Greetings from the Emerald City! I hate to write this for fear that I might jinx it, but I appear to have a little bit of "free time" today, so I thought I would journal a little about what we have been up to lately.

As Rance mentioned in his previous post, we've sort of moved to Seattle, Washington. I say, "sort of" because we are still homeless. It's a long and boring story, involving a chinchilla, pink scooter, and a storage shed, but we hope to be settled by the end of the month in our new digs.

I know that I grew up in this corner of the world, but I was too young to drive, so being lost is my new part time job. To get to know the area a little better, we've tried to explore a little.




Here we are at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It is almost worth coming just for the view of the Puget Sound. The weather was so clear and sunny that you could see Mt. Rainer in the distance.

We've always loved the beach, so we made it a personal mission to find the best beach around here. We still have miles of coastline to check out, but here are some highlights so far:

Lake Sammammish State Park

I didn't bring my camera to Saltwater Beach State Park, which was a shame. We saw a massive sea slug about the size of Tyler's head, a huge ochre sea star, crabs of all sizes, three kinds of live clams, jellyfish and barnacles. We were in tide pool paradise.

On Saturday, we rode the ferry out to Whidbey Island.

I took the kids to my favorite childhood spot in Washington: Deception Pass. There is a glorious freshwater lake about 20 feet from the ocean. You can swim or canoe in the lake, or walk the beach. There are trails for biking and sweet camp/picnic sites. The view from the bridge is breathtaking. I know I sound like a travel advertisement, but I spent countless happy times there as a kiddo. All that childhood nostalgia makes me gush a little.

Here is Rance on the ocean side.

This is the lake side.

These final pictures were taken on a quest for fresh seafood in La Conner. Rainbow Bridge connects this tiny town to Fidalgo Island. I can't wait to take the kids there in the spring when all the tulips are in bloom. In the background here, you can see Mt. Baker where I learned to ski/fall-down-the-side-of-a-really-cold-mountain.

If you haven't guessed yet, I am trying to entice all of you to come and visit us!

This week I am getting ready to go to Italy to complete a brief internship at the University of Washington Rome Center Library. Wish me luck with my Italian (or lack thereof). I hope to post some pictures while I am in Rome. Ciao for now!