More Fires

Our time in Montana was impacted by the the forest fire in Glacier National Park and now that we are in California the fires have returned. In both situations we were unlucky in that the fires flared up just a few days before our arrival. The California wildfires have been devastating to many communities and we are fortunate that for us they are just an inconvenience. 

For our drive from Crescent City to San Francisco we were planning on just going down Hwy 101. Due to the fires we decided to go around, taking I-5. This added just a couple of hours to our trip, but it also meant getting in to SF at rush hour, rather than in the afternoon. 

We did arrive in time to get settled, eat dinner, and get the little girls to bed before the boys and I went to the airport to pick up Erin and Cam. They were actually supposed to arrive in the afternoon, but because of the smoke their flights were adjusted several times. We were thrilled when they were finally on the ground in San Francisco!

Crazy Riders
Smoke over San Francisco
Traffic
Beautiful Sunset

Olympic -> Seaside, OR

Today we made the drive from the north side of Olympic National Park to Seaside, OR. We stopped on the way at Angie & Zak’s, in Tacoma. Angie and Susan have been friends since college. 

It is good to be back in Seaside, where Susan and I stopped on our honeymoon. 

Also, three month roadiversary today!

Prairie Grass Guild

Back home in Des Moines we have been members of a group called the Prairie Grass Guild for the past few years (maybe 5?). We meet once a month on a Friday to go for a hike. Another family from the group, the Anhalts, have parents/grandparents who live in the area that we are in now. They happened to be visiting so we met in a city park in Bellingham for a hike and then we headed to the parents/grandparents for a grill out. It was great to see some familiar faces and enjoy the comforts of a home.

A visit from the Romans

When we arrived in the Gatlinburg area we realized we needed some direction on things to do here. Susan reached out to our friend Laura Roman and it turns out that they are in Gatlinburg at the same time that we are. They stopped by for a quick visit yesterday afternoon. 

Jumping Pillow!

Mar-Mar & Be-Bob Visit

My parents, Mar-Mar & Be-Bob, were in town to visit this weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon and left after soccer on Sunday. We had a nice time at the pumpkin patch on Friday, soccer in Pella on Saturday, and more soccer on Sunday. We also had the opportunity for a light early birthday celebration for Andrew and Lucia.

Sunday afternoon at the table

Our Pumpkin Paradise

This afternoon, with Mar-Mar & Be-Bob in town, we visited Our Pumpkin Paradise. It is the kids’ favorite pumpkin patch in town, with many activities including ‘The Box’. The kids always have fun picking out their pumpkins and playing in the corn.

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Donley Visit

Over the weekend we enjoyed a visit from the Donleys. They actually arrived in town on Wednesday evening and left Monday morning. Thursday we hit Living History Farms during the day. Friday we played mini golf in the afternoon (chigger bites, anyone?) and then hit Fong’s for dinner. Saturday morning we visited Susan at the Farmers’ Market, hung out in the afternoon, and grilled out with the Reagens & Liesses in the evening. On Sunday we went for a swim, went out for ice cream, and then hit the Machine Shed for dinner.

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Andy Visit

Andy has been staying with us this week. We have been watching him since he was 6 months old and now that he is in school we only get to hang out a few times a year.

Couch Sandwich. Andy is in there somewhere.
Couch Sandwich. Andy is in there somewhere.

Mar-Mar & Be-Bob Visit

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Mar-Mar & Be-Bob came to visit this weekend. They arrived Thursday afternoon and left on Sunday morning. It was a nice visit, with nice weather, so we were able to spend a lot of time outside. Some notable elements were Mar-Mar’s continued dominance on the athletic front, winning the mini-golf challenge. Also, we went for a late lunch at Olympic Flame which ended up taking about 2 hours because they were so busy. At least we got to see the flaming appetizer.

 

Jill & Will Visit

My parents left last Sunday morning, and later that afternoon Jill & Will rolled in to town. They stayed at the Reagens’ and left town on Friday. We had a fun time hanging out and exploring Des Moines (though they were able to do more exploring than we were).

 

 

 

Krause Family Visit

This afternoon we enjoyed a visit with the Krause family – Ben, Sami, and Satya. Ben’s extended family lives in Omaha and they we kind enough to make the two-hour trip to Des Moines.

Lieslands & Krauses
Lieslands & Krauses