Northwest Vacation: Part I

(I've written this post slowly over the past week since Jonah and I--especially poor Jonah--have been dealing with that unfortunate aftermath of any long, cross-continental journey: jet lag. We've been tired. And more than the usual degree of cranky. But we're slowly getting back into the swing of things, and as we do, I've been here and there finding more time to type out the tale of our most recent big adventure. Anyway, I hope that explains any odd changes of tense or seemingly erroneous temporal references. Without further ado, here it is!)

The Pacific Northwest: Family, food, and magnificent views! That about sums up our past two weeks in Washington, Oregon, and California. Despite that pithy synopsis, however, it's actually going to take me some time to lay out the details of our trip. Thus, this post will focus on only one manageable portion, and I'll continue the tale in future installments.

First up: Washington!

Of course, it all started with a flight: Jonah's first. I was more than a little nervous about traveling with an an infant, but he did wonderfully. Slept most of the way and was more or less his usual cheery self the rest of the time.

In the future I might reconsider booking flights that
leave at ungodly hours like 3:30 a.m.  Good grief!

In keeping with the general themes of our trip, the state of Washington is pretty much all beautiful views and scrumptious eating. Lucky for us, it's also home to Jonah's beloved Grammy and Grandpa, and it was with them that we enjoyed most of those aforementioned treats:

One of our first stops in Washington:  a playground.  Jonah
showed off his skills on the swing, then climbed around a pirate
ship (apparently under attack by some local sea monster).

Another early stop: a jaunt to the top of Mount
Erie on scenic Fidalgo Island.  Beautiful views!

With Grammy and Grandpa we visited the
Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park.
The trip was chock full of misadventures
(we missed our ferry back to Anacortes!),
but at least we got some cute pictures.

Mom and Jonah in Olympic National Park.

Dad and Jonah on the Hall of Mosses
Trail in the Hoh Rainforest.

Regrettably, I didn't take any pictures depicting just how well we ate on this portion of the trip, but--as already implied (multiple times, I think)--food is one of my favorite parts of visiting this corner of the country.  In a matter of days, we enjoyed some of the very best of oysters, mussels, clams, and (one of my personal favorites) dungeness crab.  And let's not forget the salmon!  On the first Sunday of our visit, Grandpa cooked up the most amazing, succulent side of salmon (caught off the Coast of British Columbia by his next door neighbor).  I'd never had salmon smoked on a cedar plank before (I know... what was I waiting for???), but now I <i>cannot wait</i> to have it again.

Grammy and Jonah at the marina, just before dinner at
Anthony's (a Northwest seafood chain).  Jonah shared some of
Grammy and Grandpa's shrimp appetizers,  then enjoyed a salad
of dungeness crab, mango, avocado, and blueberries. Yum!

Of course, I musn't forget to mention that, while in Washington, I got to celebrate my very first Mother's Day (as a mom)!  It was a gorgeous day, and we spent it doing some of those things Jonah and I enjoy doing most together.  First, a trip to the farmer's market:

Between picking out greens, cheese, and fruit for
our picnic later in the day, Jonah and I stopped to
check out the baby chicks displayed for
sale by Well Fed Farms.

Later, a picnic in Washington Park:

The views from the promontory here are almost
too much.  Too bad, though, that we didn't
spot any whales this time.  Maybe next!

Followed very shortly by playing in the grass:

Holy moly, he's a cutie pie!

All in all, we had a fabulous time, though we might complain it passed too quickly!  After only a handful of days, we left the lovely isles of the Washington Coast to make a three-day road trip down to Lake Tahoe.  But that's part two of this series, so you'll have to wait to read more...