On the Road Again

Another summer, another 2300 mile journey for the Sampsons!
[Apologies in advance for any wonkiness, this was typed on my ipad.]

 

Once the (very thorough) moving crew had loaded up our belongings into a Mayflower truck, we loaded up our car as well,  said goodbye to Pullman and Moscow and headed across Idaho and into Montana.

Butte-ful!

We made it into Butte just after dark, not before the front of our RAV4 was mauled by bugs.  Butte was a beaut, but a short stay,as we loaded up for a long days drive across Montana.  

Bugz all up in mah grill

It was from Butte to an unremarkable stop in Billings. Despite a nearly 600 mile day, the long drive was punctuated with stretches of beautiful landscape while listening to Willie, Dylan, the Dead, and a little MMJ.  Later, I scanned the radio dial somewhere around the edges of Wyoming and South Dakota to be treated to back-to-back gems by Faith No More and Mötley Crüe, a definite Evansville flashback.

Late afternoon brought on a crackling thunderstorm.  While Joe caught a break and the kids a nap, I gripped the steering wheel  and watched the big Montana sky light up like an Ansel Adams print I once had.  Of course the fun of onelane construction and hydroplaning through downpours was thrown into the mix, but we made it to Rapid City, SD in time for dinner.

Thank you, Gutzon Borglum

The next morning, we got up early and snuck in a side trip to Mount Rushmore, leaving the cat at the hotel.  Keystone , SD is very cute and kitschy in a Gatlinburg sort of way, fake saloons and old tyme photos,  

The kids earned their  junior rangers badge, their 12th to date!

Mount Rushmore and the visitors center was more inspiring and educational than I expected it to be, and so continues my love affair with the National Park Service and how well they educate, protect and inform. (Am I too old to want to be a ranger when I grow up?)

I'd never really thought about how Mount Rushmore is such a gutsy marvel of art, engineering, nature, leadership, and persistence, but to see film footage of FDR dedicating the monument 14 years after it began, and  how the vision from many years before that became a reality, was all very stunning.

Into the Badlands

By 11 we were headed back  on the road east through the Badlands,  past Wall Drug, and the Corn Palace, past lots and lots of cows. Probably not many places in America where you  have 100 miles worth of gas in the car and still nervously wonder if you'll make it to next open/working gas station.  Dakota!

Lunch became a similar challenge, so it was convenience store foods combined with snacks we'd already packed. The Sampson favorites are:  Funyuns, cornnuts,  and fig newtons washed down with Gatorade and Dr. pepper - things we exclusivey buy on the road. I'm sure we'll feel great later!
 (ed note: i did counterbalance that with a roasted veggie salad once we got to Madison.)


Back to the lands of Cheese and Chili

Now we've arrived in Wisconsin for a day to rest up and spend time with family, and celebrate my nephew's 2nd Bday. We plan to gorge ourselves on cheese curds and frozen custard in the next few hours.

In the meantime, Joe and the kids have begun the countdown to a meal at Skyline (36 hours or so?) Cincinnati, here we come!

Viva Viva Sea-Tac!

"I like people's style in this town."  - Maggie

 Another great weekend in Seattle! Since it was our second trip, we tried to see things we didn't see the first time. We traveled by foot, ferry, lightrail, bus, car, and monorail - I'm not sure how we could have packed more into 2 days.

The first evening we strolled around the Seattle Center, where there happened to be the Northwest Folklife festival, with food, art, music, and excellent people-watching. Seattle Center was much, much, more lively than it was the last time we were there in the fall, and I think we experienced the full spectrum of  the people of Seattle  (Hula-hooping is the new hacky-sacking, FYI.)
 
We explored the Queen Anne neighborhood, and had dinner at Pho Viet Anh, where I had my first Vietnamese coffee (delicious and strong, so I won't be ordering one of those again for dinner unless I plan to pull an all-nighter.)

