Audrey - Day 15 - Lake Stevens!

Just before Audrey was due to move on, I was invited to visit my friends Tracie & Kevin in Lake Stevens, Washington. So, Audrey got a trip back to the United States! :)

Someone was having a bad day here. They must have really irritated Canada customs or sniffing doggies found something suspicious for such a thorough search!

The line-up was a glorious forty-five minute wait! I'd thought I'd be smart and drive west to the Lynden crossing rather than cross at my usual crossing of Sumas. Ha. Traffic news said the wait at Sumas was five minutes. That'll teach me!

So then came the second problem with my route choice.. It turned out the Nooksack Bridge was down for repairs and I had to travel all the way back east to Sumas (on the U.S. side of the border, at least), south, and then all the way west again. Audrey, ever the cheerful bunny, thought it was very nice of the Washington State department to make sure she got a full tour of the area!

Audrey was a very helpful navigator by twitching her ear in which direction we wanted to go. She'd hop up and down if I wasn't paying enough attention. It wasn't her fault we got lost in Lake Stevens, I took the left Tracie said not to!

Kevin can't believe we're finally there! They'd been waiting two hours for their lunch. "Do bunnies like beer?" A friend's bunny Puffy quite liked Guiness and managed to sneak himself an inch of a glass' worth and slept at a tilt for the rest of the evening. A bit gaseous in the morning, but he was fine. Audrey gave the beer a taste but it was cold and not nearly as good as English brews. Darn colonials.

Poor Audrey got caught out of the next picture. Fire the photographer!

After lunch Tracie took us on a tour of Lake Stevens and Snohomish.

Tracie very patiently explained to Audrey and myself the significance of the Hawaiin art, but it's gone out of my brain. I'm sure Audrey would remember, I wonder if Cadbury's Mom would ask her for me..

Here's a quick look at the lake in Lake Stevens :)

"Ooooh," says Audrey spying the motorbike. I told her getting a helmet in the right size may be a problem.

Lake Stevens was having a faire which we *would* have stopped by if Lorna wasn't such a wuss about walking. Parking was so far from the event that me and my leg said "No thank you!" Of course, with all the hiking I've done since, I'd probably be fine with it now!

Another glance at the lake.

Then we went off down to Snohomish!

For an idea of scale here, Tracie is six (plus?) feet tall. The river was several feet *below* where we were walking, so the flood levels were probably about fifteen feet above where the river normally is.

"Eeeek, Pirates!"

It was pretty hot that day, and poor Audrey did have to do a lot of hopping around. She appreciated the water fountain!

Back at Tracie's condo, we met one of her neighbors; Lucky. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the cat with the long ears and short tail.

Audrey was very confused by my showing her the "Cat Television" she said I was a silly human and everybun knows it's called an aquarium!

Raptor, Tracie's kitty, wasn't terribly impressed with the flashy thing OR the inter-lop-er.

Stewie was a bit more interested in the fellow furry visitor.

Stewie's piggies came over to visit with Audrey, he was very suspicious that they were trying to leave the house without him!

Finally he decided that they were just playing silly piggie games.

Stewie then proved himself a good host and gave Audrey a good grooming. She wasn't too sure about the sandpaper tongue, but took the affection in the spirit it was offered.

All too soon it was time for the trip back north! There'd been some flashes of lightning before I left and it only got more impressive as the night wore on!

The Giant Cedar! This is at one of the many rest stops along the I-5. They're frighteningly clean and well maintained!

Just a bit drippy!

Look Audrey, we're coming up on Bow, too bad it's a bit late in the night to be visiting The Bunns! That, and we didn't exactly phone first.

And here we are back at the border. Almost home again! The line-up north was about five minutes but I'm sure that's all because of the time of night on a Friday rather than a lacking of Canadians who would want to go home in general.

Phew. The Canadian guard did ask about Audrey sitting on my dashboard. She'd seen the flash of the camera while we were waiting our turn. So I explained about my little visitor and she laughed and said it was a good thing bunny rabbits don't need VISAs and welcomed Audrey back to Canada. She didn't welcome ME back to Canada.. Hurumph.