Planning ahead

Rowdy and I are planners.  The last time family was in town I had a typed 3 day itinerary for them.  It included maps, locations, route and order to said locations to maximize time, and THEN I presented it to them in a meeting room proposal sort of way.  With an explanation of why we should focus on said locations on certain days.  With a highlighter.  With the only thing missing being a power-point screen and a graph. 

But gee whiz we had fun!  We did everything we wanted and then some (minus finding the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat), and went to bed each night knowing that we maximized that time.

That's just how we roll.

But sometimes it bugs me a bit.  The part about not living lazily in the moment.  About not having enough wiggle room to breathe.  But don't you just hate that feeling sometimes?   Knowing that the day is half gone and you didn't go where you wanted to go? Rowdy and I go to sleep frustrated if that happens. 

But sometimes...I think it SHOULD happen. 

Good gosh we needed a break from work and school and mundane life.  So we planned our day the night before.  I checked on the cost of the ferry ride versus driving around the loop--and we finally decided that the ferry ride would be the most cost effective.

And even after going to bed well beyond late, we woke up the next day in luxury.  The kind of wake-up that as parents you treasure.  It was later than you normally wake up (aka sleeping in) and your children run in and snuggle with no demands for breakfast.  The only demands are to get under the covers and into the bat cave.  Where you learn that Batman has a bat plane, a bat boat, and a bat car.  But not a bat helicopter.  The helicopter is Robin's.

But you had a plan--so you force yourself up and away from the luxury to get going...and you rush out the door to do so.  But there are hiccups in your road.  Like missing the ferry you had so perfectly timed..and then having to wait for the next one...and then accidentally reading the ferry cost wrong (passenger vs. passenger in vehicle) and having that double the cost....and arriving at your destination later than planned.

But sometimes those plans go out the window, anyway. 

And in enters a day of beauty.

*Like reading a sign that the lavender farm you so lovingly remember is still open...

*and the honey stand being so trusting by having a box to drop your money in rather than a person taking it...

*and the so alive they could bite you shrimp hut in the middle of nowhere having a much easier route to get there...

*and the boys in the car screaming like a girl when that buffalo sticks his disgusting tongue in your window...

*and your husband placing bread on your lap unbeknownst to you so that more disgusting animals will lick it off..

(Kai was a bit un-manly in this moment;)

*and seeing the bears beg for bread by doing amazing acrobatic hand motions tricks...

*and eating not one but two dinners because the first stop still left you wanting...

*and climbing into bed a bit dirty and tired and thankful for a day that was planned...

but one that had a little wiggle room, too.

Go here for this magical animal kingdom car ride:) 

But first take the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, drive 104 W and stop at the road stand for the 5+ kinds of organic heirloom apples/pears.  Pass on eating at the burger place (Fat Smitty's) on US-101 regardless of good reviews because the inside is the freakiest set of Christmas dolls/memorabilia you will ever lay eyes on (learned this last time). Notice the sign to Hull Family Shrimp -> and go the back roads to get live shrimp for $10 a pound (they have cooked too). Then notice the ambiance of the port-a-potty next to it.  This is how you know this place is for realz.  Then drive into Sequim, but hit Safeway to buy about 4 loaves of bread (they sell bread at the park entrance, but you'll be saving a few bucks.)  Instead of turning right into the park, follow the signs to the lavender/strawberry/honey-cider farms on the right.  Stock up on everything/pick in season produce and then head back to the Olympic Game Farm  to get slobbered on.  PS. Don't feed the buffalo's during mating season.

Alternate route:  Drive the loop through Tacoma and on to WA-16 Bremerton up to HWY 3 and then on to 104 W.  If you do this on the way back, stop at the outdoor hut at Salty's/Redondo for the fish and chips (although the outside hut is closed after Labor Day).  If that's not filling enough go to Fat Burger.  But make sure you don't get the Hawaiian punch for your 4 year old because it will spill all over the table and you will have to leave immediately.  And tip that one guy..because his burger sales talk was smooth. 

Power Point Presentation available upon request.