TGJFRT of 2012 - Seattle - Day I've lost count

Well, obviously we are home now. Or else this is the world's longest vacation. I had grand illusions of blogging on the road and memorializing our trip; however, I underestimated the amount of time I would have to blog, and also the tediousness of blogging from my beloved, but not typing and posting-friendly, iPad. And keeping up with that "Day #" thing? Also tedious. But I do want to recap, so I'll plug on so we have this for posterity's sake.

After family reunioning, we spent the next day (#13) with my parents and sister and her family. In my mind (at the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer), I thought this might be one of the last opportunities we had to go back to Seattle with my folks, so I wanted my kids to see where Grandpa grew up, etc. So we loaded up the vehicles and hit the road...not that there was all that far to go.

My dad grew up in south Seattle. In fact, the house where he spent late elementary through high school is also the house he and mom moved into right after Grandpa Peretti (his dad) died and right before I was born. (Didja get all that?) We saw the little church where mom and dad met - now a Spanish-speaking AG church. Mom had moved to Seattle after high school and was at church one Sunday night. Fun Bob and Geneva fact: Dad arranged for her ride to leave her so he could take her home. Smooth, dad. The house where they lived when they got married is right next door.

From there, it was to the little house where they moved when I was a baby and where my sister was born, also very near Boeing Field where dad worked. (Along with much of Seattle.) (As dad says, "When Boeing catches a cold, Seattle sneezes.") They weren't there for all that long since dad was transferred to Houston when I was two. And the rest....well, history and all that. One thing that struck me was that no matter where they were, they found a church and got plugged in. I'm not so naive as to think that, even then, it was just the culture to do so, but it was certainly their family culture, and became ours. Thank God.

That afternoon, we took the boys on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. The heat wave, thankfully, had dissipated, and they were having more typical weather. It was actually very cool on the ferry, as well as cloudy. The Bainbridge Ferry was one of the shorter rides, which was one of the reasons we chose it, and Bainbridge is a quaint little town. We had a pizza picnic, and some ice cream.

That night we met the rest of the family at Ivar's Salmon House for dinner. Ivar's is one of those places that is in my Seattle memories...not because they always went there...since, as dad says, they didn't have two nickels to rub together back then...but we did go on some of our return trips when we were adults. So, to Ivar's we went. It also happened to be mom and dad's anniversary dinner. I know they were delighted to spend it out with 12 other people...eight of whom were age 14 and under.... ;)

Here's where I have to interject that, in my opinion, Seattle is an awful city to drive in. Not necessarily because of traffic...that wasn't too bad...but the roads are hilly, and they don't always go straight, and you exit and then the road divides and they have concrete dividers so it's impossible to get over so you have to find a way to circle around and more hills and curves and blah, blah, blah..... Anyway, it's not straightforward and simple like Houston, which is, well, for one thing, flat, and laid out like a wheel with spokes. Orderly and all that.

So, back to Seattle. On Wednesday morning, Jack got up and headed down to a Russian bakery we found across from Pike's Place market for some pastries, then, because I am a wonderful wife and mother, rather than go to H&M or any of the other great downtown Seattle shopping venues, we went to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field.  Actually, I didn't mind it (too much); it's really well-done and interesting, and one can quite easily spend the whole day there.  My history-buff husband and oldest son especially enjoyed the huge WWI & II wing.  (This was the point where I took the 7yo for a McDonald's run.  His attention span just isn't that long....)

That night we met my sweet friend, Mary; her husband, Brian; and their dog, Timber at Green Lake Park in Seattle for a dinner picnic.  Mary and I were roomates here in Houston years ago, and she's the kind of friend you pick right up with like you'd never been apart.  I really like her hubs too; he's a nice guy.

So, that was Seattle.  Tomorrow, on the road again.