My family and I used to live in North Bend, Washington. North Bend was, and maybe still is, just about the perfect place to live. It is nestled between the majestic peaks of the Cascade Mountain Range and the foothills that lead into Seattle. We resided in a house featuring the 4000 ft. peak of Mt Si filling the expanse of our large picture window. Every morning we looked out at that great view with amazement. Two blocks away down a tree lined drive was the fast moving Snoqualmie River with its boulders, eddies, and rapids. Immediately on the other side of the river the base of Mt. Si began and drew your view ever upward. The Snoqualmie River wound it's way three miles downriver and rushed over the Snoqualmie Falls. This waterfall is one of the main tourist sights in Washington, as it is higher than Niagra Falls and well worth the visit.
We used to feel that we had the best of both worlds because our house sat at both the edge of the wilderness and near to city life. Traveling down Interstate 90 for 30 minutes brought us to downtown Seattle with the Space Needle and the Public Market to wander around in on a sunny afternoon.
Most weekends found our little family enjoying some aspect of the great Northwest. On a Saturday we could easily drive somewhere less than two hours away and experience something totally different than what we were used to in our daily life. If we missed playing in the snow, we would drive up to Snoqualmie Pass, a half hour away, and go sledding or skiing for the afternoon. Then we would return home, the kids would take off all of their snow boots, pants, mittens and gloves and run outside to the green grass and play catch until nightfall.
Or, if we missed being on the water, we would hurry over to the Puget Sound and take a ferry ride to the Olympic Peninsula. Sometimes, on a very clear day, while the ferry chugged along we would gaze at the immense vision of Mt. Rainier filling the sky while we fed the seagulls endlessly.
Before Christmas each year we would cross Steven's Pass and visit the winter wonderland and idyllic village called Leavenworth. The Bavarian theme to that small town with its restaurants and stores always made us feel like we were characters in a dreamlike movie.
We spent hours and hours and hours exploring this wondrous place that we called home. We hiked in the mountains finding seven waterfalls within an hour's drive of our home and we went to the numerous interesting places that dot the landscape around the Sound. We picked blueberries that were over an inch in diameter (I measured) and strawberries the size of small apples (I have pictures). Every spring we'd walk through the University of Washington Arboretum and smell the intoxicating fragrance permeating the air from the azaleas and rhododendrons that towered over us. We would always make sure that we enjoyed the tulip fields of Mount Vernon and we attended numerous Mariners baseball games at the old King Dome.
We went to a church that encouraged us and had many friends that we loved like family. All in all, every member of our family loved living the life that we had there. Besides all of this, we had no screens on our windows because there were very few bugs!!!!
It was an amazing place to live and I am exceedingly thankful that I was able to spend a part of my life there!!! I love that place!
Psalms 8:1 "Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"
Have a good day! Love, Sue
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