Canada/West 2022:
Day 17 - Woodinville

	Friday, August 26, 2022: We woke to a hazy sky overhead. We had heard an owl in the night, which was very cool.
	We were out of camp by 8 AM, headed south. The tide had gone out of the bay, ...
	... and the wading birds were hunting for their breakfast.
	Cows! For some reason, Debbie is fascinated with this type of cow with their black bodies and white midsections.
	We made our way through the farms and countryside ... Maersk!
	Honestly, what interstate highways in the US aren't part of the Purple Heart Trail? It surely seems like most of them are.
	Suburban Seattle is the land of Microsoft. Their buildings are everywhere. This particular suburb is Bellevue.
	We drove through the new building construction on 8th Street, ...
	... to the Bellevue Square Mall.
	We were here a few minutes before they opened at 10 AM, so we looked at the sets on display in the front window, ...
	... and admired their life-sized stormtrooper build.
	The Pick & Build process involves Debbie selecting the pieces she wants, and Tom packing the cup as densely as possible. It's a good system.
	Debbie got her first US stamp in her LEGO Passport, and she told the cashier how much she admired his LEGO bracelets.
	Back outside, there was a time capsule embedded in the sidewalk. It was placed there in 1996 and is to be opened on June 13, 2046.
	Behold! A filled LEGO Pick & Build cup!
	We raced north, backtracking to the Alderwood Mall. We had bypassed this location earlier because they don't open until 11 AM, while the Bellevue location opens at 10 AM.
	We followed the running and jumping minifigs on the wall, ...
	... to the Alderwood LEGO Store. Even going to Bellevue first, we were still about ten minutes early. We hung back while an eager child named all of the things that he wanted.
	It takes more than 18,000 pieces to build this shark minifig model. Impressive!
	Debbie patiently waits while Tom prepares to fill the LEGO Pick & Build cup. The challenge at this point was to find pieces we didn't already buy throughout Canada, ...
	... but don't worry, Debbie can always find a good variety. This cup joined its eleven siblings in our souvenir storage, ...
	... and we headed to Ivar's Seafood in Bothell.
	"Why are there three baskets?" you wonder. Good question. Debbie's brother, Doug, joined us for lunch, ...
	... before we headed back to his house where we were going to be staying for the next two nights. We laughed when we saw the single red chair in the front yard. It was the perfect end to our Canadian Red Chair photo safari.
	Check out the gaming dice decals on Doug's car, a gift from Doug's wife, Susan.
	Who's a good girl?! Lollie is! Susan had Lollie demonstrate all of her tricks for us, which was pretty impressive.
	We watched in rapt fascination as the fish played in the bubbles. They would swim into the bubble stream, float to the top of the tank, and then head back down for another go.
	Marty made a very brief appearance, letting us know that he knew we were in his house.
	Isn't Lollie the sweetest? She thinks so.
	This painting of Mount Rainier was painted by Debbie's mom when they lived in the Seattle area. It hangs in Doug's living room and her other painting (of the Seattle skyline) hangs in our home.
	We were staying in their guest room, which used to be their son Stewart's bedroom. We were very honored to be the first people to use it.
	Doug had been working on this Imperial Probe Droid LEGO model two weeks earlier at the Lindevig Reunion, and he thought it would be appropriate to decorate the guest room while we were there. Being both Star Wars fans and Adult Fans of LEGO, we agreed!
	There was also a gift basket full of goodies for us to take with us, including delicious chocolate-covered Rainier cherries, wafer cookies, Jammy Dodgers, sanitizer from a local distillery, and a bottle of Viking Blod, which is a honey wine with hibiscus and hops.
	Speaking of LEGO, let's check out Doug's collection. Doug's organization system isn't quite as ... excessive ... as Debbie's.
	Doug had some vintage pieces in his collection that took Debbie right back to their childhood. This was a base for a garage where a single Matchbox car could be stored.
	Debbie squealed when she saw these LEGO Homemaker parts. They must have had these as kids, and Doug has kept them this entire time. Without remembering this, Debbie has been collecting this set for the past year.
	After much LEGO enjoyment, we piled into Susan's car and headed north to Stewart and Lyndsay's house in Everett. We were in town for their engagement party the next night, and they had invited us to their house for dinner since we hadn't yet seen it.
	They had been painting and redecorating since they bought the house last year and they were eager to give us a tour. This is their living room, ...
	... and dining room, ...
	... and one of the bedrooms upstairs. This was currently occupied by one of Lyndsay's cousins, who was also in town for the engagement party.
	Stewart's office contained a custom computer case with more lights and fans than we had ever seen. It was gorgeous.
	Here's another guest room. Note that the closet doors have been removed so that the room can have a larger bed. That's such a great idea for a guest room, since guests rarely stay long enough to use a closet.
	The primary bedroom was still a work in progress, with plans to refinish the ceiling and install different lighting. We loved it all.
	The next stop on the tour was the garage, where Stewart showed us his workbench, currently covered with painting supplies.
	The tour complete, we headed into the kitchen for Lyndsay's amazing charcuterie board. It contained three kinds of cheese, two types of salami, crackers, bread, mustard, pesto, and a hot honey dipping sauce.
	Let's give that a try, shall we?
	Tom is intrigued. He's not a huge fan of honey, and the heat was subtle, not overpowering. Despite the initial look on his face, he enjoyed it and returned to it again and again.
	We toasted the happy couple, with Debbie getting a picture of Doug getting a picture of Debbie. As usual.
	Cheers!
	We were joined by their two Portuguese Water Dogs, Brembo and Blaze. Blaze was very calm and friendly, but Brembo wasn't sure about Tom and Debbie. He would come close to us like he wanted to be petted, but if we made eye contact, he would bark and run away.
	Lyndsay had prepared chicken cacciatore, and it was delicious. We sat around the table and ate and drank and had a great time.
	Here's a cute picture of the happy couple. We said our goodbyes before it got too late and headed back to Doug and Susan's house. We would be seeing them for their engagement party at Lyndsay's parents' home the next night. Day 18 >