The Great Washington State Farewell Tour

September 19-21, 2019

After I quit my job at Microsoft, Daniel and I decided to spend some time traveling around Washington state to visit family. With our trip around the world only weeks away, we weren’t sure when we’d get a chance to see them again and wanted a chance to say good-bye.

Daniel and I still had a lot to do back in Seattle so we decided to make the trip as short as possible. We needed to reserve at least *some* time to pack up the house and move. So I put together an insanely ambitious schedule that involved driving all over the state. We drove from Seattle to Spangle to Spokane to Palouse to Nooksack to Bellingham to Seattle in a 4-day period. That’s a total of 857 miles. Whew!

Here are the highlights of our trip.

A map of The Great Washington State Farewell Tour.

Spangle, Washington

We began our trip in Spangle to visit my grandma and join my extended family for a lovely dinner. Thanks for hosting us, Aunt Linda! 🙂

Dinner at Mike and Linda’s house. Pictured from left to right: Aunt Linda, Grandma Mildred, Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Dan, Cousin Kim, Uncle Mike, and me.

Feeding the animals. Mike and Linda’s farm, Spangle, WA.

Sunset at Mike and Linda’s farm

Plums! Uncle Mike is passionate about plum trees. We sampled a variety of plums from his orchard over dinner.

Grandma and me. Grandma will be turning 97 this month. She is amazing!

Daniel and Grandma.

Grandma’s house.

Spokane, Washington

Daniel had never been to Spokane before so we decided to check out Riverfront Park. We happened to visit the same day that protesters gathered for the Spokane Global Climate Strike on September 20, 2019. It was inspirational to see so many people, young and old, rallying in support of the environment.

The Upper Spokane Falls in Riverfront Park, Spokane.

The Ranging Grannies don’t mess around with climate change.

Riding the SkyRide Gondola over the Lower Spokane Falls.

A bird’s eye perspective of the Spokane Global Climate Strike from the gondola. We had the best view in the house!

Palouse, Washington

We next traveled one hour south of Spokane to Palouse, Washington – the town where my parents lived when I was born. I used to have lots of relatives living in Palouse but these days my Aunt Donna and Uncle Joe are the only ones left. We timed our trip to coincide with a visit from my Aunt Cathey and Uncle Earl who took the train over from their home in Illinois. My parents, Dennis and Eileen, also traveled over from their home on the other side of the state so I got to say good-bye to them as well.

Welcome to the farm!

Chilling in the orchard with Aunt Donna.

Aunt Donna and Aunt Cathey settle the age-old debate once and for all: who is taller? Aunt Donna wins by a hair.

Aunt Donna isn’t having any of Uncle Earl’s shenanigans.

Aunt Donna and Uncle Joe’s new dog Pepper is ADORABLE!

Hey there sibling, long time no see! Aunt Cathey and my dad Dennis greet eachother for the first time in a few years.

Sisters! From left to right: My mom Eileen, Aunt Donna and Aunt Cathey.

Rabbit ears? What rabbit ears? From left to right: Aunt Donna, Dennis (my dad) and Aunt Cathey

The menfolk. Daniel, my dad Dennis, Uncle Joe and Uncle Earl

Uncle Joe’s pie is THE BEST! Diet? What diet?

Nooksack, WA

On Saturday, September 21, I left my aunt and uncle’s house in Palouse and drove to the other side of the state to say good-bye to my siblings and their kiddos. We had a slumber party in our pajamas and stayed up way too late playing games and telling stories. Sadly, my sister Kirsten and nephew Collin were both sick and so they couldn’t attend.

Time to pile on Aunty Katy! From left to right: Nate, Ava, Ben and me.

Unicorn dance party! Ava knows what’s what.

Nice muscles Nate!

Cute jammies, Ben!

Nate, Ava and Bethany playing Just Dance (a dancing video game) with some help from the dogs.

Story time with Uncle Jonny.

Story time with Aunty Katy. I was telling the Candyland story from memory which I learned from my mom when I was little. Photo by Bethany.

Tickle time! Photo by Jonathan.

Cousin shenanigans. Photo by Jonathan.

Saying goodbye to Ava and Nate. Photo by Bethany.

Bellingham, WA

I finished the trip with a visit to my stepson, Brendan, on my way home to Seattle. He recently moved into his first apartment and so I brought him some dishes and things from our kitchen that we no longer needed. I don’t have any photos from this part of this trip so I’ll share this picture instead, which was taken at my wedding earlier this year.

My kiddo and me.