We Were Spoiled Rotten, and We Loved It
The journey north through Oregon and Washington began with this first post and continued with second and third installments. Here is the fourth dispatch of their adventure.
After the ferry ride to Whidbey Island, we drove to Seattle and toured the Dale Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit near the Space Needle. The exhibit was well worth the visit and there were a number of other things to see; however, we needed to get to Tacoma for our four-day stay and hosted by Dick’s cousin, Linda, and her husband, Ed. This is where “Being Spoiled Rotten” began.
Linda mentioned that we would need some waterproof pants for our adventures with her, so we stopped at the largest REI store I have ever been in. We could have easily stayed a couple of hours looking at all the displays.
The first day began at Northwest Trek, which is “home to more than 200 animals native to the Pacific Northwest.” We were treated to observing bears, wolverines, badgers, snowy owls, bald eagles, bison, and many other critters. The otters in particular put on a very interesting display for us. Linda always had chocolate chip cookies at the ready. The next day we spent hiking two areas. The first was Snoqualmie Falls Park, which is part of Puget Sound Energy. It was visualized by civil engineer Charles Baker and “harnessed” in 1898. He was a recent engineering school graduate and envisioned using the 270-foot drop to generate electricity. “The plant was one of the first to deliver alternating current power over a long distance.” The second part of the day was at Franklin Falls for another good hike. Again, Linda provided lunch and chocolate chip cookies and dinner at their home. This time she offered to do our laundry and we didn’t pass that up.
The third day was spent sailing Puget Sound, this time with Ed, her husband, on their 32-foot sailboat. The weather was idyllic, and we again were provided with lunch, dinner and chocolate chip cookies. The last day, we went kayaking near Anderson Island. Obviously, she and Ed are outdoor people and they wanted to make sure our time was well used. At dinner that night, I said to Dick F. around 9:30 p.m., “Let’s get back to our hotel before she finds something for us to do between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m.” We couldn’t have had a more delightful time with two very extraordinarily nice people.
The next part of our trip, and our return home, took us to Mount Hood, Crater Lake, and Mount Shasta and a very welcome stop at a store on our seven-mile hike around Lake Siskiyou.
