Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Greater Seattle has 5 trolls. Jakob Two Trees stands in Issaquah, Kristine and Mike’s town. He was our first troll, seen last year when we trained here. Little did we know he would start on a path of finding so many trolls. I wore my new troll sweatshirt. I got it at the NWTrek. Our first troll merch!
It was a great walk along the sound to get to her. We saw an Irish strawberry tree. It was so beautiful we had to walk up close. I looked at the fruits that had fallen to the ground and said they looked like strawberries. I was still surprised when we internet-ed the actual name.
Port-a-potties are called Honey Buckets here. Not only is it a brand name, but it is the generic name people use for such relief stations. Kristine and Mike have been here so long they think it as normal. Keith was very amused.
Bruun Idun was our first troll today – and our first playing an instrument. Mike and Keith said she was playing a troll ocarina – I assume she played third stump in her local troll band.
Today’s trolls are full-sized
The youngest Daly grandchild is Tove (To-vah), and we made this lovely art of her name on a big rock. (It might not have been as easy if there had not already been a lovely art installation that said Love there already)
We took a ferry to Vashon to find Oscar the Bird King. Oscar was spectacular. He kept his eyes on us wherever we went. He kindly invited us to eat our picnic lunch with him.
We ferried again – and found a puzzle to work on. It was a short ride, but we got 4 and 5 pieces in. There was no fee to ferry back to the mainland. Kristine and I have been doing the NYT Spelling Bee game together. We played during the car ride, achieving genius for the third day. Somehow we had the same words, but Kristine got four more points than I did. Huh.
Kristine felt there should be ice cream, and Keith was more than happy to navigate us.
We found Pia the Peacekeeper on Bainbridge Island. Bainbridge is a lovely town. It even has cool sidewalks. Kristine checked out the towel quality.
We took the big ferry over to Seattle. I enjoyed being out on the windy deck for a bit.
It was night by the time we got to Seattle. There was no time to find the final troll. Actually, there are 6 in the set – the 6th is in Portland. That one wasn’t going to be today! The rainy day that was supposed to be wasn’t rainy until we were almost home about 6:30. It was a big day of driving (Thanks, Mike!!). We left a smidge after 9 and were going all day.
We enjoyed Survivor together – fun to watch with more people!