Adventures with Steve and Nora (Washington)
July 31-August 3, 2009
I set up my air mattress on a small deck in Nora's backyard, a haven of plant life and birds of all types thanks to Nora's mom and her love of gardening. My first day in Seattle was devoted to doing what every Seattle visitor does - visiting the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, etc. It also so happened that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels were performing that day, so we headed over to Lake Washington to watch the show.
Riding the monorail to the Space Needle (from Steve)
Seattle's most famous building. It costs quite a bit to go to the top, so we were content with this view.
Strange tourist attraction - an amphibious bus.
Space needle reflected in the iridescent wall of the Museum of Rock and Roll
The Blue Angels are amazing in their precision, something that became even more apparent looking at the pictures. Keep in mind that these planes are traveling around 500 mph... Many of the photos are cropped, and I was amazed that my shutter was fast enough to freeze them.
Perfect formation
How can they be this precise??
Perfect spacing and alignment once again!
Meeting at a combined speed of ~1000 mph (with very lucky shutter timing)
Close pass overhead
All six in formation
The final flyby
Totem, downtown Seattle
Steve and a bronze pig
Port of Seattle
Nora and her sister Maeve
Fishmongers at Pike Place Market (an all-day, everyday open-air market that was packed with tourists)
Sculpture garden
A BNSF train has just emerged from the tunnel under downtown.
The wedding was in La Conner, a small town about 60 miles northwest of Seattle. We opted for the scenic route, taking a ferry to Whidbey Island and crossing back to the mainland at Deception Pass. We waited about two hours to get on the ferry - lots of folks were traveling on this busy Saturday. I forgot my camera on this day (so no wedding pictures). The three photos below are from Steve.
On the ferry in wedding attire
The massive bridge at Deception Pass (crossing an ocean channel between Whidbey Island and the mainland).
View from Deception Pass bridge
It was fun to reconnect with Carleton folks at the wedding, an outdoor ceremony at a small waterfront hotel. We were treated to plenty of good wine and food, and the weather couldn't have been better.
On Sunday we explored around the Fremont neighborhood for most of the day, then Steve and Nora caught a bus home and I had dinner with my cousin Jenny (on my dad's side), who I had never met before.
This looks just like a painting. (Taken at the ship canal separating Fremont from downtown Seattle)
The famous Fremont troll
We stopped at Archie McPhee's joke shop...
The next day we watched the new Harry Potter movie in IMAX 3-D before I set off southbound during rush hour. It took two hours to go the first 60 miles - just as I cleared city traffic I got stuck behind a major accident that had all lanes closed. Once that cleared, it was smooth sailing all the way home, with a refresher stop at Powell's Books in Portland.