Fremont library

Adventures in Wonderland
The next morning we grabbed lattes at Caffe Vita and mapped out our route - planning to catch one bus to Fremont, then another to meet friends for lunch near Ballard.

 It was a little early in the morning for the Fremonters, not everyone had opened up shop yet, but I was able to get cookies at the Flying Apron, and we posed for pictures with the troll,  while checking out the public art (disapproving Lenin?) and a few shops.

Fremont troll  - are those two little goats gruff?

Then came our big mis-adventure. Long story short, we took the wrong bus or got off at the wrong stop, but a very nice man patiently guided us back on our path, first offering us a ride in his compact car (we declined), and then driving and stopping at key intersections so we knew which way to turn. We were well off the beaten path and more than a little disoriented, until we rounded the corner and found Chinook's with a sigh of relief. (So thank you, man from the AM/PM with the Austrian accent, wherever you are!)


We enjoyed lunch overlooking the Fisherman's Terminal.  Our friends then drove us through Ballard and dropped us off at the Chittenden Locks. We sat in on a bit of a tour, and watched the locks in action, guiding the yachts through. There was only one lonely salmon on the fish ladder, (still too early in the season.)  And the very helpful rangers got us on the right bus back to our hotel. :)

K!K!K!K!
That evening we went downtown to the Mariners game. It was Felix Hernandez bobblehead night, so of course, the King was starting pitcher.

The King, and his adoring court (above)

SafeCo field has amazing food selections - BBQ, sushi, Thai, (even a whole gluten free stand with soups and sandwiches)  though we went for the usual fare of hotdogs, fries, and cotton candy.With the on and off drizzle, we got to watch the roof open and close twice! They play the theme from 2001 Space Odyssey while it opens:

The sky!

Island Hopping
The next day we took a ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Though we weren't able to get up to Whidbey or the San Juan islands, I still got to check off my list "See a starfish". There they were, clustered on the pilings, much larger than I'd imagined.

 It was a little chilly, so you can see we had the outside deck to ourselves, though we did spend most of out time on the main deck (inside). Andrew loved the ferry boat ride, and wanted to check out the every bit of the boat, fore and aft. There's even a cafeteria on the boat!

After a little lunch and shopping around Bainbridge, it was back on the ferry to watch our approach back into port:

Though this was our last trip to "the west side" as the locals say, we know we didn't see it all and I hope to get back there again. Thanks, Seattle!

Let me tell you 'bout the birds, and the bees, and the flowers...

Heyburn State Park, Idaho

We've been trying to fill every weekend with a trip, to see as much of the area as possible before our move back to Ohio. Based on friends' recommendations, and the desire to use our camping gear more than once while we're out here, we spent an overnight at Heyburn State Park in Idaho. The park has been around for more than 100 years - it's the oldest park in the Pacific Northwest!

It's where the trail of the Coeur d'Alenes picks up, a 72-mile bike trail around the lakes of Idaho and up into the Couer d'Alene region.  Being mid-May and still a bit on the chilly side, we practically had the park and campground to ourselves. It was a fun and relaxing time exploring trails, skipping stones into the lake, and spotting wildlife.

Birds! Birds!
We spotted lots of birds, the usual ducks and geese and ravens, but also red-winged blackbird, violet-green swallows, and you can even make out an osprey flying overhead in the top right corner of the photo below. (Its nest was on the top of the pedestrian bridge). Maggie also spotted an eagle on the drive over.

Our new friends made their presence well-known, crashing campsites for nibbles and chittering and squawking away well past midnight.  Guess there was quite a party going on in the marsh. *yawn*

But as it turns out, we don't have to go further than our driveway to see some of the most interesting birds this summer. Our newest neighbor is Abraham, the resident pheasant. He's a bit too boisterous and opinionated, though we do like having him around. 

There's often quail scuttling around in our mulch, and magpies dominate the neighborhood.

Then one day as Joe went to leave for work, he saw a golden eagle ( we think?) on the neighbors rooftop. He didn't stick around long enough for us to nickname him. Any raptor-aficionados that can confirm what this is?

