Halloween in Duvall

You’ll have to pardon the lateness of my Halloween post.  We've been a bit busy the last few days! (more on that soon)

Remember that brake squeal we heard on the way down from Vancouver. Well, we didn't contact anyone to see if we could get in to get them checked until after the weekend. Big fat Not A Chance! So we decided to tackle the job ourselves. My dad had shown me how to check the brakes and repack bearings on our tent trailer, but this would be the first time doing it all by my(our)selves. We didn't managed to get all four hubs done on Wednesday (we got half done), so that meant we’d be staying to finish on Thursday. And if we’re staying, we better stay for trick-or-treating!

Flyers we had seen around town indicated that many of the businesses along main street Duvall were going to be handing out treats, and the Chamber of Commerce was hosting a kids Halloween party. Sounded pretty good.  Jeff, Bob’s friend (whose acreage we were staying at), had told us that Halloween was a pretty big deal in the area too. 

Thursday morning met us with rain, which kyboshed our plans for inspecting the other two hubs (pushing that job out to Friday morning). Morgan did some school work, and we tidied up instead. The clouds cleared in the afternoon, and it was warm enough that we didn't need jackets outside. Around 3 pm we piled into the truck, kids in costume (Morgan as Iron Man, and Lily as a fairy), and headed into Duvall. At first it didn't seem like many people were out, but that assessment changed pretty quickly. Kids and adults in costume were everywhere! By 5 pm main street was packed with people. And I mean packed. Many of the businesses were giving away treats outside their crowded front doors, and those who had candy inside had a constant stream of people in and out their door. I've never seen anything like it back home. Of course, it’s a fair bit warmer in Duvall than it usually is in Airdrie for Halloween. Easier to stay out when you’re not freezing!

Morgan & Lily got their fill of candy (in their tummies and treat bags) and then we went to the Chamber’s Halloween party, which was also on main street. There, they played a variety of games and make crafts and ate popcorn before getting played out, themselves.

They were all done with the excitement by 6, so we hopped back in the truck and popped over to Safeway, so I could grab something for supper that didn't consist of candy!    

The kids had fun, but both said they enjoyed trick-or-treating at our old house in Airdrie better because they could go to “two whole bays!”. Hmm. I guess busier isn't always better.

Two days in Seattle: Day two

(sort of)

Taking Saturday off to regroup we realized that our lack of phone & internet was causing some planning problems. So we altered our Sunday plans (where we were going to do our second day of sightseeing) and headed into Renton instead to go to Fry’s (an electronics specialty store) and pick up a WiFi booster. Upon arriving Bob discovered an entire shopping center had popped up in the 5! years since he had been here last.

So, we got a bit extra shopping done & picked up a Halloween costume for Morgan. As luck would have it, Renton Landing was having their trick-or-treating that very afternoon. Woohoo! The opportunity to celebrate Halloween was too good to pass up, especially since we weren't really sure where we’d be on Halloween and both the kids were a bit concerned. Morgan dressed up in his new Iron Man costume and Lily in her wings and wand we had just purchased for her (with her charm that’s enough costume for her to get plenty of treats) and we joined with lots of other children (and adults) dressed up in a myriad of costumes. Morgan was particularly enthralled with a very young boy in a purple dragon costume (he was super cute). The kids both collected quite a haul in a short amount of time. Strangely enough, I think Lily was most excited by the toothbrush/toothpaste packs that the local dentist was giving away!

Now, back to that second day in Seattle, which actually turned out to be Tuesday (like I said in my last post – four days).  We woke up that morning to frost on the ground. Brr! It turned out that the clear skies which helped create the frost also made for a lovely day in Seattle. The sky was bright blue and having learned our lesson from the previous trek into the city, we got going early and were in our parking spot (exact same one as before!) by 10:08 am. Much more time to explore, and it was a good thing too, since we had a full day planned. 

