Part II, Seattle

Further around the peninsula, we stopped for gas in Port Angeles. It was sunny, so we could see Canada. There was also some sort of festival going on around the courthouse. It seemed like a place I would've liked to spend some time, but we didn't have time. 101 was only a two-lane, 55 mph highway that slowed down to 40 at every Bentley-sized town. I hadn't realized it would take so long. I had planned on driving all the way around the Puget Sound to get to Seattle. It wasn't too far, and we would be able to see more things. I realized that if we wanted to get to our hotel in Seattle before too late, we'd have to take a ferry. When Tim said he had never been on a ferry, I said, "Well, then we HAVE to go!" It ended up saving us a lot of time and money, of course.

It was exciting to get out and walk around on the boat. There were so many little kids running all over the deck, making quick friends and playing games to stay out of the cold wind. This was Tim's first time in the area, let alone Seattle, and his first time on a ferry, so that was exciting too. The ferry docked and let us out just down the street from our hotel.

"This is going to be an expensive trip," Tim said, "but it's the time to do it." It's the only time we live close enough that we'd want to drive to Washington, and with a baby coming, it's the last time we'd want to stay in a four star hotel.

The hotel had a lodge feel, but with extra class. What I loved most, was that it was on its own pier, within walking distance to everything we wanted to see. We didn't arrive till 7:00 and nearly everything around there is only open from 10:00-6:00. We were forced to have supper at a Red Robbin, but we got a chance to walk down the piers and to get an idea of places we'd like to see the next day.

In the morning, we stopped at a sourdough bakery for breakfast. It was all prospector-themed, which was kind of fun, considering that's a big part of the history of that area. It was hard to get my necessary amount of calcium in while on vacation, but we were sure to order milk at least once every day. We sat out on the dock, eating a pecan sticky bun (almost as good as Momma's) and a cake-like blueberry muffin. When we finished, we got up, and went next door to the Seattle Aquarium.

The aquarium was pretty fun! They even had an underwater dome. We didn't stay late enough to watch a scuba-diver feed the fish, but it was still a fun place. Our favorite parts were the hands-on tide pools, where the sea anemones would grab your finger, and the octopus, who was in a small-ish tank which made him more fun to watch and easier to see. Other fun exhibits were otters, seals, and jellyfish.

We had lunch in our hotel's fancy restaurant. It wasn't extremely pricey, but the food was fancy, and we had a good waterfront view. When we were done, we headed to the Olympic Sculpture Park, just outside of the Seattle Art Museum. In one of my classes at WSU, we were talking about public art, and had to watch a video about the park, and about one of its exhibits in particular. This exhibit started out as art, but I personally feel it is the type of thing that belongs in a science museum. Either way, it was interesting to learn about. The guy went into the rain forest and picked out a fallen tree. He was fascinated with how much life one dead tree could hold. He and his team collected samples of wildlife on the tree, and then they carefully cut out a giant section of log, and tried to remove it as carefully as possible. They brought the log to the sculpture park and built a greenhouse around it. They made sure all of the species were represented there, and visitors can go in and experience this decaying log. Unfortunately, visitors weren't allowed in unless a volunteer from the museum was there to supervise. We were able to look in the windows, but that was my last chance to see a Banana Slug.

It was still early in the afternoon, so Tim suggested we head on up to the Space Needle, since it looked like it wouldn't be too far of a walk. There were a lot of things to see around the needle. The building that held the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum had really fun architecture. It seemed like an interesting place to visit, but when I looked up their website, I decided otherwise. (Current exhibits: Star Trek and Nirvana) We went on up in the Space Needle. It was extremely crowded. I don't know if I'll ever want to go to the top again. It was like being at the top of any tall building. It seemed more interesting to look at from the outside. I did, however, like hearing about the World Fair in the 60s. Their theme was "The Space Age" and they had built the Needle and the Monorail just for that occasion. Those and the architecture of the Pacific Science Center reminded me so much of futuristic views from the past.

