Thursday, March 12, 2009

Back Again to Sunny California

We returned from our trip to Portland, OR and Bellingham, WA late last night and were greeted by a gloriously sunny day today. The trip was lots of fun and we were able to a bunch of friends during our brief travels. 

After the weekend doula training in Portland, we left late Sunday night and drove up to Bellingham, arriving around midnight. My mother had waited up for us and greeted us warmly. We were quite tired after our long drive so we went straight to bed. 

Every time we have visited Bellingham in the past 2 years it has snowed. This is very usual since during my childhood years we were thrilled to get even an inch of snow once a year. Woodley and I drove up for Thanksgiving 2 years ago and were stuck there for a week during a huge snowstorm. Next, we were up there in April and we were amazed when the big fluffy flakes started floating down. And then, this past Christmas, it snowed so much we had to spend a night at the Tulalip Casino on our way home from the airport in Seattle (that was something I never thought I would have done!). I thought for sure there wouldn't be any snow this time - there hadn't been any snow in the forecast and it was March after all. As we drove into town on Sunday night the weather was quite cold and it was overcast. Woodley looked at me and said, "What do you want to bet it snows tonight?"  I laughed and said I guessed it was possible it might snow. We didn't really think it would though.

Boy were we surprised when we woke up Monday morning and saw an inch or so of snow on everything! Once again, we brought the snow! We woke up a bit late and, despite the snow, headed directly over to the nearby house that we are considering buying. We had arranged to have an inspector come to look over the property so we could find out if there were any major concerns with the house. We have been thinking about getting our own place for awhile now and we have had our eye on this particular property over a little over a year. It hasn't sold yet and we keep coming back to it. They recently dropped the price (again) so we decided it would be worth it to go ahead with the inspection. Unfortunately, the snow made it difficult for the inspector to access the roof and some of the other areas but overall it went well. It was amazing to sit in the living room of the house and watch the snowflakes flutter down outside! 

After the inspection, we hurried across town to meet up with Katie for lunch. It was so nice to see her and to spend a little bit of time catching up.

After Katie had to go back to work, Woodley and I explored Cornwall Park, The ReStore, and the Grizzly Tools showroom. That evening we had a great dinner at home with my mom, Katie, Jason, and Phil. After dinner my mom taught us all how to pay Pit. It is such a fun game and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good party game. It works well with three to eight players.

Tuesday dawned clear and cold. The sunlight was brilliant and it was a gorgeous day out! Woodley and I hung out around my mom's house for the morning and then went for a walk in Boulevard Park. The sunshine on the bay was gorgeous and it was so fun to check out all of the sailboats in moored off of the shore. We walked from the park over to the Colophon Cafe in Fairhaven where my mom met us and we ate a yummy lunch. Next, we headed back over to the prospective house where we met up with Sasha, Katie to show them the property. I had so much fun showing them the house and yard and I really do believe I am falling in love with that house. 

Before Woodley and I headed up to Bellingham, Sasha, Katie and I had planned to have a "girls night" on Tuesday evening. As things turned out, we didn't exactly have our night just to ourselves, but it was still a super fun evening. We once again had dinner, all together, at my mom's house. Next we went over to Julie and Greg's new house (they just finished remodeling it and moved in a little over a week ago) to see the updates. It was amazing! My mom and Woodley went along with us for that. After seeing the house, we decided to all go bowling together! Since it was late, we played only one game, but it was great fun! Woodley won. :) 

Wednesday morning (yesterday), we woke up early and hit the road around 8am. We stopped in Seattle and had breakfast with Nicola at a delightful little Greek restaurant called The Continental. The food was fabulous and just what we needed to energize us for the long drive ahead of us. Nicola and I split the Greek Pancakes and a special breakfast of rice with sauteed mushrooms, scrambled eggs, and feta. (Not a combination I would have come up with on my own, but oh so tasty!) After that we headed back to I-5 and drove all the way down to Los Gatos. We arrived around 2am and headed straight for bed, exhausted! It was such a fun trip though and I'm so glad we drove and went together. It makes Bellingham seem so close when we can drive home in 1 long day. 

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