snow and Sequim

 On Valentine's day, we had more snow fall in Seattle in a single day than any day in the last fifty years.  First we had a dusting on the 12th, then snow during the nights, loads of snow on the 14th and yet more snow on the morning of the 15th.   Snow that I shoveled in our shady alley didn't completely melt for 6-7 days and two days ago I saw small pile of snow in Volunteer park, a whole month after this epic snow storm.

For the first time ever, we actually went sledding on the hills immediately around our house.  Here are some pictures, including the amusing melting pattern around our neighbor's leaking skylight.

We planned an AirBnb getaway in Sequim over President's Day weekend, and happily had made reservations starting on Sunday instead of Saturday.   We kept expecting the snow to stop falling and start melting on Sunday so we didn't leave home until 4 pm, and even then we had to do significant shoveling to get out of our parking spot and to turn down our hill before getting to the major, plowed roads.   

We've had some mixed luck with AirBnBs lately but this one was great and was just as described.   It was un-cluttered, kid safe and also kid friendly, meaning that there were some toys and a big yard with a big toy that we used a few times.   Jack and I went in the hot tub every night.   

Originally we'd hoped to bring our bikes but it was too cold so we scaled back and very much enjoyed the under-scheduled time.   We went out to the bridge over the lower Elwa river (as soon as we left Sequim there was still snow on the ground) and checked out some eagles, walked and scootered around Sequim Bay State Park and hiked in the Dungeness National Seashore, which we last visited when I was pregnant with D.   We also played Settlers of Catan for the first time with D.   Three nights was enough to relax all the way.