Derek and I made our way from Portland to backcountry camping at Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier to Seattle. Instead of sleeping on an air mattress at a friend's studio apartment in Ballard, we opted to book two nights at Julie's cottage.

The cottage was a lovely space; bright and airy, small but not cramped. Both nights we quickly fell to sleep on the super comfortable mattress. In the mornings, we opened the French doors to the patio and adjoining garden to enjoy the cool summer morning. I would have loved to have seen the garden in full summer bloom!

Central Link, the light rail system, was a great way to get downtown. It was a bit of an uphill hike to get to the station but we didn't find it strenuous, just worth noting.

We spent most of our time exploring and enjoying the city so we didn't see Julie much but she was very friendly and responsive to emails and text messages about our trip plans. Her garden cottage provided us with some inspiration for the small house that we'll be building in the coming year.