Road Trippin'

The drive to Seattle took us about 12 hours. We were so excited to be going somewhere so the ride didn't seem that long. On our way we passed through 3 states: IdahoOregonand Washington.The ride home was a little longer since we were a little further west. This ride did go on forever! We had had lots of fun but we were ready to be home and with our sweet Molly. It also seemed longer because of the time difference (Seattle is an hour behind).

The scenery was so pretty once we got pass the desert. Everywhere we'd look we would see green. I took a couple of pictures on our way back from Canada. The sunset was so pretty, I made Justin pull over so I could take a picture. This picture doesn't really capture it.I loved it when we would go over bridges. This is the best picture I could take in a moving car.We were excited to see gas this cheap in Tacoma. This was back when gas was much more than it is right now.I almost made Justin go west so I could see Forks. Do you think I would have run into any vampires?It was fun to go on a road trip with Justin. We listened to a couple of books on tape and many hours listening to Justin's IPOD. Funny, we never listened to mine. I wonder how that happened! One last picture of Justin being silly, trying to make the time go faster.We were so happy to finally make it home. I had to constrain myself not to run in the house looking for Molly, but to wait for Justin and calmly walk in the house. When Molly saw us, she dropped what she was doing and yelled, "Daddy, daddy, daddy" over and over while running to Justin. It was so cute, I was trying hard not to cry. She gave daddy a hug and then immediately said, "I want my mommy" and lunged for me. It was great to be back!

The Great City of Seattle

We spent a lot of time on our feet in Seattle. We soon figured out that there is absolutely no where to park. We spent at least 45 minutes our first day driving around trying to find somewhere to park. We finally ended up parking at Qwest Field (football stadium) for $5 for the whole day. This was by far the best deal-the only bad thing was that it was on one side of the city which made it so we walked long distances every day.

Seattle has different "districts." We tried to make it to all of them but I think we missed a couple. We saw these totem poles in Pioneer Square where they also had a free afternoon concert. Justin wanted me to make the same pose as the totem pole but I don't think he really got a good look at it. He laughed when I showed him the picture a couple days later!Seattle was a cool city, right on the water. We saw a lot of amazing architecture. I thought this was so cool-one store that splits two streets.We sure did miss the streets of Salt Lake thought-no one did it like Brigham Young! It was easy to get lost here and we got lost quite a few times. What did people do before there was MapQwest? Did you know that you can call MapQwest and get directions over the phone? We didn't figure that out until the last day but it would have been helpful our very first day.

Seattle is a fun city, I'm sure there are tons of things to do. We were only there for 3 1/2 days so we tried to squeeze in as much as we could before moving on! Maybe someday we'll go back...

Bainbridge Island

We thought it sounded fun to take the ferry west to Bainbridge Island. It was about a 30-minute ferry ride. We were amazed at how many cars they fit on these ferries. When we got to the Island, we stayed and watched first all the bikers, then all the motorcyclists, then all the drivers exiting the bottom of the ferry. We probably stayed and watched for 5 minutes and we still didn't see the last of them! Wow!

Here is the skyline of Seattle on the way there......and on the way back.Some people were nice enough to take our picture.This was our first day so I think we were a little over-excited to actually be on vacation by ourselves. We got a little silly on the ride over...While we were on Bainbridge Island we just walked around the shops, stopped at a bookstore and relaxed in their big comfy chairs, and Justin practiced his golf swing at the golf pro-shop. Oh, and Justin being silly again...When we were done shopping, we took a stroll on the waterfront trail. It was so pretty-just green everywhere.This was the only day that we got rain-pretty good for Seattle who seems to get rain a lot!

Seattle Temple

Our plan was to do a session at the temple while we were in Seattle but they were closed for cleaning. Go figure! We still wanted to see it so we went there one morning and walked around the grounds.As all temples are, the grounds were gorgeous. Everything was green, green, green.In front of the temple there was this hidden area in the middle of the trees. We almost missed it, it's so hidden! It was just like a miniature Sacred Grove right there in front of the temple. It was so quiet and peaceful. There were benches all over where you could sit, look at the temple, and ponder. It was really beautiful.This statue made us think of Molly. She was having a great time at Grandma's but we missed her everyday!We found a nice family from Idaho who were willing to take our picture. As you can see, they are doing some work on the Angel Moroni. We love to visit a new temple and always try to when we're on a vacation. Wish it would have been open so we could have gone in...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Seattle Aquarium

On our second day in Seattle, we headed to the Aquarium. It was pretty cool, although it was filled with kids! Molly would have loved it...

In one room there were huge displays where you could actually reach in and touch the animals. I'm not sure what Justin's touching,but I'm touching the star fish.We also saw the octopus feeding which was pretty cool. I've never seen an octopus that close before!They had plenty of giant aquariums with all sorts of neat fishies swimming all over.I like the one they had of Nemo and Dori.

