The day after my last final (Family Law), I flew to Seattle, which was in the middle of a furious snowstorm. Dad and Ann picked me up and it took two and a half hours to get the ten miles to the ferry terminal from the airport. We saw more than thirty cars "slide out" or stuck in snow banks or on streets. Winter with a vengeance! When we finally reached Vashon that night, we stopped at La Playa for dinner and went to bed.
The next few days before my 93-year-old grandma arrived were relaxed, calm, and freezing! The snow kept falling and there was a blizzard almost every afternoon. I went on long walks in the neighborhood taking pictures of the beautiful scenery. We also explored Vashon town center, saw the rather terrible Four Christmases at the local cinema, walked across Dale Chihuly's bridge of glass in Tacoma, and ate lots of great food.
Luckily Grandma arrived without any trouble and, although she had a cold, seemed to enjoy sitting on the couch next to the wood stove and watching TV or visiting with us. Todd arrived on Christmas Eve, due to work. It was so great to see him!
Christmas day was lovely. My stepbrother Joe, cousin Alison, her husband, Frank, and their son, Spencer all come over to Dad and Ann's house on the island to celebrate. We opened many presents, drank much apple cider, and took lots of pictures.
Over the next few days, Todd and I got a tour of Vashon. It really is a spectacular place, halfway between Yosemite and a rainforest. We went out to eat at Green Ginger and The Hardware Store, both island staples, with the whole family.
Todd and I also took the walk-on ferry into Seattle where we visited the Space Needle (and made it to the top!), the first Starbucks, the Experience Music Project museum with its tower of (playing!) guitars, the adjacent Science Fiction museum (two places for the price of one!), downtown, the Olympic Sculpture Garden, with its fabulous Oldenburg and Calder, the Seattle Mariners' Stadium (in the freezing rain, no less!) and Pike Place Market. At the Market, we ran into - of all people - Todd's cousin Aaron and his new wife Djamila, whose wedding we attended in Brooklyn at the end of October! What a small world!
On Sunday, we went to Joe and his girlfriend Brenda's beautiful home in Puyallup, where we had a wonderful Italian lunch. It was so nice to meet Brenda and catch up with Joe.
Before we knew it, it was time to head to Los Angeles on New Years Eve! I'll save that for the next post!
Me, Brenda, Grandma, and Ann at Joe and Brenda's home:
Todd and I at Joe and Brenda's home, next to their tabletop tree:
Christmas dinner (at about 3:30 in the afternoon!):
Dad and Ann's home, completely covered with snow:
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