Suquamish and Poulsbo, Washington

Day two out in Hansville.  I actually didn't stay in Hansville at all that day.  Instead I headed over to Suquamish to learn some Suquamish history.  

The Washington area is really fascinating because it has deeply native roots and they are strongly celebrated.  Tons of places are named after native tribes and reservations are very common.  

We stopped at the Suquamish Museum and Culture Center (in Suquamish, WA).  Again, it is off season, and we were the only people there, which was kind of nice because it is small and there was no rush.  Small, but full of information.

I noticed that many of the entrances are graced by these totem poles, and they are mostly a man and woman- man on the left, woman on the right.  I kind of loved them- it reminded me of the Smith Tower Chinese floor with the paintings of the Chinese king and queen on either side of the doorways.

The cool part about the Suquamish is that Chief Sealth, or Chief Seattle, is who the city of Seattle is named after.  I took pictures so I wouldn't have to explain it and get it all wrong.

Pretty neat.  There was this big canoe, that stood for the carrying-on of traditions and culture.  The back two creatures were sea otters, the middle were ancestors, and the front were Suquamish people.

The artwork and baskets were very intricate.  It was quite the informative visit for me!

Next we took a short walk down the street to Chief Sealth's grave site.  The cemetery itself seems to have been updated recently, including this grave site- added totem poles and area surrounding the grave.

There were lots of pennies left at the grave site, as well as some on other hands of totem pole people/creatures, but I'm not sure what that means or stands for and I can't seem to find it on the internet.  I'll keep searching.

Strangely, we hopped over to the casino to visit the hotel that houses a lot of native art.  It must not be uncommon to do, because the people working there even started pointing out their favorites for us.  There was great artwork, but the best part of this hotel was outside!!  The casino is not actually attached to the hotel, it's just located next to it, but it doesn't disrupt the amazing view here!  You kind of forget there's a casino there.

My other favorite part was this stairway to the water.  It just goes directly to the water.  Nothing else.

So obviously I went and stood in the Puget Sound.  Because I can.  Because of my sweet boots.

Clear water and mid-fifties in February.  So much love.

Next we went to Poulsbo, WA, which is probably my new favorite shopping location.  It feels so beachy and quaint.  It was almost closing time, so we did some fast store hopping and I didn't take pictures.  But I did grab too many pastries at the delicious bakery (Sluys, omgoodness the Viking Cinnamon Roll...).  Poulsbo is a very Norwegian town and has lots of Norwegian art and shops.  It is also right by the water with a bunch of sailboats.  We had dinner at Tizley's, which had some kind of Schnitzel Ruben that was amazing.

So after that we were on time to go to Bainbridge and catch the ferry back to Seattle.  It was my car's first time riding the ferry.  

Luckily I had someone to tell me to put that parking brake on!!  We did leave the car and go up top to check out the Seattle lights as we cruised back to the city.  Blurry (because I need lessons on my manual settings...my high school classes were a long time ago, apparently), but we all made it.  We hit the ferry 3 minutes before it left the dock, so I drove in and parked and then we left.  Then I got right out first.  I'm told this never happens and will never happen again.  First timer's luck.  

My blurry city is so pretty!  Back to everyday life now.

The Peninsula

In February we get a mid-winter break, and I had big plans to do really productive things.  Like get the oil changed in my car and maybe scrub the toilet.  It was going to be very exciting.

Unfortunately those things took about an hour of break and the rest was up for grabs- although one of the Seahawks players takes his car to the same place as me and his appointment was right after mine and all the car gentlemen were all aflutter with anticipation and equal amount of super bowl disappointment.  It was a brief hour of excitement, but then I had to leave 5 minutes before he arrived, but not without first seeing lots of pictures of him and last year's super bowl ring.  Luckily one of my teacher team members called me up and invited me out to the peninsula for a night so I could perk up.

I think the peninsula is really big.  I say that based on the information I learned when I went to the Washington State History Museum.  But we stayed on a tiny peninsula on the big peninsula. Hansville, Washington to be exact.

Hansville is right on the Puget Sound (here's a map, Mom) and is easiest to get there by ferry, but I opted out of the ferry on the way there for two reasons.  One, I have no idea how to take the ferry with my car (glad I opted out of that one, did NOT know that you should put your emergency brake on.  My car could be in the bottom of the ocean right now).  Two, I figured it would be kind of good to drive around the Puget Sound and see what there is to see around there.  It's about twice the milage to go around the Sound in the car, but it's the same amount of travel time whether you take the ferry or drive around.  Plus you get to drive over the Narrows bridge and it's pretty cool.

Anyways, I drove there and I went the long way and there were lots of gorgeous lake views and Mount Rainier was out and SHE IS GORGEOUS, but I was driving so I don't have pictures of that.  I'm still a super distracted driver because things are so beautiful and I start staring and then I have to remember to pay attention.  I'm being safe, though.  Promise.

