It's Official!

We got our wedding invitation to Corey & Terrell's wedding in the mail today!  It's been such a crazy year with the corona and plans kept having to be adjusted.  They started with 150 people but are now down to 30 max so it's just a ceremony with family and no reception.  I think it will still be a memorable day and I can't wait to watch them start their lives together!

Bellevue Botanical Garden

Gabby had a hair appointment in Bellevue today so we decided to come along and do a nearby walk while she was occupied.  Unfortunately, Scott wasn't feeling very well so he stayed home but Corey was able to come so that was awesome.  First we stopped at The French Bakery to pick up some food; I bought a baguette to take home to Scott (although I did eat some of it!) and a chocolate croissant which was super delicious.  Then we walked around the Shops at Bravern which is totally upscale.  It was kind of eerie though because there was hardly anyone around and some of the stores would only allow two people in at a time or were by appointment only.  Things sure have changed with the coronavirus!  

After we dropped Gabby off at her appointment Corey & I drove over to Wilburton Hill Park which is right next to the Bellevue Botanical Garden.  We decided to walk at the garden first which was good because the appointment was way shorter than we had planned and we didn't get to see much.  We did find the ravine bridge which I really wanted to see, so that was cool.  We were both saying we really need to come back when we have more time.  The garden is really beautiful and much bigger than we had anticipated.  There are also some trails at Wilburton Hill Park which we want to hike next time.

This is a cute little playground at Wilburton.

We followed the signs to the Ravine to reach the bridge.

A bit late in the season, but there were still a few flowers blooming.

As seen from the inside which was really cool.

You really had to squish down to get in and out. 

The bridge!

Grand Ridge Park Hike

This morning Scott, Gabby & I travelled an hour north of home to Issaquah and hiked at Grand Ridge Park.  This is a 1,300 acre park with almost 12 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails.  There are several different trail heads but we started at Central Park and got onto the trail at South Pond.  Per my hiking app we completed 4.19 miles in 1:51:55 with an elevation gain of 741 feet.  We started going east on the Coal Mine loop then headed north on the East Fork trail until we reached the South Log Bridge.  We turned around at that point then headed back to complete the entire Cole Mine loop trail. This was where we lost then gained most of our elevation.  I was so happy to see the end of the trail!  We passed a few large groups but overall not too many people.  There were several people not wearing masks which was kind of disappointing, but we really liked the area and would definitely go back and explore some of the other trails we didn't get to.  Afterwards we stopped for lunch at Habit Burgers, which was delicious.  I was excited to try it because they are putting one in Bonney Lake soon.  On the way home we stopped at a large Asian market in Renton. Gabby wanted to try the Durian wafer cookies so we bought a bag of them.  They smelled so awful when we opened the bag and she couldn't even eat one bite..she spit it back out!  The car smelled so foul afterwards and we had to leave the windows down for a while.  I doubt she will be trying anything Durian flavored ever again.

Map of the area.

It must be the new thing because we found lots of these cute painted rocks on the trails.  I took photos of some of them.

The South Log bridge where we turned around.

Gabby was the tree hugger today.

Not quite sure what these structures are, but perhaps part of an old mine, hence the name Coal Mine loop trail. 

Fort Townsend and Fort Worden State Parks

We've been having a bit of a heat wave here these past few days. On Sunday the forecast was for 98 degrees in Bonney Lake so we decided to go to Port Townsend to cool down.  We left early and picked up Corey & Terrell on the way.  Our first stop was at Fort Townsend Historical State Park which sits on Port Townsend Bay.  We did a little hike on their interpretive trail then went down to the water.  The tide was out so we got to check out some wildlife and had great views of Mt. Baker across the water. I also got squirted by a gooey duck! Next we drove up to Fort Worden State Park.  We walked down a pier then to the Point Wilson light house.  Then we checked out an old battery before heading into town for some ice cream at Elevated Ice Cream and hot dogs at Dogs a Foot which were really yummy.  It was a lovely day and the temps were just perfect...low/mid 70's with a little breeze off the water.  It was a great way to get away from the heat! Now Gabby can mark two more state parks off her list! 

The signs were very interesting.  Too bad there wasn't much left to see of the actual fort.

The brick they mentioned in the sign.

Mt. Baker in the distance

heading down to the water

Corey saved this crab by throwing him back into the ocean.

We took this wooded trail back to our car.

Sandy beach at Fort Worden

The kids on the pier.

I loved this photo Corey took of a cairn we found.

Love the wild lupine!  This yellow is like sunshine!