vividreports: In Everett, Washington

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT (Sat., July 20): We left Sequim in a fairly dense fog, stopped for lattés and muffins at a coffee shop and headed for Everett, WA. Our route took us to Kingston, WA where we got on a ferry to Edmonds, WA across Puget Sound. The ferry was almost a big as the one we took to Victoria - it some ways it seemed bigger - even though it was only a half-hour ride. From Edmonds it was a fairly quick drive up I-5 to Everett, where we went Ryan and Alicia's apartment.

Ryan is my niece, Suzie's, son, and Alicia is his wife. I performed their marriage last year at about this time in Elgin, IL. They moved to Everett when Alicia got a very good job in her field as a public health worker - she works for Snohomish County Public Health in the area of tuberculosis testing and patient management. Ryan found work as a project coordinator at Electric Mirror, which is (to quote their website) "the global leader in Lighted Mirrors and Mirror TV Technology™ . . . serving the hospitality and residential industries for over fifteen years with product lines that include modern lighted mirrors, mirror TVs, waterproof TVs, medicine cabinets, sconces, and makeup mirrors."

They like their jobs, they love their neighborhood, they really like Everett as a city, and they like the area as a place to live. The downside is the climate - 7-8 months of dark, rainy weather in the fall, winter and spring. Summer is great and it was beautiful the day we arrived. We found them in the midst of a move. They have been living for a year in a large apt. complex on a very busy street right on the edge of downtown Everett, and right next door to Alicia's work. They have found a new place - the first floor of a very attractive house which is only a block or so away, but is in a totally different environment: quiet, with trees and gardens. So they will have all the advantages of being close to restaurants, Alicia's work, etc., but be in a much more pleasant environment - and $500 less per month to boot! Their living space is well laid out, newly decorated, attractive, light, airy, and they have a big basement area for storage - something they totally lacked before. So they are happy and excited to be moving.

We saw both the old place and the new place, had lunch at the Vintage Cafe, a very nice restaurant just a couple of blocks from their apt. (during lunch, Mimi drew a portrait of everyone sitting around the table), walked around Everett and had a treat of gelato and cupcakes at Bite Me Cupcakes, a shop devoted exclusively to cupcakes of all kinds, with a dominantly pink décor. Mimi was enchanted. We also visited their Coop - this was all within a few blocks. Oh - the evening before, Ryan and Alicia had gone to a Paul McCartney concert at the stadium in Seattle - 45,000 people! They said it was the experience of a lifetime. It is very easy to get to Seattle by public transportation. So they've got it all. They're hoping eventually to adjust to the climate . . . people have told them that they will.

After walking about a while I sort of hit the wall. My right foot hurt and I was really tired - feeling the effects of several intense days. We had made a reservation for a motel in Sedro-Woolley, WA (love that name), so we said our goodbyes to Ryan and Alicia, promising to come back and stay longer next time, and see that new place when they are all settled in!

We took sort of the "back way" on Route 9 north to Sedro-Woolley and got to the motel by about 5pm - a nice change from our usual 10pm arrivals. Ellen took the opportunity to use the motel washer/dryer and do a full wash. Ah! Clean clothes! We found supper at a local Mexican restaurant - not a chain - which was very good. I went to Walgreens to get some foam inserts for my shoes to give my foot some relief, and then to bed.