PNW Escape Part III: Seattle

After a week out in nature and many days without showering, we were ready to re-enter society.  I booked a three bedroom house in Seattle and was excited to explore a city I haven't visited since 2005ish.  When we arrived it was too early to check in, so we stopped at a Swedish bakery and enjoyed a well deserved fika on the water. The northern lighting and parade of small boats really reminded us of a summer day in Stockholm.

After spending a week in a camper and tent, everyone was delighted by the two story, three bedroom house on a hill. We all got so spread out and Linus even got his very own bedroom.

The following day Mattias and I had to hop back on-line to our jobs, being a business owner Mattias can rarely take more than a few days without internet.  We answered emails, did laundry, and drank cup after cup of dark coffee.  Heaven!

Eventually we ventured out to play tourist, hopping on to public transportation for the first time since the pandemic started.  

Despite lots of boarded up businesses, we still enjoyed strolling the city and appreciating the architecture. The boards themselves became works of art.

We made it to a few of Alvin's must-visit spots: 1) Post Alley and the gum wall.  Yuck.

2) Pike Place Market for the original Starbucks, not one of us impressed.  (We're a Peet's family.)

3) The Olympic Sculpture Garden a.k.a. the place where we played an epic game of hide & seek.

Later in the afternoon we had a reservation for Chihuly Garden & Glass, which just reopened to the public via limited admissions. Before entering we walked through a UV disinfectant panel-- I need one of those at home.

We've been big Chihuly fans since we visited an exhibit at the De Young in 2008, but had no idea he was from Takoma, WA.  Having a permanent exhibit allowed for installations on a very grand scale.  One of our favorite parts was cooling off with a beer on the patio while watching a glass blowing demo.

Our pitstop in Seattle was short and sweet because we had a date with the Oregon coast.  We ended our stay with a Japanese market sushi dinner followed by the movie "Sleepless in Seattle".  Anders said "Mamma, literally, I didn't understand that entire movie." to which I replied "Welcome to the world of rom-coms."

 

PNW Escape Part II: North Cascades National Park

After our magically relaxing time on San Juan Island we switched gears to go camping in North Cascades National Park.  Since our planning was a little last-minute, there were no reservable campsites available.  On our previous PNW trip we were lucky to score a sweet first-come-first-served campsite at Olympic National Park, so we decided to chance it again. Note to self: don't ever drive your family and car full of stuff during a pandemic into the middle of nowhere with no place to stay ever again.

The drive was incredibly scenic with battling bald eagles flying overhead.  We thought we were in good shape when we arrived at our first choice campsite around 3PM. Our hearts sank when the campground was full and the ranger said we had little chances of finding a place to sleep.  Hopeful, we backtracked down the highway, stopping at each campground on the slim chance someone had cancelled. No luck.

Almost 20 miles from the national park, there was one county RV campground left before we had to head back towards Seattle. They happened to have tent sites but were only operating at 50% capacity, just 5 campsites. Good thing for us the absent minded camp host sold us a site that was already occupied. His wife, irritated, took one look at our car and made the executive decision to let us stay.

The county site ended up being nicer than those within the national park, with less density, a view of the mountains, and located right next to the Skagit River. The kids made friends with another family from Massachusetts-- we've never seen them so happy to play. In our down time we let the boys have some freedom, to climb trees, play tag, or build a slug home. We sipped wine, read books, ate s'mores, and chowed down 5 pounds of wild spot shrimp-- ultimate indulgence.

The following day we drove back into the national park to check out the glaciers and glacial lakes.  North Cascades is well known to have more glaciers than in Glacier National Park. We paused and talked about climate change, observing photos of large glaciers taken 100 years ago.

Then we headed to nearby Diablo Lake, formed by dams created in the turn of the century to power the growing city of Seattle. While the emerald blue waters appeared inviting, they were alas melted glacial ice.  The boys lasted all but 5 minutes and opted to play back at the campsite.

On our third day we wanted to do a serious hike, and it turned out our campsite was very close to an off-the-beaten-path (but very popular) hike.  Sauk Mountain was at the peak of its wildflower bloom, and Mattias and I agree that it was one of the most beautiful hikes in our lives.

The path was steep and 100% switchbacks, with a merciless drop the entire way.  I barely put my phone away, snapping photos of each unique wildflower, marveling at the snow-topped peaks. There were so many times I wanted to spin a la Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music"-- the boys were so glad that I didn't.

Despite our daily walks up to Corona Heights back home, this hike was still a challenge being in full sun.  We bribed ourselves with candy at numerous checkpoints, and were unanimously inspired by a man carrying down his geriatric pitbull from the summit (see blue arrow).

We eventually reached the summit and were treated to more views of the surrounding peaks and a glacial lake. But like that Miley Cyrus song I like to belt out at karaoke night:

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb