Settling down after big trip

What a trip!

Ken and I enjoyed so much seeing the Northwest and being with our wonderful family.

We began in Ocean Shores so Ken could see the "real" Pacific Ocean. Bellingham Bay, Puget Sound, and Monterrey Bay did not "count" in his thinking.

It was fun to gather in Seattle at two neighboring motels, and visit with some of our family members, even into the "wee" hours of Saturday morning.

Our cruise was spectacular. The relationships among our family members grew, in part, because everybody could mix and mingle as they chose 24/7, whether on the ship at the buffets or dining rooms, in the clubs, on deck, in the cabins, at the entertainment venues, swimming, or during port excursions, whether expensive or free.

One special event was to see and hear John play and sing at the piano in the Talent Show. Thanks, John! I was very proud of you. I hope you will have more chances to perform. By the way, I remember hearing you play other instruments and singing other kinds of music in your past. Any bluegrass in there? I love bluegrass.

Thanks to Brandi and James, Kristen and Steve, and Elizabeth and John, Grandpa and I even got to babysit a little bit. I loved it!

We enjoyed shuttling the families from the motel to the ship, and thank goodness, I did not miss the "boat" on Saturday. Getting the giant Chevrolet Express on our returning day made going to the airport a breeze.

I have to give hugs and kisses to Warren and Nancy who were the best cabin mates we could have ever had. We were such neatniks without ever saying anything that our cabin steward did not have to do much except make up the beds.

After the cruise, we drove to Bellingham to visit Llew and Vonnie. There was plenty to see and do, as well as "down" relaxing time for laundry at the motel and picture developing at Wal-Mart.

Some of the things Llew did not mention in her blog that were also special to me were:
Visiting the downtown Bellingham Library, going to the FairHaven Market and Joe's Market, meeting the teacher bicyclists on the Mt. Baker drive, and driving down Chuckanut Drive through the rural areas where Llew used to live on the way to Anacortes and the San Juan islands.

Llew described how Mom (Grandma Hollingsworth) was afraid to go all the way up to the top of the Mt. Baker drive, and made Llew turn around pretty far down the mountainous drive.

Vonnie is such a good cook. Anyone else have Chicken Kiev for a picnic lunch or grilled salmon from the Copper River in Alaska for dinner? She inspired me so much that I also made country ribs, however, oven baked, and brownies, to take to Elizabeth's on our way to take Warren back home.

We returned to DFW Saturday night, and got home before midnight. Warren was here after borrowing Ken's equipment. Even though our luggage was late, we received it the next morning by courier. It went via United and San Francisco and we went via American. We spent one day at home and repacked to go to Kansas.

The trip to Eureka was wonderful. Warren got to visit John's new funeral home and property for the first time, and we got to have lunch in his new home south of Ardmore. We ate hurredly as John and Elizabeth had to go next door for a funeral. Next, we stopped by Blanchard and visited with James and Anna. Brandi worked late as she was teaching a class. We saw many fireworks as we drove past towns in Kansas on the way to Eureka.

Ken helped Warren July 4th to begin to get the trim up on his garage. Julie, her mom and sister, prepared a wonderful traditional July 4th dinner for all of us, Mike (Julie's brother) Levi, Sofi, Kylie, Tye, and Earlinda's husband.

Later in the evening Warren was the pyrotechnic expert as he and Kylie shot off fireworks in the street while Julie, Sofi, Tye (the almost 1-year old who says all the right vowels at the right time, after each firework begins: "Ooooh, Ahhhh, Ohhhh"), Ken and I.

We were sorry not to have time to visit Chuck and Teri in Park City, but needed to get back home as soon as we could. I called James on the way through the OKC area and he was busy, and I called Elizabeth on the way through Ardmore and she and John were holding a funeral out of town. We finally returned home late Wednesday afternoon.

Ah, home! Yea, home! The suitcases are finally emptied, and the laundry has begun. Ken went to breakfast this morning and passed out the White Pass Railway booklets to the guys. Eddie came tonight and he and Ken went to visit Bill's (the C Store owner) home, so Eddie can do some wiring for him. I'll visit the school tomorrow and unpack 6 boxes of books that have come. Kristen called today to let us know she has a new job with the local school district beginning in August. Yea, Kristen!

I hope you have seen Kristen's and Brandi's pictures of the trip. The beautiful thing is that everyone's pictures are different and give the cruise another perspective.

Love, linsue