Elk, Cherry Pie & Soccer

This place amazes me every day.  On the way home last week this happened:

Right next to the road.  Yes, I pulled over like a tourist and took a photo, but wow, who gets to see an elk herd this close up?   They might look like gentle giants but somebody's dog was actually attacked by one of them at a nearby lake yesterday, so I'll be keeping our Molly on a short leash when I'm up there!

We had family visiting over the weekend and it was so much fun being tourists.  We hiked locally to Teneriffe Falls on Saturday.  The trail was pretty challenging for the kiddos towards the top, but it was so worth it to see the Falls.

So steep!

We rewarded ourselves afterwards at Twede's Cafe in North Bend, famous for being on Twin Peaks and for having the most awesome cherry pie.  I can confirm that it was indeed the best cherry pie I've ever eaten - crust and all - which is really something because I usually don't like pie crust! 

After we cleaned up from hiking, we drove to Seattle to drop a small fortune on buy shirts and scarves for the Sounders soccer game that we were going to the next day.  Mission accomplished, we took a walk around the waterfront for some people watching, a scenery fix and a Rachel's Ginger Beer to go.  I'm still getting used to all these imaginative ways to park downtown and get around.  We used Zirx for our parking.  You tell them your whereabouts, some nice man shows up and takes your car away and then keeps it someplace safe until you're ready for it later on.  No matter where you happen to end up later on, they will deliver it back to you!  It's pretty cheap too!

Daughter in crow pose with a view :)

We decided we wanted to eat Korean BBQ, so we uber'd it out to Shoreline where the only Korean restaurant in Seattle with grills at the tables is situated.  It was well worth the trip out there.  The taste of bulgogi, kimchi and mandu transported us back to Korea, minus the nasty smells of Songtan of course.  OB beers were consumed and a bottle of soju purchased to take home.  Only the husband partook in the soju though, I'm still scarred from drinking one too many soju slushies when we lived there!   The staff were lovely, helpful and we will definitely return in the future.  If you fancy giving it a try, here's the link: Old Village Korean BBQ

Korean BBQ

Sunday was game day.  We arrived pretty early at the stadium, but there was already tons of people milling around.  The Seattle Sounders/Portland Timbers rivalry is serious, some drunken 'lady' was yelling swear words at our kids while we were looking for our friends.  Normally Americans are so nice that it was a bit of a shock to be honest!  The atmosphere in the stadium and the game itself were FANTASTIC!!!  We ate authentic Scotch pies, rather expensive, but they were the real deal.  The stall also had sausage rolls which I will definitely try at our next game.  We yelled ourselves hoarse, learned some of the team chants and watched the Sounders win.  We also met up with 2 friends that we haven't seen since our wedding, many years ago!  They were supporting the opposition, but still hung out with us for a while even though we were decked in Seattle shades of green and grey :)  Middle son was in heaven seeing two of his soccer idols, Dempsey and Martins and it was so exciting when Dempsey scored. 

Posing!

Rocking our Sounders scarves :)

Speaking of soccer, this week middle son started tryouts for select soccer.  It's a whole different ball game up here (pardon the pun) from how it was in Tennessee.  The pressure on the boys here is enormous.  My son is 9 years old and awesome at soccer, but there is a good chance that he might not get selected.  I can't even imagine how rejection would feel for a kid his age - not good obviously, and probably very spirit crushing.  There were a lot of boys there for the first session and to me, it looked like not enough coaches taking notes on the boys trying out (but that's probably just an over anxious Mum thing)!  All the kids out there were awesome, the competition is high and this isn't even premier - a whole other level higher than select.  I don't want my son to be mollycoddled at all, but I also think he's kinda young for all this pressure.  One more session to go and then we find out who  made it.  Please cross your fingers for my wee lad! 

Otherwise, things are going great here.  There are so many things to do, see and eat.  I miss our friends from Tennessee of course, but we're starting to make new ones here in WA.  I've even seen the sun A LOT contrary to popular belief!  I'm also happy to report that I haven't bumped into any bears yet, let's hope that streak of luck lasts.  And of course, you can be sure I'll tell you all about it, were it ever to happen!