We crammed a lot of wandering into a little over 24 hours, and I learned a bunch of new things about Washington and Seattle.  Here is what happened day one.  I arrived around noon.

First, we hopped in a kayak and paddled out on the Puget Sound.

It was so peaceful!  There were no boats out, and the sky was split between clear skies and clouds (apparently that is very normal in this area because of some kind of rain divide.  You learn a lot about weather out here).

You could catch glimpses of the Olympic Mountains on the other side of the Sound as the clouds passed by and every once in awhile a little sea otter nose would peek out somewhere and then dip down underwater.  

On our way back into shore a huge flock of birds was flying around close to the water and swooped right past us, and as if that wasn't scary enough, they went ahead and turned around and then SWOOSHED at our faces and I was sure that I was going to need some kind of reconstructive face surgery.  Luckily they divided down the middle as they flew through us (I think...I don't really know because I closed my eyes and put my hands up in front of my face.  Protection.)

Then we made our way all the way back in without further incident.

Even with the clouds, it's gorgeous.

Next we took a short drive over to Point No Point, which is the first known lighthouse on the Puget Sound.  It was a bit less cloudy in that direction, so I got to enjoy some sunshine and sand and driftwood.

The cargo ship was coming in, but because of the current union negotiations, he won't be getting very far.  All of the cargo ships are anchored outside the Port of Seattle and every other port hanging out until they can be unloaded.

Back to Point No Point.  Here it is!  Very small.  There is a house next door that is used as a rental so you can actually stay here for the weekend.  It looks like the lighthouse is used throughout the year for events, but this is off season so it was all locked up.

We took a little walk around the beach and the trails surrounding the lighthouse.  The cargo ship continued to follow us along.

I had spied a little local nut shop on my way in, and learned that it was a pretty well known operation in the area, C.B. Nuts, but this was their only retail shop where the whole business began.  We stopped to check it out.  This business started when a guy went to Orioles-Mariners game in Baltimore and someone was selling peanuts outside the stadium, so he came back to the west coast and started a little peanut roasting business and started selling at the Mariners games.  There is an original dugout bench in this little shop from the Mariners original stadium.  They roast all the nuts right there in this little warehouse shop (the guy there was taking them in and out of the oven while we chatted) and they sell to other local places (Theo Chocolate uses these nuts in their chocolate bars!).  I left with a bag of freshly roasted peanuts.

Next we headed over to Port Gamble (Port Townsend?  I don't remember.) and checked out the little shopping street right along the coastline.  It all has a very coastal vacation feel but I live here!  It was about closing time so I didn't get to check it all out, but got to see where it was and everything to do for next time!

We stopped and grabbed some dinner on our way back to Hansville.  Lovely little day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are all feeling the love today.  I haven't been doing anything extraordinary lately, but I have been keeping busy.  All my friends (read: two couples) in town have bought houses in the past few months, and I've been spending a few days hopping over to help paint and prep.  Not exciting as a blog post, but super exciting for them!  

Valentine's Day means a pretty crazy week in teacher-world, so this week went really fast and kept me pretty busy.  Plus we had two extra staff meetings, so my prep time was less than most weeks.  We did an in-class friendship brunch in the classroom yesterday, so we started the day off with a little celebration.  The kids were fantastic and it was really fun.  Lots of prep, but worth it!  

Fun Dip is the thing to hand out on Valentines Day (it has been for a few years now) so I was showered with those little packets of flavored sugar, plus lots of chocolate and a few stuffed animals.  These kiddos know how to make a teacher feel special.     

We actually have mid-winter break now, so for the next week I'll be hanging out.  Doing fun things like getting the oil changed in my car (and the dreaded brake light/blinker that are out) and doing some painting at my friends' house.  Plus I signed up to go to a professional development conference on the weekend (who schedules that stuff??).  Hopefully I learn a lot.

Seattle in the winter is quite rainy, although everyone tells me it's been REALLY WARM this year.  We've sat around the 50s-60s almost all winter and it has been so dreamy!  The only time I've worn a winter coat this year was when I went back to the Midwest and up to Canada!  **I also don't have recess duty, so that could be part of it.

It's foggy a lot.  I'm not sure if that's just where I live because it's up higher, or in general.  Most days I claim I "live in the clouds" because that is literally what I'm doing.  Unlike the Midwest, the fog doesn't necessary lift as the day goes on.  Quite a bit of misty rain, though.

I'm already planning lots of fun summer adventures, and have lined up at least one visit from friends.  I'm excited to enjoy the sunshine again and go exploring.

I hope you are feeling extra loved today!  If you need some Fun Dip, let me know and I'll send you some!