There was a Folk Life Festival in full swing spread out all around the old fairgrounds. Tim and I decided to walk through it. As the name suggested, it was a vague enough theme that the festival had everything. Anyone with wares to sell bought a booth, and any musician set out a guitar case and started performing. Although I never really figured out the Folk Life parts from the rest, we wandered through until we found some cotton candy, and then headed back. I was starting to feel extremely bloated from lunch (I'm not very well able to eat full meals anymore, with less room down there) and we were both getting pretty worn out.

"You know, Tim? I'm starting to feel like a cartoon frog! I've got a big round belly, and long, skinny legs." ~ me feeling boated after our lunch

We rested, and then I woke Tim up from his nap. "Let's get you some fish and chips before everything closes again!" I suggested. We headed out again by the water, and discussed what we would do next. Tim had already decided to pull the plug on his plan to go to Vancouver long before we started on our trip. We would save some money, the trouble of crossing the border, and he wouldn't have to ask off any work for the trip. "Let's just start heading home in the morning." Tim suggested over his supper. I agreed, but there was still one place I wanted to go: Pikes Place Market.

After wandering around for a while, we finally found the marketplace, but everything had just closed. A sign informed us that it wouldn't be opening again until 10 the next morning. "We have to leave earlier than that, or we won't get home till three in the morning." Tim said. I was very disappointed that we had missed it. After thinking it over, I decided that it was one of the things I really wanted to do, that we may never come back to Seattle, and that at least to me, it would be worth it if it meant getting home late the next night. Tim understood, and adjusted our plans to spend a small amount of time at the market the next morning, (knowing that I couldn't be expected to stay up that late, and that he would be the one driving the last leg anyway.)

I was so excited to be in the market. Pretty much all of it was indoors, due to the rainy weather of Seattle. There were several floors, and we entered in through the lowest level. It reminded me of an old subway station, and of Park Elementary. There were several daycares in that bottom corner of Pikes Place, for all the parents who had to make a living here. We passed all kinds of fascinating shops, but our first stop was the original Starbucks. I liked the old signs and logos, and I liked how although at one time, the cabinets and counters were supposed to look modern, really were actually worn down with age, not just as intentional decorating like all the rest.

"Pleasie, no squeezie!" ~handmade sign next to the largest avocados I'd ever seen.

I bought a cheap bouquet of beautiful flowers for the family who kept Penny in their back yard for us, and a small basket of raspberries. I enjoyed looking at all the fresh fruit, the souvenirs, and the fresh fish on ice.

"Why don't you bring those tulips over here a second?! Yeah! You with the basketball player!" ~an Irish fishmonger

We didn't stay too long, and didn't hit any rush hours on the way home. We were able to take a modified route on the way back that was two hours shorter than we expected. We went through several state parks in California. The roads were twisty, very dark, and rainy. We saw at least twenty deer, and a bobcat. There were a couple close calls with some deer on the road. Fortunately, they always happened to be on the side of the road closest to where they were already headed, so our swerving only scared them away from us.

We got home around one in the morning, and slept till one in the afternoon the next day!

Washington Babymoon Part One

Our trip to Washington was great! Parts were well planned, and parts were left up to us to be spontaneous, so it seems we were able to get in everything we really wanted to do!

Grace: "I hope you don't mind me navigating like this."

Tim: "Oh, it's okay. I wasn't even listening."

The drive up was a little long, and we went through 4 snow storms, at least 6 rainstorms, and several sunny spots in between. The changes in the weather really mixed things up. We enjoyed the scenery. We went through Nevada-like wilderness (we weren't in Nevada very long, of course), picturesque green hills and mountains of California, and some boring parts of Oregon before driving through a mountain pass just before Portland. The pass felt like Colorado at first, but on the way down, the trees were different. I woke Tim up to look at the extremely tall trees pressed right up against the highway. Oregon isn't famous for its tall trees, but I'm not sure I remember ever seeing trees quite so tall. The mountains up there were different too, with ghosts of clouds and fog just hanging out a little too low on the hills. (I'm describing all this because it was impossible for me to get pictures. Tim was sleeping, I was driving, and the road was too fast and winding to park. There were countless turn-off areas, but only on the other side of the road. I figured we would take the same route back, but as I learned when I was younger, there never is such a thing as 'on the way back')

