Washington: Sleepless in Seattle
Seattle area is home base for a bit while Michele, Jayden and Peyton get back to West Palm for some annual doctor and dental care and end of month Vince flies to Charlotte to move our oldest to Minneapolis (he wants cold 🙃) so we’re Washingtonians for the month. We also want to soak up as much of what this northwest has to offer… it’s A LOT! The double coast-to-coast flights makes things a touch challenging but so is managing healthcare on the road and helping our oldest so we’re thankful for the resources to get some important appointments and medication management completed.
As for Seattle, all the movies and reports are true… it’s beautiful and worthy of the Emerald City nickname. The Seattle area is a combo meal of true loves; water, mountains and forests but in a familiar yet surprisingly unique way. While there is water everywhere thanks to the expansive Puget Sound, there aren’t as many bridges as you might find in a major bay city like San Fran, Virginia or Tampa. The topography is water, surrounded by mountains covered in forest and it’s hard to imagine a more story book setting in or outside of the city. We haven’t done a ferry yet but we plan to after our visit to the Olympic Peninsula this week. For the last two weeks of June and through the 4th of July we will explore the Northern boarder and some Washingtonian hospitality in Mt Vernon. Despite the sheer beauty at each turn there are still the ever present reminders that even paradise has its issues. A few issues with protests and some difficult open drug use on the streets to explain to the kids but we remain thankful for the beauty and will stay focused on that.
Highlights from week one in Seattle!
Space Needle
1st Starbucks
Pile Place Market
Wing Luke Museum
Chinatown
Thousand Trails Tall Chief & wild life
Snoqualmie and Snoqualmie Falls
Olallie State Park and Twins Falls
Shop class with Peyton
Ivar’s Salmon House & the Waldrops
Seattle Space Needle here we come!
The Needle has glass walls and seats to… help the view :)
She can fly!
Great view of the city and Mt. Rainer in the distance.
The bottom deck is class all the way around and it rotates. You can see the gears to Robert’s left. He had NO fear at all and enjoyed the view.
If you ever get to go to the Needle… go for sunset and stay for the city lights!
Little fuzzy due to low light but guess that’s what love does… makes things fuzzy :)
A beauty in the city!
Horrible picture but had to share… this is the T Mobile Headquarters in Bellevue… they take their pink serious!
Parking lot across from the Space Needle… little pro tip. The station on the left by the kiosk is mobile…. meaning it wasn’t there when we parked and the kiosk says “No Fee Today”. Thought it was weird the station was there when we returned… cause we had a parking ticket and were told the station was the one on the right :(. Vince thought the sign in the back showing 00 fee also reinforced the free parking for the day. Appeal IP.
Wing Luke Museum is a great stop and its a National Park Affiliate that showcases the history of the Asian and Pacific Island immigrants and refugees that came the US. Some very cool art from multiple cultures and also a special section dedicated to Bruce Lee.
The upstairs is a remodeled turn of the century hotel in Seattle. It’s very authentic recreation… with model rooms and hallways depicting the exterior windows.
Great small town businesses all around Seattle. This Mooo ice cream shop was in Fall City near out Tall Chief Campsite.
Their slogan was not wrong… for about 30 minutes but we’ll still give them credit :)
Chinatown Seattle isn’t as prolific as San Francisco or L.A. but was nice to walk and get some local eats. FYI the Seattle Boba Tea Co. under the arch is legit good!
Grear day to visit the Pike Market! We had no idea the bizarre is 4 levels of some unique shops, not just the top floor. Beware, some are less kid friendly.
1st Starbucks was a crowded but tasty stop.
We learned that Rachel the Pig is a cult icon in Pike Market. As we were told by the Starbuck’s Staff where this coffee version of Rachel was located above the door, there once were live pigs in the market and one got loose. The pig became so popular that it was named and adopted by the shop owners and most of the shops in the market have a model pig somewhere in their shops. Was fun to see a few of them.
We let Starbucks know we’re open to being Brand Ambassadors… we’re waiting for their call back…
This is the world famous Pike Place Fish Co where they throw the fish (Youtube if you’re not familiar) and while they weren’t tossing any by the time we came by they did have sample of some of the best smoked Alaskan King Salmon we’ve ever eaten. The boys wanted to get some but at $49/lb we deferred to Costco for our salmon… not as good though.
Giant Rachel piggy bank in the market.
There were a number of various sculptures around town but this one needed some attention. NEVER have I EVER seen art depict the most frustrating game I’ve ever played in my life :o)
Some have asked what our camp sites look like so here is our site at Thousand Trails Tall Chief Campground. While this campground was more “camping” focused with no sewer hook ups and only 30 amp service it was a great spot for wildlife and some shaded goodness.
Tall Chief Banana Slug… where were everywhere.
These purple Foxglove grow all over around the Seattle area. There are white and purple that grow wild in the fields and were all over our camp.
This small bear was making the local garbage can his diner and climbed up in the tree when we stopped for a pic.
This raccoon was WAY TOO FRIENDLY and came to our campsite and wouldn’t go away until we removed everything from outside that could draw its interest.
Somehow they got a picture of Vince on the trail :)
Snoqualmie Falls 269ft beauty!
Ivar’s Salmon House was a great place to catch up with our friends the Waldrops. In addition to being a historical landmark for all the Native American arts inside, it is both a fine dining (inside) and lake from cafe (out back) and front window carry-out. It’s under the I5 bridge just down from University of Washington on Lake Union. Great views of downtown and the entire lake.
Dan and Nell Waldrop are some special friends from our PBA days and now Dan pastors a small church north of Seattle here in Washington. Might have to catch a sermon before we leave town!
UW in the background through the draw bridge.
Arts and crafts time for Peyton. He waddled a walking stick out of some fallen branches and he is flame curing the stick on our camp stove.
Light sanding and some varnish at our next campsite, Nor’West RV to finish the project.
A quality walking stick by Peyton!
And Mom, Jayden and Peyton are off to FL for doctor appointments. It was the boys’ first flight too and you can see the excitement on Jayden’s face…
South Fork Snoqualmie River
Dog walk out the back of Nor’west RV park came with quite a view… but Charlie and Russell didn’t seem impressed :)
While Mom and the older boys were in Florida, Robert helped me wash the SUV and RV. I may have been as wet at the vehicles by the time we were done but all were clean!
Comfort, Michele and Kathy working on some advertising for Fairfield Inn :)
As we have crossed the country we have started collecting rocks and it’s become a trip hobby. We bought a rock tumbler and this is our first back of jasper, agate, quartz and some others we’re working on identifying. We’re not lapidary experts yet but we are working on it!
Robert and Dad on the Twin Falls Trail in Olallie State Park. This was a 3+ mile hike with all our excursions down to the river but it was an amazing hike and Robert did great.
Twin Falls from a distance. The large cascade is 150ft down a rock face.
Some large growth spruce in the Ollie State Park.
Upper Twin Falls
Lower Twin Falls from an observation platform… lots of steps but worth it!
Lower Twin Falls from down river.
The SUV is this way Dad!