First stop – the EMP (Experience Music Project) museum, which is right next door to the Space Needle (and Science Center) in Seattle Center. The whole building has music playing – both inside and outside. And the building itself is crazy cool architecture. It all beckons the curious soul to come check it out. Bob and I both wanted to see this, but I wasn't sure quite what to expect and didn't know what the kids would think of a music museum. Turns out this place is pretty cool, and the kids thought so too. There’s a huge screen playing music or interviews when you first walk in, and the music completely surrounds you. There are a variety of exhibits – Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, icons of Science Fiction – and more, and upstairs is a Sound Lab, stage and an area where you can listen to music clips and vote for your favorites (Lily and I spent a fair bit of time there). Morgan loved the Sound Lab, where he could try out a variety of instruments, and equipment. He especially liked the mixing board. Lily loved the microphone. There was a table in the middle that played a beat and when you put your hand down on it like you were beating a drum,  different types of drums would beat in time with your hand. That was my favorite. I love music – always have. I had forgotten just how much I love music, and this place reminded me.  Thank You EMP!  If you enjoy music, and are ever in Seattle, I highly recommend coming here. 

We spent the whole morning there, and I probably could have stayed there all day, just absorbing the beat. But we had a schedule to keep, and so we left the museum, grabbed a quick snack from our backpack and took a short ride on the monorail. The monorail is another relic of the World’s Fair, and only has one stop. But it got us halfway to our next destination, while providing some novelty. We walked several blocks, heading towards our next stop – the harbor, specifically Pier 55, which is the home of Argosy Tours. Their 1 hour harbor cruise tour departs weekdays at 1:30 sharp, and we (I) had planned our day around this. The day was perfect (no gale this time) the ocean was extremely calm (definitely no six foot swells) and the clear skies and warm(ish) weather meant we could enjoy the leisurely boat cruise and learn more about Seattle from a different perspective (and it was one of the tickets in the CityPass, so hey, why not take a tour?). Morgan however, was unimpressed, especially when I told him he couldn't have his IPad on board. Oh, what a horrible mommy I am!

view from the cruise

After our cruise we backtracked a short way to the Seattle Aquarium to check out the marine life. This is the fourth aquarium we've been to with the kids (Monterrey Bay and Vancouver in previous years) and each one offers something a little bit different while showcasing the local fish & animals. Here, it’s the touch tanks that are notable. There are two large tanks with starfish, various anemones, sea urchins and more; all for touching. Of course, no one from our party wanted to touch anything! We checked out all the display tanks, said hi to the otters and seals, watched the giant pacific octopus get fed and then called it a day. 

We walked up through Pikes Place Market, where Bob & the kids grabbed some pizza, and then hopped aboard the monorail to return to Seattle Center and our truck. And then we headed right into rush hour traffic. Oops! (remember I said rush hour was ugly?) Even with that, I think we all had a pretty good day.  

Two Days in Seattle: Day one

Ok, so our two days were actually four days apart, but hey, who’s counting! Since we knew we were going to Seattle (area) before we left Vancouver we looked up what to do with kids. The answer is lots of things! Seattle is a very kid friendly place, many activities to do and places to see.  So much so that Seattle has a CityPass you can purchase, which gets you into 6 of the most popular (or iconic) sites for one discounted price.  Great!  Except, then you want to go see all those sights to get your money’s worth.  So, we planned for a couple days sight-seeing.

A week or so should give us plenty of time to see everything! What I didn't know at the time was that we would be staying 45 minutes from downtown Seattle (because everything is at least 30 minutes from Seattle, it seems).  It’s not that far, distance wise, but between busy highways and crazy twisty, turny roads, lakes and arms of ocean, it takes some time to get anywhere here.  Metro Seattle is quite large, and there are tons of smaller communities and acreages just out of the metro area, so rush-hour traffic is the kind you want to avoid. That meant we weren't going to do any spur of the moment jaunts – hence the break in the middle of our sightseeing days. 

Anyway, back to the good stuff. 