"But I have to pump your gas for you. It's the law." ~station attendant in Oregon

Visiting the Olympic peninsula really should be more of a camping trip. We enjoyed driving through Aberdeen, a cute little port town with small, old houses, and ancient sea-worthy vessels in its river. Then we went up to lake Quinalt to stay the night. It was dark when we got there. I didn't realize our suite came with a jacuzzi bath, and while I was in it, Tim found the button and turned it on low. We were both really tired from the long day and late night, so we found the pathetic, fart-like bubbles hilarious. In the morning, we woke up to a huge, fog-covered lake and the sounds of rain forest birds. We wanted to get on the road, but the office didn't open yet, so we went on a small path to the world's largest spruce tree.

101 (the highway around the peninsula) took us further from the rainforest and closer to the ocean. "Tim! according to the map, we should be right along the Pacific right now! Stop at the first sign you see!" I suggested. It was cold and cloudy, but the small beach campground was full (it was Memorial Day weekend) Most of the people there were camping and fishing. I hoped our Kansas tags would explain our excitement as we ran around on the pebble-covered beach, poking washed-up sea weed with sticks, and taking driftwood. Tim wanted to burn it later; he hopes that the salt on the wood will make a pretty fire.

Then the highway curved back toward the Olympic National park, and we paid to get into the Hoh rain forest. This was the part of the trip I was most excited for. In fifth grade, we learned about the different ecosystems of the world, particularly those in the United States. We watched a video about the temperate rain forests of the northwest, and about the large banana slugs in them. Ever since then, I had wanted to go. "I can't believe you guys hadn't been yet!" Tim said. I told him that by the time I was in fifth grade, we had already been to Washington, and didn't see much of a reason to go back. We didn't see any giant orange slugs, but we did some fun pictures, which I'll upload later!

"I'll Nav your gate!" ~Tim, after I suggested that he take over driving while I navigate

Next we were back on the road and headed toward Forks for lunch. Tim insisted we take pictures by the Welcome to Forks sign. I felt embarrassed to do so, but I knew that several young girls had their picture taken by this very sign each day, and no one would think anything of it. We went into their visitors center, between to a run-down History of Logging museum, and an old statue dedicated to the loggers that founded the place. The visitors center had all but forgotten logging. When we walked in, we were surrounded by cardboard cut-outs of actors, and Twilight t-shirts. There were two old women running the place. They talked about past look-alike contests, and their hopes that when the actors were done with the series, they would come visit Forks (having never set foot there in their lives). It was pretty pathetic, so Tim and I decided to get something to eat as soon as possible. We sidestepped a pack of teenage girls getting their pictures taken next to a truck parked outside (one similar to the one in the movies) and left to find a restaurant.

We stopped at a crowded pizza restaurant and hoped to just blend in. I thought we were doing pretty well till one table got up, and the old man seated there greeted every other family by name on his way out. I guess in such a small town, visitors will have to stand out. Tim said they had to have been used to people passing through before all this Twilight stuff happened. It after all, is the only town with restaurants and stores between Grays Harbor and Port Angeles (That's a 3 hour drive). As we waited for our food, I tried to guess what the town was like. It seemed to be about the size of Halstead. The citizens were used to lots of visitors, but they took it in stride. Every restaurant carried a "Twilight Menu" available on request with expensive food and Twilight-themed foods.

" Porta-bella-mushroom pasta, Bellaburger...

**All entres come with Edbread and Swan Salad" ~Twilight menu

We also went to one more beach, La Push. Compared to the other beach we stopped at, this one was more famous and actually had sand, so it was crowded for the weekend. I wanted to see some tide pools, but I had no idea when or were to look. It was interesting to be on another indian reservation. It was small, so the houses were all very close together. There were certain smells the same as the Mission, with added scent from the ocean, and their small fishing harbor.