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Earlier this month Nana came up from Texas and spent a week here in the Pacific Northwest. The weather cooperated and we were able to take several day trips. We had visits with both Heidi and Allen and had the chance to go sightseeing.
She arrived on Saturday to clouds and overcast. On Sunday the weather decided to co-operate and we had temperatures in the mid 70's and brilliant sunshine the entire week, there was not a day we didn't go out. After getting settled in, Allen come over and helped Bar B Que. It was good to hear Nana and him share stories of past get-togethers. We talked for hours into the evening.
On Tuesday we were off on a two day trip to the Tri-Cities area in Eastern Washington to visit Heidi and see the fall colors. We stopped in North Bend to do a little shopping at the outlet mall. After visiting Starbucks there, we continued our ride through the Cascade Mountains, which was beautiful. Our next rest stop was near Yakima. The big bridge and gorge there are just right for pictures, and we took a few. Then we were off on the last leg of our journey to see Heidi.
We arrived in the early afternoon with enough time for Heidi to show us around the Columbia River area and the cities there. The park by the river went on for miles and had many gorgeous views. We took plenty of 'you were there' pictures and of the spectacular bridges too. We got done with our tour just in time to go to a local Olive Garden for dinner. After a little game of musical chairs, we enjoyed a good time of eating and talking together.
We stayed at a local Motel that had nice rooms and an excellent breakfast. It was the perfect start to a fascinating ride west along the Columbia River to Maryhill, WA. We chose to use the two lane highway on the Washington side of the river instead of the freeway on the Oregon side. We were rewarded with many spectacular views of the river and countryside.
On a bluff above the town of Maryhill is a World War I memorial to soldiers from the local county. The memorial is a replica of Stonehenge (the one in England). This one has molded stones rather than real cut stones so they look a little odd. They are all standing to show what the original would have looked like a few thousand years ago. The memorial is built to scale and the alignments and ratios were maintained. It was very interesting to walk through.
We then headed North on a highway that cut through the Yakima Indian Reservation. After lunch in Yakima and a stop at a fruit stand for apples, we took a scenic ride up into the mountains to White Pass. We followed the highway down the other side and around toward Mt. Rainier. The setting sun provided some interesting photo opportunities. We arrived home tired but happy to have taken the back ways instead of the main roads.
Thursday we took the Subaru in for its 30,000 mile check up and used the other car to run around town. We mostly stayed close to home and did a driving tour around the local cities of Renton, Kent, and Bellevue with a little shopping thrown in. It was a more relaxed quiet day with time to visit, do laundry, and recover.
On Friday we completed the week with lunch at the English restaurant in Redmond and then headed down to the Seattle waterfront. We just had to get out onto the water and the Argosy Harbor Cruise was just the ticket. We got very lucky and were able to park right across the street from the dock, underneath the double deck Alaskan Way Viaduct freeway. The harbor cruise allowed for another batch of 'you were there' pictures and nice views of the city on a sunny afternoon. On the way home we stopped at the Museum Of Flight to check out the Concorde SST on display there. The Museum has an outside collection of larger planes that have been in actual service. Later Allen stopped by the house for a bite to eat and a last minute quick visit and good-bye.
As Nana's plane lifted off through the clouds on Saturday, we looked forward to another blustery, rainy week in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy the pictures of Nana's visit.
Click here to see the pictures (Page 1).
Click here to see the pictures (Page 2).
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