NJ to Seattle to Trout Lake

Our East/West flight for the holidays this year was out of Seattle (rather than Portland), so we got an opportunity on the return trip to spend a brief time in Seattle visiting Corinne's family before heading back to our own homestead. Despite only being in town for 1.5 days, we managed to see quite a few people over dinner and breakfast.

 

Before too long, it was time for us to make the drive back home. But we were fortunate to have with us Corinne's brother Loren and his girlfriend Amy, who were visiting from Tulsa and decided to spend a few days with us in Trout Lake.

We took the Eastern route from Seattle to the Gorge, which despite being slightly longer distance-wise is much more scenic and predictable - no traffic!

As long as Snoqualmie and Satus Passes are both clear of snow/ice, it's definitely the way to go. We left a little later than we had planned, so we didn't get home before dark, but watching the sun set over the plains is beautiful.

Loren and Amy only stayed for a few days before heading back up to Seattle with Leif on New Years Eve, but we enjoyed their brief visit. We had fun exploring our property and the river; preparing delicious meals; drinking hot chocolate around the fire; baking and decorating sugar cookies (see next post...); and playing Nintendo. After all, what holiday would be complete without Dr. Mario and Super Smash Brothers?

- Mike (& Corinne)