Road trip snapshots, Chapter I: Victoria

It's time to start showering you with photos from my vacation in the Pacific Northwest. Roll up your sleeves, because here we go!

The journey started with mother, father, Anton, and I loading ourselves into the designated vehicle that David so graciously lended us for the whole trip (honestly, can you believe the generosity of that guy!?), and took off on I-5 heading for the Canadian border. After entering British Columbia, we steered towards Tsawwassen from which a ferry carried us to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. The weather was nothing but lovely, making the cruise through the Canadian San Juan islands a most delightful experience. Once landed, we headed south to the tip of the island where we reached the first destination of our road trip: Victoria.

The capital city of British Columbia is an old British settlement and one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, giving it a sweet and highly agreeable old-timey aura. Two nights were spent here, and although we certainly enjoyed looking at art and admiring the city and its beautiful parks, the main thing was perhaps meeting a couple of long-lost relatives that ended up here after some truly fascinating adventures. Some of the remarkable stories have been told at family gatherings of different kinds over the years, making actually meeting the legendary persons behind them rather special.

My photos from Victoria are sadly not overly impressive but I'm trying to work with I've got, starting with a shot of the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This is the place to go to for ridiculously overpriced afternoon tea - a true Victoria tradition. The tea, at least. The prices I'm not so sure about... In terms of lodging, we went for something a tad more more low-key and tucked ourselves into a couple of bunk beds at a backpacker inn. Less glamorous, but at least we got cheap tea.

Don't trust the sign: we didn't spot a single whale inside the harbor. Not one! Terribly disappointing.

Christ Church Cathedral.

Meta!

Lawn bowling: possibly the whitest sport out there! (Yes, tennis can just eat it.) Amazing.

Next stop: Butchart Gardens. Those of you who don't like extreme closeups of flowers should probably skip that post. Consider yourselves warned.

The end of the story

And so the mother and the father left their youngest daughter on the other side of the world and flew off to the far north, to tend to their garden and tell the story of summer in Seattle to each and everyone who crossed their path. After sunshine for days on end, the sky grew darker as they packed their bags. And the moment they took off, the rain returned.

Left behind was a heart within a tree, a turquoise lake among green mountains, and memories of endlessly winding roads going nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

As one story ends, another begins. The rain nurtures all that grow and adventures are everywhere. Let's go out and find some!

Summer is far from over.

...aaaand we're back

Prepare yourself to be bombarded with photos from the 2013 Frost Family Great Pacific Northwest Awesome Summer Road Trip in the next couple of weeks. My little camera is practically ready to burst after nine days of driving, exploring, sightseeing, eating, hiking, and socializing.

Where we went? Here is a short resumé:

Vancouver Island (British Columbia): Victoria, Butchart Gardens, Parksville, Ucluelet
Olympic Peninsula: Sequim, Hurricane ridge, Lake Crescent, Rialto Beach, Hoh rain rorest, Aberdeen
Bonus: North Bend, Snoqualmie falls

But before I start writing blog post after blog post with endless descriptions of giant trees and desolate beaches I'm going to savor the last days of my parents' visit. My brother has already gone back to Sweden, but the rest of us have a few more days to enjoy each other's company.

On today's agenda: wine tasting in Woodinville. I can't possibly let my folks leave without a close encounter with the lovely grapes of Washington. Cheers!

Trippin' with ma peeps

Watch out, drivers - the Frost family is on the road! First stop: Victoria, BC. We will be touring Vancouver Island for six days and then head back to the US to check out the Olympic Peninsula for a couple of more days.

I'm very excited to finally get to explore the surroundings around here. There will be boats! Trees! Tea! Mud! Sand? Wheels!

For rent!

Announcement: my lovely tenant back home has been admitted to KTH in Stockholm (congrats!), which means I'm looking for a new sublessee from September 2013 to September 2014.

If you know anyone who might be interested in my Gothenburg apartment - preferably someone neat and tidy, since the place is furnished - please spread the word and have them email me. My first choice is for it to be someone I know, or at least have some kind of connection to, so I won't advertise for random people just yet. That's also the reason I'm not describing the place further right now; if you know me, you know the details (or at least how to get them).

I really appreciate any help I can get!

Update: I've found a new tenant. Thanks all!

Speed 2: Cruise Control

I have to be realistic and admit that my blog posting will remain quite poor for the duration of July, as spending time with my visiting family will have priority over most other activities (apart from work, sadly). Sorry! It will get better in August, I promise.

