Sadly, due to unavailability of the ingredients, I was unable to have a traditional Irish breakfast for the first time in years on St. Patrick's Day. It was pretty tragic, but we discovered that St. Patrick's day isn't as big a deal out here as it is back East. I also learned that running the Hoquiam Leprechaun Dash 5K the morning after watching your co-worker's band play all night at a beer and wine festival isn't the best idea in the world. However, any ill feelings were quickly relieved when I was awarded first place in my age group. This was the first time I ever placed in a 5K. I was pretty psyched. They actually tried to award me first place overall (no lie) but it was only because of a timing error. Either that or they just liked my name and felt I should win based on that alone. Anyone who has seen me run knows I'm not fast enough to win a 5K race outright.
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| An O'Malley should always win on St. Pat's Day |
I apologize for the lengthy delay between posts. I have been dying to write, but have been strapped for time. When there is a lag, such as this, between posts it generally means one of two things:
1) We are doing so much stuff that we don't have enough time to stop and talk about it.
2) Work is ridiculously busy and gets in the way of our blogging ability.
Currently, both are true. Which, when combined with Battlestar Gallactica marathons on Netflix, doesn't leave us with much free time. Finally though, the time has come to recount the incredible voyage that was Mom and Pop Funk's visit to Washington.
Amanda and I have been planning for this visit for some time now, and were excited that the moment had arrived when our plans could be put into action. After their Friday arrival, we got settled into our hotel in Seattle. The next morning, we set out to explore the city on foot. We took in the sights, smells, and sounds of Pike Place Market, which was followed by the Underground Tour. This tour allows you to see a hidden part of Seattle's history where sidewalks and storefronts from years ago continue to exist well below the current street level. It's a compelling tale that explains how Seattle, specifically the Pioneer Square area, changed over the years following the fire that leveled the city in 1889. Long story short, in the process of rebuilding the city, buildings were initially built on the tide flats which flooded with seawater and sewage twice a day. In an effort to combat this unfortunate and stinky occurrence, the city was gradually built higher, starting with the roads, which caused storefronts to be 8-10' below street level. The sidewalks that led to these lowered storefronts were eventually covered, resulting in a series of underground passageways. Over time, the use of these passages diminished, resulting in a buried city under Seattle. This tour allows you to explore 3 areas of this underground metropolis. For a better summary of the story CLICK HERE. If you want to read even more, CLICK HERE for the information on the history of the tour itself. I really recommend this tour to anyone who visits Seattle, it was both entertaining and informative. Just how we like our adventures to be!
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| The hidden streets of Seattle |
After we resurfaced and dusted ourselves off, we got all dressed up and experienced dinner at the Space Needle's Sky City Restaurant. After getting over the initial motion sickness associated with the rotating floor, we had a fantastic dining experience. It was by far the most memorable dinner we have had since we began travelling. It was the perfect way to end our day in Seattle with the Funks. However, unless we plan on winning the lottery, I don't think we will be able to go back any time soon!
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| A little rainy, but it's Seattle, what do you expect? |
Our next stop was the Boeing factory tour on Sunday morning in Everett, WA. It is here that they make the 777, 747 Jumbo Jet, and 787 Dreamliner Jet. The scale of the building and all the machines is unfathomable unless you visit. We were all blown away. You really can't appreciate everything that goes into making these planes unless you see for yourself. So go see for yourself!We finished off the weekend with some lunch and beer tasting at Red Hook followed by wine tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. It was one heck of a weekend. Of course this was just the warm up. Mom and Pop still had another whole week with us!
While we toiled away at work during the week, the Funks went gallivanting across western Washington exploring places such as Lake Quinault, Ocean Shores, and Westport. They visited museums, casinos, lighthouses, and glass makers. Not a bad way to spend your week, huh? It certainly beat our week at work, that's for sure. We made up for it though by meeting up at night to relax and spend some more time together. We even went to trivia night at the 8th Street Ale House and our team, "In-Law Invasion" won prizes in two out of the four rounds. Not too shabby.
The second weekend together as a group was spent doing mountain based snow sports. Clearly that's what anyone who visits Washington in the winter should do. Just ask our last visitor Meg! We started out by introducing Mom and Pop to snowshoeing (surprise, surprise) at Mt. Rainier. Once again the weather cooperated and it was a perfect day, with blue skies, brisk mountain air, and fresh snow. I doubt we will get either of them, especially Pop (unless he starts the Charles Atlas fitness program), back in snowshoes anytime soon, but we know they enjoyed the majestic mountain views and winter solitude that only snowshoes can offer.
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| Mom and Pop, ready for action! |
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| Mom and Pop getting all the action they can handle |
Our final event of the marathon Funk Family Western Washington Vacation Extravaganza was a weekend at Crystal Mountain for skiing/snowboarding. Skiing conditions weren't optimal, but we still had a full day on the mountain, and were graced with spectacular views of both Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. Nothing wrong with that. We rented a great mountain chalet about 30 minutes from the mountain where we could relax, play games, and watch movies. Unfortunately, the weekend was ruined for Pop when he couldn't produce the name of the main character from the show 24 during one of the games. The name Jack Bauer will forever haunt him. Sorry Pop.
On our way back to the airport hotel, we took multiple detours to places like Bill Gate's house and Microsoft's campus just so we could squeeze in as much as humanly possible. Eventually though, the time came to say goodbye. It was a jam packed 10 days of Washington festivities which gave Amanda's parents an extended glimpse into the ridiculousness that is our lives. It was phenomenal to have them here to be part of our travels. We had so much fun and many new memories were made.
Amanda and I are fortunate to both have supportive parents who have backed us on our decision to travel across country. Without the support of my Mom and Amanda's parents, as well as our friends and family, our current travels wouldn't nearly mean as much to us as they currently do. Thank you all for supporting us and being with us either physically as visitors or in spirit as followers of this blog.
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| It was great to have you visit, thank you for making the trip! |
