Indiana, Washington, Oregon
This year we decided to take a mini-vacation and made a loop from NY to Indiana to Seattle to Spokane to Eugene and back to Seattle.
We flew to Chicago and rented a car to drive to Indiana to see Liz, Andy, Kate, Zeke and assorted foster children. A trip to the zoo is always in order with Liz, Kate, Zeke and this year Christian is part of the family. Billy and the kids show their artistic abilities. On the way back to Chicago, we made the decision to take a route that went right through a busy part of the city - stop and go traffic for miles and miles - it's lucky that we forgot about a time change as it gave us another hour to make it to the airport on time.
Next stop is Washington to see Jon, Rui Rui, and Sharon. We stayed at Jon and Rui Rui's condo near Seattle. There was a trip to Snoqualmie Falls, a bowling expedition, lucious berry picking both at a farm and along the river by their condo, guitar playing, and always super delicious Chinese food prepared by Rui Rui. Jon loaned us the Mustang to drive up to Bellingham where we visited with Sharon and took a walk in the beautiful forest.
A car rental then took us on a wonderful drive from Seattle to Spokane to see Nancy and Paul, then down to Eugene, Oregon to see Shaundele. We are amazed at the vistas of wheat fields in western Washington and the lack of towns along the way - a stop for lunch waited for a long time until we ran across a small market where we could buy some snacks. It was great to see Nancy and Paul and hear about their lives and plans. Then we drive west and south to stop and see Shaundele, our director from the European Azerbaijan School. In another occupation now, she has an organic farm in Eugene along the river where she has some house shares, farms vegetables and fruit - it's a beautiful setting but what a lot of work this is!
The trip continued along the beautiful west coast and back up to Seattle. The views of the coast are breathtaking, and all along the way are things to see - parks, dunes, lighthouses, bridges, seals, shells, beaches, cliffs, harbors... and there was even a helicopter ride along the coast and a visit to an air museum which was originally a Blimb Base during WWII in Tillimook, Oregon. A flight back to NY concluded great trip!
We flew to Chicago and rented a car to drive to Indiana to see Liz, Andy, Kate, Zeke and assorted foster children. A trip to the zoo is always in order with Liz, Kate, Zeke and this year Christian is part of the family. Billy and the kids show their artistic abilities. On the way back to Chicago, we made the decision to take a route that went right through a busy part of the city - stop and go traffic for miles and miles - it's lucky that we forgot about a time change as it gave us another hour to make it to the airport on time.
Next stop is Washington to see Jon, Rui Rui, and Sharon. We stayed at Jon and Rui Rui's condo near Seattle. There was a trip to Snoqualmie Falls, a bowling expedition, lucious berry picking both at a farm and along the river by their condo, guitar playing, and always super delicious Chinese food prepared by Rui Rui. Jon loaned us the Mustang to drive up to Bellingham where we visited with Sharon and took a walk in the beautiful forest.
A car rental then took us on a wonderful drive from Seattle to Spokane to see Nancy and Paul, then down to Eugene, Oregon to see Shaundele. We are amazed at the vistas of wheat fields in western Washington and the lack of towns along the way - a stop for lunch waited for a long time until we ran across a small market where we could buy some snacks. It was great to see Nancy and Paul and hear about their lives and plans. Then we drive west and south to stop and see Shaundele, our director from the European Azerbaijan School. In another occupation now, she has an organic farm in Eugene along the river where she has some house shares, farms vegetables and fruit - it's a beautiful setting but what a lot of work this is!
The trip continued along the beautiful west coast and back up to Seattle. The views of the coast are breathtaking, and all along the way are things to see - parks, dunes, lighthouses, bridges, seals, shells, beaches, cliffs, harbors... and there was even a helicopter ride along the coast and a visit to an air museum which was originally a Blimb Base during WWII in Tillimook, Oregon. A flight back to NY concluded great trip!
Indiana
Seattle and Bellingham
Spokane and Eugene
Oregon and Washington Coast
