Granite Falls, Washington

On Friday, June 30th we drove over the Cascades to Granite Falls, Washington. This small town is about 20 miles east of Everett. A fellow bus driver, Bill, has a home here and allowed us to park in front of his house. We've been enjoying the company of Bill and his girlfriend, Carol, and her son, John.

We've been busy since arriving here. As what usually happens we spend time catching up with Everett friends. On Saturday, we visited with some friends we knew from our square dance club. Sunday we drove up the Mountain Loop Highway to Barlow pass and did a short hike. Connie also did a bike ride, while Bob did some fishing.

On Monday, July 3, we drove to Connie's brother's house in Orting and then drove onto Northwest Trek - a wildlife part, Connie's brother, Steve, is a volunteer at the park. We had our two grandkids, Nichole and Cody, with us. Also, Connie's mom and dad, along with friends, Bill, Carol, and John went to the park. Steve arranged for a backdoor visit to the grizzly bears. We really enjoyed our visit to the park.

Today, July 4th, we dropped off the grandkids and then went to visit a friend from the bank where Connie used to work. We had a nice visit and then came back to Granite Falls. We had a nice dinner and then sat outside watching the fireworks. There is no fireworks ban in Granite Falls and it seems that lots of people here set off some very impressive fireworks.