The Aquarium was really big. Once it looked like we had come to the end another room would open up. It took a couple of hours to get through it. I was impressed.

Before we left, we made sure we picked out a stuffed Nemo fish and an octopus book to take home to Molly. She would have loved the Aquarium. But she was having fun with Grandma and not missing us a single bit!

Pike Place Market

While in Seattle, we had to make a stop at the famous, huge, outdoor market called Pike Place Market. This is where they throw the fish like you see on movies. We didn't see any of this-maybe they do it early in the morning? But what we did see was pretty cool. It was HUGE! It had rows and rows of fresh flowers-it smelled so good! There was also a lot of fresh produce vendors. They would stand in front of their outdoor shop handing out samples. I got a sample of a fresh peach (they just cut it in their hands right in front of you) that was so juicy and sweet. There were also tons of shops that you could buy souvenirs, paintings, jewelry, T-shirts, and everything else you could imagine! We saw these lovely hanging things made out of peppers.The market really was so big. Justin said it reminded him a lot like Korea where they have the biggest outdoor market in the world. Here is a picture of the street that it's on. Can you tell how crowded it is? Well, now go inside and it's tons bigger than you'd expect.It was weird because the market seemed like it was on top of the city. It wasn't really but we did have to go up two flights of stairs to get to the market. Here is Justin and a view of the Puget Sound and some big barges.And just for those of you that are ever going to go to the market, make sure you eat at this African restaurant. Justin had to talk me into it but it was so good! Way better than the expensive seafood meal we paid for the night before.

Mariners vs. Orioles

Justin had never been to a Major League Baseball game so it was definitely on our list of things to do. Although the Mariner's are currently the worst team in the league it was still really fun. Baseball stadiums have the best atmosphere-whether your team wins or loses.

Justin got us great seats-we were on the front row in center field. We got up close and personal with the star player, Ichiro Suzuki. He is an idol in Seattle. He actually had switched from playing center field to right field at the beginning of the season so he wasn't as close as we thought. But he did run towards us a couple of times.We went extra early to the game so we could watch batting practice. Justin was hoping that he would catch a ball but no such luck. After batting practice, we walked around the huge stadium and Justin tried his hand at pitching. It recorded how fast your throw was-I think he made it up to 56 mph.Can you believe that the pro's pitch 90 mph or faster over and over again in a game? Wow!

So although the Mariner's fell 5-10 to the Baltimore Orioles, we still had a great time. Here are a couple pictures taken the next day at the entrance to the stadium.

The Space Needle

We hadn't planned on going up the Space Needle but once we got there, I really wanted to go. I didn't want to have any regrets and who knows when I'll ever go to Seattle again-so I talked Justin in to it. Thanks Justin!! While I stood in line Justin played some games and won these two stuffed animals for Molly. I thought they were hideous looking but Molly seems to like them.It was a 43 second elevator ride to the top. The outside door to the elevator is glass so you can watch as you ascend and descend. I actually thought I'd be a little more scared but I wasn't although I didn't like how the guide leaned against the doors of the elevator. I felt much safer in the back of the elevator.

Justin has a small fear of heights but claimed it wasn't bad because there were big railings that made it pretty much impossible to fall out.Here is a view of Seattle and the Puget Sound.While we were at the top, the Blue Angels flew over. I didn't know who they were before that day but now I know they are airplanes that fly in cool formations and do cool tricks in the sky. So that was pretty cool although they were extremely noisy!

I was glad that we went. I don't know how high up it was but here's a picture just so you can get an idea...

Fox Island, Washington

After our busy, busy days in Seattle, this place was just what we needed! It was about an hour drive to a little island called Fox Island. We stayed in this charming Bed & Breakfast...it was such a beautiful place! It was just a little room fixed up in the basement of someone's home-it had a kitchen, a little living room, and a little bed and bathroom. When we got there at about 4:30 in the afternoon the owner had tea things all set out. It reminded me of a place you would read about in a book. It was perfect. It had a sliding back door with a small patio and then it had a little patch of grass with some lounge chairs. We enjoyed just relaxing there-reading our books and playing games. Then just step off of the grass and you're on the beach. At night the tide would come up and the water would sometimes lap up onto the grass. It was so quiet there. Just really peaceful and serene. Like I said, just what we needed after a few busy days.

We had our own separate entry.The first night we got there, Justin thought that maybe he'd take a swim in the 47 degree water!He never made it that night. Our last night he finally went for a dip-he couldn't leave without getting in!

It was fun to go for walks along the beach. I didn't know that my husband was so good at skipping rocks!The first night we didn't realize that the tide would come up and we almost got stranded down the beach somewhere! Well, we wouldn't have been stranded, we would have had to swim to get back...I was surprised at how fast the tide came up! After that we made sure to only go in the morning.It felt so nice to just relax on these lounge chairs. The weather was perfect-it felt great to be outside and not break a sweat! I also taught Justin how to play Rummy-he beat me but I called in Beginner's Luck.The sunset was beautiful. We waited too long to get the perfect picture-the sun disappeared so fast! But it's still pretty.I also loved that after the sun went down, it didn't get dark right away. I asked the owners about that and they said it's called twilight. We don't have that here in Utah but it was pretty cool.

