It's a Family Thing

This weekend we drove around previewing homes for a client. I wasn’t really sent on this mission by my client, but rather because I felt I needed to get a better grasp on what we’re trying to find, where to find it, and what it will most likely look like.

Rail Hop'n Brew is an authentic Garage Brewery in Auburn

My weekend previews are a family thing, apart from Mia, whom would rather not go at all, and sits in the car reading a book looking somewhat tortured if she must be there with us. This week she got lucky and got invited to her friend’s house to enjoy the Saturday, swimming in their back yard pool. Part of it is a preteen thing but the majority of her reluctance comes from her apprehensiveness toward any car ride what so ever. This is nothing new, we’re talking about a child that had a tantrum from Portland, OR to Redmond, WA because she did not want to sit in her car seat. At that point, she was 15 months old, and no, she did not fall asleep or stop screaming, or get out of breath.

I quite enjoy these weekend rides taking us to neighborhoods we have never been to, or places we have never seen, but have always wanted to. I have lived in the Greater Seattle area for fifteen years but I have never really had a reason to drive down to Normandy Park for example. I have known it’s somewhere there, down South, behind the airport, tucked away. I had also known that it’s supposed to be a rather nice neighborhood but driving down Marine View Drive, I realized, it felt like we were driving down the California coast, and immediately understood the charm of this place. Nor have I ever felt the urge to explore Burien or Auburn for that matter. Nevertheless, I have learned a lot these past months.

Half Lion Brewing Co in Sumner

Combining with the task of finding homes for my clients and better understanding their needs, comes the beer app. The app that points our family toward a new brewery adventure during these days of driving around and hopping in and out of homes. Five minutes in, then a new address to the navigator screen and then driving to the next address – repeat. There always comes the time when the backseat calls for food and drinks, and that’s when it’s time to find the next new brewery. Sometimes it’s a brewpub, the other time it’s maybe a garage brewery with the owner pouring his beer, but living in this state there is always a brewery close by.

Bad Jimmy's in Ballard

These past months have reminded me of the time when we had just moved here. We had no kids yet, and we were driving around the area just for fun. We could do that for an entire day, choosing whether to take a right or a left turn at the very last moment, following the other cars than seemed to know where they were going, or perhaps, just avoiding the freeway. Those years taught me how to drive to Seattle without hopping on a freeway and how to avoid traffic on SR-167 and I-405 on our way back home from Ikea in Renton, it’s all about the backroads baby. 

Diamond Knot in Mount Lake Terrace