Travel Log In Many Ways!

I have a long lost friend that I found on Face book. Her name is Renee. She used to live in Seattle. She has been a quiet, but unique voice in my search for the right place in the Seattle area to live. She turned me on to places I would have never dreamed of. She is awesome, inspiring and truly a funky jewel in a sea of dazzle.

This is a travel log of my journey, but also a word of thanks to her.

Renee, Oh my, I don't know what to say , but thank you!!! Really that is not even close to how I feel. I feel ... wonderful:)

You really are the touch stone that helped me to figure it all out. I was truly leaning toward the East side until you opened my eyes to all the possibilities.



We went to Seattle two weeks ago. I loved it! I was so enamored with the whole downtown area.It was so walking friendly even at night. I found all the shopping I could ever want. { I hate shopping, really} I thought hey let's move downtown.

On our first day there we walked to the Pike Market and I was wowed by the flowers. Then we walked down to the Ferry and went across to Bainbridge to have lunch. It was a bit chilly, but sunny and you could see Mt Rainier clearly, a beautiful ride. Bainbridge was really nice and quaint. I talked to several locals about the island and the commute to Seattle. They were very enthusiastic about it. At this point I wasn't really considering this as an option. It just seemed so different from what we were used to.

We came back to Seattle and walked from the Ferry up...and I mean straight up. { I didn't realize how steep some of the hills were. Google maps doesn't show that aspect} We walked up four blocks to Skips office. Then we walked a bit more around. It was a glorious day.

We returned to our hotel and drove up to Magnolia. It took me quite by surprise. The homes were so close together and the streets were very tight. We then drove to Bellevue to get a picture of what the traffic would be like driving away from the city at rush hour.

We turned around and drove back through Queen Anne. Whew! that was a steep hill getting to the top. The hills like I said were really shocking. Then I told Skip to drive back to Magnolia. We did once more and I was getting used to the area a little more.



The next day we drove up to the University. There was a Vegan restaurant that served Raw food, which I like to dabble in. Skip passed, but indulged my passion. That area was really cool , but not great for our commute and I-5 was crazy busy on a Sat.

We drove to Mercer Island to check out were we would be living for two months in corporate. housing. We ran into the Missionaries and got the low down on the ward and Island there. It was a really beautiful Island and not a lot of traffic. I-5 was pretty tough every time we drove it. We went over to Issaquah, beautiful area. We also drove up to Kirkland and across the bridge up there back to Seattle, a lot of traffic. Again we drove up through Queen Anne and Magnolia. We stopped in at the library and the grocery store to get an idea of the area. I pretty much had all the streets memorized at this point from cruising around the city on google.

We tried to go to Church in Magnolia, but it was Stake Conference. We drove up to the Stake center. Finding parking was a bit challenging. That building was awesome! We only stayed a bit. We then drove to Bellevue to the Stake Center by the Temple and attended an Sacrament meeting there. Really nice people.

I then suggested that we take the car over on the Ferry to Bainbridge just to get a feel of what it is like. We both napped in the car on the way over. I wanted to close this option out. We drove around finding the church, library, rec center and all places I could think of. It again was really nice. I had narrowed things down pretty much to Mercer, Magnolia, and Queen Anne, with Bainbridge on the cusp.

We drove back that evening and again trekked back up to Magnolia. We went by the Church just on the off chance there might be someone there. I know Skip thinks I am crazy! I want to be thorough and I hadn't talked to anyone that lived there except the librarian. The doors were opened and we were able to talk to the Elders Quorum President. He was extremely helpful and really nice.


Are you bored yet?? Sorry! On we go....Just a little more...

On the plane home I told Skip I needed to do a little more research on Bainbridge so we could close that door. Well, first I looked up Homeschooling on Bainbridge Island and I found all this great stuff. Then I signed up on some Bainbridge Island yahoo groups and started asking questions. I was over whelmed with all the info, most of it positive. I received so many personal e-mails and people were leaving me their home phones and cell phones. It was crazy. They were all so nice.

Besides Home School I was very concerned about what the youth/scout programs would be in the area we would choose to live. I started googling: BI LDS MOM, BI LDS homeschooling Mom and anything I could think of. Nothing came up. I was so bummed.

Two days later I tried the goggle thing again..SUCCESS I found this lady's blog that was a member of the Ward there on the Island and she had started a blog for the Ward. It had all these pictures of the youth. Pictures from Temple trips, youth activities , Scout trips and other primary and Ward things. Just the two days before this she had suspended the blog , but it was still there in the blog world for me to see. It had only been up for about two weeks. The spirit touched me so strong as I read and looked at this blog I started to cry. This was an answer to prayer. I e-mailed her immediately. She came right back to me in about five minutes. It was 12:30 AM in Richmond, so I guess 9:30 PM in Seattle. She said to call her as soon as I could , because she wanted to tell me all about the Island. I called her. I left a message..bummer I was stoked ready to talk this was a big break. She called me 45 min later 1:15 am. Wow! I was able to get all sorts of info. She gave me the name and phone number a Home Schooler in the Ward. I called her the next day.

As this was going on I was getting all these replies to my other quarries on other sites. I had this wonderful lady that went to my blog and figured I was LDS. She wasn't but she knew a whole bunch of LDS families and all about how great the Ward was there. She then gave me six names and phone numbers of ladies in the Ward. She was awesome.

I have sinced talked, chatted with and exchanged e-mails with at least 30 people from the Island. It has been amazing. When doors are closed the Lord truly does open doors...WIDE OPEN... and lets his love flow through to us. His angels here on earth help with this flow.

You are one of his Angels. Thank you for listening to him and helping me to find my way. You started me on this line of thinking. I would never have thought of the Magnolia area or Bainbridge Island. What a blessing.

The story isn't done.{It never is} I will let you know what happens and where we land.

Hugs across the miles!!
Laurene