My parents have been out to visit us from the East Coast several times now, but they had yet to see how beautiful it is in the spring and summer. (We think its beautiful here all year, but in different ways.)
A museum in Seattle was holding a lace exhibit that my mom (as president of the
International Old Lacers) wanted to see, so they flew from NJ to Seattle and spent a few days there, including a brunch on
Alki Beach with some of Corinne's family, before heading down to spend time with us. Since they were driving from Seattle, we sent them the scenic
eastern route rather than via the (boring and congested) I-5. The scenery is much more interesting, and certainly nothing they can see in NJ. They even brought some wildlife along with them on their bumper...
The long weekend visit was pretty relaxed. We spent a day at
Maryhill Museum, a surprisingly well stocked museum featuring, among other things, extensive Native American art and a large collection of Rodin sculptures - go figure. On another day we took a leisurely drive through the Hood River Valley, stopping at an alpaca ranch to see the recently-sheared "bobble-heads".
The rest of the time was spent at home, doing nothing in particular. We sat at the river and almost watched some kayakers maneuver down our rapids; unfortunately after watching them prepare to put in for about 45 minutes, they apparently decided to avoid the rapids and instead put in below. We watched the local deer graze on our lawn (and watched Leif attempt to draw them), as well as caught several sightings of our coyote. And as always, ate some fabulous food, including homemade chocolate pots de creme.
Maybe someday we'll convince them to move out here so we don't have to go so long between visits!
- Mike (& Corinne)
