(Sunday, October 2)
Today was the most exciting day of vacation, thus far because we did an awesome Pacific Northwest activity: paddle boarding! For those of you who have no idea what that is, here’s my best explanation: It’s like kayaking, but you are standing up on a surf board. How awesome is that? I’ve been really interested in trying this ever since I worked at Sambica in 2008. Back in those days, I would see a fella paddle board across Lake Sammamish almost every morning. I had never heard of such a thing, so the image has stuck with me over the years.
So as soon as we decided to vacation in the Pacific Northwest, paddle boarding was at the top of my list of things to do! We signed up for a 2-hour paddle boarding lesson/excursion with Surf Ballard on the Puget Sound, which was pretty much as awesome as it sounds. We put on wetsuits (the most universally flattering ensemble, ha!), as it was only 50-something degrees outside, and joined a group of 6 other students and 2 instructors on the shores of the Sound.
We had a brief tutorial on how to get onto the board and how to stand up and paddle, and soon we were in the water! One of the fellas in our group fell in the water as soon as he stood up on the board (that’s where those wetsuits some in handy), but I’m thrilled to report that Eric and I stayed warm and dry the whole time! We spent about an hour and a half paddling around the Sound, making our way toward the locks and then into a marina full of sailboats. The coolest part of the trip? Paddle boarding next to a group of sea lions! They popped up in the water just a few feet away from our boards! Way cool.
If anyone is interested in buying someone a paddle board for Christmas, I’d be thrilled to receive it.
After paddle boarding, we picked out a cute spot for lunch. As you can probably tell, vacations are all about the food for me. This place, The Dish Cafe, did not disappoint. It was a cute little cafe that was packed full of people, a sure sign of yummy food! Eric and I ordered breakfast (scrambled eggs with tomatoes, bacon, and spinach for me; french toast for Eric) and ate until we were stuffed. Delish.
A few months ago, our friend Tiason moved from Lexington to Seattle, so we planned to meet up with him during our trip. We met him at Sambica (where we both worked) and went to my favorite place at camp, the floating dock. Sambica is in this really awesome location on Lake Sammamish with incredible views. When you stand on the floating dock, it’s almost as if you are in the water (except you aren’t freezing and miserable). It was fun to see Sambica and how it has changed over the last few years.
We picked up Tiason and took him to Snoqualmie Falls, which is a super beautiful waterfall just a short drive from Seattle. It has this really cool lodge/restaurant on top, which I can only imagine must be spectacular (if not very expensive). You used to be able to hike around near the bottom of the falls, but the hiking is closed this year due to construction, so we just viewed the falls from the top. They were still very impressive.
A little while later (after returning Tiason to Sambica), we went to Mars Hill to hear Mark Driscoll preach. They are doing a sermon series on Luke, and have preached 93 sermons through Luke, as of Sunday night. Isn’t that incredible? Mark Driscoll is as impressive of a speaker as you’ve heard. The sermon was really good and powerful, dissecting just a few verses of the Word. And the music was incredible, as well.
One thing I’m loving about vacation is how each day seems so long because we get to do so many exciting things! Let’s hope that trend continues!
-Ally
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