Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Family Driving Vacation-Day 7: Fairchild AFB, WA to Whidbey Island, WA

I’m pretty sure Theo would have been floating in the car today if he didn’t have his seat belt on because he was soooooo excited that at the end of the day he was going to see his GRAM & GRANDPA!  We packed up the car and headed on our way from Fairchild AFB to Whidbey Island.  The drive was pretty and I was really excited because along the way, just outside Seattle, the farmer’s actually labeled their crops! I’m always saying to Mason how I wish (and secretly hoped it would be mandatory) for farmer’s to label their crops along the road so drivers know what we’re looking at-and lo and behold, they were!  We saw corn, potatoes, beans, etc…so fun! 

We were ahead of schedule and debated on whether we should just head straight to the island or if we should check out Seattle at all.  So, woah!  City driving has just become too much for me.  I can’t handle it.  I have gotten quite used to smaller town living and all the crazy merges, one-ways, and traffic crazies were just a little too much.  After getting all twisted around and following roads where we couldn’t turn left, then stuck by the monorail, we basically ended up driving through Pike’s Peak Market.  This was where we wanted to be, but not in a car next the hundreds of people who were walking there!  Eventually we found a parking space that was really close, so we got out to walk around and be tourists. 

The Pike’s Peak Market is cool.  Best deal is the flowers and I wish I could have brought them all home with me.  They were stunning for really low costs.  Unfortunately I got really overheated so I wasn’t feeling too well, and I was a pretty cranky, so we didn’t stay too long, but we were able to stop at a French Bakery for “lunch” and it was so tasty.  Mason and I each got a croissant with chocolate chips in the middle, and Theo picked out a pink macaroon.  I didn’t think he would like it, but he gobbled it up!  Woodrow had a few bites of my treat.   

With the traffic, we ended up having about a 45 minute ride to the Mukilteo Ferry.  Oy!  What an experience.  So, they have a nice website that tracks how many spaces are left for each ferry etc…as we were driving close to the ferry we noticed on the right side of the road that there were signs about ferry traffic etc…well we eventually passed a few cars stopped in that area and realized they were in line for the ferry, so we quickly pulled into the line.  WELL…a car quickly drove past us and yelled, “line cutters, go to the end.”  We were really flustered, because we hadn’t understood the signs, we only passed like 5 cars, and it wasn’t really a road you turn around on, we were tired, and so we waited and followed the process.  In line, while following the tracker it was clear the 4:30 ferry was full and we’d have to wait for at least the 5:00 ferry.  When we finally reached the booth to pay, the car next to us told that we had cut in line (even though we didn’t mean too-we’re from Chicago-we know cutting!) so we got a lecture and a pamphlet about cutting in line and how we could be charged a fine, and then we had to move over an extra lane instead of get in the waiting lane we were originally going to be in.  We made the 5:00 ferry and were on our way, but this just really put a bad taste in our mouths! 

Anyways, the kids liked the ferry ride and after a 15 minute car ride, we were at our hotel, The Harbor Inn, and Gram and Grandpa were waiting!  It was so great to see them!!!!!  Theo was shrieking in the car to get out and see them.  They ran around while Mason and I unloaded the car.  The rooms were nice and spacious which was a huge relief since the night of the wedding we’d have 5 kids and 2 sitters in our room.  We walked next door with my parents to the Freeland Café for dinner.  It was a long wait for sandwiches, but a good meal.  The kids got to play with my parents while Mason and I enjoyed a 15 minutes trip across the road to the grocery store alone to pick up some fruit and milk.  Fresh fruit-it was delicious! 


Theo didn’t want to sleep in our room knowing Gram was so close, but the promise of playing first thing in the morning, and he went to sleep pretty easily.  

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