Today wasn’t a completely pre-planned day so Eitan started researching all the places to explore on our drive to Tacoma.  Suddenly there was plenty to do, which led to a very full day – what better way to celebrate our 9^th Wedding Anniversary!

Where we were staying, Sequim, is known for the Lavender Trail.   We went to a very charming one that is clearly family run, but the city offers multiple farms to go visit.

Lavender bushes do not require to be watered, and it has inspect-repellent properties, allowing farmers to avoid using pesticides when growing these.

They provided a free tour of how they make their lavender.  We learned everything from the Lavender varieties, to how they make their essential oils.

Lavender has been grown for over 2,500 years and originated in the mountainous regions of western Europe, north Africa, and southwest Asia. 

English lavender is often used in cooking and baking, and is believed to have therapeutic properties. French lavender is used in baking, desserts, and to make lavender tea, and is also used for its oil and strong scent.

We learned how to distinguish between English and French Lavender by smell. English lavender has a sweeter, softer scent than French lavender, which has a more spicy, floral scent.

We wanted to support them so bought some lavender lotion, oil and some flowers for Ariela.  Eitan was excited to take some pretty photos of the fields and Ariela kept on jumping on him.

We then drove to the very cute town of Port Townsend. 

The city is known for the many Victorian buildings remaining from its late 19th-century heyday.

Port Townsend is called the “City of Dreams” because of the early speculation that the city would be the largest harbor on the west coast of the United States. Guarding the gate of Puget Sound, it would become known by its other nickname, the “Key City,” a title that remains to this day. Of course, that did not pan out as they though it would and now a town of very little importance.

They had some interesting stores, like this one that specialized in selling typewriters. I have absolutely no clue who would buy one of these in 2024.

They also have a maritime center for independent boatbuilders and related industries and crafts. They leave their doors open, so you can see artisans working with they wood skills.

We walked around the cute marina for a little bit.

And again the weather was perfection, allowing us to see Mt. Rainier at the distance. Lucky shot here where you can see and F-18 fighter jet during takeoff. Eitan noticed it once he was editing the photos. There are several military bases around Washington to be able to defend ourselves from the very aggressive Canadians (Sarcasm here… it’s to defend ourselves from potential Russian aggression).

We walked around the charming town, which even had a charming playground which Ariela was thrilled about, so we spent some time there. 

We then stopped at a cute hot dog stand for a bite and then continued our road trip to yet another cute town. 

We drove to the cute town of Poulsbo. Sarah really loved because it looked like Europe. 

Poulsbo is known as “Little Norway” because of its Scandinavian heritage. Not that the million Norwegian flags would give it away!

It’s located in northern Kitsap County, west of Seattle, and is a popular destination for visitors.   We stopped at an old-fashioned looking candy shop and Ariela picked two candies, which were of course rainbow colored and for the full purpose of stopping her tantrum.

We then stopped for a beer, the view was wonderful, the beer was really, really bad.

We walked around the town

Ariela is starting to get obsessed with maps, like Eitan.

Then on to Tacoma where we had a dinner a good Mexican restaurant (Cactus) which has several locations in Washington so was nice to try. 

We then had lots to accomplish to prep for tomorrow at Mt. Renier.   We stopped at the market to get food, Eitan was getting quite exhausted from all the driving so tried to find a Starbucks and several were surprisingly already closed. 

We finally found one that had a very long wait.  We then stopped at Subway in a less nice area to get sandwiches for tomorrow.  This whole process took much longer than expected leading to not getting to our air b and b until after 9pm in a very small, Western looking town called Morton. 

The airbandb  was decorated to match the area and was very cute and unique.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to spend much time there as we needed to sleep for our early wake up time for the next day to go explore Mt Raininer.

What better way to celebrate our anniversary than jamming in a super packed with lots of exploring – a very good representation of what traveling in this marriage has looked like the last 9 years!  Ariela is still getting used to traveling with us and out of pure exhaustion when we arrived at the air b and b, she said I want my bed at home.  Luckily the thought was fleeting and the next day she was ready to explore again!

Bonus pic of the day: It’s always fascinating to discover what are the dangers in different parts of the world. From hurricanes in Florida, all the animals trying to kill you in Australia, the pickpockets in France, the scams in India, and here you got….. toxic butter and varnish clams!! do not eat!