Before we left for Seattle Bear got pretty sick. He was just not himself, no energy, afraid of everything. At first we, and the vet, thought it was kennel cough but that never fully materialized. We are pretty sure he does not do well on doxycycline and have since heard from Casie, Bridger had serious issues with it too. We took him off it the day we left and Dad has been watching him. He seems to be much better now, almost his old self again. Thank goodness, we thought we broke our puppy!
We got to Nashville a little after midnight. Just a little difference in the number of people around.
At Sea-Tac waiting for our flight. We got there super early in anticipation of the FIFA crowd madness and it was extremely busy, especially trying to get into one of the bathrooms, but not too bad with our extra time. Planning pays off!
Here's the whole crew, minus Mari who was taking the picture. It was a great visit. We were worried Jenni would do too much but she kept up and pushed us to do more which was nice to see. She has another round of chemo tomorrow so we won't be able to see her again before we leave. We said our goodbyes here, and went back to rest up for the long trip tomorrow.
The food was really good, especially the chowder. But the best part was getting to see the rest of the fam as well, Rowan, Megan and Rowan's girlfriend Fiora. The kids posing with Steve to show how much they love having their picture taken.
We took Jenni back to rest with plans to meet up for the grand finale at one of her favorite restaurants. A place called Duke's right on the shore of Lake Union.
After the farmer's market we walked down to the Dancing Goat roastery - or where it used to be. Jenni wanted to get Dad something since she knew he liked their coffee, but it turned out they had sold the building to the Port Authority and moved elsewhere since last she'd visited. The statue was still there though.
Today's excursion was to the Farmer's Market in Olympia. Lots of good things to choose from, I wish we had something like this in our area. The Nashville Farmer's Market hasn't been very good for quite some time now. The best part was being introduced to Rainer cherries, which were excellent.
We started off the second full day of spending time with Jenni... with coffee! Shocking. I know. This we went to Cutters Point, which I have to admit I think may be my favorite.
We let Jenni rest for a while, then brought over some Jersey Mike's to eat for dinner on their deck under all the beautiful trees.
We really enjoyed our time at Gig Harbor, nice, artsy town. I can see why mom liked it.
I'll never say no to Mexican food, so we ate lunch at a place called El Pueblito an then did some shopping in the small mall around it, particularly Fox Island Trading Co.
We wanted to keep things pretty low key and not wear Jenni out, so she suggested a wander around Gig Harbor. A cute little artsy town on the Kitsap Peninsula that mom used to like visiting.
We started off the day by swinging by Jenni and Steve's tiny house in the woods to pick her up. Here she is with Tuppence. Of course the first stop had to be for coffee (we are in Seattle after all), and we went to her favorite spot Taylor Ray's.
We're back at the same hotel as before since we enjoyed the first stay. Here's a glimpse of a similar room from that visit. We also got a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross to drive which we don't like nearly as much as the Subaru so I didn't bother to take a picture. We had dinner with Jenni, Steve and Tuppence at the nearby Chipotle but unfortunately I forget to take any pictures. And that was day one of our trip!
A cool art piece at Sea-Tac, which otherwise was insane! We didn't take into account FIFA was in town, and despite how open this picture looks, every terminal was cram packed with people.
I've gotten too used to flying first class. I don't know if I can go back now. I mean look at this breakfast, and all the leg room? Fuhgeddaboutit.
We're on our way to Seattle to see my sister and bring some good cheer to help her fight Jabba the evil cancer hutt. We got to Nashville airport a bit early so stopped to have a light breakfast (because we'll also get one on the plane) which was surprisingly good.
This little fella decided to come hang out and soak up some sun today, he lounged for quite a while. Bear seems to have no interest in squirrels so far.
Esoteric Ebb is a game primarily made by just one person, who later brought in some help with art and music. It's an RPG in the vein of Disco Elysium and is excellent. A real testament that with some imagination and hard work, small, even single person studios, can still put out content of better quality than most of the chaff big studios are pumping out these days.
Dad is pup sitting our neighbor Matt's dog Tilly while they go on a quick trip. Dad had his volunteer shift at the hospital so we helped out by watching Tilly for him, for Matt, for a short while. She and Bear got on just fine.
Finished Dying Light The Beast, aka Dying Light 3. Like the first two it's just good enough to be entertaining but will never crack the top ten list for great games.
Had to head downtown to the Sheriff's HQ for a meeting with their IT folks. I hadn't been to their new building even though they've been in it for a few years now. Really nice, and the view from the parking lot is pretty too.
Loved the Book of Mormon, super funny. Not for the faint of heart, but if you aren't easily offended it's a blast. I would see it again.
We've always enjoyed live theater, so we're off to see the Book of Mormon at TPAC. I like the building and the location, so I'm a little bummed they have announced they are going to be moving to a new development across the river over the next few years. But such is life.
For some reason Bear has taken to sleeping on his snuffle mats. I guess whatever makes him happy!
Last month was a whirlwind that's going to be hard to top. But there's still plenty to look forward to. Busy year.
