Beach vs. Strand Running

Today I tried running along the water at the beach instead of on the Strand. I came up with a list of pros and cons. :)

Pros of Beach Running:

• Hearing the waves crash loudly
• Having a better view of the ships passing by
• Watching the cute little birds braving the surf and then scurrying away from the waves when it comes in with their fast little legs
• It's better on my shins and feet

Cons of Beach Running:

• Less people watching available
• The run isn't as smooth on the sand
• I can't take in the views of the houses along the Strand from so far away
• Sand in my shoes
• Having to run by the seagull brigade....thankfully they didn't drop a bomb on me!

Saturday Night Live

I woke up Saturday morning for my last half day with family. We had a nice morning and ended with lunch, which included the Lefse we had purchased at Sluy's bakery. It was yummy.


It was time for me to give hugs and kisses and it was tearful, especially Rebecca. But I will be back!


My flight was on time and I was resigned to just read the book I brought, even though I wasn't all that into it. Instead, after a few minutes I started a very fun conversation with the guy sitting next to me. We talked about everything it seemed. He was originally from a city near where I live but now he lives in Palm Springs with his wife. It was a nice way to pass the time on a flight. I love meeting new people!


Apparently, our conversation caught the attention of a man and he tried to pick me up as everyone walked to baggage claim. He was pretty persistent, even when I fibbed and said I had a boyfriend. He insisted that I put his number in my phone. Unbelievable! ;-)


Angie picked me up and dropped me off so that I could unpack and get ready for dancing! A group of us met at the Lighthouse on Pier Ave in Hermosa Beach. Angie had convinced a few people to dress in '80s garb. Eric took the cake in his 1983 UCLA jogging suit. The wig and the 'stache where awesome!

Shelley and I ended up going outside to get some air and when we got back everyone had decided to go home. So Shelley and I went to the bar to get hard drinks--like gingerale and water, no ice. While we were there a guy named Chris started picking up on Shelley. My role was wingman...Chris had a cousin. The band came up and played their 3rd set of fun 80's music. Both Shelley and I danced for a few songs with these guys and then left.

I had a fun conversation with the head bouncer while I was waiting for Shelley and Chris (number exchange). He thought I had an accent! I think he heard some of the Boston accent come out (sometimes I saying things that sound Bostonian). :-)

Shelley and I decided to have a slice at Piasano's, which is a short walk from Pier Ave. The pizza hit the spot!

Dinner with Kent and Lori

To cap off my trip, my brother Kent, and his wife, Lori, came over Erika and Brian's for dinner on Friday. My brother had fun playing with my nieces. It reminded me of when I was a kid and he used to let us girls hang on his arms and he'd call us "Nugadators".

We had a great time--it was a great ending to a nice trip!

Trip to Poulsbo

Thursday of my trip to Seattle, I went with Erika and her family to Poulsbo, Washington. Poulsbo is a Norwegian town south of Seattle.

Here are the kids posing next to a cute fountain:
We arrived at lunchtime, so we ended up walking through town and finding a pizza place because there were no Norwegian restaurants in the town, which baffled us. After lunch we walked down the main street and looked in several shops.

Here is the Nordic Coffee Shop--this must be an ancestor of mine--my grandmother was Norwegian.
The Nordic Maid was the main Norwegian gift shop. Here is a shirt we all got a kick out of:
We also got the scoop on what the big deal is about trolls in the Norwegian culture. My grandmother had two trolls sitting on her windowsill. I inherited them and recently found them. Trolls were a means for Norwegian parents to get their children to be good. If they weren't good, the trolls would get them!

We walked over to the water way, which had a nice little park laid out. The kids needed to run around a little bit.
Kaylen is so cute!

Here is Lauren posing with the Nordic statue:

One of our last stops was at Sluy's Bakery.

Sluy's sells traditional lefse, which is a flat bread made with potatoes and wheat. It looks similar to a tortilla, but has a nuttier flavor. Traditionally, you heat them up and slather them with butter and cinnamon & sugar, or you can use butter and brown sugar. Yum!

Of course, Sluy's sells other wonderful pastries, which took a lot of willpower on my part not to devour.

After Poulsbo, it was time for the ferry.