 

Bloomin'

Springtime in Pullman is bursting out all over. I've enjoyed walking around the neighborhoods and gawking at the amazing gardens and flowerbeds coming up everywhere. First, there were the tulips along the route to school, then the poppies and wildflowers downtown, and then the lilacs everywhere!  Across campus, bordering houses and driveways, spilling out into the streets, in shades of purple and pink and white. Can't believe I didn't get any photos of it, but I did snap off a few blooms to bring into the house. 

Andrew's "Harry Potter" plant with some lilac.

We just returned from a long weekend in Seattle, so more blogging adventures to come! 

-Alison

Baby, if you ever wondered...

We can officially announce that we are moving back to Cincinnati in June!

Yes, we're "kinda tired of packin' and unpackin'" - living in our 3rd house in a year - but Joe & I decided a couple months ago to work our way back to the Queen City. While we've enjoyed exploring a new part of the country, we miss our old neighborhood and city, our family and friends. That, compounded with a few other reasons, and we can no longer resist the magnetic pull drawing us back home.

But don't despair, you (few) faithful blog-readers: there will be more of  Newtothenorthwest to come. In the next two months, we plan to find out what spring in the NW has to offer, traversing Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, and then ultimately chronicling our trip back, as we add even more states to our travelogue (we saw 15 states in 2012!) We should be back and settled in Madeira by late June.

 See you soon, Cincinnatians! 

 p.s. I've got some great spring photos of Cub Scouts, school events, and Maggie's birthday, that I will post, uh, once I find my camera. 

Pret - a - Portland

Last week the kids had spring break, and we wanted to get back to explore more of Oregon and see Portland, so it was the ideal time for a trip.  We spent the first day in Hood River, OR.  We visited one of Joe's favorite breweries, Full Sail, which sits just above the Columbia River, nestled among the flowering trees. It was a nice place with a killer view and good food. We enjoyed strolling along the little artsy-touristy shops and admiring the thoughtfully-tended parks and gardens as spring was bursting out all over.

Misty Mountain Hop
The next morning we went chasing waterfalls (*insert TLC joke here*) and were lucky to be out early enough on a weekday morning that there were no crowds, we even had Horsetail Falls all to ourselves! It's all very misty and mossy and lush, I felt like the trees might start speaking to me, or half-expected a little elf  to appear and wish us well on our journey. (Hmm, maybe I've been reading  too many fantasy books with the kids.)

Multnomah Falls

The waterfall trails were probably the highlight of our trip!




From there we headed into Portland, just another hour or so, a great scenic drive along the way.

Portlandia!

We made our first stop at Powell's Books, and though could have spent a whole day there, spent a good two hours. It reminded me a lot of a bookstore version of San Fran's Amoeba records - not as cozy and interesting as a City Lights (also SF!) - but my, oh my, the books, books, and more books!  It's more like exploring a book repository, which is totally good with me.  I mostly stuck to the lower floor of kids books, to ogle over picture books, rare and vintage stuff, and keep track of the kids darting in and out of the aisles.

Over the next two days, we rode the MAX, visited the Duck Store and the Beaver store, perused the Portland Saturday Market, hiked through Washington Park, and enjoyed some good unique meals and treats every step of the way. The kids were excited to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, (as seen on the Food Network) and I was happy to find Stumptown Coffee Roasters was just another block down AND sold baked goods from GEM and Petunia's Bakery, so everyone was happy.

 

My favorite was probably the lunch I had at the healthful fast food restaurant, Laughing Planet. It was so hard to choose, but I decided on the Bollywood bowl:

Waiting for the MAX light rail near PSU

Of course, we had to make time for a little some serious basketball-watching, as well as some of this: 

It was a fulfilling spring break trip, for a little R&R, urban culture, and some green therapy.

All in all, I think this might be the best way to sum up Oregon ;)