Day 10, July 28: Family

Day 10, July 28: Family

I’m writing this on day 11, as I sit and watch my sister Sally cook me a wonderful breakfast of sausage and waffles. It’s so good to be with her and her family – I just don’t get to see them enough.

I began the day early, breaking camp and on the road by 6:15. The drive from Bamff to Snohomish, outside Seattle, wasn’t as long as I’d feared, and I pulled into Sally’s drive a little after 4, west coast time. Sally and her husband, Mike, have a beautiful log home, which Mike built, outside Snohomish. Sally spends a lot of her time on her gardens and house, and it is obvious. 

We toured her gardens and then I watched her cook me a fabulous meal of homemade ravioli, porterhouse steaks, artichokes, grilled whole carrots, and garlic bread. Mike made homemade guacamole we snacked on while she cooked, and I feel well fed and pampered. Having a sister and brother-in-law who have attended a cooking school in Italy isn’t so bad. My nephew Harrison and his friend Tony came over for dinner too. Harrison has grown into such a lovely young man – I still can’t get over the fact he’s 6’2” and not the little guy I remember.

Sally built this table and laid the tile on the top. She inherited our father's ability to create beautiful things.

And to sleep in a real bed was luxurious! Just to be able to sprawl under the covers instead of being constrained to a sleeping bag was wonderful, and to get up and walk across the hall to the bathroom instead of having to put shoes on and hike through a campground . . . ahhh. It’s funny how I now appreciate so many little things I take for granted every day.

So after a wonderful, late evening of great food, wonderful conversation, loving family, a solid night’s sleep, fresh waffles and sausage, I feel refueled and revitalized, ready for the next stage of the journey. So it’s off to Mount Rainier today where I’ll set up camp and have a short (2 -3 hour) hike, and I’ll see what’s in store next.