Packwood, WA

Two months ago, we spent a week of vacation at a house rental in Packwood, WA. If I’m honest, we only chose Packwood because it’s within a three hour drive of home, was in striking distance of snow without danger of roads closing, and we found a house with all our needs at a reasonable price. We’ve camped in the area before; it’s fair to say Packwood is a great basecamp for experiencing all the surrounding natural beauty of Rainier, et al. but there isn’t much to do in the town (of ~300 people)… especially during #lockdown2020.

There wasn’t a whole lot to do besides hang out at home and go on a few short hikes around the neighborhood. We could have gone big if we wanted, but it was pretty wet during that week and there was no real need because our place was nestled between the Cowlitz River and Lake Creek. We did drive up to White Pass to play in the snow one day – Dom lasted about 15 minutes before he was over the cold… and our amateur attempts to keep him properly bundled in it. Other than the snow pics below, everything was taken within walking distance of our rental. I also got a chance to practice my drone photography.

It’s hard for us to have these do-nothing vacations, as we’re very much into boarding planes to explore new cities and countries. We are very much looking forward to returning to that. In the meantime, we’ll continue exploring all the sights our our home state has to offer. At the least, we got to live that quarantine life somewhere else for awhile. A wood burning stove and hot tub when it’s 38° outside isn’t so bad.

Seventeen

Melissa and I celebrated 17 years of marriage in early October. This was the first time we’d spent a night away from Dom since the pandemic began and it was very much needed. We didn’t do a whole lot except sleep in this here yurt and relax. I also took a couple naps and Melissa read. We found Stormking cabins by chance and the place exceeded my expectations in most ways. The only real downside is you have to carry in your own food or drive out to get some. It would be a good base of operations for people who wanted to do fun outdoor things near Mt. Rainier – we didn’t really partake. Did I mention the sleeping? Hopefully we can be a little more adventurous for number eighteen.

Olympia 2020

At the end of July, we spent 10 days living and working out of a VRBO in Olympia, Washington. We needed to get out of our house for awhile and decided to pick somewhere we could easily drive to… that also had reciprocal rentals with our boat club. Honestly, it wasn’t much different than life at home – we just did it somewhere else. We celebrated Melissa’s birthday with a meal out (!), we went out on a boat three times, and the rest of the fam explored parks while I “worked from home” for all days but one. We also had the opportunity to hang with three of my old Amazon co-workers and some of their families while down there. In a strange twist of life, I’d seen no Amazon co-workers in Seattle at that point. Still haven’t, I guess.

Olympia is a town of about 50k, while Seattle-proper is approaching 800k (3.4 million in metro area). The difference, especially during COVID closures, was stark. I can see how people make a home there – green parks, proximity to water, cheaper real estate, and a whole host of other reasons. I will admit to growing weary of Seattle as it tries to mature from a small city to a medium one; I also know a place like Olympia is too small for us. Boating in the south Sound is pretty great, though. Lots of open water and privacy while battling minimal waves from tides or other boats. Also on the upside, Dom got to see the buildings that house our state government… during normal times. A good change of scenery.

It was an odd week+. Not sure it was ever gonna feel like anything but. In the end, it was nice to get away from our cage for awhile.