Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Johnson family







We spent a week visiting some of Eric's dad's side of the family. First we spent a couple of days over in Wenatchee with Grandma Bessie. I don't believe there's anywhere I'd rather be than on Grandma Bessie's porch. She has an amazing view over the valley, and her giant tree keeps the porch cool even when it's 95 degrees out. And of course, there's Grandma Bessie, who sits next to you and tells you amazing stories. I'm really lucky she's agreed to my Grandma Bessie, too. Eric and I spent some time driving around the valley, visiting the applets and cotlets factory (for those of you not from Washington, you have to try some!) and a local dam. There are some big fires in the area right now, so keep an eye out for Wenatchee on the news. Hopefully they'll get the fires put out, or you'll see an increase in your fruit prices soon!

Next we had dinner with Eric's Uncle Cal, his wife, Barbie, and their daughter, Kim, on the way to the ferry. Kim had painted herself in art class that day, but we're hoping it came off in time for her trip to Hawaii. Perhaps she could convince them it was some kind of native tatoo. In the picture above, you can see that there ARE cats bigger than mine...

Finally, we spent several days with Eric's dad, Mark, and his wife, Anne. Their house is only a ferry ride away from Seattle, but once you drive down the dirt road to their oasis in the jungle, you feel much farther away. Our cell phone companies agreed, but that only made the visit that much more relaxing. Some friends of Mark and Anne's had dogs competing in a local agility trial, so I was able to get some pet therapy, and then I got to compare Washington beaches to those I'm used to in Florida. Florida wins for swim-able water, but it's pretty dang cool to see Mount Ranier rising over the water. Mark and Anne also made us some culinary delights, like crabs and salmon cakes.

We're having such a good time seeing everyone that it's that much harder to move so far away. Now that we've seen everyone who we're going to see and the tour winds to an end, the move seems very near...

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