Trip to the Freemont Troll

So my cousins kept telling me about a troll under the bridge - I of course thought of the story of the 3 Billy Goats and the troll under the bridge - but I was not prepared to see how big he was. Four artists built the Troll under the bridge in 1990 for the Freemont City Arts Council. Boy is he big! You can crawl all over him. And guess what? While I was there I actually ran into Flat Stanley from Ohio! I was really excited because he was riding in a motorcycle with a dog named Lucy (she actually had goggles on!) Well we talked about everything we had seen in Washington - and surprisingly we had visited a lot of the same spots! After visiting the Troll we decided we needed something sweet to eat - so we went to a chocolate factory! You could actually walk through and eat as much chocolate as you wanted - but this was no ordinary chocolate - there was hot pepper chocolate, lavender chocolate, vanilla bean chocolate - boy was it yummy! I really like Washington! Oh, by the way - it has been sunny everyday since Saturday! No raincoat needed yet!

A day trip to Seattle

Today we had a list of things that my cousins wanted me to see and do. That meant going down to the city and hitting all the great things they have to do in the city. We went to the Seattle Aquarium, The aquarium is actually on a Pier - and they have touch pools where I was able to touch starfish and lots of other really cool things! Up a long flight of stairs we also went to The Pike Place Market. This is the number one tourist attraction in Seattle. People go there to see and buy fresh fruit, flowers and fish. It was so crowded that it was really hard to get around. There are also many outdoor performers - they just sing, dance and even play the piano on the street. I also saw the very first Starbucks! I really liked the Seattle waterfront! Then of course we went to the Space Needle. It really is very cool! People can take a elevator all the way to the top - but I realized that I was afraid of heights - so just like the ski lifts, I decided it was better if I kept my feet on the ground!

Day Two - Hiking at Snoqualmie Falls

After skiing we met up with some friends and went hiking at Snoqualmie Falls - It is where the Snoqualmie River cascades 270 feet (this is actually 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls) througha rock gorge. It is one of Washington states most popular scenic attractions. Over 1.5 million people visit the falls each year.

Day Two in Sammamish, WA

Today was very exciting - We went to the Cascades (a mountain range in the Northwest that runs from Washington, Oregon and Northern California), to a place called the Snoqualmie Summit. Riley and Hayden had skiing lessons - I thought that it sounded like great fun. And it looks easy enough - or so I thought - little did I know that they had been skiing for years. So I went to get some gear (equipment for skiing). They really never had any request for equipment for someone that was, ummmmm, flat. Plus you had to ride a chair lift - that is like a ride - you have to stand in line - hop on a hanging chair to take you to the top of the mountain. I decided it was much safer to keep my feet on the ground.

First Day in Sammamish, WA

Boy was Aunt Lori, Uncle Tom, Riley and Hayden surprised when I jumped out of the envelope on Saturday. They had no idea I was coming to visit, Aunt Lori is a dog trainer so I thought that it would be fun to try and train their new puppy Keeley. As you can see from the pictures, Keeley had other ideas - and after my head was in her mouth, so did I - I was going to leave the dog training to her.