Today was our first full day in our “home exchange” home in Seattle, WA. Actually we are on the beach in Burien overlooking the Puget Sound as you can see from the pic above, the view from every room in this 4 story house is amazing! We made some new friends via homeexchange.com and they let us stay in their house this week for free because they are down in Oklahoma on a Family Reunion trip. This is so amazing, we are having a great time just relaxing and enjoying the beach and views. It’s a great way to wind down from a very busy weekend. We will upload more pics as the week goes on, but basically this house sits about a couple hundred feet above the ocean and there’s a steep narrow staircase (over 245 steps, according to Rebecca) that leads down to the beach. You can only access the beach during low tide, because when high tide rolls in, the water is crashing right up against the cliff we are perched on. As the kids learned this afternoon, that tide can move in fast. They tried to go exploring for the 3rd time today and within 30 minutes, they barely had room to make it back to the staircase before the ocean swallowed up the beach entirely. Don’t worry, Bappa and Dat were with them and it was totally safe, just surprising how fast the tide came in. The main thing the kids have captured so far is a bunch of “sea glass”, which is just smoothed out pieces of broken glass, but it’s very colorful. Tomorrow we are going to Pike’s Place market in downtown Seattle where we hope to nail some awesome clam chowder and fresh crab rolls while also checking out the local fruits and vegetables. Bappa and Clint are of course going to pay a visit to the brewery which is also there in the market. Then we are off to the Ballard Locks where the kids can watch the fish and ships sail by under water in the series of canal locks that guide massive tankers through the channel. There are glass walled viewing areas under the locks that let you view all the action...it’s free and supposed to be lots of fun.