My parents have been here almost two weeks now and tomorrow we are warmly welcoming my brother, who makes his second appearance in this fair state. On Friday, the three of us will head North on a weeklong road trip, starting with Vancouver Island and then moving on to the Olympic Peninsula. But the adventures started today with a birthday surprise I had arranged for my mother who recently turned sixty: a whale-watching tour in the San Juan Islands. We spent seven lovely hours on the Island Caper under a bright blue sky with both Mt Baker and Mt Rainier generously showing off their snow-clad peaks on the horizon. The cruise itself was terrific, and the three of us agreed that it would have been a success even if we hadn't seen any whales. But we did. For at least forty minutes three orcas, a mother and her two sons, were swimming around happily eating salmon and spraying water, seemingly unaffected by the attention from their human admirers. So cool!

It won't be easy to focus on work this week, but I'll certainly do my best. Oh, these are good times!

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

Spending time with the Frayos is always a pleasure, and 4th of July was no exception. My first Independence Day had everything I could wish for and more: terrific food, great wine, beautiful fireworks, and (most importantly) lovely company. Another newbie in the crowd was of course little Cian, who honored the prominent American holiday by persistently refusing to go to sleep. But who could blame him, really?

Below are some photos from the event, beginning with dad reading Babro Lindgren's ”Mamman och den vilda bebin” (The wild baby) to the wild baby.

An excited man as his (illegal) fireworks. Go USA!

Eating apple pie and blowing things up; it doesn't get more American than that. I'm competely assimilated!

The spectator crowd, ooooohing and aaaaahing as Scott and I filled the night sky with diamonds and pearls.

Anti-tank mine, Dragon ballz, Sexy girl, Warhog, After burner, Land of the free, Turning heads, Gone bananas... The fireworks sure had some interesting names, not necessarily at all related to whatever pyrotechnic effect was displayed. The Toot n twirl managed to live up to roughly 50% of my expectations; the twirling action was fully satisfactory but the tooting left something to be desired. Next year: more toot!

Thank you Scott and Shani for hosting another awesome night in the land of the free!

Happy Birthday, America!

Why yes, of course I'm at work. But only until noon... (I hope.) After that: Fireworks! Barbecue! Red! White! Blue!

Hi Mom! Hi Dad! Let's do stuff!

The parents have landed! I picked them up at the airport yesterday and guided them to the apartment in Wallingford where they will be staying during July. To fight their jet lag we enjoyed some refreshments at a nearby café, admired the Seattle skyline from Gas Works Park, took a brief tour in Fremont, and relaxed on the shaded patio of the bar next door from my place. After that, they got more and more woolly-minded and decided to call it a day. I must say that I was rather impressed by their stamina, though; they did better than most of my previous visitors.

Later that night I filled out an American community survey that had been sent to me with a slightly pushy note saying YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Jeez, I hear you... No need for yelling.

The questions were completely normal, like this one:

Now what? Not much rest for the jet lagged, that's for sure... Tonight we're going to a Sounders game and tomorrow it's 4th of July. Action-packed! We will be joining the Frayos for barbecue and fireworks, and as it's my first Independence Day I'm pretty excited.

Welcome parents!

A fine day to be proud

Seattle is a very gay friendly city, with vibrant Capitol Hill being the main district for all things fun and diverse. If you are looking for an extraordinary night out or just some high quality people watching, then the Hill is certainly the place to go.

Last Sunday, Seattle Pride hosted its 39th annual pride parade organized by Seattle Out & Proud, rendering our fine city filled with sparkling prima donnas, hairy bears, leather clad goths, rainbow colored unicorns, and all kinds of fabulous people sweating away in the tropical heat. The festivities were highly influenced by the Supreme Court's recent decision on DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), ruling the federal same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. Being a sentimental softy, my eyes were repeatedly filled with tears of equal parts joy and sadness as proud couples marched by, celebrating their right to get married. All these years of struggle and discrimination... Unbelieveable. 

Besides cheering and clapping, the spectators were constantly catching flying items from the many companies and organizations that were represented in the parade. T-shirts, instant coffee, stickers, condoms, bracelets, coupons for various goods and services, bead necklaces, candy, and all kinds of other free stuff. Loved it! Gratis är gott!

The costumes, the colors, the creativity! My camera is filled with photos of fantastic people celebrating love and community.

Thank you, Seattle Pride! The sun almost got me, but it was worth it.