Sailing through Seattle

This morning we reluctantly checked out of the gorgeous Avalon hotel and started the 3 hour drive up to Bellavue where our family lives (Bob and Jody Rosain). We had a really hard time figuring out how we were related, but it appears that Bob is cousins with my mom, which would make us first cousins once removed...... or so they said. Either way, they are such a wonderful couple who are empty nesters and were eager to have visitors. We arrived at their house around noon and got settled in. They have a split level house with huge windows in the front, inviting wood ceilings and floors, lots of sculptures and art from around the world that they've collected while visiting their children in the Peace Corp, and other cute coastal features. We had a nice get-to-know-you chat, since the last time we met was when I was 11, and then took off in their little Scion for a whirlwind tour of the city of Seattle. Having lived in Bellavue for over 20 years, they were experts on what neighborhoods were in what districts of town, all the buildings in the Washington U campus, and of course all of the tourist attractions. It was a fun drive that ended up down at the marina where we got to take a little cruise on their sailboat!!

Bob and Jody have been avid sailors for many years and they told us tales of all their sailboats and the cool places they have been. They even let Alfredo and I help change the sails! It was a cool windy day, so perfect for sailing, and we were able to see all across Lake Union. There were no sea lions in sight, but we did spot a big jellyfish - YUCK!

After the refreshing sail, we headed back home and they prepared us a PHENOMENAL dinner: bright red Alaskan king salmon with garlic, lemon and salt roatsted on a cedar plank (mmmmmmm), tossed green salad with nuts, broccolini, fresh baked bread, mushroom risotto and rhubarb-strawberry pie with ice cream for dinner. I cannot even tell you how much we ate that day!! We also had fresh Washington cherries to snack on and some excellent local red wine. We felt like royalty! To add to the fun, Jody's sister, Susan, came by to join us for dinner and told us hilarious stories with her dry sense of humor that made us all laugh. They are such a fun family with so many great stories to tell! We felt like we had known them forever!

After dinner and long conversation, Alfredo and I put on our salsa outfits and went down to the Century ballroom to join up with Mariah and George Ortiz for some salsa dancing! The ballroom was beautiful with a huge wooden floor and we had a great time catching up with them and catching up on our dancing skills. :) It was late by the time we got home and we were exhausted, but it was a spectacular day and we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on a thing!

As a side note, we found out that Seattle is the #5 carjacking capitol of the US, and we were totally convinced that night that our car was going to be stolen when we left to go dancing. There was a car across the street with tinted windows and there was a dude sitting in there who kept staring at us and continued to sit in his car until after we had walked away. I wanted to run back to the car to check, but I didn't and luckily it was still there when we returned. Maybe no one wants a Hyundai Sonata anyway..... whew. ;)