Mt. Rainier and a Full Crew

As we pulled into Seattle, excitement was in the air

We were having two more crew members join us on our journey. While it would only be for a week, we hadn’t seen each other in three months. I would get to see my hubby and the girls were excited to see their father.

One of my daughters was excited because it was time for her to return home. Around this time in the journey everyone begins to feel homesick. Most of the time, being on the road is fun but it can also be very trying. While we’ve seen so many things in a lot of different places, there’s always the reminder that we’re separated from family and friends.

As soon as we hit Seattle, I had to run my daughter to a walk-in clinic. She’d had a cough for a while and was losing a lot of sleep over it. I knew a round of antibiotics was probably in order. And that’s what she received at a wonderful walk-in clinic. I also had a recheck on my urinary tract infection to see if it was cleared up. Everything looked good!

The rest of the crew arrived in later that evening. We talked for a while, exchanged gifts and enjoyed each others company. My husband and daughter had gone to China for three weeks at the same time we had left out on our trek. So they’d brought back some gifts as well as treats we like from there.

The next day we just hung out, played a yard game called darts and cooked on the grill. The following day we hit the city. We weren’t quite sure how the buses and trains worked so it didn’t go as smoothly as it could have. We were trying to take the train but ended up taking the bus as we couldn’t find parking in the train lot.

Once we arrived in Seattle, the first thing we did was to have lunch in Chinatown

Then we hit up a Chinese bakery with lots of yummy treats. We attempted to find the Space Needle but ended up on the wrong bus system. There are so many different transit opportunities in Seattle that it’s hard to keep them all straight. So after a long day of trying to figure it all out and failing, we decided to head home. On the way back we actually did manage to catch the train and it was a nice easy ride.

Seattle was a bit of a distance from where we were staying so we mainly hung out in the suburbs and explored. One day we headed out to Mount Rainier and hiked a trail. There were so many wildflowers it was absolutely stunning. I felt like I was in the Swiss Alps walking through the bright green fields dotted with flowers of many colors.

We got to see the glacier and the girls once again are the proud owners of another Junior Ranger badge. I wouldn’t say that Mount Rainier is a park that I would have to return to again but I was very glad we went because this is the first time I’ve ever seen a glacier in person. And hiking among all the wildflowers was so beautiful.

The glacier up close

We wanted to make another attempt to check out Seattle. However my youngest was putting up a fight. She didn’t want to go back into the city and I can’t say is if I blame her. The first experience was pretty crappy.

I was bummed out because we didn’t get to see two of the bigger highlights, the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. So we decided that my husband would take the older girls into the city. I would stay back with little Ms. Whiney Butt ;-). In turn, they brought back pictures and videos that I could share with you!

https://youtu.be/tWcmOi0bR4g

Time went quickly as it always does and before we knew it, it was time for us to part ways. My husband and daughter headed home on a big old jet plane and we were left to continue our trip. Initially, the plan was to head up into Vancouver, British Columbia. That was going to be our first entry on our Canadian excursion.

oh no, forest fires

However, forest fires were in several locations to include one of our stops, Kamloops. And people were being evacuated. So we had to think of a different plan and route. It was questionable if we were even going to go into Canada after all.

Walls of gum

But alas, after investigating Alberta for wildfire activity (they actually have a tracker like British Columbia as seen above) and finding no danger, we rerouted. With the crew redirected, we headed east towards Spokane. We didn’t explore much in Spokane as we weren’t planning on being there long.

Glass sculpture garden in Seattle

We did however make several trips to the See’s Candies shop. The chocolates were calling and we had to stop. Hey, you always have to get the best out of a place, right? Seattle and Spokane were good to us but I would like to come back and check out the coastal area. I would also like to see Olympic National Park.

Reminds me of the Lorax movie

With our journey rerouted, another national park serendipitously fell into our laps. On our next stop, we head back into Montana and check out Glacier National Park.

I know I’ve said this before but I’m saying it again, this place stole my heart. Of all the national parks I’ve been to, each with their own beauty and charm, I think I would have to put Glacier on the very top of the list. While here, we’re finally gifted with a bear sighting!!

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{HUGS} from the Crew!