Washington State

After saying goodbye to Franny in Bellingham we rented another car so that we'd have wheels for our subsequent visits.
It was pretty sobering to see the price of gas in these parts! (I hope some of you got wind of the gas protest on May 15th. We joined in it and avoided buying any gas that day.)
The first stop was to visit my long-lost Auntie, Trudy Pemberton, on Mercer Island, WA. I was told that the last time we saw each other was in 1946! What a lovely lady she is! We were both amazed at her zeal and spunky spirit in spite of her 87 years. She lives alone, but has an aid come during the week to help out around the house. She still does all the cooking (yum!) and keeps up with her traditional daily activities (Julie was delighted to share the NY Times with her in the morning over coffee).

We viewed walls full of photographs of all the McKinney-Pemberton family and admired some heirloom furniture from the 1800's, and caught up on my ancestors. Plus, we were amazed to listen to Aunt Trudy play the grand piano in the living room!
Here's Julie and Auntie in her kitchen with a view of the photo-lined hallway:
We got a tour of the wonderful woodsy gardens below the deck, with a view of Lake Washington a couple of streets below her place.
Here's a view of the lake with Mt. Ranier in the distance:
The neihboring homes were lush with spring flowers.
We love you Auntie, and hope we can see you again. Maybe at the next family reunion?