Au revoir, Seattle!

We flew out of Seattle the afternoon of June 16, 2015, right past Mt. Ranier.  Or is this Mt. St. Helens?  The top appears to be missing . . . . 

Sun Dial on Kite Hill at Gas Works Park in Seattle and dinner at Ray's Boathouse: Monday, June 15, 2015

Papa Tom stands on the sun dial on Kite Hill at Gas Works Park.  By selecting the day's date on the dial, you can actually calculate the correct time.

It was 1:55 p.m. by Papa's watch AND by the sun dial. 

View of downtown Seattle from the sun dial

Selfie from the top of Kite Hill

One last seafood dinner, this time at Ray's Boathouse near the Ballard Locks

Gas Works Park in Seattle: Monday, June 15, 2015

Seattle has created a park on the site of a former factory for making gas lamps in the early 1900s

An indoor play area at Gas Works Park

Touching the Space Needle



Paddle boarder leaving Union Lake.  The water in Puget Sound is 50 degrees.  Can it be much warmer in Union Lake, which feeds into the Sound?  Oh yes.  There's a swim suit behind that paddle board.

Bird's nest in a factory pipe

Portland: June 14, 2015

Otis has new kitties, Francisco and McQueen.  McQueen is the fast one, just like Lightnin' McQueen in the Cars movie.

Francisco believes in being pampered.

We visited with LaWanda and Otis on Sunday, June 14, 2015.  LaWanda took us to the Pumpkin Patch, located on an island in the Columbia River, outside Portland.  Beautiful!  Ranier cherries were in season and were delicious.

LaWanda, Otis, and me at the Pumpkin Patch.  No ripe pumpkins yet.  Just wait until Halloween!

One last day in Seattle: Monday, June 15, 2015

Here's a dragon for you, Anjanette.  It's guarding the International District.  Or maybe just avoiding the closed sidewalk?

One last visit to Pike Place Market



Papa's first ever Starbucks coffee, straight from the Mother Ship, the original Starbucks located in Pike Place Market.  The barrista is a Dallas transplant who loves Seattle, she said.



Papa enjoys his mocha latte at the park in Pike Place Market

The park overlooks Puget Sound.  And yes, that's a totem pole behind me

Next visit, I want to ride the ferris wheel

OK, how politically correct can you get?  On this restroom sign, it's Dad who's taking the baby to the restroom, not Mom.  Although she looks like she might be ready to take the baby back.

Street corner pianist.  Wonder how far he rolls the piano?

Vancouver, Washington: June 14, 2015

With Alauna and the roses she gave me, and the feathers Otis gave me (see the feather in the rose?)

Skyler fixes Otis's hair before we leave for the Vancouver Farmers' Market

 

Cookies!  We tried many samples before settling on chocolate chip cookies.

The balloon man made a flower for Alauna.

Which will win?  Otis's balloon sword or Papa Tom's water bottle?

Skyler and Otis

June 13, 2015: hanging with Skyler, Destiny, Otis, Alauna, and Destiny's family in Vancouver, Washington

Micah (as Destiny calls him) strumming his ukele

Micah leaves a drawing for Otis and Alauna on their chalkboard

Alauna and Otis play in the water hose while Alauna's cousin Lily splashes in the water table

Otis and Lily at the water table.  The pool was inflated and full before the air leaked out of the sides.

Alauna

June 12, 2015: on our way to Portland

The fridge door in our Homeaway rental in Seattle kept popping open.  We propped a chair against it to keep it closed.

One last stop at the Ellenos Greek Yogurt stand at Pike Place Market before leaving Seattle.  Absolutely the best yogurt we've ever had!  Papa Tom especially liked the marion berry crunch yogurt.  I liked the lemon custard and chai flavors.

Whale watching in the San Juan Islands: June 11, 2015

We cruised from Seattle to the San Juan Islands, in search of orcas.  I was expecting orcas to be leaping out of the sea, like they do at Sea World.  Not so.  We saw maybe two leaps, or breeches, as they're called.  Mostly, we saw dorsal fins.  But a lot of them! Okay, if you look very, very closely, you'll see an orca's dorsal fin.

Papa Tom on deck of the Victoria Clipper.

On the pier at Friday Harbor

Our ride

Day One of the next 20 years: June 10, 2015

On Mt. Ranier's Glacier Basin trail at around 5,000 feet.  We hiked 7 miles roundtrip, in hopes of seeing a glacier up close.  Turns out, as the name of the trail so clearly states, we would arrive at a place where a glacier scooped out a basin then either retreated or melted.

Papa Tom stands above the White River, which is running through the rocks below.

The end of the trail.  We'd climbed about 1,600 feet in elevation:  more windy and a lot chillier here!

Papa Tom, standing in the glacier basin

On our way back.  Papa Tom on the switchback below me.

Back in Seattle, we had our anniversary dinner at The Walrus and the Carpenter.  And, as the Lewis Carroll poem suggests, the restaurant specializes in oysters.

Seattle's Fremont neighborhood: June 9, 2015

So many cyclists enjoying a stop at Fremont Brewing after 5 p.m.

Great name for a dive bar

I'm guessing Seattle is the only American city with a statue of Lenin on a street corner.  The statue was rescued from Slovinia after the Soviet Union was dissolved.  A man from Seattle discovered it face down in the dirt in Slovinia and thought it was a work of art that should be saved.  He brought it to Seattle; then he died.  So Lenin stands, with "blood" on his hands and face, in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.  The statue actually is for sale.  Hence the "for sale" sign on it?

Gelato shop advertisement near the Lenin statue

Waiting for the urban transit

Dancing

Looking from the Fremont neighborhood toward downtown Seattle.  Do you see Mt. Ranier on the horizon?



Yikes!  There's a troll under the bridge!