Day one: Friday. We followed the GPS from Duvall, where we are staying to downtown Seattle, getting quite frustrated by said GPS’s inability to get us those last few blocks to find a parking spot. There aren't many places to park this beast of a long-box dually. I finally relied on the internet and found us a lovely spot in the parking lot at the Seattle Center, which is exactly where we were trying to go!  I think we spent nearly an hour driving downtown trying to find a spot before that. Yeesh! That whole darned parking thing out of the way, we could finally start checking the place out!

Our first stop of the day -the Space Needle - a rather neat looking relic from the ’62 World’s Fair. A short (time – not distance!) elevator ride up the outside of the Needle brought us to the observation decks.  Morgan thought it was very high! There’s an outside (open air) ring and an inside ring to view the city from, and even though it was a cloudy day, we had a pretty good view of the area.  After a brief circuit of the outside ring, and a look through the viewing telescopes, we went inside.  I think Morgan wanted in most of all – evidently the height and being outside bothered him much more here than at the CalgaryTower (which is interesting, considering he had a blast there laying on the glass floor, looking straight down at the street far below).  Inside he was fine, and we all checked out the many displays and interactive boards detailing the geographical and cultural features of Seattle.  The most interesting to me was the 360’ 24-hour time-lapse view, which could be advanced minute by minute or in chunks of time.  Once we’d had our fill of the skyline we rode the elevator back down and set off for the Pacific Science Center, which is a hop, skip and a very short walk down the path from the Space Needle. 

On the way over we took note of the Chihuly Garden and Glass, a beautiful blown glass art display on a gigantic scale. What we could see looked breathtaking, but the thought of my dear monkeys near all that glass made Bob & I shudder and so we just looked but did not enter.  The Science Center is much more up their alley! Our CityPass tickets included entry to one Imax movie, so we chose the only one available at that time – Jerusalem, which was quite interesting, and captivated the children’s attention more than I thought it might (but I really should know better – large scale film, music and a darkened room are perfect ways to engage both Morgan & Lily). The Science Center is quite sizable and we didn't actually see it all before it closed. Starting off, there are several interactive water displays in the courtyard and Morgan helped some boys get a big rock ball rolling on 5 psi of water pressure.  It was pretty neat to watch, and I was really happy to see how they all worked together to get it moving.  After they’d left – and the rock had stopped moving, I tried rolling it. It was really hard!

Making our way inside we checked out the space exhibit, and then Lily and I looked at the bugs (black widows!) while Bob & Morgan went into the human body section (where Morgan apparently memorized all there is to know about sleep! – now if only he’d apply that knowledge). We joined up for a planetarium presentation and then back out for more exploring. Together again to watch our Imax movie and then we all played with the exhibits in the music section.  I liked the singing bowls best. At that point we discovered the Center would be closing in 15 minutes (Yikes! Where did the afternoon go?)  A quick jaunt through the Butterfly garden an then it was time to leave. On the way out Lily and I realized how much we hadn't seen or done, but it was too late to go look.  Ah well. There are lots of Science Centers, and I’m sure we’ll end up at a few more on our journey. 

Everyone was hungry, so we walked a few blocks to The Rock, a local restaurant, for a yummy supper, and then drove the 45 minutes back to the trailer (having only one navigating mishap in the process). What a long day! The kids got to bed late and so did we, and we knew we’d need a slower schedule the next day to catch up and better plan our next outing into Seattle…   

How not to cross the border

I’m really glad I don’t have to write “how to not cross the border”, but it certainly could have gone smoother.

Now, when you plan to cross into the United States and stay for 5-6 months there are some preparations it might be wise to take. Things like passports, medical insurance, vet vaccination certificates and any official documents are rather important and high on the list of things to have.  No problem – we have those covered.

But there are a few other things which we really should have had ready.  And because we didn't, it made for a longer stop at the border than might otherwise have occurred.

Things like:

1)      What fruits/vegetables/ meat are you bringing in?  Um, a fridge full – I don’t know, uh… tomatoes, broccoli, um… are not good answers. 

