WASHINGTON

Jared & I were able to spend 12 days in Washington & here is a LONG post of our adventures.

We drove to Boise Tues. after work & stayed the night at Jared's favorite hotel (because of the yummy continental breakfast.) Wed. we stopped in the tri-cities to visit his Grandma, Aunts, Uncle, & a cousin. We drove the scenic route that takes you pretty close to Mt. Rainier. It was funny starting out a summer vacation by seeing snow!

Jared decided to surprise me with a plan to visit Forks (where Twilight takes place) & 1st Beach in La Push. We listened to twilight on disc on our drive to WA & ended up finishing right as we were driving into Forks. It wasn't even planned that way.

Even though the movie wasn't filmed here, the people are enjoying the attention & trying to make it as real as they can for visitors.

Since this was a bit out of our way we planned on staying at a place called Mats Mats Bay where his Grandparents have a little place to stay. Too bad we forgot the key & ended up taking a ferry at 11:30 p.m. to Seattle & getting home very late!

They had this sign at the hospital, a house "pegged" to be Charlie's, & a Bed & Breakfast they say is where the Cullens would've lived.

Jared enjoyed Twilight but got REALLY SICK of how she describes Edward & Bella's love for each other over & over. He wanted some action which is why he enjoyed listening to New Moon on our way home much better. He is currently reading Eclipse, which I told him had a lot more action & killing in it.

We went to the place where she first visits with Jacob & it was beautiful!! We froze! There were about 6 surfers in full body wetsuits from head to toe in the freezing cold water.

Another reason we decided to drive up this way was to see the Olympic National Forest & we also walked through the Hoh Rainforest! The funny thing was it was sunny everywhere outside of Forks but whenever we drove back into Forks it was overcast!
Jared & I went to a Mariners vs. Indians game & they were doing a "turn back the clock" day so the first 20,000 fans got a free hat from the 1980's. Jared was VERY excited & wore his almost every day. The players wore uniforms from 1989 I believe.
Yes it was sunny but we were in the shade most of the time & it was sooo cold.

We had so much fun at this game we went to another one to see them get beat by the Red Sox. Before the game we walked around Seattle & saw more Red Sox fans than Mariner fans. I guess it helps if you win some games.


You can see the Red Sox fans watching the Red Sox warm up. This was 2 hours before the game even began!
Jared almost got as high as Mt. Rainier ;)
DEREK & CHELSEA arrived Wed. night & boy did we have a lot planned for the next few days! We had a 7:30 am tee time Thursday morning, then we had Ryan's famous Cottage Cheese pancakes (sort of), went sea kayaking on the sound, then ate a yummy dinner at the Ram (a tradition.) We also love that Chelsea's birthday is near so we get their free birthday dessert!

That night we went to Batman. Jared & I had already watched it on this trip but Derek & Chelsea wanted to see it & Jared was begging me the whole time to go see it again so we did.

The next day, Chelsea's birthday, we had planned to take the boat from Lake Washington, through the locks into Puget Sound, & dock the boat & hang out in Seattle. We were VERY prepared but after about 10 min. of cruising on Lake Washington the boat lost power & the brand new belt broke :( So we had some nice boaters pull us over to a public dock, then called $Vessel $Assist$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to tow us back to the Marina. It was very relaxing & Jared enjoyed not having to drive. There are soooo many beautiful homes on the lake.

We took Chelsea to a nice restaurant with a GORGEOUS view of a marina & watched the sun set. It was delicious! (yes Derek & Chelsea, I still tease Jared about the waitress)
Hope you had a fun Birthday Chels, thanks for spending it with us.....again!
We walked out on the pier where there were tons of people crabbing, it was filthy but fun to watch.

Just some extra large Rhuebarb from Phyllis's garden next door.

OK, so Jared & Derek went to find golf balls on the old jet ski. It was quite the sight!
Here they are getting on....................
and here they are falling off! You can see Chelsea out in the water, we were all laughing our heads off!

It was another fun time in Washington!!