Kirkland

Dorothy and Ed were at Madeline and Roman's.  They had come out west a week ago.  We planned to visit at the same time.  George and I left our place around 8 am.  We stopped to pick up Nathan and then headed north.  We got to Madeline and Roman's around 11:30 am.  The traffic had not been bad.  Dorothy and Ed were staying with Madeline and Roman.  We were staying in a close hotel.

Madeline and Roman's apartment.

We hung out while Madeline made pizza for lunch.  She had a cheese and fruit plate and crackers for appetizer.

Dorothy reading to Ivan and Nathan.

George and Ivan

Delicious pizza.

One of Ivan's Ukrainian alphabet books.

While Ivan was napping we went on a walk.

The walk included some berry picking

We played a game of 10, 9, 8 - well, it was actually 8, 7, 6 because of the number of us playing.

 We went to check in to our hotel.

Then we headed of to Juanita Lake to go kayaking.  They were having a Friday Farmers Market.  

Ivan enjoyed the playground

And driving the tractor. 

Seattle skyline

Lots of ducks around

Then it was time for our 6 pm reservation for three 2 person kayaks and 1 paddle board.  

Dorothy and Ed ready to launch

Nathan is up.

Ivan, Madeline and Roman

George and me

My turn on the paddle board

Will I be able to stand without falling into the lake??

I made it.  But I much preferred sitting.

Nathan has the right idea

Ivan did not want to get out when our time was up, so Madeline pulled him around.

Ivan took a turn on the paddle board.

The cushion on our kayak was very wet so even though I thought I would not get wet with kayaking I managed to walk away with very wet pants.

By this time we were getting pretty hungry.  We went to The Box and Burger Eatery - burgers and Asian fusion.  Quite an unusual menu.  

I had the Da Hilo Boy - a loco moco burger. It was a burger I couldn't finish.

George's veggie burger, the Jack and the Bean Stalk

Nathan's kimchi stirred fried rice without the bacon

After dinner we headed back to the hotel.  

There are silver linings

 Even though my flight was messed up I did get a free night at a lovely hotel.  Even though my dinner voucher ($12) clearly stated that it was not to be used for alcohol the hotel desk clerk must have felt sorry for me.  He gave me the wine and cheese and entered it as food. I had a good night's sleep.  Even though they forgot to enter the request for the 5 am shuttle to the airport, the shuttle driver was ready for me earlier.  I zipped through security.  I went to use my second meal voucher  ($12) for my breakfast and coffee, she told me to save the coupon and she gave me my coffee and scone for free. I don't know where I can spend $12 before tomorrow night. ;-) Even though my suitcase was not at the airport, they will deliver it to my door and give me $50.   Because I came in in the morning I had an easier time finding my car in the lot. W1 is not right next to W2.  Traffic was light driving home.  So I made it home safe and sound and in plenty of time to get ready for the 10 am wedding.

Just a few pictures from the plane.  Since I did not have a window seat it was hard to get some of the pictures.  

Thursday was quite a day!!

 We woke up to rain and thunderstorms.  We had a leisurely morning.

United States theme

  Everyone ate at different times.  Around 10:30 am we finally had a plan.    We would go over to the Lakeside Inn because they have a beach access. The rain had stopped by then. They let us park in the Inn parking lot because they were not too busy.  

So we took George and Nathan over and then went back for Robbie and Ice. We picked up Dorothy on our way.  

Lakeside Inn

134 steps down to the beach

The rest of the gang were down at the beach setting up a beach tent.  

It was a nice beach.

The guys.

I was starting to get nervous about my flight, having lunch and getting to the airport

 We headed back to the house to fix a lunch.  By then everyone was leaving so we packed up and took our lunches over to Dorothy & Ed's place to eat.  It was a nice lunch of leftovers, and stuff ordered from the expensive fish store.  Nathan made guacamole.  yummy.  I had gotten a message that my flight had been delayed.  That made me more nervous so we headed out.  It was a 2 hour drive to the airport.  Unfortunately, Jeanne left her purse behind.  We did not realize it until later, much later.  The flight from O'hare was delayed but the flight from Seattle was also delayed so I was not worried. Jeanne dropped me off.  Then, I found out that my flight was delayed even more  A LOT more.  I went to a ticket agent and started the process of dealing with the problem.  A lot of calls and conversations later.  I got my flight changed from O'hare to Seattle to Pdx to O'hare to  Boise to Portland.  Instead of getting in at 10:45 pm it was to get in at 8:40 pm.  I was happy.  But then the flight was delayed due to weather.  Arth.  Instead of leaving at 4:04 pm we left at 5:55 pm. 

O'Hare airport.  We taxied forever

flight shots.

At this point I realized that I would miss my flight to Portland.  WHAT TO DO!!!  Luckily, I could do WhatsApp and look on the internet with my phone.  George helped me out.    We decided to wait until I landed to try to get an alternate flight.  It was a 3 hour flight but they had no beverage service.  There was some problem. with the carts  No food or beverage only water So I was hungry on top of everything else.. My connecting flight took off just as we were landing.  Everyone was very nice.  I was one of the first people off of the plane.   I felt a little guilty abot that since I knew that my flight ahd taken off.  i went to the ticket agent right away.  Eli was very helpful.  He arranged a hotel, 2 meal vouchers,  and booked my flight to Portland at 6 am tomorrow.  I had accidently left my sweater on the plane.  The guy I sat beside brought it out to me.  He saw that I was at the ticket counter.  Every one has been so nice.

From Boise Airport

The shuttle came to pick me up.  I thought that I was to be in an airport hotel.  But that did not happen.  I am 10 min away.  It is a very nice suite.  The guy at the dest was very nice.  I had a $12 meal voucher that was not good for alcohol.  Since it was so late and nothing was open. The desk clerk let me have a bottle of wine and some cheese and entered it as a meal. 

View from the window

dinner

After dinner

The TV was personalized but I could not figure out how to use it.

Nice room. 

Luckily we had our pet care person coming tonight. I did not have to worry about the pets.   Hopefully I will find my luggage at the Portland airport in the morning.  Also I hope that Jeanne gets her purse back.  I think that they are mailing it to her priority mail. 

It was fun seeing all of the Singers.  But the visit was way too short.