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This past week I was able to take my mother on a short trip to the Washington coast to visit my grandmother who is living with my aunt in Bremerton. It was a trip that we had planned in early July, but had to postpone due to Dad's passing. Since it was just a short trip (four days total), I took G1 along to have some women bonding time. Don't worry...she survived.
Since it's a fairly long drive, we stopped a few times to stretch our legs. One of the places we stopped was at Wild Horse overlooking the gorge and river. You can see how thrilled G1 was about the local wildlife.
This picture shows how she feels about being in pictures. It didn't bode well for the rest of the trip...
We were lucky enough to find a B&B that was just a few minutes from my aunt's house, so we got to be spoiled for a few days. The innkeepers were very nice and due to some family issues, we pretty much got run of the entire inn.
This is the view from the grounds...
...and this was G1's favorite part. Not that I can blame her, it was pretty wonderful.
We stopped briefly in Port Gamble after our innkeeper suggested it, but the most interesting part about it was the sign. Evidently Port Gamble was still a
company town until the 90's. Call it the history geek in us, but we thought that was pretty interesting.
After Port Gamble we wound our way to Port Townsend...best known for paper bags and nearby sparkly vampires. It is also a tourist town--which is why we were there. This is the main drag that we wandered. G1 got some school accessories at various stores...including a jewelery store that had all of us wishing we had more money.
These are a few of the ships that were in the Sound that we saw from our table at lunch. I have a thing for sailing ships...so you get to see them too.
This gentleman here made it to the blog because of the fit of giggles he gave Mom and G1. He had been sitting down and when he stood up...it looked like he had laid an egg on top of the umbrella.
Well, when you are tired--everything is funny. :D
See this beautiful building. The entire top two stories are completely deserted. It looks right over the sound and the downtown proper. It makes me sad that such a beautiful piece of architecture will probably be torn down for more modern apartments. **sigh**
This building below is for sale (see second picture below). It also looks over the Sound and is right downtown. I'm thinking we could convert the one bedroom to connect to the three bedroom and have a four bedroom home. Then we could enclose the lot to the west into a garden and play area for the children and have our candy store in the store front below...
Ah yes...pipe dreams--I haz them. Anybody have any money they want to lend me on good faith?
Enjoying our $3.00 scoops of ice cream (I told you this was a tourist town!) before we collapsed in the car and headed to the B&B.
The next day we picked up my grandmother and her sister Ella (who was also visiting, by chance) and took them to nearby Paulsbo. Paulsbo is a tourist town with a Scandinavian theme. We didn't spend as much time there due to the fact that we had two ladies in their nineties and one in her seventies. Now you all know where I get my white hair. LOL!
L-R Grandma, Ella, Mom
G1 and I got really excited about this shop. SUGAR, CARBS, CHOCOLATE!! It all looked soooo yummy, but we behaved ourselves and only got a cookie each (much to G1's profound disappointment).
The next day we said good-bye to everyone and headed to the ferry to take us back to the Seattle area and on to Leavenworth. Since the ferry was late (by about 1.5 hours) we had some time to take pictures on the wharf.
I just like this one of G1.
G1 and I being silly.
Once on the ferry, we found it to be...exhilaratingly breezy.
G1 sporting a "Bride of Frankenstein" look. ;)
Traffic snarls kept us moving slow, but we finally made it to Leavenworth mid afternoon. Yay! Leavenworth is one of my favorite places in the NorthWest. This is the main shop area.
Did I mention that Leavenworth has a Bavarian town theme? Every shop (even the McDonalds) has to have a Bavarian themed exterior...if not interior. We try to make it to Leavenworth at least once a year. Yes, we like it that much.
G1 models an Egyptian hat in The Hat Shoppe.
G1's favorite store in Leavenworth...possibly the world.
Kris Kringl's! It's two stories of nothing but Christmas (OK...they have a tiny section devoted to Halloween) and G1 LOVES Christmas. See the smile on her face? LOL
The sun was setting...time to say Auf Wiedersehen!
Just for kicks...two random signs that made me giggle while on this trip. Yes, I have a strange sense of humor.
It was fun, but as always--glad to be home again.
to shorter and adorable--if I say so myself.
