Exploring Seattle

Hi all, Dianne here.  When we planned this trip last December, our daughters were supposed to visit while we were near Nehalem, Oregon, not that far from the Portland airport.  Work schedules forced a change, so we found ourselves making three 2 1/2-hour drives to the Seattle airport from Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula.  Folks in the know thought we'd be better off driving down and around Puget Sound than depend on catching the correct ferry across.  A long drive for sure, but with a plane to catch we didn't want to risk not getting on the ferry that we needed. 

 When we checked in to the RV park in Sequim, Roger asked the woman at the desk how long it would take us to drive to the airport.  Her reaction was one of astonishment:  "Why, you'll have to leave at 3:00 in the morning to make it!"  Luckily, Roger knew to get a second opinion, who confirmed what we thought, that it would take about 2 1/2 hours. 

The drive was uneventful other than negotiating Seattle rush hour traffic.  Robyn always knows the latest and greatest Apple iPhone apps, so she installed "Waze" on my phone for me.  It was really helpful on our drives into the city -- it alerted us to traffic hazards, policemen lying in wait, slow-downs and accidents, even debris on the roadway.  If you have an iPhone, check it out; it also lets you input hazards that you see as you drive (I did as a passenger; wouldn't have tried to drive and do it).  
 
After hugs and good-byes when we dropped Robyn at her terminal, we made our way (using Waze) downtown to see the famous fish market.

We were early, so there weren't many customers at the time and the fishmongers weren't really doing anything at that moment, so we walked around and enjoyed the different shops in the public market.

  This photo doesn't really do it justice; everywhere you look, there are beautiful displays of flowers, fruits and vegetables, spices, other merchandise (I bought a nifty apron), and of course, other fish markets:

 The whole market is a feast for the eyes!

At one quirky store, Kaia posed with life-size cutouts of Justin Bieber and other teen heart-throbs.

As other girls Kaia's age gathered around the cutouts and were drooling over Justin Bieber, I remarked to Kaia that if she told them she'd had her picture taken with the real Justin Bieber, no one would believe her.  It's a fact, though; she had her photo taken with Justin Bieber at a concert in Florida through connections with her dad:

To those I've already shown this to, sorry!   I'm shameless when it comes to my beautiful daughters  and granddaughter, but if you know me, you already know that!   

It was still breakfast time, and we stopped at a restaurant there at the market for a lumberjack-worthy breakfast, complete with pancakes, bacon, and delicious Seattle coffee.  By this time, notice there are no photos of me -- I've been packing on the pounds after eating out with first our friends Jay and Nancy, then our girls.  

  Our view from the restaurant was the ferries coming and going (see opening photo).

After breakfast we made our way back to the fish market.  By then, the crowds had gathered and we were rewarded with some showmanship.

This next photo will mean something to you if you've been there; if not, I won't spoil the fun in case you visit.

One last look at the fish display...

 I tried and tried to get a photo of the guys tossing fish, but all I ended up with was the back of one guy's t-shirt.  My daughter Amanda was smarter than I, and took movies of it on her iPhone.  Here is a short snippet:
   

  
As we made our way back to the car through a covered alleyway, we found this awesome "gum wall' that covered the entire side of a building:

Here's a close-up:

How cool is that!

Amanda preferred the opposite wall in the alley, covered with street art:

 It was a quick taste of Seattle, but with another 2 1/2-hour drive ahead of us we needed to head back to Sequim to the doggies.

Check back soon for an awesome blog entry by Roger of his amazing hike with Amanda at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park.  You won't want to miss the photos of that one; they even saw a bear!

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido in his favorite snooze spot on the sofa.

Dreaming of squeeze cheese in his Kong toy