The Brooks on tour #7

I’m stumped at how they got out of this one

Dungeness Spit. Longer and hotter and harder to walk than it looks.

Gap Kids ad #1.

Beach art!

The Brooks on tour #6

After Forks, we push on to Second Beach. Wow. Just wow.

Nice kilt, Christian.

Arty.

Pretty idyllic – but hot and windy!

Ice creams at La Push, where Christian gets chatting with the owner of a Boss Hoss (V8 power). Of course, he gets offered a go on it…

Another lovely evening around the fire

The Brooks on tour #5

My golden rule: you can’t beat Lake Crescent. Shockingly empty, stunningly beautiful, and a decent lunch in a vintage conservatory. If you think the beach looks good, the endless, deep, deep blue has to be seen to be believed.

A couple of hours here, then into Port Angeles for some light Twilightery and stocking up at the Safeway. Funny little town.

Get out of the way of the ferry, for dog’s sake!

Some late night reading

The next day was our REAL Twilight experience though, starting with the easily surprised one-vampire town of Forks. We did the school (demolished), the police station, the hospital (with props!) and the fabulous Dazzled by Twilight merch stores, of course.

Then, an all-American lunch at the In Place

The Brooks on tour #4

At last, we meet up with Karen again, and shuttle the cars up Hurricane Ridge (after a quick lunch in a casino car park).

Wait a second – how many Maddys?

Our was ‘mostly’ downhill to Chippy, through a veil of mist and clouds, wildflowers and deer.

Snowball alert!

Then rush down the mountain to Altaire campground by the Elwha river. Hurrah! Two great spots right next to each other.

A beautiful morning!

Back on the road to Marymere Falls and some HUGE trees.

Family and waterfall. Perfect.

The Brooks on tour #3

This was the week that Harstene turned into Artstene, thanks to the girls’ effort on transforming the new trail into a charming art walk. It all started with sand dollar mobiles…

Look how great they are in situ…

Which inspired us to add some memory stones…

And Emma’s glorious sunburst (plus a few surprises!)

I think we were all a little bit sad to leave, but the Olympics were beckoning!

The Brooks on tour #2

Now for a boating theme. On the first Sunday, we piled on to the Ulithi and headed into Lake Union. Christian opened University Bridge.

Sandwiches vs chips. A tough choice, thanks to Doug and Susan.

More bridge antics on our return, followed by a lovely swim and a spotting of the fabled Laurelhurst bald eagle.

The next day, we packed up and headed out to Harstene – for probably the three hottest, calmest days of the summer. Lovely.

Lots of kayaking, swimming and paddle-boarding…

… and other forms of liquid refreshment

Even Emma had a (very brief) spin on the scary swing.

And more beach-combing than you can possibly imagine.

A lovely picture of my lovely sister

The Brooks on tour #1

One of the real highlights of my year – the arrival of Emma, Christian, Tilly and Maddy at the height of summer, for two glorious weeks.

We started with a tour of Wallingford and Fremont (where’s Maddy?)

Including a tour of the famous Theo’s Chocolate Factory. Stylish!

Maddy’s on TV!

Relaxing on the porch…

On Emma’s birthday, we went to Green Lake for a dip, then into town and up the Space Needle. But not before birthday cupcakes.

 

View from the top

Then while Em and Christian painted the town red and stayed in a boutique sleepery, Karen and I took the girls to the very, very laid back Goddess Festival in Meridian Park just up the road. I bought a hula hoop! For me! Core strength, honest.

Bike ride to Hartstene

While I was in NY, Karen was entertaining the Ginger & Kurt, Alison & Kurt and Trika down at Hartstene. I was keen to join them but how to get there? Two wheels, of course. I just made the 0830 ferry from downtown and was wheels down – in the rain! – by 0945.

It was actually a pretty easy run: courteous drivers, lovely countryside and mostly cool, calm weather. Here I am ‘enjoying’ a geoduck (look it up) & lemon ice cream in Allyn – my first and probably only foray into frozen seafood sweet treats.

Not much else to say about the day, except that it was amazing to see everyone down there and have a shower under the trees and a swim in the sound, and a lovely meal at Gig Harbour with Ann and Ted on the way home. Here’s Trika leaving in her Corvette.

48 hours in New York

Last week, I flew out to NY for an interview – and to see Jess who was over to present to the UN (yes, she did meet Ban Ki-Moon)! I took the ever-unpleasant red-eye over but at least that meant I could meet Jess for breakfast before I headed up to New Haven.

In the evening, we had a quick drink with Laura at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central station before heading out to a cool UN party at the rooftop pool bar of the Gansevoort Hotel.

NY was hot. Seriously, meltingly hot. So naturally we spent most of Friday out of doors, initially at the High Line extension in Chelsea. Here, I am eating an avocado ice cream that tasted like frozen guacamole. Lovely.

Later we took the ferry to Governors Island. It’s my new favourite place: the ferry is quaint, there are no cars on the island, free bike rental and crumbling old Navy buildings are filled with pop-up art shows. We really didn’t want to leave!

But we had to head out to see the cousins at yet another rooftop bar with great views of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings.

Sadly, it started chucking it down soon after people arrived. Here’s the first batch hiding under the meagre plastic roof.

Some surprise additions. My old next door neighbours from Brighton, Nathan and Georgia, landed the same day, and gamely came out to brave the weather and their jetlag to see me. Hurrah!

We ended the night in a dimly-lit speakeasy-style bar. Not really worth all the fuss but a fine and classy place for a light cocktail.

We took things easier on the Saturday (it was even hotter!) but Jess and I did manage to spend a few hours in the MOMA before I had to fly off home.