Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Washington

A few weeks ago I went all the way to Washington State for the first time ever to meet Paul's family.

Needless to say, I was a touch nervous.

I mean, I was obviously also really excited to meet them and to get to see where Paul grew up and Washington and all.....but I was nervous.

Paul and I started our trip out in Washington DC. Backyardigans was doing 7 shows in DC so I decided to come down and enjoy home for a bit since my parents live pretty close to DC. It's always wonderful being home because I get to relax and get the insanity of NYC out of my system for a bit. Also, it's always nice to see my folks and having Paul there made it even better.

Paul had a day off so I took him sightseeing. We intended to go the Museum of American History but the damn thing has been closed since 2006 or something. Ridiculous! No Dorothy's ruby slippers for us then. Instead, I took him to the Museum of Natural History which was an absolute favorite of mine as a kid. We didn't wanna wander around the whole damn huge museum so we made a quick stop to see the Hope Diamond, the Insect Zoo (ugh), and this nice butterfly exhibit in which you walk through a little forest surrounded by all these butterflies.

Ooh!Aah!We also stopped by the IMAX theater in the museum and watched Sea Monsters 3D!!! or something like that. I would post the picture of us in our 3D glasses up here but we look so preposterous I can hardly handle it. Paul may have it up on his blog, go check there if you're that curious!

Luckily, we were in DC for my Mom's birthday! We went to Chesapeake Bay and sailed around for hours. It was lovely. We drank, ate, we even got to swim! The water was so warm but unfortunately really murky. I hate murky water.....makes me think something is gonna swim up and bite my balls off or something. Ha! Anyway, after the sail we had a little barbecue by the bay. Paul and I also had a sensible photo shoot.....

This is my 'don't-mess-with-me-murky-water-ball-biting-sharks' face. That's just Paul's regular face.....What you doing back there, boo?'Gave good face.....'Yup.ANYWAY!!!

The next day we were off to Washington!!! We flew to L.A., had a long layover which involved lunch (and a few drinks), and then were finally on our way to Seattle. Paul's mom, Kari, and Paul's brother's girlfriend, Autumn, came to meet us at the airport. Unfortunately, we arrived to a bit of bad news (which is not blog or gossip material, sorry!) but our spirits were immediately lifted once we got to Paul's beautiful house. Paul's parents have been working very hard at remodelling their house and it looks absolutely wonderful. It has these amazing, huge windows which spill tons of light into the living room and kitchen. They also have a hot tub and a beautiful yard with a badminton net! In celebration of Paul's visit home (and my visit, maybe? A little?) there were tons of family friends at the house. I met A LOT of people. Naturally, I was pretty nervous but everyone was really welcoming and kind. We drank some wine, ate some delicious food, and even played a few games of badminton. Paul and I played against Autumn and one of her friends, and then against Kari and her friend Charel.

We sucked.

The next day Paul and I went to a place called Deception Pass. It's this beautiful forested area where water flows through these two hills and creates lots of really turbulent tide pools. There's also lots of trails for hiking and stuff.

This is a patch of fog passing over the bridge over Deception Pass. Pretty right?On the bridge.....
Deception Pass!Yeah yeah, I know. Corny.
We then hiked up to Goose Rock and, let me tell you, it was quite a hike. We passed a bench named after some guy along the hike trail. We assumed the bench was placed there in memoriam of this guy who had probably had a heart attack on his way to Goose Rock.....it was that rough. I know that's not funny at all but I wouldn't be surprised if I was right!
View from the top of Goose Rock.....TREES!!!Pooped.After the hike we took a ferry back to Paul's place. Paul wasn't too pleased when we got to ferry, though, because we got there a little late. The woman in charge of directing cars onto the ferry stopped us right when we were about to get on. Paul almost ran her over.....not so fun. Once we got on the next ferry, he threw a little of this in my face.....But he cheered up after a bit :)The next day we went to visit Paul's Grandma, he calls her Nanny, in Tacoma. We had lunch with her and talked for a good long while. She's a fascinating woman with a lot of very interesting, strong opinions. Some I agree with, others.....well. At least she said I was a nice fellow! She kept asking Paul and I if we had girlfriends. Ha. She's a smart woman; I'm pretty sure she knew exactly who Paul had brought for her to meet. She was probably just confirming her suspicions. Before we left, though, she made sure to let us know exactly she felt about gay marriage and such. I must admit, I like Nanny a lot. Even if we don't agree about certain things!
The next day was the 4th of July which was just all around nuts. First we went to Paul's Grandpa's house at Birch Bay (I think). I got to meet a lot more of his family then and they were all really open and relaxed with me. I loved meeting them. They sure know how to make a guy feel welcome! We then went to a Native American reservation to buy fireworks. I was a little worried about Paul's safety as he stepped out of the car in his green suede loafers. We definitely felt a bit out of place but everyone was actually really helpful and kind.....the guy selling us the fireworks even gave us a HUGE discount, mainly because he was going to rehab in a few days and needed to get rid of all his stuff. True story. We then went to Camino (or Camano?) Island for a little party with some family friends. It turned out to be quite a large party so after a drink or two we went back home where the real fun started. Fireworks and margaritas.....could there possibly be a better combination? I think not. Anyway, here are some 4th of July pics throughout the day.....
You can walk way out at Birch Bay! From left to right that's Hershey (the Flanagan dog), Autumn, Kari, and me.Paul, me, Autumn.HERSHEY!!! Paul says she smells. I say she's fabulous. I love this dog.Happy 4th!!!Woo!We have one super flying sparkler thingy when you can have two!Paul and Autumn told me to put a super flying sparkler thingy in a bottle. Then they lit it.....I was a little scared.....Paul was just excited.....Strike a pose.Blurry.....but kind of a cool pic!On our last day in Washington, Paul finally took me to Seattle. Well, actually, first we went to this sandwich place that Paul is obsessed with and met up with his cousins Amy and Erin. We then went to Gas Works Park to eat our fabulous sandwiches and, lo and behold, they were pretty good! Gas Works Park, by the way, is where they filmed the paintball scene in 10 Thing I Hate About You. I LOVE that movie.
Amy, Erin, Paul, me, Seattle in the background.....There happened to be a wedding party there taking some pics. Cute :)Seattle!Gas working machinery, apparently.....I thought this pic turned out pretty cool with the plane in it.....I have lots more to report on but this entry is way too long! I promise to finish it up soon.

Bye!

1 comment:

flanaganks said...

Love the photos! Loved the visit even more. Come again soon (weekend after next is open)... KF