Madison's Summer Visit

Our granddaughter Madison got to fly out from Houston Texas for a little summer vacation.  She looks like such a jet-setter at the airport.

Our first adventure was to visit some snow caves.  This is her first experience with snow.

Then it was a drive back over the mountain to do some white water rafting on the Wenatchee river.

Then a nice visit to Pioneer Village, where we learned about being a settler in the late 1800's.

It was not all run around and have fun, we had some down time also, a little time around the camper.

We got to ride a ferry and visit a lighthouse.

 

 

 

Next it was off to Mt. Rainier, it took us two days to explore and discover.  During this time Madison became a Junior Ranger.

 

 

Of course there has to be a snow ball fight in here somewhere.

And snow Angels

But ultimately the Junior Ranger is on patrol and guarding the forest.

 

No trip to Seattle can be complete without a trip to Northwest Trek, a zoo and rope skill course combined.

 

Madison hit's the ropes.

 

 Grandma and Grandpa help and ensure that safety standards are met.

 This one was a bit more challenging, her steps were not big enough so she had to step on the cables between the steps.  Awesome job....

 

To finish out the trip there was a trip to Wild Waves Water Park.  After the other adventures this one was almost relaxing.

 

 

That is until Grandma got the idea of doing the roller coaster. 

 



 There was a lot of fear until the third or fourth time around.  Then it became just fun.







During Joseph's trip we went to the Exit 38 off of I-90 climbing area east of Seattle.  Joseph used my shoes and his mom's belt.  We figured these disadvantages would counter his youth and athleticism so we could all climb at about the same level. 

We all double checked our rigging for safety.

Joseph pulls a nice 5.7 climb while being belayed by his mom.

Mocha and Bandit think is just all so boring.

Joseph gears up for his next climb, a 5.8.

It was a hard enough climb that I had time to scramble up and get a picture of him at the top.

I am  on belay for a couple of climbs.  This one had some interesting moves on it.

I got my turns also....

This is the crux of the 5.8, I needed a little help getting past this spot.

The hike in/out was along a very pretty little river.

And we stopped off at Snoqualmie Falls for some sight seeing.

 

During Joseph's visit with us in Seattle we decided to do the Woodinville Wine Tour.  Woodinville has a lot of bike trails.  So we went to a shop and rented some bicycles.  After our previous bike rental experience we looked for ones with "comfort seats".  Alas, there was only one. 

The trail was very pretty and not difficult to ride.  Some hills but nothing killer.  Barbara and I are somewhat inexperienced in trail riding and may have annoyed some of the regulars who really wanted to ride fast. 

But we eventually reached some of the wineries and of course had to stop for a glass, or two.

The next day, Barbara's Birthday, we into Seattle and did some site seeing.  First stop was the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Building. 

Joseph had his picture taken with Bill Gates, kinda.

 



Being Saturday of the July 4 weekend the place was mobbed.  We couldn't get a reservation on the Duck Tour until very late, the line to the Space Needle was very long.  So we opted to just cruise around and sight see. 

We found the Waterfront Area....

Which led us into the famous Pikes Place Fish Co.

They were not selling much fish, the price was very high. 

We did manage to get tickets for Seattle Underground tour.  Of course there was a several hour backup even for this so we felt pretty fortunate.   Then we did the tour, it started off with a little standup comedy/history skit that lasted about 10 minutes, then they trotted us down to the basement for the rest of the tour. 

 

 

We were a little disappointed, Grandpa Woods basement was more interesting.

It was fun just to be around Joseph and to rediscover what an impressive young man he has become.  We had Salmon on Cedar Plank around our urban campfires.

And then we celebrated Barbara's birthday with cake and candles, guy style.