While we were staying here, we went into the town-called Gig Harbor-and walked around the shops. It was our last day and we were both pretty tired of walking so we ended up heading to the huge movie theater to watch "The Dark Knight." If we were ever to go to Washington again, this is definitely someplace that we would stay again!

Victoria, British Columbia

We decided that since we were pretty close, that we'd spend a day in Canada. We got up at 5:15 am so that we could drive 2 hours to catch the ferry. It was about an hour ferry ride across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was a pretty foggy and cold morning so we didn't see much on the crossing but the view once we got to Victoria was pretty cool.Victoria was such a beautiful city. We both agreed that this was our favorite day. There were castle-like hotels all over. This one is the most famous, it's called the Empress Hotel. I loved the ivy crawling up the outside of the building.There were also totem poles everywhere in the city. We eventually learned that Vancouver Island was originally inhabited by Indians so much of the island maintains an Indian influence. The totem poles were pretty cool-you can tell how tall this one is by how small we are!We had time to tour the BC Museum. I haven't been to many museums but this was by far the best museum I've ever been to. They had amazing old photos that they restored and blew up all over the walls. I could have stared at them the whole time we were there. Justin enjoyed the animal and science exhibits the most. What a scary mammoth!We each tried impersonating the sea lions-I think I won...We had to take a picture by the huge "I Was Here" mural in front of the museum that features many famous Canadians. I couldn't fit the whole thing in my camera (it was pretty big!). Justin was relieved that he stood by someone cool like Sarah McLachlan rather than someone boring.This place was really pretty-I would love to go back and spend a week there. We only had one day to squeeze it all in. We finally got back to our room at 10:00 that night so it was a really long day, but well worth it! So we say, Hat's Off to Canada!

Butchart Gardens

The main reason we went to Victoria was to see the Butchart Gardens. It had been recommended by a few people and it did not disappoint! We have many pictures from our visit there but the pictures don't give it justice. This place is amazing! I have never seen anything like it and probably never will. We were there for about 3 hours and I don't think we saw one patch of dirt. It is just covered with flowers everywhere. Big, blooming flowers like this:The smell was so intoxicating. I would have loved to be able to bottle up the smell and bring it home with me!The Gardens consists of 5 smaller gardens, a few ponds, some restaurants, and a gift shop (can't leave that out!). The first garden we visited was called the Sunken Garden. We were just nonchalantly walking along the path when, BOOM, out of nowhere we come across this view:We were seriously blown away by the beauty. We snuck into this little old cabin to snap a few pictures.There were stairs everywhere in this garden leading up the lookout, down into the gardens, up once again to get a view of the Ross Fountain. The paths wound around-we kept going back to made sure we hadn't missed anything! We were amazed at the lily pads-I don't know if you can tell, but they are even placed in a certain way.Even the garbage cans had blooming flowers on the top of them! At the end of the gardens, you walk up another set of winding stairs and you see this view of Ross Fountain-pretty cool, eh? The next garden that we came upon was the Rose Garden. Although smaller than the very large Sunken Garden, it is no less beautiful or impressive. It was filled with thousands of roses.All along the path were these cool arches that were covered in roses.I didn't know that there was such a variety of roses! Each type of rose was named as well as when it was inducted into the American Rose Society. I had fun reading all the names and laughing at a few!(Sorry about all the pictures of me! Justin kept saying he didn't want to ruin the beauty of the roses. As if!)

At the end of the Rose Garden was the Sturgeon Fountain. What's a sturgeon? The bronze for this statue was cast in Italy...Just a little FYI.The next garden we came to was the Japanese Gardens. This garden was just green, green, green everywhere. To get there we had to walk down these cool steps:Justin especially enjoyed these gardens because of his affinity to Asian things. We couldn't figure out what the ground cover was but it smelled delicious! Like you could use it in cooking. I'm not sure what Justin's running away from?The back of the Japanese Garden borders Butchart Cove. We found the tiniest little hole in the bushes that looked out on the water.The Japanese Garden was full of little streams and ponds with either stepping stones or bridges that we walked across. The next garden was the Italian Garden. The scent here was so good! I think it was more pungent because it was a more enclosed space. We walked through a wall of bushes and found this statueand then continued on to the flowers. It was small but pretty nonetheless. After the Italian Garden was the Mediterranean Garden. This mostly consisted of a big open area of grass with benches. I think it was intended as a rest place more than anything.

Wow, this place was definitely worth getting up at 5:00 to catch the ferry to Canada! We would recommend that everyone tries to get here once in their life! You'll be blown away, just like we were.