Once in awhile-now and again-this is us

We didn’t do a lot of sight-seeing, again that getting kids ready thing, and toddlers not wanting to be cooped up in a car for long drives. We had been to Washington before and already seen a lot, Olympic National Park being one of our favorite places. So we more or less just hung out together catching up and spending time with the girls, and eating a lot of good take out food from their favorite places.

Scarlett is still keeping an eye on jerry

We did stop on the way home from breakfast to sight-see some big military ships on the water in Bremerton. We got out of the car to look and take pictures.

Our travels always included seeing ships and going on them if allowed. We even toured the submarine ‘Nautilus’ while in Connecticut.
It’s an engineering marvel that all these naval behemoths can get built, then the tons of metal stays afloat. Think of an aircraft carrier or a container ship. I know there’s science behind that, but it’s amazing and I love researching the ships we see, even though I won’t remember it🤔

It’s really hard to take photos of little kids. They’re smart enough to know what your phone can do and when you get it out and point it at them, they instantly want to see what’s on it and it ruins the pose you wanted to get.

So Javie corralled the girls up and I got this great shot of them being still.

Then Ryder, one of two dogs, comes moseying over to see what’s going on.

She gives the girls kisses, or licks their faces for food, or whatever, who knows.

And then ‘photo bombs’ the picture.

while Lola, their second dog, looks out the window falling asleep

and Harley, the cat, sleeps in the far corner away from it all

Eight days went by so fast. Melody has grown up to be this cute little girl. It was so great to be with her and see all the things she can do now, see her likes and dislikes, watch her play with her little sister, and hear her stories.

Scarlett turned one this month. I’m so happy we got to see her at this young age. Who knows when we will see her again. We did see her take her first step. I got a picture off the video. It was pretty wobbly and only one step, but it was so exciting🎉

It was hard to leave these precious little people that we learned to love even more in such a short amount of time. Thanks Hannah and Javie for hosting us and sharing your lives with us, and the use of your car💗We wish you all the best that the future holds for you.

We said our goodbyes and headed towards Portland to see Jessica and her boyfriend, but stopped first in Silverton to spend a couple of days at the Oregon Gardens.

stay tuned for that

💗jilly

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but we were sure enjoying ourselves🥰

I forgot about the time it takes to get little children ready for an outing. Especially two very young children. But we made it and headed to their favorite restaurant to get pancakes for breakfast.

It was a beautiful 35 minute drive to Bremerton while Melody talked, asked questions, sang and kept us all entertained.

Meeting Melody for the first time in June 2023. We were listening to a young Andrea Bochelli sing to Elmo on Sesame Street. Google it, it’s lovely 🎶. Also google babies watching that video with Elmo in it, showing their heartfelt reactions on YouTube. Check that one out too.

Okay, Scarlett is now ready to eat. She had pancakes for the first time. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

We had a wonderful feast but didn’t get pictures of it. Missed that opportunity too. Darn. At least we got the group photo. You all probably all know what the table looked like anyway, don’t you? Right, controlled chaos 😅but oh, so much fun. I ended up getting the Liver and Onions. I couldn’t pass it up, and it was really good. Do you know how hard is to find that on the menu?The Prospector had the best and then they closed. Then I found Norms and it was pretty good but they discontinued it. Spires has it on their “senior menu”, but it’s hit and miss. Do any of you know someplace? Let me know, not than any of you would’ve been looking for it.😂I had some of the pancakes too and I see why they make that drive to get them.

It’s music to my ears.🎶

thank you all for your comments, I look forward to them and enjoy them tremendously. This post went a little smoother, but I’ll still take that offer Tony, and yours too Tracy 😘

stay tuned

💗jilly

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I seem to have come to a ‘writers block’🤔

when I lapse posting on the blog, WordPress changes the rules. I get a little confused, intimidated, and then mad 🤬(where are you Ray?) if I start on my tablet, save it, and then go to the computer to work on it everything is gone. It’s easier to put text in on the computer but it won’t insert pictures now. So I have to do that on the tablet. I guess I have some studying to do.

Anyway, I have enjoyed every minute of showing some of our travels over the past years. We traveled the whole United States, west coast to east coast several times including the northern border and southern border, and everything in between. Jerry kept the coach running and I kept the ideas flowing. It was a hard decision to pass the keys down to Hannah and Javie. But time marches on, and we must embrace the changes.

We’ve taken Amtrak on a few local trips when a company with three restored 1950’s rail cars, a lounge, a sleeper, and a dining car, were allowed to hook up their trains to Amtrak. We loved it. When a trip came up going to New York to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Grand Central Station we immediately booked the lounge car that had a bedroom for us. The group of people that took that trip was small and we all got along great. It was so much fun. Too bad that post got deleted from the blog😢and too bad Amtrak won’t allow that anymore.

Another trip with Martha and Ray to New York, this time in an Amtrak room, was so enjoyable traveling with our cousins that we called dear friends. Their son who lived there treated us like royalty showing us all the sites and favorite restaurants. We had a blast. A trip of a lifetime. That post is still up😉September 25-October 11, 2018. (I need to get those labeled as to what they are)

Train travel is a nice alternative to the coach, if you get a room that is. All meals are included and are really pretty good. You can even have them delivered to your room, but it’s more fun to eat in the dining car. You sit four people to a table, so you get to sit with and meet new people every meal. Kind of like a Bed and Breakfast which we like.

We had six meals going up and six meals coming home so we got to sample the whole menu. One of the highlights was the butter cake for dessert at dinner.

The train gives Jerry a chance to see the scenery, instead of keeping his eyes on the road for a change. The observation car is a good place to do that. We sit, relax, have a beer as the world goes by.

I didn’t get a lot of pictures while relaxing on the trip up. It’s hard to take pictures from a speeding train. I took a video of our walk to the dining car, bumping into walls, opening doors, but couldn’t post them here. I have to get an upgrade which I will do when I finish this post. I can’t take any chances of losing this now.

Javie’s mom picked us up from the train station and took us up to our Airbnb when we reached Tacoma. It was our first experience using one. It was really nice but probably too big for us. We have a lot to learn or maybe just stay in hotels.

And finally we got to see the great granddaughters the next day. What a delight!

Melody, what a smart little cookie, and so cute. She can talk your ear off at 2 1/2. Hannah and Javie had to interpret some of her words for us though.

and Scarlett, so smart and sweet, this is literally her first look at Jerry. She was quiet and very inquisitive as she checked us out that day.

and this one of Melody meeting Jerry

I hope I can figure this out so it doesn’t take so long to get one posted

so stay tuned

💗jilly

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