Day 9

We left Salem Oregon at our normal 8am time. We drove by Portland and Jackie was already trying to plan a trip back. We both wanted to get home so bad that we didn’t stop even though we had time.

We crossed the Wilmette River and then the Columbia River into our new home state of Washington.

Around Tacoma, we started to get hungry and needed gas so we went to the closest Costco. It was a zoo. Costco’s are really popular in Washington. The first one was located in Kirkland, WA.

Traffic was stop and go on I-5 because I-405 was closed for construction. We decided to make a pit stop at Uwajimaya, the large asian grocery in the International District near Safeco Field (Seahawks). It has evolved from basic grocery staples to being a tourist destination. There is a food court which is unfortunately really Americanized. It’s geared towards Japanese grocery, but they had a lot of Chinese, and Korean foodstuffs too. There was also Hawaiian as well. The seafood department is great with live clams, oysters, Dungeness crabs, and lobster. There was salmon, steelhead, tilapia, octopus, whole fish, and assorted fish heads. They even had fresh cut seafood (sashimi) ready to use to make sushi! We’re really excited about that. Of course there is the usual whole duck, head and all, hanging in a cart. It is the go to place for specialty Asian goods. The produce section was pretty good.

The most exciting part is its location. It’s across the street from the light rail and the main bus stop. It looks like I’m going to have to learn what everything is a little better so I can shop and bring home Asian groceries after work. They also validate parking if you spend more than $10, so it makes a weekend trip easier.

From downtown Seattle, it was an hour and a half drive to our home in Bellingham. We were so happy to be finally back “home.” Chance was very excited to see us unloading EVERYTHING from the car. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself while I unpacked the bags. Once I started the first load of laundry, Joe and I went to the Haggen grocery store around the corner to pick up a few things.  Chance was shocked to be left alone in somewhere other than the car.

We enjoyed a great homemade meal, which as long overdue. I sure did miss Joe’s Chinese food. Now we just need to get this place to really start to feel like “home”. The Puget Sound is on day 38 straight of non-sunny days (defined as 70% or more sun) and it doesn’t look like it will end until Friday. At least it looks like the weekend will be great weather.