pilot dropped the airplane from 35000 feet to 29000 feet to avoid turbulence during the last hour of flight. And it was a successful avoidance of turbulence.