The Steip Family on their first ferry ride together:
Of course, Brian had to do the Titanic/Leo DiCaprio impression of "I'm the King of the World!"
Here is Sebastian's impression:
I love this next picture. Lauren took it and another one that was similar. But after the picture was taken, she said (very loudly, I might add) "But your hair is sticking straight up!" I couldn't help but laugh!
Awwww, the girls being lovey-dovey on Auntie Alexis's back:
I was so tired because I had insomnia the night before so I let the kids play on me:

Here's Rebecca playing Patty Cake on my cheeks:

Most of the pictures I have of the skyline were taken by my nieces (I am very impressed!):

Busy Mind

Well, it's 2:33am and I am still up. Thankfully I have been behind on my blogging so I decided to write out my adventures in Washington thus far. I will post them once I have my pictures downloaded, as it's more fun to read when there are pictures to see.

Anyway, do you ever have something on your mind that just won't get out of the way long enough for you to relax and fall asleep? Ambiguous situations cause this phenomena in me and it drives me up a wall. I begin to overanalyze everything (and generally speaking I get frustrated...not even praying helps) and then I find myself wide awake and writing on my blog. Sigh. I wish things were more clear, i.e. obvious!

Fun Pictures of Kaylen

Here are a few funny/cute pictures of Kaylen:

Car shopping with Lori

Tuesday, Lori came and picked me, Erika and the kids up to take Erika car shopping.

It took a few minutes for Lori and Erika to install the car seats, so while they were doing that I was giving the kids a very healthy snack of miniature KitKats!
We went to a couple of dealerships before heading over to Lauren's favorite place: Red Lobster.


Here are the kids checking out the lobster tanks:

Steip Girls Fascination with Purses

It must be a genetic, girly thing. Every one of my sister's girls love to route around in my purse. Kaylen asks me daily to open my purse to peruse the contents, which I gladly let her do. How else is she to know all the mysterious things that belong in an overstuffed, way-too-heavy, purse?

Monday--Dinner with the Fam

Monday night, Erika, Brian, myself and the kids were invited to my brother, Kent's house for dinner with his family--his and Lori's two kids Amanda and Andrew, and Carol, Lori's mom. And not to mention Kent and Lori's four dogs!

The kids were so excited to be coming over to see the dogs! It was the highlight for them and the reason they made a fuss at the end of the night.


We had a nice meal of spaghetti and meatballs, not to mention all of the hors d'euvres they had set out. Dessert was insane too--2 types of cupcakes, homemade chocolate chip cookies courtesy of Carol, and fudge brownies that we brought.

After dinner "everyone" chatted while the kids and the menfolk watched "The Empire Strike's Back."

Forks Part Two

We drove back to Forks in the morning to have breakfast and be on our way. Unfortunately, we had a little run in with the law. There is a quick speed limit change at the beginning of town that we both missed (most likely because we were eyeing the nice looking inn that had no vacancy sign on it the night before and the 30 MPH sign was on the other side of the road).

Sarah was pulled over and given a ticket. I began to ask the police officer where a good place to eat in town was and Sarah said "I really don't want to talk to you any more" to the police officier! I was so shocked I said "Sarah!" Sarah has a sarcastic sense of humor so the officier laughed after she quickly said "No offense." He then told us there were two restaurants-one on the right and one on the left.

We chose the In Place restaurant since it was easier access. The food was pretty good, and in line with the rest of town had some Twilight-themed signs up. Our next stop was La Push beach. We passed by the werewolf/vampire treaty line on our way there, which I thought was fun.
Sarah and I were surprised that Third Beach and Second Beach were well marked, but First Beach, the most popular, was not marked at all. We were able to find it, however and I was quite taken by this tree that was really close to where we parked.

The island off the coast of First Beach is James Island, which is where, I believe, Bella cliff dives in the New Moon book.
First Beach is covered with smooth gray rocks, as well as a ton of flotsom and jetsom.

There was evidence that the Quileute werewolf pack had patrolled shortly before our visit and that Jacob Black did, in fact, frequent this beach.

I snagged a rock from the beach and asked Sarah if she thought it was illegal to take them. Her answer: they are everywhere! I knew that, but you never know how many crazed fans would want to take one and suddenly the beach would be bare. I brought it to my sister, Erika, who was ecstatic, and then a second later she asked if I was allowed to take the rock. I looked for signs and didn't see any, so I assume I am not a lawbreaker! ;-)

After our walk from First Beach to Second Beach, Sarah and I started our long drive back to Spanaway/Tacoma. We took a short detour to Quillnault and then to a DQ for a quick lunch. We made really good time. :-) We had a great time!

