Gossip Girls

I left off in my story with Pike Place Market and chocolate (yum). After that Rachel and I drove to her friend Phil’s house in Burien. He lives right in the water at Three Trees Pointe with an amazing view of Puget Sound and the Cascades. I would never tire of that view.

We were at Phil’s house to go kayaking. It was my first time and I was so glad I went with experienced kayakers. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what I was doing but my fears were cleared up almost immediately. It was so much fun!

They gave me a mini lesson and then the three of us set off in the Puget Sound. We stayed fairly close to shore and never went deeper than 5 feet or so. I never felt unsafe while I was out there. We paddled down (South of Phil’s house) with the wind at our backs and the water pretty calm. I was starting to get the rhythm and hang of paddling and was actually doing pretty well!

I had no sense of time and no sense of distance while we were out on the Sound. The sun was warm and there was a cool breeze and we just paddled down the coast. After a bit we turned around because the wind was picking up and the water was super choppy.

Any skill I developed on the paddle down, went out the window on the way back. We were paddling into the wind, the water was rough and no matter how hard I paddled, it felt like I was going backwards!! It wasn’t as bad as I make it sound–it was still fun just REALLY HARD WORK. I was getting tired, even though I’m in pretty good shape. The rough waves started splashing into the kayak, the salty sea water drying into salt on my face, hands and legs.

We finally made it back and I let the kayak just drift a little by the shore. I was tired but not ready to quit yet. Two little kids sharing a kayak paddled by me and then we got a visit from two sea lions! They poked their little heads out of the water and looked at us curiously. It was such a cool moment.

Rachel and Phil were still paddling up the shore to meet me so I got out of the kayak and did a little shell collecting while I waited. It turned out we were out on the water for two hours. Longer than we planned or thought we’d do! Rachel got pretty sunburned and I got a little sun burn on my legs. Oooops!

After that we said goodbye to Phil and then went back to the hotel to check into our new and upgraded room to clean up. Our new upgraded room was fantastic!

It was about 3:30 at this point and we had just enough time to go out to Woodinville for some wine tasting. Rachel ordered us a car from Uber — something I’d never heard of before but it turned out to be pretty cool. It’s like a car service you can book on your iPhone app. I’m glad we got a car service to go wine tasting.

Woodinville is a great place for wine tasting because there’s so many wineries and tasting rooms right next to each other. Part of it is very walkable, too, so you don’t need a car once you get out there (which is a good idea). The first place we went to was Mark Ryan and we weren’t huge fans of their wines. Rachel and I split our tastings (also a good idea).

The next place we went to was Village Wines, which turned out to be a wine store and tasting room–which meant they didn’t waive the tasting fee if you bought a bottle and the wines weren’t just from Washington. I liked several of the wines I tried but didn’t end up buying any. I was super surprised that my favorite wine I tasted there was a Merlot (Novelty Hill Merlot). It was rich and smooth with hints of chocolate.

Guess what? You get pretty tipsy when you drink wine after kayaking for 2 hours and skipping lunch! Ooops! We got some food at Village Wines to help with that. We got the hummus and veggie plate and an order of their tortellini. The pasta was cold and seasoned with a lemon aioli sauce. It was my favorite snack! I loved it.

The next place we went to is my favorite winery in Washington. It’s called Brian Carter Cellars and I’ve been there twice now and wish both times that I could buy every single one of their wines.

The first wine we tried was the Oriana (51% Viognier, 35% Roussanne, 14% Riesling). Rachel does not like white wines but even she loved it so much she bought a bottle! That says a lot, I think. I bought a bottle of Oriana because I loved it to so much. It was slightly sweet and very crisp. I tasted pear and melons. It was such a refreshing, light wine on a hot a summer day.

The service is always friendly and like I said, the wines are delicious. Our last stop was to Trust. It was a fun tasting room and I bought a bottle from there, too! I needed more snacks because skipping lunch and having wine instead was a bad idea!

I’m really glad we took a car service. It was easy and made it a much more relaxed experience; no stress! Man, what a busy day! Saturday I worked out, had a great breakfast, checked out Pike Place Market, went kayaking, wine tasting and then back to the room to totally crash!

On Sunday it was much more relaxed. Rachel and I had our free breakfast, went to the Fremont Sunday Market and then to the Ballard Locks.

Rachel and I parted ways and I went to my Grandma’s house to spend some time with her. We went through some of her old photo albums and just hung out. It was so nice to spend some time with her and I wished I had more time.

My Grandma was so glamorous looking!!  After that I had a late lunch with my parents for Father’s Day, had time to get a swim in and then picked up Michael. Okay never-mind, Sunday wasn’t relaxing, it was just as busy as Saturday! We didn’t get home to Portland until 10pm. Exhausting weekend? For sure. But so much fun and definitely an adventure!

QUESTION: Have you ever been kayaking? What was your favorite experience?