Family Time

Gayle and I agreed that today begins with rest.  Our check-out time for this rental is noon.  The problem with this scenario is I wake up at 6 a.m. no matter what time I go to bed or how tired I am.  There were three skylights above our bed and I was up at 6 a.m.  Trying to be as quiet as possible I made myself a cup of coffee and sat out on the deck that looks out over Bellingham Bay.  While I was sitting there a black squirrel came running along the rail towards me before he spotted me.  When he did see me he looked like he was thinking, "What the hell are you doing here?"  He slowly backed up with his tail swishing wildly.  He finally leaped up from tree limb to tree limb to scamper across the roof.

After Gayle got up I ordered biscuits and gravy to be delivered curbside from a restaurant nearby.  We sat out of the deck and ate breakfast together.  It was lovely.  It was nice to move slowly.  We left at 11 a.m. because we had timed reservations for Chihuly Glass and Gardens.  I had figured out last night where to drop off Gayle and then go park the car before I called Mike and Carol Stern.  Mike is our second cousin and he and his wife live in Seattle.  We are staying with them tonight. Carol suggested we come to their house first and then they would drop us off at Chihuly and pick us up.  I was so grateful.  I know how hard it is to find parking in Seattle.  We got to their house in time to catch up a bit before we needed to head off.

I had been to Chihuly Glass and Gardens with my son Matt in April of 2019.  I really wanted Gayle to experience it because she works with stained glass and loves to garden. We got a wheelchair from guest services and slowly enjoyed the beauty of what Chihuly does with glass and lighting.

Then we moved into the greenhouse....

and finally out into the garden.

We sat in the Peace Garden outside the Chihuly exhibit, enjoying the amazing plants and flowers of Seattle until Carol came to get us.

When we got back to their house Gayle took a quick nap while Mike and I went for a walk to the nearby rose garden and then the Fremont Peaks Garden with an excellent view of the Olympic mountains.

Carol had fixed us a delicious dinner while we went for a walk.  We sat outside in their beautiful backyard and ate.

I told them about my pursuit of pie. Before I told them what Food and Wine said about the best pie in Washington Carol mentioned that she thought the best pie in Washington was from A La Mode Pies.  I told her that Food and Wine agreed with her.  We looked up how late they were open and there was just enough time for Carol and I to get there before they closed.  We returned with pieces of Blue Hawaiian pie (which Food and Wine mentioned), coconut cream, sour cherry and seasonal cheesecake.  We taste tested them.  I loved the coconut cream.  Gayle voted for the sour cherry.