Road Trip-A-Rama...Seattle

Part Two.

  The hard part.
 Unpacking the UHaul trailer. ( See previous post.)
. Sorting Kevin's stuff from the girls' stuff,
 and putting Kevin's stuff back into the trailer .
 Lugging Audra and Sarah's stuff up three flights of stairs.
Hauling Kevin's stuff to his apartment across town.
 Lugging Kevin's stuff up three flights of stairs.
Too bad we don't have any pictures of this...I was not in the mood.
Imagine.

By the time we got to the final stages of this day, I was exhausted and depressed.
Kevin's apartment is no bigger than a postage stamp.
No bigger than a breadbox.
No bigger than a walnut shell.
 You get the picture.  The more boxes the guys brought up the stairs,
the more discouraged I became

 I got me an ATTITUDE.

I think this is when the reality of it all hit me.
This was not just a fun road trip,
 I was leaving him here to fend for himself
 to find his own way.
to find a job
to find friends
to find out what he is made of.

He kept going over to the little windows and looking out at the view and LOVING IT!
All the while,
my mother's heart was not helping me get the right outlook...

So WHAT if he can see Mount Rainier from his window? ???


I could tell Kevin did not want me helping him set things up...he pretty much told me so!
 After he undid several drawers that I had brilliantly organized, I finally got the hint,
 and left him to do the hard part...I was pretty sure
that we would be hauling a big portion of stuff back to Kansas!

After a hot shower, a nap and a good Mexican dinner,
 things looked much brighter.
That night, I had a talk with the Lord and asked Him to kindly
adjust my attitude..ASAP....for Kevin's sake.

And He did.


The next day dawned  more hopeful,
and it did my heart good to see that Kevin
 had made his tiny little apartment
 into a charming little nest.
He had all of his stuff organized,
 art up on the walls, and books shelved.
 It looks great and he is happy!
And he didn't need me to do it for him!
He just needed me to get out of the way!

We left the kids that day
to sort things and continue unpacking
while we explored the city.
I needed to get my head and heart around this place
called SEATTLE!




My favorite part of the city...Pike Place Market. Love this place!

I took this picture for my friend Lezlie, who creates the most wonderful things.in crochet.....this little stall was nothing but little crocheted  hats...hats and more hats! Adorable hats!

Here we have the most wonderful things..I don't even know what they are called but they are strings of peppers, flowers, and who knows what else...I wish I had bought one of these, but I was trying to be so careful not to buy things everywhere I went!  This was a very hard task for me!

Aren't they beautiful!

And Oh my goodness such flowers! Huge fresh bundles of the most lovely flowers you have ever seen!

I couldn't get enough of them!!!

Music! These were the most fun to watch...they were really into it!

Seattle is called
The Emerald City.
Everything is so lush and green...when you take an exit off the interstate,
you can't see where you will end up
because of the plants growing everywhere.
They take flora and fauna to a new level here!




And then there's the water.
Lakes. Lakes. and More Lakes.
Boats. Boats. and More Boats!

Who wouldn't want to live in a town that looked this dreamy all the time?

more dreaminess...

not sure what this is like on a cold, rainy, winter night,
but it sure looked dreamy while we were here!

a little neighborhood park with a sparkling lake just a couple of blocks from the apartment...
where you can swim, row, kayak, or just lay around and watch the world go by.
Dreamy~

fresh blackberries as  big as walnuts!
and wild ones growing in everyone's back yard????
is your mouth watering yet??

Totem poles galore.

Take a look at those lush ferns at the bottom of the picture.
They grow around here like shrubs.
It's a tropical paradise, without the heat!

And the icing on the cake...

Yes people, I finally got to experience

 IKEA!

That day about wore poor Jim out,
but it was the jackpot for Audra,
she found the futon and pillows she wanted
to make her nest complete.

Just look at that smile!

back to more dreaminess.
Think "Sleepless in Seattle."...
I would have liked to see it at night!

And last, but not least,
Mt. Rainier

If you look closely, you can see it hovering above the skyline.
It was a pretty clear day, but you wouldn't know it from this picture!
It's beautiful and majestic every time you see it!

The next day Audra's parents flew home
and we spent the day doing some sight seeing with Kevin


Here's one of the views from the Space Needle.
Awesome!

Jim and Kevin went to the Aquarium and
I went to an antique market...
couldn't resist!
That night,we ate the most amazing clam chowder and salmon
on the waterfront downtown.

There is still so much we wanted to see and do,



There's always next time...
We'll see you again Seattle,

In the meantime,
be good to my boy!

I'll be back!

I promise!