Washington

Next we were off to Tacoma, Washington for another four weeks. It was our first experience of a true fall in a REAL long time.

I was in starting my 8th month of pregnancy, but still feeling strong. So, we thought it would be fun to hike a bunch and take in the fresh air. The rains had not yet arrived, so there was plenty of sunshine the first part of our trip.

Do I see Blue Bonnets in Washington?

This is the tiny path on the side of a mountain we thought would be fun to hike to see Mt. St Helen's volcano. To the right of the path is a huge drop off straight down to the bottom. Oh, the fun of balancing expensive heavy camera equipment and a huge baby belly. Um, I like challenges. (Note: I'm the ONLY gal on this little excursion.)

Us in front of Mt. St Helens. We did make it.


Adam also had weekends off while rotating at Ft. Lewis. So, in addition to hiking the country side, we toured the surrounding cities, like Seattle and Olympia.

Me, having a moment on the grounds of the Pacific North West Ballet. The baby bump accentuates the classical line.

One weekend we drove down to Portland, OR to visit our dear friends, the Combs who live there part of the year. They took us all over Portland and even to the Columbia River Gorge water falls. We were sold on Portland! Too bad the army doesn't have a residency there.

Um, shall I say Beautiful!

Adam loved the program up at Madigan Army hospital. He learned a lot and really connected with the people there. My experience up there those 4 weeks was quite different. I was alone majority of the time and due to poor medical treatment for my gestational diabetes, I was having to go in for testing several times a week. Plus, the rains had come and I soon realized that I was not a fan of living on base. Regardless, we came away having made some amazing memories. Now, we were ready to stop living out of a suit case and return home to the high 90 degree fall Texas weather.