Here, there and everywhere...

Unfortunately Jason had to head back to work bright and early Monday morning after the wedding.  My parents and I took the slow drive home from Portland and made a stop on Anderson Island to visit their property.  Although they still haven't done anything with their property, they still enjoy stopping by to check on it and explore a little more around the island.

My dad, me and Coda standing on their property

This is their street!!

Enjoying a little quiet time by the Sound

Coda liked to watch me anytime I got out of the car on the ferry

After spending the afternoon on Anderson Island, it felt good to finally be back at home.  My parents then stayed with us for the remainder of the week.  A whole entire week with my parents?!  Life couldn't get much better than that! 

We never seemed to stay put on their visit.  While Jason worked all week (sorry Jason, wish you had summer vacation like we do) Coda and I managed to enjoy sunny days with my parents.  Our biggest adventure on their stay in WA was hiking to Barclay Lake, Stone Lake and Eagle Lake (yes, all in ONE day).  Let me just tell you...my plan was to just take them on the short little 4.4 mile hike, roundtrip, to Barclay Lake.  But anyone who knows my dad well enough knows that if he is aware of another destination past that, he'll want to go (I like to call it the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" effect)! 

Hiking the trail to Barclay

My parents at our lunch spot at Barclay Lake

Unaware of how hard the hike was to Stone and Eagle Lakes, we continued on our adventure to find them.  Basically there was no real trail to follow past Barclay Lake.  You just have to look for the little colored flags in trees.  And since there was no real distinct trail, we were basically just bushwhacking our way up through the forest.  Talk about a STEEP climb (and I am not using the word STEEP loosely either)!  After pushing ourselves to the limit through forest, bushes and steep boulders (parts of where I would have to carry Coda) not knowing how far our destination was, my mom and I were ready to give up MANY times!  But does my dad ever stop?  NOPE!  He would hike on ahead of us to see where it went and then come back and tell us, "it's just right over there a little bit further".  A "little bit further" never seemed to be quite accurate, but 2.5 hours later we made it to our first destination...Stone Lake (far from impressive with the amount of bugs that were flying around).

Treking through the forest looking for little colored flags on trees

(does this look like a trail to you????)

Carrying Coda across the boulders

(not sure this even does justice for how steep it actually was)

We made it to Stone Lake!!!

After making a pact with my mom that we would NOT go further than this, my dad set off to find Eagle Lake.  Not much longer after he left us, he came back saying, "it's just a little bit further and the trail gets better".  We weren't sure we believed him, but decided to follow.  What ever happened to our pact we made?!  But much to our surprise, we made it to Eagle Lake only about 15 minutes past Stone Lake.  It only took one soaking wet muddy shoe, one dripping wet dog from falling into a creek and two sour attitudes to get there.  Not bad, right?!  2 miles seemed like it was about 6 miles by the time we got there, but we were all glad to say we reached our FINAL destination (not like the movie, but our actual destination).  My dad of course had to take a swim, while my mom, Coda and I waited by the creepy old cabin (it seemed like something from a horror movie if you ask me).  Visions of it getting dark and someone trying to lock me up in the cabin ran through my mind while enjoying a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains.

Eagle Lake (not as big I expected, but still pretty)

My dad taking a swim in the cold Eagle Lake

The creepy cabin at the lake

We were all thankful that the hike down the STEEP mountain didn't take nearly as long as we had predicted it would take.  A little rough on the joints for most of us, but when we saw the "toilet" we were happier than you would have ever believed!  The "toilet" meant we had made it back to Barclay Lake!!!

Now do you believe me when I say it was a STEEP climb?!

Overjoyed to finally see the TOILET!!!

Needless to say by the end of this hike, I have decided that it would be fine by me if I never see Barclay Lake again. 

On my parents' last day in WA we all woke up feeling quite sore from the hike the day before.  So we took it a little easier and headed down to the Mukilteo Beach for lunch.  Much to our surprise the tide was super low, so we got to walk much further down the rocky beach than we have ever before.

Me and Coda on the beach after lunch

A cool jellyfish that my mom found washed up on the beach

I LOVE my parents!!!

Coda found a dead crab on the beach that looked like fun

I always hate to say goodbye, but the good news is that we will see my parents again in Sept!  It was a great long week together and we got to do many fun things.  Exploring WA with other people that appreciate the outdoors is always fun!  Thanks for taking some time to come stay with us Mom and Dad!!!  We love you!