Back to Seattle, 1/28/09

When we arrived at the lodge on Sunday, there were people ice fishing on this lake.

When we got back to Seattle, I took Dea to the Space Needle.

We stayed at a boutique hotel, The Edgewater, Seattle's only waterside hotel. Even though I got an incredible deal on the room through Priceline, it is easily the most miserable experience I've had with a hotel. The room was tiny and it had a fireplace you could not turn off even though the weather in Seattle was warm. We tried sleeping with the window open, but trains kept rumbling by. In the middle of the night I finally had to disassemble the bottom plate so I could turn off the pilot.

Despite that last night, it was an awesome trip. Does it surprise anyone that I am ready to move there?

Sun Mtn Lodge! 1/27/09

Ready for the hot tub (it was located outside and it was snowing)!

Sledding videos

We spent the morning taking our first cross country lesson, drove into town for a scrumptious taco lunch, tried to ski an "easy" four mile loop, quit after half a mile because I lost all feeling in my fingers, went back to the lodge and had a great time sledding. Dea said it was her favorite part of the trip. Don't watch the last video if you suffer from motion sickness.

Sun Mtn Lodge! 1/26/09

Sunrise in the Methow Valley.

You are kind of a captive at the lodge, so you end up paying a lot for your meals. To my mind, they were really worth it; especially the steak and skillet beans. I am hoping to recreate this at home.

Sun Mtn Lodge! 1/25/09

These three pictures were all taken from our room. I'm not sure there are many places you can stay that have such a gorgeous view.

Leaving Seattle! 1/25/09

The view from our hotel in Seattle.

When we knew that we were going to Seattle for the conference, and that Nana & Dadat were willling to keep the girls for an entire week, I knew I had to find us some place to go near North Cascades Natl Park. We signed on for a "learn to cross country ski" package at Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, WA. In the summer it is a two hours drive from Seattle to Winthrop through the mountains, but you have to take a longer, 5 hour route in the winter. It was about at this point, a couple of hours into the drive, that the washer fluid lines in our 4-Runner froze (they didn't unfreeze until we were nearly back in Seattle three days later); it made for some really interesting driving considering all of the salt on the roads.

Seattle! 1/24/09

Here is Mt Rainier; I can only imagine how imposing it looks when the weather is clear. Keep in mind that it is 100 miles away from the Space Needle.

Dea's conferencs wrapped up Saturday morning, so we visited the Seattle Aquarium. Here's Nemo.

This eel is a little smaller than my pinkie.

Dea really enjpyed watching the sea otters.

Seattle! 1/24/09

The morning of the 24th was finally clear. After breakfast at the Market, I walked up to the Space Needle and rode to the top; it might have been the best $16 I have ever spent at a popular tourist trap.

These are the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound.

Downtown and the harbor.

After spending 45 minutes on top, the clouds parted enough to vaguely see Mt Rainier.

Seattle & the Pacific! 1/23/09

I took a ferry across Puget Sound to the Olympic Penisula. As you can see, the fog is still present.

Before we got to Seattle I had thought I would drive around Olympic National Park, but after studying the map I realized it is at least a three day drive and camp trip. I decided just to drive to the Pacific Ocean and I finally reached it in the little town of Westport. After snapping this photo I stopped at a restaurant on Main Street and had the best bowl of clam chowder ever. It was at this point I met my soulmate. He was in his late thirties, balding and not very attractive. I believe he was the husband of the restaurant's owner. We were sitting beside each other, watching a story about President Obama on CNN. I made some comment and he completed my sentence; then I completed his sentence. We went back and forth something like seven times, and I started to get weirded out, so I paid my bill and left. Dea thought she would like to meet him, but I am never going back to Westport.

I walked out to the water, but there was a nasty brown foam in it so I decided it would be best not to touch it. At this point I decided I needed to see mountains, so I turned around and drove 4 hours to Mt. Rainier. I got there too late to take any good photos, but when I first saw the bulk of the mountain as I drove around a curve I felt like I got slapped in the face. Mt Rainier is so unbelievably massive, especially compared to any of the Appalachians. I made it back to our hotel around 9pm; I drove about 11 hours that day.

North of Seattle! 1/22/09

I had planned on spending the entire first day exploring the city, but around 10am I decided I needed to see some mountains. I drove north to Mt Baker. This is the first view I had of the Cascade Mountains.

This is the Mt Baker Ski Area; ironically enough, you can't see Mt Baker from the ski area.

Seattle! 1/22/09

We were in Seattle because Dea was presenting at a conference, which left me a few days to explore the area on my own.

My body's natural rhythms fit into Pacific time really well (I tend to wake up at a normal time). I walked down to Pike Place Market for breakfast.

Next I walked along the waterfront. I usually don't care for birds, but this one seemed calm enough.

This is one of the ferries that crawl back and forth across Puget Sound. I'll take one the next day.

While we were there, Seattle was suffering from a temperature inversion. Basically it meant the fog was trapped around the city all day; I had to drive 70 miles before I got out from under it.

Seattle! 1/21/09

Dea & I got to take an adult vacation to Seattle at the end of January. This is a photo of Paradise Valley, where the Yellowstone River flows out of Yellowston National Park. I hope to live there someday.

Waiting for our super fresh sushi in Seattle.

It's been a while.