Our time in the Seattle area was wonderful, … except for all of the traffic!  (In my somewhat-experienced opinion, Washington drivers are more rude than Atlanta and Charlotte drivers, but, to my surprise, they are more rude than Chicago drivers too!)  My brother, Rob, and sister-in-law, Parul, have lived in this area for several years, so we were looking forward to spending some time with them!

Friday we left our campground and took the ferry to Poulsbo, a little Nordic town that Rob had told us about.  AnaClaire had been so nervous about riding on a ferry, but once she realized that this wasn’t some little rickety boat that we parked our car on, she was much more comfortable and happy to get out and walk around. 

We walked around in Poulsbo for only an hour or two.  Charlie had finished his book that we brought with us, so we found a bookstore to meander through and a few books in there for him as well as a couple others.  There was a bakery in Poulsbo that I was really eyeing (I am such a sucker for homemade baked goods, especially bread!), but it had such a long line out the door that I stayed away from it.  I knew Charlie wouldn’t have a lot of patience for me standing in a line like that.  Asking him to do any kind of shopping with us is a stretch as it is!

The one other thing that he was willing to do was go into a specialty chocolate store that Dominic had found.  My weaknesses may be baked goods and coffee, but Charlie’s is most definitely chocolate!  We grabbed a boxed variety of chocolates to enjoy over the next couple of weeks and headed back to the car, after I stopped for a coffee. 

After a lengthy drive with lots of traffic and a ferry ride back to Seattle, we finally made it to Rob and Parul’s house.  They had a nice dinner planned for us.  Traditionally they like to sit outside with a fire in the firepit on the summer solstice and watch the sun set at their house on the shores of Puget Sound, so we were planning to do that.  Instead the evening was too cloudy to see the sun set, but we had a nice evening of visiting with each other and playing with their dog, Zoey. 

Several of the kids stayed with Rob and Parul at their house while Charlie, myself, and a couple others went back to the RV for the next couple of nights.  Those of us in the RV spent a good deal of our mornings sleeping in pretty late.  It’s amazing how exhausting traveling can be. 

On Saturday, Rob took us on a tour of Blue Origin where he works.  We learned a decent amount about their development of rockets for their spaceflight programs.  Now we just need to go see a rocket launch at some point!

Saturday and Sunday morning the kids enjoyed some time with Rob and Parul walking on the beach, kayaking, paddle boarding, etc.  We managed to see seals and an eagle or two.  I spent an enjoyable time down by the shore just watching the wildlife and the boats go by.  Sunday, Rob took us to Gas Works Park.  It was overlooking Lake Union and just a popular, enjoyable spot for people to enjoy the outdoors.  We were able to watch multiple float planes land and take off – yet another new experience for us.  Saturday night, the kids were treated to an evening of pizza and movies at the house by themselves with Zoey.  Charlie and I went to a local seafood restaurant with Rob and Parul where I was able to partake of some delicious Dungeness crab in a house-made fettucine dish. 

Although we didn’t exactly get much hiking done while we were there, we definitely received workout on the stairs!  Rob and Parul’s house is located at the bottom of over 100 stairs, so our legs were getting workouts going back and forth between our vehicle parked at the top and the house at the bottom.  Still, we’ve heard about this house and stairs for three years or so now, so it was an experience getting to visit there.

Our opportunity for visiting was over sooner than it should have been.  Sunday evening came all-too-quickly.  Rob and Parul had to return to work on Monday, and we needed to get back on the road.  We enjoyed a last delicious meal, took time for some pictures together, and had to say our goodbyes.  It was great to spend some time with them as that only comes once a year at the very most. 

Rebecca