Forks Part One

The drive to Forks was really beautiful. You have to drive along the parameter of Lake Crescent, which is a large and very reflective lake. Sarah and I both noted the quaint lodges along the side of the lake for visitors. We remarked that would be a nice place to stay.

We arrived in Forks when it was close to complete darkness. We did a first pass along the main drag to see which motels were available and what our options were. We decided to try the Forks Motel. I went in there right after 4 people, waited about 10 minutes to discover that there were no rooms available. Sarah and I decided to try the first place we saw that was AAA certified after that. It was at the front part of town. We drove there and went to the back entrance where we discovered there were no vacancies.

We tried 2 other motels with the same results and we wondered what was going on that weekend that would cause this phenomena. Finally we spotted the Bagby's Motel that advertised "Clean Cozy Rooms" on it's marquee. I knew what cozy meant, but I figured it was better than sleeping in the car. The jingle of the bells attached to the door got the attention of the older woman that was in a backroom. We asked her if she had any rooms and she said "Well, I have a duplex that isn't attached to the main rooms." She gave us the key and when I asked if she needed a key deposit she asked "Are you going to steel it?" I was a bit taken aback but responded with a simple "No, I will not be stealing it." Sarah then asked where the room was and the lady gave her directions like "You turn left than a quick right and another quick right." Sarah inquired on the street name, but the woman didn't know the name. That was the second red flag.

Sarah and I accidentally turned right and then another right so we had to turn around to find the obscure street this "duplex" was located on. We finally found it and one look between us communicated that we might have arrived at the Bates Motel. This duplex was no such thing. It was a tiny, run-down shack with worn-down paint and warn-down wood stairs. I turned the key and looked tentatively at Sarah. We walked in to find a shabby living room and kitchenette. I walked to the bedroom on the left and turned on the light while Sarah walked into the bedroom on the right only to get startled because she walked into cobwebs! I walked over to that room and tried to turn on the light but it wouldn't turn on.

That is when Sarah left me in her dust--not even looking back for me. I left the dump and had to lock the door, all the while reminding Sarah that there was safety in numbers! I guess she wasn't taking any chances.


We drove back to the motel office. I ran in and handed the key over to the lady, saying with a tactful smirk on my face "The room really wasn't our style." The woman chuckled under her breath, no doubt excited to win a bet she had most likely made with her husband in the backroom. She knew we wouldn't want to stay.

The Bagby's motel in daylight hours:
We made a last ditch effort to find a place by going to the local grocery store and asking if there were any places they knew of. Two ladies helped us and I was able to talk to one motel keeper that suggested the Bear Creek Cabins, which were 15 miles outside of Forks. They actually had a room, so Sarah and I drove to meet the motel clerk at the Hungry Bear Restaurant to pay and get the key. At this point it was pretty late (or maybe our stressful day made it seem so) so we were glad to see the light on in the restaurant as promised. Sarah and I walked in and were met with the most acrid cooking grease smell you can imagine. While I was paying, Sarah looked up to see taxidermied animals that had dust bunnies growing on them. The woman helping us let us know that the restaurant opened at 5:30 and she hoped to see us there. There was no way in heck that Sarah, nor I, would be willing to eat there!

Our cabin wasn't far from the restaurant and it really wasn't that bad. Okay, Sarah would probably disagree with me. The first thing we noticed was that the sink was in the living room, not the bathroom. Not too bad. Weird, but not too bad.

But then I turned on the light in the bathroom to discover the hugest mosquito eater I have ever seen! Sarah was able to take care of it.
I quickly brushed my teeth and got into bed, noting that at least the sheets were clean.

Sarah turned on the lamp set on the table in between our beds (using a tissue so her hands wouldn't get contaminated, by the way) and she kept the light on--just in case. Well, we were lying there talking for a few minutes and I just happened to look down at the floor between us to discover a cockroach walking near my bed. I told Sarah to kill it (since she did such a good job with the mosquito and she had shoes next to her bed). She killed it under my bed. Suffice it to say I woke up quite often asking myself "Are there any bugs on me?"

Our cabin in daylight hours:
The next morning we got up and quickly got ready. I dropped off the key (the woman was very miffed that we weren't eating there) and we were on our way south back through Forks.