Border patrol would like an itemized list, please – failure to declare all items is a $300 fine (we got off with a warning this time – oh, and for the record onions and tomatoes, along with a variety of other items are not allowed)

2)      How long are you planning to stay and where is your destination? Again, vague answers are not met with approval.  “Seattle, then California, then southern US… we’re not really sure” is not clear enough.

Now this is a tricky one for us since we don’t have an exact destination (other than our immediate one, and San Francisco for Christmas) and also don’t have an exact date to return to Canada. Most people do have set destinations and dates, and anything outside that is met with a bit of head scratching as the border guards try to figure out exactly what we are doing. I suppose the best answer for them would have been something like “We’re touring the US, starting at Seattle and then going through the western & southern states, making our way east and then north with the intention of returning to Canada on approximately April 1^st.”  Sounds pretty reasonable, right?  Too bad I didn’t have that answer ready on Wednesday.  Oh well, live and learn. 

As a result we got to pull off and have the trailer inspected – mainly for food items, but I’m sure they wanted to figure out exactly what we were doing crossing into the US.  Into the side building we went to answer more questions.  Certainly nothing difficult and nothing intimidating.  Just questions that would allow the border guards to “classify” us, and alleviate some of that head scratching on their part, but we seemed to be particularly tongue-tied that day and didn't make their job any easier. I think trying to answer questions while attempting to rein in the kids, who were running like wild banshees through the building, didn't help.

“Where do you live? Where do you work? So, what’s your budget for the trip? I personally liked “Retired! How’d you manage that?” and “So what did your work think when you told them you were quitting?”

Once the inspection was done, we were free to head into the US.  It only took about an hour extra, but it did mess up the flow of the afternoon and made the already bouncy children extra volatile. Oh yay! We did have some groceries confiscated, but nothing a grocery store visit couldn't fix.    

Since this is our first big, longer trip into the US – ever – that we can be forgiven for not knowing how to do it smoothly. (And, in many ways, our Alaskan border crossings don’t count the same – there’s not really anywhere else to go other than back to Canada via one highway through a whole lot of wilderness.)

There were two other things we really should have dealt with a bit more before heading across the border – our phones (both our Canadian cell phone plans and getting a US phone plan), and some trip planning.  Six days in and we still haven’t completely figured those out!   

Guess it’s time to go learn what it’s like to be a snowbird. I think part of the problem with us being unprepared is that I would have liked to stay in Canada longer. We all would have liked to visit Vancouver Island, but the damp and cooler temperatures are not working for us or the trailer. And so, we've headed south – without a real plan, but really, we didn't have a firm plan on where to go when we headed north towards Alaska a few months ago.  Just like then, we’ll figure it out.

Um, if anyone has some suggestions on where to go from now until mid-December, and then from January to April, send them my way. 

Really!?

I think nature is mocking us.
After days of fog and dampness, as we prepare to leave Vancouver, the sun and warmth has returned. And I mean it is an absolutely beautiful day.
Really!?

This is becoming way too familiar a scenario. We pull in, the clouds roll in, we pull out and the sun returns.
It's very annoying.
I'm hoping we can break this trend soon. Either that, or we should consider hiring ourselves out as drought breakers!

Our view from the bathroom window

Sunbeams make me happy.

I am a cat.

At least that's what Bob says.  No, it's not because I'm small and furry or because I hate being wet and cold. It's because I love my sunbeams.
In our house in Airdrie we had a bank of windows upstairs in our bonus room. Even on the coldest winter day, as long as the sun was shining, I could sit (or lay) in a sunbeam and soak up the warmth. I love the feel of it on my skin, soaking into my bones, and the color behind my closed eyelids.
Our trailer has some pretty decent sized windows as well as a skylight that let in lots of light. They make the trailer feel open and airy (which is one of the reasons we chose it). And this most noticeable when we are parked under open skies.

