The drive from Spokane, Washington to Seattle was full of beautiful scenery. I commented to Ty that I've been pleasantly surprised at how pretty our drives have been. Driving over 5,000 miles a across the country, I was expecting a lot more drab interstates with nothing but concrete and boring nothingness to look at. Most of our time on the road has been far from drab. Washington is a beautiful state, luscious with a diverse green landscape. We arrived in the evening at my cousins house in Spanaway, Washington, which is in the suburbs of the Seattle area. I was thrilled to get the chance to visit my cousin Sharon and her wonderful family. The Dudleys are a military family, proudly serving our great country, and we are all proud of them for it! They move all over the country, wherever Phil gets stationed.
Growing up, Sharon would spend months on end at my house each year, so she was always like the cool big sister to me. Many of my summer memories as a child involve my cousins: Sharon, Bobby, Jessica, and Ricky. They all helped make those endless summers unforgettable, and seeing Sharon made me realize how much I miss my extended family! I haven't seen Sharon in years, but the moment we hugged it was as if we were right back to those fun slumber parties we had when we were younger. We talked for hours and hours, I don't think there was one moment of silence between the two of us because we had so much to catch up on! Her family is adorable. Her two teen daughters are gorgeous and such sweet girls! Ty was probably happy that Phil got a break from his military duties that night so he could sneak away from our girlie talk and watch TV with him in his "man-cave."

The last time I saw Sharon, I was in college, and very much a kid. Now I am a married woman with a son, which is why I think we had such a great time catching up! I've finally grown up;)

We stayed the night at the Dudley home, then headed into Seattle to explore. We parked right downtown with no sense of where we were headed. Noah was content in the BOB, so we began walking down the awesome streets of Seattle. We must have made the right turn, because we ended up right at Pike Place Market! It's hard to describe Pike Market. The bustling marketplace is a Mecca for the freshest, most colorful displays of local fruit, veggies, and homemade goods. It was the largest, most vibrant Farmers Market I've ever seen! Anyone who truly knows me, knows how much I love fresh fruits! When I was a kid, I would make my parents stop at every fruit stand when we were on road trips so I could buy baskets full of tart apricots and juicy cherries that grew throughout California. When I lived in Santa Barbara, my favorite weekly ritual was strolling down State Street to buy the fresh produce at the Farmers Market. I'm beyond excited about continuing our bi-weekly walks down to the Farmers Market when we move into our house on Laguna Street in Santa Barbara!!
After perusing the endless rows of gorgeous produce and buying baskets of berries and cherries, we found a restaurant that hung over the waters edge, serving freshly-caught seafood. I ordered crab cakes served with tasty aioli, and Ty ordered seafood louie. We shared a bowl of chowder that Noah loved! We put him in a high chair and began eating. Noah looked at us like, "hey, what do I get to eat?"

We remembered how much he enjoyed the chowder in Newport, Rhode Island, so we gave him a taste. He cracked us up because his eyes got large and he began kicking his legs with excitement when the creamy soup hit his lips.

After perusing the marketplace, admiring the rows of fruity colors, we walked to the very first Starbucks coffee shop. We were hoping to go inside and get a cup o Joe, but apparently the very first Starbucks is quite an attraction because there was a long line out the door! We decided that we'd have many more chances to sip their coffee, so we walked past and kept on going to Tully's coffee. It was cool to see the place where the great StarB's (what Ty and I call it) began. They seemed to have kept it all in it's original condition, and you can see that it truly was once just a little local coffee shop.
The weather was perfect in Seattle. Sunny, not too hot. It had apparently been raining all summer long, so everyone was out and about, wearing cheery faces. I was glad to walk through some shops and see the fashion scene I had been deprived of since we lived in New Haven. We saw See's Candy and it was a sign that we were on the West Coast!! We went inside and I felt right at home once I got a whiff of their delectable chocolates and saw those familiar shiny white and black tiles throughout the candy store. Growing up, no holiday or family dinner was complete in the Morales family without a box of See's chocolates. We'd be stuffed from Grandma's good cooking, but that white box would inevitably make it's way around the table, and each of us had our particular favorite. Whenever I need a sense of home, or need to help my soul smile, all I have to do is walk into a See's Candy shop and order a pound box of Nuts & Chews. Reminds me of my Morales family and Grandma, without fail. We bought a box for Sharon's family, and Noah got to have his first taste of chocolate. You never leave See's without the chocolatiers dressed in white offering a free sample!

That evening, we picked up ingredients to make a taco dinner at the Dudley house. It was great to have more time with my cousin, and we all had fun making dinner and chatting in the kitchen. We both realized how much we missed each other and made a vow to reunite much more regularly! We've already missed far too much of each others lives. Living thousands of miles away made me think about how I took living close to my family for granted. Since California is a huge state, I still lived many hours away from everyone, but now that doesn't seem like any excuse for not visiting relatives more often. Oh well, it's never too late to reconnect with family.