Singing in the Rain

Singing in the Rain
April 7th-May 7th 2008


Traveling north on I-5 from Portland we were deceived by the riot of blooming color into thinking we were going to have nice spring weather for our stay in Seattle. We should have known better especially when you hear radio commercials pitching Vitamin D to the residents of Washington.

We settled in for our extended visit with Roby’s family. Our two priorities were to study for our LEED exam and help care for Roby’s Dad. After an initial scare with the doctor, we received good news his Dad’s cancer has not spread and the tumors in his lungs have shrunk. So the goal was to get him strong and feeling better. By the time we took off he was close to being himself again. We will keep tabs on him during our journey. We thank everyone who has sent well wishes.

Second, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone so excited to pass a test than Roby. He came running out of the testing center pumping his fists like Tiger Woods after the 18th hole at the Masters. The checkout person had to settle him down so she could complete the paperwork. He was so fired up!! I had to sit him down to keep him from having a heart attack. We have now accumulated more initials next to our name than any other unemployed person. Since putting it on his resume, Roby has received two email inquiries for further information for potential employment. (Shanghai and Hong Kong). Maybe they will pay for that portion of our trip for us.

Although we spent a considerable amount of our time studying or visiting with family, we did get out and play a little. We had two days without rain and “warm” weather. (Warm meaning we did not have to wear our fleece jackets). Both of those days were spent with Roby’s friend Erik. We met up at his house in Bothell and with his wife Kim and two kids Tessa and Catherine, we did an incredible mountain bike ride through the St Edwards Park and Big Fin Hill. These trails are right behind his house on the banks of Lake Washington. He is rather spoiled. This forest trail introduced us to tree roots, ruts, rocks and limbs. An eye-opener after having only ridden open exposed slick rock in Moab, and pretty scenic trails along the Deschutes River in Bend. The trail was a great single track with just enough climbing and excellent downhills. By the expressions on our faces you would have thought we were two kids in a candy store. I guess we had been cooped up in the house too long. Unfortunately, the nice weather went away the next day and we reverted back to being hermits. (good thing we had to study). A week later the sun came out again and we decided to head to Seattle and cruise downtown. We did a nice walk through Seattle Art Museum’s Sculpture Park near the Harbor area and watched all the Washingtonians try to soak up some rays. Many of them call in sick when the sun comes out. We tried to hook up with Mia from Kauai while we were in town but our schedules never were able to coordinate but it sounds like she is having a great time in the big city. Several days latter we met up with Erik this time to go sailing on the Puget Sound out of Everett. Erik’s friend Dave has a 32 foot Slup Sailboat. Although we only saw one distant whale spout we did see a huge sea lion plopped on top of a buoy. Being Friday afternoon we celebrated a “Pau Hana” (Hawaiian for Happy Hour) in style on the boat. We finished the perfect evening with a breathtaking sunset. We got our daily dose of Vitamin D.

Two days later we braved the weather and ventured down to Capitol Forest Preserve area outside of Olympia. Roby’s brother Jaime and his wife were down there for a big ORV event. It is an area completely dedicated to hiking, biking, and off-road vehicles. The area is well over 100,000 acres. After visiting with his brother we decided to complete a loop trail near the Fall Creek Campground. Being novices we ventured out without wearing any rain gear. The sun was out who needed a jacket. Needless to say we encountered every weather pattern while on our mountain bike ride. A little rain, a little hail, and a little sun, not to mention a whole lot of mud!!! Despite getting lost and having to sort of make up our own ride we found an excellent trail and it turned out awesome. Washington State does an incredible job maintaining its parks and trails. Kauai can’t compete. We keep wishing our buddy Leo was with us!!!

We extended our stay an extra week but really needed to get on the road so we decided to leave on Thursday May 7th, hoping to time the weather. Our initial plan was to head directly to Canada but we decided with the nice weather coming for the weekend we would detour a bit and do the San Juan Islands. It took us a good three days to get re-organized, purchase new supplies and do a few loads of laundry.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo is not quite the same in Washington as in Arizona but we did at least eat Mexican food. We took Roby’s Dad and family out for dinner before we took off for our next venture. Thursday morning came and we said good-bye to his Mom and headed to the Ferry in Anacortes Washington.