Which we haven't been for a while. In Penticton we were parked under the trees, so the sun didn't reach the trailer directly. 
The first two days we were in Vancouver the sun shone, and it was fabulous. That sun felt good. Munchie was happy to have a sunbeam to lay in, the kids opted to do their art work at the sun drenched kitchen table and for the first time in many days, the trailer was comfortably warm (as an aside, those of you who know me know that I am the eternally frozen, so my "comfortably warm" is probably a bit too warm for many). There's no doubt about it, sunbeams make me happy.
The sun lasted for two days before it disappeared behind for banks. I haven't really seen the sun for days now. Come back, sun, come back!

Birthday ups and downs

I woke up this morning to the sound of fog horns and car alarms. Not the greatest start to the morning, and I was already prepared to be grumpy - just like I am at the start of every birthday. I’m not sure why I start every birthday feeling the same grumpy way, but I do. In fact, most of October is spent this way. Birthday blahs I guess, since as soon as my birthday is passed, I perk up again.

Morgan bounced into the bedroom seconds later saying something beep! beep! had woken him up (darned car alarm!), and then proceeded to make a tangled mess of my sheets (which takes him about 3 seconds flat).  I guess that meant it was time to get up. Grumble, grumble. The moment I hopped out of bed, my phone clicked at me, indicating a new message. Checking it, I discovered several texts, and Facebook messages all wishing me a happy birthday. Now who can stay grumpy with that greeting their day?!

The sun of the last couple of days had disappeared, replaced by cool, ocean scented fog. Even the weather seemed to be catering to my initial mood, but the scent also seemed to refresh and I took a couple deep breaths on my way to the campground’s excellent shower facilities. Once clean and happily waterlogged (yes, I often rate my campgrounds based on their showers and their ability to provide unlimited hot water), my outlook on the day started to look up. 

And then came Grade 2. Morgan & I worked on school for a few hours, complete with tears (his) and raised voices (both of us) and frustration (again, both). There’s nothing quite like being yelled at by a 7 year old with tears streaming down his face as you try to tell him how to construct the sentence the right way and get him to write 3 whole words while failing to keep your own cool to make you feel like a really bad teacher. And a bad parent. And want to throw all the school books in the garbage or just give up on the whole home schooling thing and go back to public school. Not gonna happen this year though, which means that sometimes you just have to switch gears.  At least with homeschooling we can be done with bookwork by noon and move on to something else. Strangely enough, the fit over writing the sentence completely erased my morning grumpiness and I was now determined not to waste the rest of the day.

I wanted to find an activity that we all could enjoy (meaning no museums and no kid stuff!), that would get us outside and doing something active – especially as the fog was clearing and it looked like the sun would come out, and nothing with “obvious” learning to it. Well, the Capilano Suspension Bridge is right close to where we’re staying, and a quick research on the web told me that there were several other activities right there. All righty then! Time to get going!

We all packed into the truck (which looks enormous driving through the narrow Vancouver streets) and drove out of the campground, noticing several people staring at the big spruce tree near our site. Looking back I saw what they were looking at – 2 bald eagles perched in the tree, chattering away. Cool, but we've seen many eagles on our adventure so far, so we kept driving (oh how blasé we've become about nature!). Off to the Bridge we went. Bob did an excellent job backing the dually into a teeny tiny parking spot (and that’s why you see all those trucks backed into parking spots – it’s way easier to back in than go forward!) and then we walked across the street. 

There are three (well, four really) sections to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park – the Bridge itself, the Treewalk (and the Nature Trail beside it) and the Cliffwalk. All of which give a unique and interesting perspective of the Capilano River, and the rainforest surrounding it. Upon entering the gates we picked up maps, which turned out to have an activity enclosed (so much for avoiding learning!). There were empty spots to emboss stamps on as you went through the sections of the area. The kids both were keen to do this, and actively searched out the stamp locations throughout our visit. 

First stop, the Story house, which contained information about the building of the Suspension Bridge and its history as a tourist attraction. Usually at this point I provide some of that info, but I admit, I didn't read the panels today. I was ready for the walk and could tell that the kids weren't interested in standing around while Mom and Dad actually learned something.  Plus, something about having young kids near sheer drop offs (which were quite sturdily fenced off, and therefore relatively safe) makes a mom extra attentive to them, and not the information panels around.  The kids found their first stamp here and then we headed over to the Bridge, passing by some interesting native art and totem poles.

