On Saturday, August 23, we threw a surprise 40th birthday party for my dear friend, Sara Edge. We actually pulled off the surprise! Her husband, Mark, took the family to the first Eastern Washington football game while Julie Dumlao and I went over and decorated and welcomed people as they arrived. She was very curious when she pulled into her long driveway full of cars! Surprise! It was a great time.
We left Tuesday and headed to Seattle with Kyle. He needed to go visit a couple of accounts out that direction, so we decided to go a day early with him. We stopped at some neat viewpoints to see the Washington Gorge (beautiful country), and loved the drive through Snoqualmie Pass into Seattle. We then made a brief stop at the Seattle Temple and enjoyed walking around the grounds. We got a little goofy trying to mimic the different family statues. It was a beautiful day.
We stayed at a hotel about a block away from the Puget Sound waterfront in Lynnwood (north of Seattle). We booked two hotel rooms--one with Kyle's business account, and one personal, then asked them to put us in a room which was connected. Of course, they didn't. Then I realized that Kyle would be gone half the night. (He was mainly going to Seattle to visit an account that was installing a brand new kiosk in a mall; they can only install kiosks while the mall is closed, so he was there from about 10 p.m. till 2 a.m.) My children are still too young for me to feel comfortable leaving them in a hotel room by themselves. So....the kids and I got a room and Kyle got his own. So much for the first night of togetherness:). I got to sleep in the same bed as Skyler, though, so at least we got to be close:). We went swimming at the pool, pigged out at their free breakfast, and walked around the pier and boardwalk along the Puget Sound while we waited for Kyle to get done working the next morning. So, it wasn't totally spoiled after all.
Then we headed back to the East. We drove through downtown and saw the Space Needle and experienced too much of Seattle traffic. Then we stopped and got food for a picnic and drove to Snoqualmie Falls and ate and walked around there for a little bit. (The picture on the bottom left is from the Washington Columbia River Gorge.)
Then we headed to Ensign Ranch for the real start of our vacation! Ensign Ranch is in Cle Elum, Washington, just east of the Cascades. It is a beautiful, huge ranch owned by the LDS Church with all kinds of neat amenities: horse back riding, lake, river, fishing, canoes, rope swing, a huge slip-and-slide, hiking, cabins, teepees, tent camping, playground, etc. We rented the "rustic" family cabins for only $35/night. It has electricity, beds for four, a huge loft area, fridge, microwave, picnic tables with fire pit, etc. We each had our own family cabin close to one another, but we mainly hung out at Beth's cabin/campfire area, and took turns doing the meals, which was super nice. We had a campfire with s'mores each night and the kids played games in the dark, we sang a few songs, told hilarious stories (that didn't always make sense, but who cares?) and laughed a lot. It was sooo fun and so incredible to me that there I was 20 years later with my two best friends from high school and their sweet families. Good times for sure.
We stayed there Wednesday through Friday morning. Then we drove right outside Ensign Ranch and stopped along the Yakima River to have a picnic lunch and try our hand at a little fishing. No success, but in the trying, I suppose. The kids loved practicing their casting and playing in the water. It was special family time.
Kyle wanted to take the scenic route through Wenatchee, which was beautiful country. The only problem was my not-so-fine navigating skills. My phone had no service and his was dying (with no car charger), and we missed a very critical turn. We thought we were going the right way just because we were still following the Columbia River. We realized it when we had gone 30 miles past the correct turn! We made a fast u-turn, turned his phone back on to see if there was another route, and quickly took that one. We sped across amazing high-country farmlands with the most interesting rock formations, and arrived at the Dam at 4:58! Only problem, it turned out we were at the WRONG Visitors' Center. Oops! After all that, we still missed the tour, but it turned out the best part of the tour is closed for 11 years (!I know! They are replacing the turbines.), so we didn't miss much anyway. We met up with the Edges and enjoyed the Visitors' Center and a couple of movies about the history of the Dam, then went to dinner at a little local pizza place, then headed back to the Dam for the laser light show. We made hot cocoa on our little gas camp stove for everyone enjoy while we waited (not because we were that cold; mostly because it was fun!), then watched the show and headed home. We got back home at midnight, exhausted but full of fabulous memories. It was so fun being at the Dam with friends, too. We had a great time visiting and the kids loved being together.
Everything about the Grand Coulee Dam is fascinating to me. Just its' size and the remarkable engineering feat it was at the time it was built is neat. But the difference it has made to the Washington economy, and the millions of acres of land which it irrigates and provides sustainable agriculture for is fascinating to me. I look forward to going again, especially when the glass elevator is re-opened and I can go down into the dam and see the turbines.
Anyway, that was a long post, but suffice it to say, we had a great vacation and time with dear friends the last week before school started!!
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