Seattle :: Start

I am warning you now.  This is going to be a photo-heavy post.  I am also warning you that I am having a hard time grasping all the language about this trip so that I can tell it to you straight.  Now, this could either be due to the fact that I am having a hard time processing all the ridiculous fun we had.  Or it's left over from my pre-trip I'mHavingAHardTimeUsingMyWords situation (cause' if we've ever met in person, I'm thinking you would have a hard time believing that I couldn't find a million words to express myself)

(ie:  I talk a lot)

Whatever it is, I'll just wing it and hope it comes back to me.

Here we go:

Claudine and I got up early early and were off on a Wednesday morning...this was after the night before when I leaned over to look in my suitcase at Claudine's house and smacked my left eye into the wooden back of a kitchen chair.  Right on the corner?  Yeah.  This made my eye totally swell up and form a rather large cut under the skin.  Thank heavens I closed my eye...or we would have been much worse off.

So...I was off to the airport mostly resembling Popeye, had time to grab a Chai and board the plane for a lovely flight to Seattle.  I love flying, so usually no matter what's happening, I find that I'm having a lovely flight.

After landing and navigating our way to both the rental car company and our hotel The Red Lion in Bellevue (which prompted a growl from me every time we said the name for the rest of the trip) we balked a bit at the ghetto outside, but were pleasantly surprised by the niceness of the interior.

Whatever.
When are you ever in your hotel room on a vacation?
Plus? They use Bath and Bodyworks soaps so I was all Squeee!!

We then ran up the coast, or down the coast, or followed some sort of water way to Kirkland...a fantastic little town on some sort of water for Thai lunch.  We first stopped in a residential neighborhood for a sandwich because that's where the phone directed us.  Claudine has an uber fancy Droid that has GPS which helped out.  Mostly.  When we weren't lost.

Also?

The road signs up there can be a bit confusing to figure out...and we're old, so I figure we've had a lot of time to practice...so there were more than a few times we were both muttering and cursing and laughing in between simultaneously trying to listen to the monotonacity of the Droid's voice and reading a map.

Being from Arizona I tend to jump up and down and take lots of pictures of water whenever I luck out enough to see it...because it seems so unusual and fantastic to me.  Plus?  I absolutely adore the ocean.

They happened to be having their farmers market that day...which we strolled around (after visiting a resale shop and me nabbing a new LeSportsac shoulder bag) and strolling around all the fresh organic (cheap) veggies and fruits made me a bit jealous.

Those berries were something like $1 a pint or some craziness like that.

Also?

The cut flowers are off the hook up there.

All those bouquets up there were $5 and I saw none over $12.

Seriously.

I almost bought myself some because I thought thought the idea of romancing myself was so very lovely.  And then Claudine and I discussed the fact that we didn't have a vase.  So I took some pictures and recited some romantic poetry to myself instead.

And by poetry, I mean I sang a Cure song under my breath.

We then decided to head to Seattle proper for one of our tours we'd planned for the trip, since it was such a beautiful day (see:  Not one cloud in the frequently overcast skies) we decided to boat around the harbor.

This is one of the floating bridges Claudine is so fond of.  I think it will help to mention at this point that I was able to really keep in touch with everyone via facebook.  It was a blast to let people know where I was and what I was doing.  That way I could take all of my friends on vacation!  So, I was often texting as much as taking pictures and enjoying myself.

I'm such a multitasker.

Can you tell we made it to the city?

Starbucks everywhere, and while I do not usually like their brewed coffee and mostly go for a fancy drink or Chai, it is also worth mentioning that they make a fantastic cuppa in Seattle...so don't be nervous while you're there that it's going to taste like the cup you get in your local grocery.  I also had coffee at Seattles Best (which was the perfect blend of flavor and temperature) and about a million other places, as one could treat Seattle like Italy and go for coffee as much as one goes for gellato.

Now.  Would you just look at that skyline?  Oh Seattle and the Pacific Northwest...you truly capture a part of my heart every time I am around you.

Seattle honestly reminds me of SanFrancisco only way way way more mellow.  Seriously.  You could cause car accidents by honking at people on the freeway.  No one honks.  Seeing as Seattle battles Portland for some of the highest suicide rates in our fair nation (it's all the sunless days) maybe it's because everyone is depressed and has given up?  Or it could be the simple fact that it's so beautiful and diverse and exciting, and there's no reason to freak out, just sit back and enjoy.

On board our little harbor ship we hopped...and that's where we ran into this guy:

Yeah.

Dude wandering around without his shirt on...in front of a boatload of people.  This made Claudine and I have to laugh and raise our eyebrows a bit...especially as he paraded around with his white shorts practically hanging off his body and a very dramatic and stricken look on his face and his over-sized sunglasses obscuring his eyes.

A lot.

I'm not sure what his wife and son though about his shenanigans, but we were not the only people sitting there with our mouths hanging open.

Maybe he was a famous model.

He was, by far...too sexy for this boat.

When we weren't staring in shock at that guy...there was a whole lot of interesting other things to look at.

We also heard a lot of interesting facts and figures on this trip (our tour guide was young and mentioned things were "very very cool" quite a lot.  I agree with her)

...and saw some birds.

And That Guy...who had now taken to propping himself up on the railing of the boat, sunning himself with large sighs...and generally getting into people's family photos.

Yes, he did put his shirt back on...and oddly enough we did see him the next day at Pikes Market...again fully clothed and sadly, not near as dramatic.

And we saw Mt. Rainier...which popped up in the craziest places.  First of all, it's a huge mountain with a ton of snow on it...and mostly the base or where you'd expect to see the base was often obscured by clouds making it look like it was floating instead of attached to anything.

This is about as close as we got to it...give or take.

Which is good seeing as That Guy was so hot, he could have melted it, and then we would all be in for some serious trouble.

After having our fill of looking at a half naked man cruising around the bay, it was off the boat and back to walking around.

We were on the hunt for fresh seafood on the water and settled on Ivars.  Now, I used to plan the heck out of vacations, and knowing that Claudine is a great planner and I was happy to leave it in her hands...But, the one thing I really wanted to do was eat fish and drink beer on the dock.

This was the view from our window.  Other than sitting on that black floating dock down there, I think we did a great job getting close to the water.

We also made it for happy hour...which happens from 3 on every day (so it wasn't that hard) and got some great drinks and fabulous food.

Fish and chips and clam chowder.

I'm warning you now, I ate a lot on this trip.

OK.

I didn't eat a lot at once, I just ate a whole lot of fantastically amazingly good food.

Quite a few times.

It's not that Prescott lacks this.  But, Prescott lacks this, like this.  So, it was my extreme pleasure to really indulge my taste-buds and treat myself...I mean, who knows when I will be around so much good and diverse food again?

Ahem.

And then we walked all over the downtown...popping into used book stores and coffee houses, up and down the streets at dusk...truly lovely.

We got into the car and drove around The Queen Anne district, after only getting hideously lost once (crazy monotone GPS)  It is a lovely neighborhood that made me wish I had a craftsman style house...except that I already do.  It's just not big like these ones are...it's all that wood up in the Pacific Northwest that the Southwest desert is lacking.

It was around dark when we decided to pop over to The Space Needle and try a quick run up.  Alas, there was no parking anywhere...but there was quite a lovely rotating Elephant Car Wash sign...so that was totally worth it.

To Be Continued...