Hello Celebritys

One of the things we wanted to do on our trip was go all out by dressing up in our formal skirts/dresses and going out to eat. We were originally planning on going out to dinner, but ended up going instead to a really cute little tea room. We decided to go on Thursday and, for a couple of us, it was a "lazy morning" day. For the other two of us, it was up-and-at-it early in the morning.

Sarah and I went out to run some errands in the morning. We left the other girls sleeping, and were on our way.

We started off by going to a coffee shop in Issaquah for breakfast. We had an Entertainment Book for our trip with Buy-One-Get-One coupons in it, including a coupon for Cafe Ladro. We each got something to drink and a treat to eat, both of which were very good!

Of course a roadtrip is not complete without getting gas at Costco - especially when it happens to be the cheapest place around. Of course, we had to wait in a ridiculously long line. . .but it went pretty quickly, considering there were at least 20 cars waiting before us!

If there is one thing I miss from California, it's In-N-Out Burger. If there are two things I miss from California, the second is Trader Joe's. Since Spokane/Coeur d'Alene are not lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's - yet (someday???) - that was one place I wanted to go. Sarah and I had fun wandering the aisles and looking at different products. I got peanut butter filled pretzels for my mom (trust me, they are amazing!) and cheese puffs (much better than Cheetos!) for me, plus a few other things. Such a fun store!

We then headed to REI in downtown Seattle because I wanted to get a BPA-free water bottle. The REI in Seattle is quite impressive. We didn't spend much time there this time, but I've been there before, and even though I'm not a big "sporting goods store" girl, I still find REI Seattle impressive. :) Yes, that waterfall is at REI.


We headed out so that we would make it to our 2:30pm tea reservation at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Bothell, Washington.

After tea we took some pictures in a local neighborhood.

We left the tea room and headed back. However, however hard we tried, we seemed to hit traffic every time we tried to leave town on this trip. So even though we left tea at 4:30, we still managed to hit terrible traffic coming out of Bothell. As is evidenced from the above picture, Laura + Downtime While Stuck in Traffic = Random "Secret Agent" Pictures. :)

We decided to take a detour and visit the Chittenden Locks and Botanical Garden in Ballard. We got to watch several boats go through the locks, then we spent a good deal of time walking around the gardens. However, eventually our feet started to hurt, we were tired of getting funny looks, I was dangerously close to running out of memory on my camera, and Michelle's camera battery died. We were pretty tired by the time we left.

We finally got back to Val's aunt's house, fixed ourselves a tasty dinner of fruit-filled crepes, bacon and eggs, and quickly crashed. It was a long, but very fun, afternoon!

We loaded up the car, and departed on our journey, excited for the adventures that were sure to lie ahead. We were armed with lots of snacks (thanks to Sarah) and were fairly well rested. We loaded the CD player with a VeggieTales CD, and began the drive across the great state of Washington.

On the side of I-90, up on a hill, is a Wild Horses Memorial - a whole bunch of metal horses line the top of the hill in memory of the wild horses that used to roam the area. Visitors can hike to the top of the hill and even climb up on the horses, all the while overlooking the magnificent Columbia River. We decided to stop at this spot to eat our lunch, (Sarah made us some amazing Curry Chicken Salad!) and we spent over an hour eating, climbing on the horses and taking pictures. However, before long it was time to be on our way again.

The journey westward was going well, with smooth sailing, until this point. However, lest we should get the early impression that this trip would be flawless, in the next 2+ hours we traversed a grand total of 30 miles - 6 of those miles were covered over a 45-minute period. Yes, traffic was bad. :) I tried to keep myself amused by taking random pictures, logging in our notebook about where we were, and we continued to listen to music. Once we got to the base of Snoqualmie Pass, it was, once again, smooth sailing. . .but by then we were tired, bored, and starting to get a bit frustrated with traffic.

We arrived at my cousins' house, where we stayed for the first night of our adventure. We ate a tasty dinner of hamburgers and potato salad, went for a walk, and then enjoyed a mint ice cream dessert. We collapsed into bed later that night, tired, but excited about what the rest of the week would bring.

Stay Tuned For Part 2. . .

I'm back! :) I am starting to work on some blog entries about my trip - it was absolutely amazing, totally awesome, and something I won't soon forget. :) We girls DID have fun. . .and I hope to soon share all that fun with you. I took over 500 pictures. . .but don't worry, I won't post them ALL. . .just enough to give you a sneak-peek. :)

Stay tuned. . .