Destination 1: Seattle, WA
Planning for this trip was prompted by the arrival on December 4, 2013 of first granddaughter Ingrid Katherine Romich Botha, whose parents Jennie Romich and Adele Botha live in Seattle, Washington.
While I had made trips to Seattle in February and April, and they had traveled to Ohio in June, babies change fast and it's good to have frequent connections.
This trip was further enhanced by second granddaughter Grace Romich Bata (born 5-10-2014), who wanted to visit her cousin. Her mom Katie came along, too, leaving dad Chris at home to do his job.
This was Grace's first air travel and Katie wanted to avoid connections, so we flew out of Detroit, which, unlike Cleveland, has a direct flight to Seattle.
Grace slept most of the way to Detroit, but played with some of her favorite toys a bit.
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Entering the parking garage, we were excited to note that Detroit Airport has an EV (electric vehicle) parking area with charging stations. EVs get first priority after disability parking. Further, there was no cost for the charging. With all the economic and other issues Detroit is experiencing, they're certainly progressive on this. The chargers were from Clipper Creek, the same manufacturer of the charger purchased with Romich Foundation support and installed by Wayne County Sustainable Energy Network at Local Roots in Wooster (below).
When Katie returned from Seattle, Chris met her at the airport and took this photo of six Volts (mine is the red one) all connected to chargers. Kudos to Detroit Airport.
Grace seemed to like her first air travel experience. What's not to like when someone else carry's you around, feeds you, and goo-goos at you?
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Grace was a wonderrful air traveler. Upon arrival, we received many compliments from passengers seated nearby. With a maintenance departure delay, renting a van in Seattle, and three hours time difference, it was a long day when Jennie greeted us at the curb in front of her house. Grace misssed this part.
The next morning, however, both cousins were present.
Ingrid is now eating solid foods.
Adele is a master of the grill and they frequently have friends over.
Ingrid has a friend Ander. She stays at Ander's home Monday and Tuesday and Ander visits Ingrid Wednesday and Thursday. Ander is slightly older than Ingrid. Grace was picking up tips from both of them.
While Jennie was at work, the rest of us went swimming at the Rainier Beach community center. Various pools and features were great for kids of all ages. Here are Ander and Ingrid. Grace is in the stroller. With one adult per kid, we were busy!
Katie and I took Grace and Ingrid for a few miles walk in Seward Park on Lake Washington while Jennie ran. They were soon out. We ran into a strollercize group.
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Jennie had one dog and we had the other, swapping off when we crossed paths.
Friday evening we drove downtown and caught the ferry across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. Our destination was Crescent Lake, just off the map west of Port Angeles in Olympic National Park.
The weather was beautiful and visibility of Seattle was great. The space needle is on the left.
Jennie stayed in the van with the girls. Katie and I browsed the ferry. We were accompanied by a Coast Guard cutter part way. The shipping terminal is visible in the distance.
Upon arrival at Bainbridge Island, we stopped in town for a visit to an ice creamery. Ingrid is so ready to walk.
We arrived at Crescent Lake late in the afternoon. Jennie had made a reservation to spend the night in a cabin. The weather had become overcast, but the view out over the lake offered the hint of sunset in the distance. The morning had blue skies.
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After a lakeshore hike, we headed to the lodge for breakfast. Then we hiked up to a waterfall. Grace was in a sling on Katie. Ingrid was in a stroller that we needed to carry "Cleopatra style" over a narrow footbridge and up and down steps.
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This was followed by a photo session to document the "I'M SO LOVED" suits that Aunt Beth got the girls. Ingrid was having a blast, but Grace wasn't so sure about this.
And then we made an attempt at a photo with Grandpa. At least the marmots from the gift shop cooperated.
Waiting in line at the ferry, following a couple hours in the van, the Boy Scout selling popcorn was actually a welcome visitor. We also bought some food on the ferry.
The ferry ride back was also a visibility treat, with Mt. Rainier showing just above the port cranes.
Saturday evening Jennie and Ingrid and I met Adele at Meg and Meg's, where they were showcasing their new patio and landscaping.
Sunday morning, Katie, Grace and I waved bye-bye to our hosts and headed to the airport. Katie and Grace flew back to Detroit and a surprise greeting from Chris.
On to Oregon
My next destination was the farm where cousin Richard Koontz and Lawanna Dailey now live. He had very recently purchased seven acres just south of Sherwood, where he had been living in a residential neighborhood. Sherwood is a suburb south of Portland. This was just over two hours of driving time from the Seattle airport. This aerial view shows the rough property line. The southern border is the Southern Pacific Railroad track. There are nearby wood tressels with curves.
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Richard retired from his job at Portland State University and Lawanna retired just this spring from her job in a paper mill. They have time, energy, knowledge and skills to take on the project of caring for and developing this property.
The former owner was a cabinet maker who operated his business on the property. The shop is significant and was a major selling point for Richard and Lawanna. The garage in their Sherwood home was way too small for the kind of work they like to do. This photo shows only part of the building, which includes an office and bathroom a ways behind me and an overhead door to the left. The moving process had been fairly frantic and things weren't yet organized.
Here is an outside view of the shop.
Lawanna is an avid bird watcher and feeds the birds off the deck.
A pleasant surprise was that Richard's niece Sarah Foster now lives in Portland and she came down for a visit. Sarah has an internship with the Oregon Business Council and is working on the Healthiest State Initiative. Brother Mike, who lives outside nearby Dayton, also came. This photo shows the interesting cabinetry in the kitchen. Richard and Lawanna did a lot of work before moving in. While there are various aspects of the house that they plan to improve further, it is very comfortable and livable as is.
Here they are in the dining room / library.
Mike and I exchanged some value. I ended up with one of his duck carvings and he was planning to have some work done on his car.
I spent two nights at the farm and we got some things done during that time. One project was mounting the weather station that they brought from the other house.
When they showed me a stump that was a hazard for mowing in the field, I suggested we remove it. It took some digging, chain sawing, and pulling with the tractor, but we were successful. The 16 HP tractor is a good match for the farm. It has a couple additional attachments.
While we were at it, we removed some old brush and Richard sawed off some new growth. He used their Ford Explorer to pull the trailer out to the field to collect the stuff. Smaller items, like most of what we collected, can be taken to a local mill.
This was a great visit. I awoke the second morning well rested but sorry to be leaving for the Seattle airport. The drive was filled with great memories of the week and I'm looking forward to the next visit.
