Feb 23

We have been moving all day yesterday and our backs feel like hell:).

We tried to get everything done yesterday so that we didn’t need to do any moving today.
We more or less succeeded and we only had to drive to the storage room once.

We wanted to give ourselves a small reward for all the hard work (and we don’t have any plates or cutlery or plates left, so we really didn’t have any other options), but we’ve gone out for breakfast this morning.

I was told by some of our neighbors, that De Dutch was a really good “pannenkoeken” house. The restaurant theme is The Netherlands.

We had an amazing breakfast, and although it wasn’t cheap, it was really worth it.


de dutch

Tonight we are going to watch the oscars, in our almost empty apartment (together with some vegetable samosa, chicken wings,…).

Have a nice week!

Feb 17

Eefje and Helena took a float plane to Victoria on Friday.
Apparently they really enjoyed it, and not only because of the flight and the views, but also because they had a “hot” pilot. (I literally wrote down what they told me).

They visited the BC Royal Museum and stayed in a wonderful hotel to get some rest after the busy days they had last week.

On Saturday Kris and I had to wake up early and take the ferry to Victoria to pick up the girls and head to Olympic National park with another ferry.

When waking up on Saturday we heard a coyote for the first time in our lives. It was amazing!! It was different than I expected and even a little bit scary.

On the ferry to Victoria we saw some seals again which made it a nice trip. But, I have to say that I saw more than enough boats for one day (since I suffer from seasickness once in a while…).

This is a panorama picture taken by Kris when we were on the ferry to Victoria)


Leaving Vanvouver
Leaving Vanvouver

Active Pass
Active pass

We arrived at the Olympic National Park, WA around 1pm. We immediately went to the visitor center to get some more information, and to get a National Park stamp (for my national park passport). Ooh and I also got Kris a stuffed squirrel for his Valentine:P

We drove to the Olympic Hoh Rain forest. It was a long drive, but really worth it. We did a small hike and we saw a few deer and a bald eagle.


Olympic National Park Entrance
Olympic National Park Entrance

Rainforest, Olympic National Park
Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park

Bald Eagle
A Bald Eagle in Olympic National park. (Credits to Ine)

Anyway, after the hike we drove to our hotel in Port Townsend.
We didn’t really now what to expect because when we booked the hotel we didn’t really have to much options to find a hotel, everything was fully booked.

I was scared to arrive in a hotel with cockroaches but it was nothing like that:). No just kidding, I didn’t expect it to be that bad, but I was a little bit scared though.

The hotel was a typical American motel with a complimentary breakfast. The view from the rooms was stunning. We woke up with a view on the harbor and the mountains.


Port Townsend, Washington
Sunrise over Port Townsend, Washington

We’ve went to visit a Native Art Gallery on Sunday and Kris bought me a late Valentines gift: a wooden carved bear. It’s really cool to hang on the wall in our new place. (I will take some pictures of it, as soon as I find the right spot for it).

Sine we didn’t have too much time (because we had to get back to the airport to drop of Helena and Eefje), we had a quick brunch in a casino owned by first nation people.


Seven Cedars Casino, Washington
Seven Cedars Casino

Quite an experience. It wasn’t Vegas, but it was a good imitation of it though. It was a nice brunch buffet and only 12 dollars including sodas. All three of us girls loved the chocolate mousse!

Helena and Eefje just left, so it’s quiet again around here:).
I started packing today, and on Wednesday we get access to our storage room, so we can actually start emptying the apartment.

We do want to get everything (well almost everything) out of here by the end of next weekend. So busy times ahead of us (again…).

On Friday we’re going to a night club with some friends (we don’t want to be to boring and only be busy with moving this weekend…so it’s time for some amusement too!!!).

Again, if you don’t see too many post passing by in the next couple of days, we’re really sorry… As from the 1ste of March, we will have internet in our new place, and we will be able to keep ourselves busy with some more day trips and blog posting.

That was it for today, I hope you all enjoy your week!

Feb 11

We have a few guests in our apartment since this weekend.
Helena and Eefje arrived in Seattle last Saturday.
On Saturday we drove to Seattle immediately after signing our mortgage.

We were stuck in front of the border for 1,5 hour. The waiting line was amazingly long and we had to go inside for the renewal of our American visa…

But it was worth it though. We went to the Seattle Premium Outlet center, which was cool. I’ve bought myself some supplies for the kitchen so I’m good to go again.

We arrived at Sea-Tac around 6 pm just in time to pick up the girls.
After a long journey they were pretty happy to see their beds:).

Sunday morning we drove up to Whistler. It was a nice and clear day but, with some snow showers. We’ve visited the Olympic Village and decided to go up the mountain and enjoy a ride on the Peak 2 Peak.
It was not as scary as I thought it was going to be, really cool experience.

As for now, Kris and I are back at work during the day and the girls are enjoying their city trip.

On Friday they are going to take the float plane to Victoria. And on Saturday Kris and I will pick them up in Victoria and all four of us will take the ferry to Olympic National Park. Yeaaaaaahhh now I can add some stamps in my National Park Passport:). We will spend the night in the park and go to Sea-Tac to drop of the girls, Sunday evening.

Here are some pictures:


olympic_village
The entrance of the Olympic Village

inukshuk
Inukshuk in Whistler

snow
Playing around

peak2peak
Peak 2 Peak

p2p_smile
Posing

p2p
Posing again

yeaah

Feb 4

Sorry I didn’t post anything yesterday, but I have been busy all day long.

But for those wondering how it went:
It went really good!

Of course I have to adjust a little bit, but it’s really great.
The things they want me to do will be challenging, but that’s a good thing. I think I will be able to learn a lot of new stuff and that’s actually what I was hoping for to find in a job.

I have been doing some research the last two days. Just to get a little bit more familiar with the company. And I also did a field trip today: I went to see the swimming classes:)

I have a lot to learn, but I’m definitely up for the challenge!

I was home pretty late yesterday, because straight after work I went to a cooking class. I subscribed myself a while ago, and I have to admit, it was a little bit too much on a first day, but I did enjoy everything.

It was an Italian “singing” chef and we had a Sicilian dinner with some nice wines!

I’m going to enjoy my evening a little bit, hope you’re all doing well, and we will be posting some more things next couple of days, since Helena and Eefje are coming, so we will try to do several tourist trips:).

For now I’ll leave you with a few of Kris his pictures.


Sunset
A random sunset taken not far from Seattle

Totem Poles, Royal BC Museum, Victoria
Two of the many totem poles on display in the The Royal BC Museum in Victoria,BC

Lower falls, Yosemite N.P.
The lower falls in Yosemite N.P. California on a “forest fire smoky day”

Drive-through sequoia tree, Yosemite N.P.
A dead drive-through Sequoia tree in Yosemite N.P. California.