Saturday, July 21, 2007 – Issaquah, WA

We awoke this morning to cloudiness, but scattered sunshine. Much more pleasant than yesterday’s solid clouds / rain. But then we are in the northwest!

After a “champion’s” breakfast of Krispy Kreme and coffee(!), we were fueled for the day – at least until our sugar / caffeine “crash”. Our first stop was the local Farmer’s Market at Pickering Barn in Issaquah. Like so many of the Farmer’s Markets we’ve visited during this trip, there were lots of gorgeous flowers ($5 purchased an enormous bouquet), beets, onions, carrots, peas, green and wax beans, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, apricots, pears, apples, honey, and the local specialties, gardening advice, and the arts. This one had one difference: a sustainable ornamental garden /original family barn.

As we walked through the garden, we were struck by the variety of flowers and plants that flourish in the northwest. Margaret remarked several times during our travels in this part of the country how many varieties of green and texture there are. Every turn in the road reveals a new combination of color and texture. In the East, you have pines, oaks, palms, and kudzu(!). Here, you have seemingly endless varieties of fir, pines, elm, spruce, hemlock, ferns, fruit brambles (raspberries, blackberries, etc.), and Japanese Maples. (Plus lots I can’t identify successfully.) Many of the municipalities plant fruit trees along the streets.

One of today's photos is of a vegetable display. Surprisingly, we didn’t buy any of the produce – although it looked wonderful. So what did we buy? Pasta! Yes, pasta. A local couple had produced an interesting variety of flavors, so we bought three kinds: lemon/ginger, saffron, and curry spaghetti. We haven’t had any yet, so we’ll have to report back later on how they tasted.

But one thing they do have in the northwest, at least around the Seattle area is urban growth. Here we are, 17 miles from downtown – across Lake Washington / Mercer Island – in the foothills of the Cascades, and there is traffic and housing development on every hand. A photo shows one example of the growth on the hillside – just above our RV Park – and close to a Boeing plant. I often wonder how many different Boeing plants there are, scattered around Seattle. The traffic is heavy!

After a short period of sunshine today, the rain returned this evening. Still mild, but wet and humid. Tomorrow we head south to Olympia for an extended stay. We will be seeing Connie and Harold (our friends in Olympia / Fernandina Beach). Wednesday, our daughter Carol arrives from LA for her writer’s conference at SeaTac. Margaret and I will drive up Wednesday to pick her up at the airport. Margaret will be staying with her during the conference and I will drive up a week from tomorrow (Sunday, July 29) to pick them up for Carol’s short stay with us in Olympia. She will fly back to LA on Tuesday, 31st. I don’t know which one of us is more excited.

Last, but not least, was our discovery of a Trader Joe’s market, less than 5 minutes from our RV site. Yesterday (Friday) we loaded up on a variety of yummies – had two quiches last night for dinner. I bought a case of “Two-Buck Chuck” Cabernet Sauvignon wine. In case you’ve never heard of it, it was introduced (I think in California) several years ago at $1.99 – thus the name. Later they raised the price a dollar, but it’s still a bargain – an excellent wine for less than $3.00. While we were in the store yesterday, a sales associate asked if we had tried their Chardonnay. No, we hadn’t. She said it had won several awards; but they had a hard time keeping it in stock. So today, I returned and bought another case of the Cabernet Sauvignon and a case of the Chardonnay. I’ll let you know how the Chardonnay turns out! (Margaret commented this evening at dinner that the Cabernet was a lot better than some of the wines costing a lot more than those we tasted in Canada. (Sorry, Canada!)

The last photo of the day captures a gentleman’s humor. I thought about buying the sign that said: Old Crow and Cute Chick Live Here – for display in our motor-home, but Margaret nixed the idea. The cut-out of the youngster eyeing the cut-out of the large lady says it all. Fun for all!