No, Toto, we’re not talking about the land of Oz. We’re talking about Seattle, Washington.
Although this was a pretty magical experience and visit.
Never before had any of us been so far west. Never before had we flown with our cat…or any pet for that matter. Never before had we seen such majestic mountains and views. Never before had any of us stood atop and looked out from a structure as tall as the Space Needle or seen a peak as high as that of Mount Rainier.
And then there was the childhood dream of Mama Skiy’s that came true, to meet a man she idolized in her youth, a man whose movie had such an incredible impact on her and her younger brother’s lives, a man who our sons have now grown very fond of and because of the same movie: Tim Noah, the writer, singer, and actor behind the multiple-award winning production In Search of the Wow Wow Wibble Woggle Wazzie Woodle Woo. (To say he was just as nice, fun, and energetic as he was in his movie is an understatement.)
Never had we been anyplace like Seattle.
There’s something for everyone in Washington: nature, hiking, shopping, history, casinos, big cities, small villages, museums, parks, resorts, campgrounds, arts, dining… Everything.
We’re also not convinced that it rains all of the time in Seattle. Okay, so we got lucky. In the 8 days we were in Seattle, it rained twice: the second day we were there and the day we were flying out. The first full day we were there it was clear and beautiful, so we went to the city and went top of the Space Needle. Although it rained the second day that was when we had made plans to see Tim Noah at his Thumbnail Theater in Snohomish, and even then it was just a light rain and still cleared up enough for us to take an afternoon hike in one of the evergreen forests. Then it was a partly-cloudy day when we took the long drive to one of the lookouts at Mount Rainier, clearing up enough to see the peak, a glacier with water coming out of it, and a waterfall piercing one of the mountain’s sides.
And to top it all off, on the way back down the mountain, we passed a village that had families of elk grazing and making their way through the yards!
The remainder of the stay was a mix of fifty hours of work for Papa, four days of schoolwork for the boys, and family outings to playgrounds, a popular trailhead with a series of trails, and general errands.
We packed a lot into those 8 days. It was fun and productive.
More than anything, we all discovered how beautiful and diverse Washington is. This was our first visit, and it won’t be our last.
The next time, though, we plan to go in our RV.
The Nomadic 'Skiys 