Left Coast Love
Stumbled across this little cutie on the beach. So grateful for the beautiful heart who left her there for us to find.
Oh hey! Still here.
Man, it’s been a busy couple weeks. This post will most likely be a giant photo dump because we’ve covered a lot of ground in the past couple weeks. For all of the busyness (that’s a word, dictionary.com says so), it’s actually been a really mellow time. We haven’t been “doing” anything major, mostly just wandering in beautiful places and playing tourist in my homeland. Here is the quickest and dirtiest recap a “talker” is capable of throwing together.
From Missoula, we drove straight to my parents’ house in Desert Aire, WA (just south of Vantage on the Columbia River). For about the past 15 years they have been splitting time between Kirkland and Eastern Washington, and just this past year moved full time to their home on the river. This has actually been a huge relief for me (for them), because they now live in a really small community, which I think is a safer place for them to be given all of this COVID craziness. I know I’m not alone in my concern for my parents, and the jokes about how we’ve all switched roles and are now the concerned children yelling at our teenage parents to stay home and be careful are extremely accurate.
The struggle is real.
My Mom’s birthday is July 6th, so I colluded with my Dad to surprise her on the 3rd to spend a week with them over the holiday (and by holiday, I of course mean her birthday). She knew we were coming at some point, but I told her it would likely be the end of July and then I went dark for the week prior to throw her off the scent.
When we drove into the driveway honking in our massive rig, let’s just say there were tears. Lots of them.
Why is it that I feel an overwhelming sense of success every time I reduce my mother to a sobbing mess? I might have to sit with that one a bit. hahaha
We had a lovely week on the Columbia spending quality time with Grammy and Pops (my Mom and Dad) who we haven’t seen since January. Please take a look a these pictures. You guys, my mom is 74, are you kidding me with this? I don’t think I rocked a bathing suit that hard even in my 20’s. Dear Lord, please let these family genes sustain me as I enter the back 40.
OK, that’s not a very enlightened thing to say. I am truly happy in my own skin and love this little earth body that carries me around, but DAMN, Melinda has a real Blanche Devereaux thing going on, and it’s good.
Happy Birthday Mom!
Also, just to clarify for those of you who are new to my family tree, I call him Dad, but he’s technically my step-Dad. My parents divorced when I was three, and my Mom met Dick when I was five, so he’s been in my life for basically all the parts I can remember. I know divorce can be traumatic for families, but I will say from my perspective, I’m so glad that my parents didn’t stay together. They weren’t happy together and our family would have been filled with the stress of that continued union. When they split up, my mom had the opportunity to find someone who was her true partner in life, and they have been completely bonded for 37 years and counting. Dick was an instant father figure to me, but especially when my real Dad died, I was (and am) so grateful to have him in my life.
And those are my thoughts on divorce. You do you, boo. Live your best life.
Anyhoo, back to our visit. We also spent a little time with my brother, who jumped right in as fun Uncle Rick. Even throwing loose change into the pool as a diving game for the kids; a thing that my Dad used to do that I totally forgot about until that moment. It was, all puns intended, priceless. Love you, Ricky.
We left Desert Aire and drove through the mountains to the West side. I’ll admit that I’m biased, but Snoqualmie Pass will always sit at the top of my list of favorite drives. In addition to just being stunning, this drive evokes so many happy memories for me. Camping trips with friends, driving to the Gorge for magical concerts, hours riding on musty school buses to/from ski school (it will always be Ski Acres to me), and that time when my friend fell asleep while driving after a school dance and flipped the car going 100mph landing upside down in a drainage culvert… you know, all those fun times.
Still, I heart Snoqualmie Pass.
We’ve spent the past week on Whidbey Island. Growing up, my family had a cabin on Mutiny Bay on South Whidbey, so this place holds a lot of really wonderful memories for me. We’ve had time to explore a lot of the island, driving down to Langley and the south end, but because of the lack of campgrounds in the south, we’ve spent most of our time up north.
The first few days we spent near Deception Pass State Park, which is stunning and glorious.
You should go to there.
We then headed down to Fort Casey State Park for four days and the kids had a blast exploring the old bunkers. I remember going there in High School (I think for a Natural Helpers retreat? Anyone else remember that?), but it was a totally different experience through my kids’ eyes. Camp Casey is still closed for COVID, and it was an interesting experience to see no movement in what would normally be a bustling camp during the summer.
The Fort Casey campground is right next to the Port Townsend ferry dock, and the kids loved watching the comings and goings of the ferry. Will was especially enthralled; he ran down the beach to sit and watch the entire process each time she docked. It was pretty cute.
We were blessed with a visit from my bestie (and trusty backup husband), Auntie Andee, who honored us as our first overnight guest in the RV. Andee would normally be cycling her way across Europe leading tours for Trek Travel right now, but given the state of things she’s currently on an endless summer. It’s probably wrong of me that I’m so happy that I get to spend time with her this summer, but if missing my sweet friend is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
We squeezed a lot of fun into a short visit, and then hopped on the ferry to send her off on the next leg of her own travels through Port Townsend to the Olympic Peninsula. I have to admit, I’m more than a little jealous. Olympic Peninsula was high on my list of demands for this trip, but the logistics and timing just weren’t in the cards.
Next time, Olympic National Forest, we’re coming for you.
The following day, my brother Dave (technically step-brother) and his family passed through for an afternoon visit that went all too fast. It was so amazing to connect with them and their boys, even just for a few hours. We generally only see them once a year when we come home to visit, so the kids usually have to reacquaint themselves all over again. Olive was especially smitten with their oldest son Vaughn, who she affectionately dubbed “the big guy.”
As in, “Where’d the big guy go?” “I want to find the big guy.” “Can the big guy ride scooters with me?” “I want to go to the beach with the big guy.”
Her love was real.
To the point of obsession.
Sorry Vaughn, you have a fan for life.
My sister-in-law Heather and I are kindred spirits, and could probably literally spend days just talking about all of the things. Added bonus that she took some really beautiful pictures of everyone (except herself) while she was here, thank you Heather! She and Dave have some really exciting things in the works, and I can’t wait to see the impact they will be making in their community and the world at large. So fun and exciting and inspiring. * sigh *
I love it.
Follow them on Instagram if you’re interested in seeing what they are up to! It’s good stuff.
Let me stop here for a moment to say that being in Washington and not trying to see ALL THE PEOPLE is really hard. I’ve spent the majority of my life so far living here, and it is filled with friends and family that I love beyond comprehension. Every time we come back I struggle with finding time to reconnect with all of the people I want to see, and this visit is no different.
Except this time it’s really different.
Basically, other than seeing a handful of close family members and one bestie, we chose to see no one. We’re skipping Seattle entirely and heading back into nature.
That is hard.
And I’m crying as I write this, because I so desperately love and miss everyone. But these are the times we are in, and even though we are traveling, we are trying to do so in a safe way that doesn’t put our family or others at increased risk. The point of all of this was to find our way into wilderness and connect with nature, so even though we’re passing through a place with a million people I want to see, we’re sticking to the mission and heading back into the woods.
Love you all, we’ll see you soon.
Mask up and let’s get through this.
In Joy, Truth, & Love,
~Lisa
