Czechs and Austrians visit the PNW

Being home is sweet - having friends from around the world visiting at home is wonderful!

WA Park Sunset

Smalls picked me up from PDX (Portland airport) on Saturday and brought me down to her new apartment at George Fox. From GF I buzzed south in the 'Ru to meet Ulli (short for Ulrike) at Willamette. Ulli had been my "Tandem" in Graz through a program set up by the language center. We met once a week at a coffee shop to practice our English and German. When I left Graz, I really didn't expect to see Ulli again unless I somehow made it to Austria in the next year or two... and then she decided to study abroad at Willamette! We caught up on life over heaping bowls of Froyo :)

The next morning Smalls dropped me off with Petra and Jan (who I had previously visited in Glacier) in Portland. We drove through rain and traffic to drizzly Seattle. We ended up taking cover and eating Other Coast Cafe sandwiches with a friend from A-town until the rain let up. It was almost nice when the three of us made it to the Chittenden Locks. Petra and I got a good laugh out of how big Jan's eyes got when he saw all the Coho in the fish ladder. Priceless!
In the evening we walked in to downtown and met Mom and Dad at Benihana for Dad's birthday dinner. Yum!

Monday I drove down to Whidbey after work, had dinner at Penn Cove, and met Petra and Jan when they came up from Seattle on the ferry. In the morning we hiked the bluff at Ebey, picnicked next to the guns at Ft Casey, and wandered Coupeville. I'm starting to think that maybe I do want a cabin in San de Fuca long-term...

Tuesday evening, Dad cooked up a seafood feast that fueled us through paddleboarding the next morning.

Pros! And their seal friend on the right

the Mountain is out!

Dad took Petra and Jan fishing off North Beach in the afternoon, and I was home in the evening just in time to join my friends for the sunset at WA Park. The next morning, we had to say goodbye... with many promises of future visits!