The Bridge itself is 450ft long and 230ft above the river’s surface. My mom asked me if I was scared.  Nah.  I was too busy watching my children to even really process the height up there. And, I’m only scared of heights if I feel like falling is a real possibility. With the high side rails, wide decking, and the presence of a multitude of other tourists, I felt pretty safe. The bridge was bouncy, but mostly on either end, where the trees were closer and there was no impression that you were about to be flung into space. I can imagine that on a windy day the middle bridge, where you can look down to the river far below, would get a bit thrilling.

Safe on the other side we quickly checked out some of the information about the rainforest we had entered and then our attention was drawn away by an intruder of the four legged kind. A cheeky little Douglas squirrel was rapidly making its rounds of the tables beside the small snack stand near the rainforest panels. It darted from table to table, jumping on the tops and even skittering across the people seated at them. Morgan and Lily thought this was absolutely fantastic and ran after it. Lily got quite close to it before it jumped off the bottom of the chair, practically running over her feet and hopped up onto the counter of the snack stand, where it found what it was looking for – the napkin dispenser. Grabbing a napkin, it hopped down, balled it up and disappeared into the trees. Hello Mr. urban squirrel! 

We then wandered over to the Treetops Adventure, where you walk up 100ft into the treetops via suspension bridges and landings around some enormous Douglas fir trees. It provided quite a different perspective of the forest around us than what we get on the ground. Pretty neat, actually, to be that high up in the canopy without needing any special equipment (well, except for all the special equipment around those trees!). Descending from the treetops, we continued on the nature walk, which brought us through an area with small ponds, varying fauna, and excellent views of the river and cliff side. The walk passed under the Bridge, and continued along the edge of the cliff. Morgan & Lily had been answering questions in an activity page they picked up from the Treehouse at the beginning of the Treetop adventure. In this way we learned that their arm spans are as big as a raven’s (mine is as big as a horned owl), and that Morgan is 8 Douglas Fir years old – right on track! (He’s also 13 Western Hemlock years old and 10 Western Red Cedar years old - Lily is similar ages.) The kids took their completed activity page to the Treehouse, where they received special pins. 

After a brief stop for a snack (sadly no squirrels came to visit), we recrossed the Bridge and then went to check out the Cliffwalk. This was the section Morgan wanted to see the most, and that, maybe, had me the most worried. After descending a spiral staircase, the Cliffwalk then sends people out beside the cliff – on a narrow walkway that is suspended out from the cliff.  Most stays pretty close to the cliff side, although one section loops away from the face to provide a great view of the river and trees far below.  The kids and Bob raced through this, but I hung back a bit.  I actually wanted to look – out and down and wherever I felt like.  Too many of our outings are a blur and I feel like I’m reading the cliffnotes of the activity rather than really experiencing it (sorry, no pun intended!). And I was rather surprised that the height wasn't bothering me at all. 

It certainly bothered the lady behind us! But that walkway was rock solid, and again, the railings were quite high, so I did actually feel pretty safe, even standing on a walkway dangling several hundred feet up.  The walkway rejoined with the cliff face and climbing the stairs, I was again on solid land. The scariest part of all the activities really wasn't that scary, and I would absolutely recommend for anyone coming to the Vancouver area to come see the Park. 

We finished up our trip at the gift shop where Bob bought a variety of fudge for dessert (unbeknownst to me).  We headed back to the campground where we took a dip in the hot tub before having a simple supper, the aforementioned fudgy dessert, and settling in for a quiet evening. 

Can you see Bob?

I think for a day that started off kinda yucky, and had so many ups and downs, it turned out to be a pretty great day.  

(P.S. Thanks for all the birthday wishes that came in through the day.  They certainly helped make the day happy.)

Morgan found this rather fascinating