My friend Teri hosted Alison, me, and eleven hungry, dirty, exhausted, exhilarated kids at her beach cabin last week. Before you can drive back in to park, you have to unlock and lower a chain. Teri says you leave life there when you come in and pick it up on the way back out. Except that I'm having trouble getting it all packed back on. I can't remember how it fit before.
Tim said his top five of the cabin were: 1) The cousins (including Sophie), 2) reading, 3) the clams galore beach, 4) the food, and 5) the independence. I loved waking up every morning in that big communal room and hearing the relaxed breathing of so many people I love. I liked going down before everyone else was awake and stretching in the cool Northwest sunshine. I loved the beach walks, and watching kids playing for hours and hours in the driftwood and sand, and piles of rubber boots, and sitting on the Adirondack chairs on the last night watching reflections on the Sound and pretending it was summer in April.
The weather was glorious, glorious! As were the bald eagles, seals, Orcas, porpoises and even a grey whale. It was a beautiful week. Thank you Teri, Alison, and all you grimy kids.
We took the train from Everett to Seattle to get Alison and the kids to their plane. I loved it, as always. I'm a train person. I'm not sure ALISON loved it, but she was incredible. After she left with the kids for the airport (did you make it, Alison?), Tim and I did "Tim's Seattle"--we met Mr. Dewey live and in person on the spiral at the Rem Koolhaas library , ate fabulous delicacies at Belle Epicurean in the basement of the Fairmont Olympic (you eat there, dream about it for a year, eat there again...), and trekked down to Elliott Bay Books to buy something to read on the train home. It was the most gorgeous day of the year, absolutely heavenly. We saw Ranier and Baker and sunlight on the Sound. I could have upgraded to a sleeper and kept going to Chicago!
Well, now I've crossed the chain. I'm picking it all up and piling it back on again. But I find that although the week was full of kids to care for and food to cook, it was a vacation, a real one. I'm lucky on both sides of that chain. It's a nice life. I'll take it.
5 comments:
Sounds like a lot of fun, and makes me wish I was back on the coast. We always loved being in beach-side cabins. For some reason my anti-sand gene is a little less active there.
Sounds like it was so much fun...Charlie is going on his first train trip this Friday to Everett. I can't wait to see his face! Can't wait to see the pictures of you guys in your Charlie shirts!
~Court
I love the train. Scott and I are always talking about taking a train vacation all over Japan. Your vacation sounds great. I can't wait to go to Seattle again.
That sounds amazing. I'm so jealous you saw a gray whale and orcas and eagles. It always makes me cry when I see wild life. My kids made fun of me for crying at the dolphin show. Yesterday I cried at the vet school open house.
Yes, I do love trains, although I reached my train limit after riding one for 12 hours one day. Your blog is great as usual. Having experienced serendipitous western Washington weather before made the account of your trip even more enjoyable.
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