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!