The Great Northwest

A few weeks ago, George and I took a trip to visit the in-laws to be. My parents have retired to a small town in northern California called Crescent City. When I say northern, I mean 20 miles from the Oregon border and just a stone's throw to the Pacific Ocean. They are a 10 minute drive to the tallest trees on the planet (coastal redwoods) and the 2nd cleanest river in the U.S. (Smith River) Where is the cleanest river? I don't know, ha. It was a GREAT trip...very relaxing and wonderful company. Thanks to both of our families for everything you do!

Our first morning there...I LOVE the ocean!

Above is a photo of the "trail" after a windstorm

My parents acting like children...throwing rocks :)

How Big? SO BIG! Coastal Redwood - unofficially the biggest one is 379' tall and 26' in diameter

George always has to climb things...even uprooted trees

Wild irises lined the rocky coast

We drove from Crescent City to Seattle, with a quick stop in Portland to visit my bro, Maccy. Unfortunately Steph was at work so we didn't see her. The trip was 9 hours in the car, ugh! But we finally made it to George's parent's house around 2 a.m. (with a short nap). Then we decided to go to the Seattle Temple to the 6:30 a.m. session. I did surprisingly well staying awake. I was rewarded when I came out and ran into my good friend, Paige! We grew up in Alaska together and I knew she lived in the Seattle area. It was so great to give her a hug and seeing her made my day! Love ya Paige :) Christine has a photo of our lil reunion, I'll have to get her to email it to me so I can post it on here.

This was the first time for me to meet George's family. Everyone was so kind and made me feel comfortable. His parent's live on the outskirts of Seattle in a town called Monroe. It is SO beautiful and green with flowers everywhere. I was a little camera shy with them, so I only have a couple photos. George's brother David and his family came down from Canada, and Bill and his wife Christine flew out from Nebraska. Plus his brother Rodney and his wife Samantha live in Monroe too; so it was a mini-family reunion!

George and his parents at the locks

Cooking in the kitchen - George, Bill, Natalie, & Rodney (All 5 of the Bates boys look like "twins")

A cool small trip we did was to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard. These locks allow the passage of boats from the salty water of Puget Sound to the fresh waters of Salmon Bay, Lake Union, Portage Bay and Lake Washington. Depending on the tide I think it's about a 50' difference bettween Puget Sound and the freshwater. They even have a fish ladder so that the salmon can spawn, pretty cool.

The Locks

It was a fun trip to take before the BIG DAY. We feel SO blessed with such wonderful parents!