Day 57: Seattle to Gig Harbor

Leaving the City for a House on the Beach

Our Bedroom in Gig Harbor

Today we wished Seattle goodbye, and headed out for our next stop-- a week in Gig Harbor.  We happily found M safe and sound in her second garage, packed up the car, and departed the city in the morning.

 Gig Harbor is on Puget Sound, south of Seattle but North of Tacoma.  We picked it because it was a sleepy little town close enough to Tacoma that we could easily head over there to see the museums, but not have to stay in another city.

We arrived in town too early to check into our house, so we walked around a bit and checked out some of the local galleries. We also raided the Visitor's Center for brochures and maps, so we have plenty to study-- along with the things we had already planned for Tacoma and for the surrounding area.

 We were surprised to find that the little town apparently supported 3 used bookstores-- and we visited two of them. We also found the local grocery store and stocked up for our week.

 This video gives you a snapshot of the beginning and end of the day.  It begins with us driving out of Seattle, jumps to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge taking you from Tacoma onto the Olympic Peninsula (Note that Tacoma seems to fancy itself like NYC, you only have to pay the bridge toll when you enter, not when you leave.), takes you on the road to our house (where you will see deer walking down the road-- we were laughing at the homemade "Bambi Crossing" sign until we saw them), and then turns into our driveway. M has nothing to worry about here-- we are the poor kid on the block in a neighborhood of million dollar houses (we know this because we checked Zillow).






The house itself is small but nice, and has amazing views far above the water. The main picture is our bedroom (and yes, the blinds do come down).  This one was taken from those windows:

View of a Ship, taken from Our Bedroom Window

And, this is the same ship taken while holding the phone up to binoculars.

The Ship through Binoculars


Here I am standing on the porch, another great view and if the weather holds a nice place to sit.

Lisa on the Deck at the Gig Harbor House

But as great as the house is, there are always some quirks that need to be monitored.  For example, Bob is again imperiled by low-hanging fixtures.

Another Lighting Obstacle for Bob 

We are high enough up that we have a great view of the water.  And, the house has beach access as well, but it is a bit of a hike down to the water.  As there is a big charity marathon in town tomorrow we are planning on just hanging around the house and walking down to the beach (after the Tech Game that is.)

 Until then...

 --Lisa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: Butte to Coram

Image
An Automobile & Prison Museum, Some new Glass Flowers, and 3 Bison A Bison in the National Bison Reserve We began our day heading out of Butte, on our way to Coram, MT (near Glacier National Park). The route had me fondly remembering my childhood in Teaneck where I80 and I95 were the same road, even though one went East-West and the other North-South.  Here in Butte, I15 and I90 are also the same road, heading all directions at once. I15 & I90 are the same road in Butte, MT Our first stop of the day was the Old Montana Prison and Auto Museum. Lisa standing in front of the Old Montana Prison & Auto Museum We spend some time wandering around the prison, and Bob even found some Hokie orange chairs in the Montana Law Enforcement Museum section of the Prison exhibit. Bob finds Hokie Orange Chairs Some of his favorite car highlights are shown below: Old Cars at the Museum 1914 Detroit Electric Car 1929 Hudson 1960s Mustangs
Read more

Day 76: Astoria, OR to Ontario, OR

Image
Cars, Airplanes, and Snow! Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum, Hood River, OR As we checked out of our hotel in Astoria, OR this morning we watched our last ship go by. Kaimon Galaxy: Inbound in Astoria, OR Then we hit the road, bright and early.  The drive to Ontario was about 500 miles and was supposed to take a bit over 7 hours.  If all had gone as planned, we'd have arrived around 6PM while it was still light and we had plenty of time to grab dinner and relax before our next leg tomorrow. Not long after we left Astoria, we came across this giant Weyerhauser papermill in Longview, OR. Weyerhauser Papermill in Longview, OR Here's how the rest of the trip went: You'll probably have noticed that part of the trip took place in the dark, and part of it included driving through snow.  Clearly the best laid plans can go awry, as ours did-- thanks to mother nature, arbitrary variances in time, and car museums. As we were driv
Read more

Day 33: Seward to Cantwell (Denali National Park)

Image
The Mountains Turned Red, The Leaves Turned Yellow, and The Rain Turned Lighter The Leaves Have Started to Turn in Denali State and National Parks We began our day with a major rainstorm in Seward that promised a yucky day of driving. M decided that she had taken all the bumpy, dusty, muddy, gravely road abuse she was going to take without fighting back, and she greeted us with a low-coolant warning when we turned her on this morning.  I think it was just a cry for attention (and perhaps a car wash) because a few miles later she dismissed the warning and gave the all clear. However, since there is only one BMW dealership in the entire state of Alaska, in Anchorage, which we just happened to have to pass through on our way to Cantwell, we decided to stop there and have the coolant topped off.  Bob was obsessing about not having an appointment, but I assured him that all we needed to do was show up, and M would be topped off with no problem and no charge. Luckily, I was cor
Read more