Seattle Trip - Part 1

The ultimate purpose behind writing these stories and posting these pictures is so I can look back on them and remember what surrounded that moment in time. So I suppose in order to do this trip justice I must start the story before the pictures start the day we left for Seattle, July 1st.

Originally our flight left in the afternoon/early evening but as the afternoon progressed Littie and I got more and more texts and emails informing us that our flight was getting more and more delayed. Eventually it reached the point where our flight would no longer connect with the next leg of the trip leaving San Francisco, despite the fact that we originally had a 2 hour layover! Even though our flight left in 2 hours we made our way to the airport via John, our house sitter, to discuss with the United airlines counter how to navigate this bump in our travel plans. Upon getting there we had the choice of either leaving at 9 that night and getting into Seattle around 2 Pacific time or flying out the next day taking an entire day from our vacation. Ultimately this all was my cousin Elaine’s choice as she was the one picking us up at the airport and would have to be getting up at a ridiculous hour to pick us up! Because of traffic and car space issues she agreed to pick us up in the middle of the night which prompted a call to John to come pick us back up (he had just gotten home when I called!). Because it was last minute we got to fly first class on US Airways, a first for us all! We checked our bags then instead of later, marveling at what had happened! We were all in vacation mode so we went to McDonalds for dinner and Orange Leaf for dessert before killing time at home, feeling antsy and excited of course. I’m not going to lie, I loved being in first class and getting to be the snotty rich person who is wasting their money on more leg room and drinks (I’ve since changed my mind and view those people as though they got there like I did). We flew into Phoenix and pretty much ran to the next gate, cutting in line because that’s what first class snobs do. Our flight was so late in the night at that point everyone, including Littie, fell asleep or at least attempted to fall asleep. I can’t imagine sleeping on a plane unless I was dead tired and I had set the goal of reading the entirety of Jurassic Park during the 2 flights it took to get to Washington. I read and read while curled up with my blanket, drink, warm cookie, and nuts. Since I was in the 2nd row and in direct sight of the flight attendant I got my cup refilled the second I finished it, a very nice perk! While I didn’t finish Jurassic Park on the plane I did power through the last 10 pages or so while waiting for the baggage to show up at the baggage claim. We were all dead tired at that point since it was 4 in the morning for us and quickly fell asleep in our respective rooms, my mom upstairs with the family and Littie and I downstairs in our basement suite. :) Littie and I woke at a reasonable hour the next morning and joined Elaine and her kids for breakfast while our mom slept late, possibly for the first time ever. Because parking is a bear downtown we took the bus to the Westlake center which brings us to the beginning of the pictures for this part of the story.

Our day began walking towards the waterfront and Pike Place Market. You know you’re getting close when the fishy smell gets stronger and stronger, much to Littie’s chagrin.

This is the first time I’ve had 2 lenses so I had a lot of fun playing with the lower aperture of my newest edition, the updated version of the lens I had for the last trip (50mm 1.8 STM). 

At this point in the day Littie was tolerating me taking her picture, an attitude that steadily deteriorated throughout the day and the trip. I do love scenic portraiture!

I could have spent an hour just photographing the flowers at the market. The flowers are beautiful and are of every variety and the best thing is the price! I bought one bouquet for my brother’s grave which cost all of $10 for what would cost $30 down here in Texas during the perfect flower season!

My all-time favorite flower is the peony (I loved it before it was a fad) and Seattle during Peony season is just gorgeous.

After the market we trekked down 7 flights of stairs to get down to the waterfront where we ate at the best fish and chips place ever, Ivar’s. Ivar’s is right next to the ferry dock which makes eating lunch outside extra fun!

Littie and I weren’t really interested in shopping so we decided to take a ferry to Bremerton, part of the Olympic Peninsula. This ferry ride is really long, over an hour each way plus load on/off time, but it was a perfect day for it, you could see Mount Rainier!

Mount Rainier poking out above the shipyards.

 This was the first trip to Seattle where I knew I could drink coffee and be just fine, a lovely gift to enjoy. I drank coffee 6 times, more times than I have in the last year. My favorite was the Starbucks Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccinno, and yes I know that’s not technically coffee.

After a long day downtown, including a very packed bus ride back to my cousin’s house, we slept well before packing for our vacation with a vacation, sailing in San Juan Islands.

The drive to Anacortes is beautiful, surrounded by mountains and grassy plains while passing over rivers and the occasional casino. Before getting into the city of Anacortes we drove to the cemetery where Andrew, grandpa, and grandma are buried.

After visiting the graves we finished our trip to my aunt and uncle’s house which is situated on a hill above Anacortes, giving them perfect views of the water, islands, Mount Baker, and the fields and forests surrounding them.

I brought 4 books with me which I plan to write about separately but the second I tackled after Jurassic Park was A Christ-Centered Wedding. Despite the fact a wedding is not in the foreseeable future I enjoyed it and it definitely changed my perspective on weddings. I loved reading on the house’s back porch, especially in the afternoons and evenings when the sun is behind the house. 

Adjacent to my aunt and uncle’s neighborhood is a forest with intersecting paths which makes for a lovely hike so long as you have the map. The first evening my mom and I took a lovely mile long hike to a little lake in the center.

The forests in Washington always remind me of the scene on The Lord of the Rings when Arwen sees the vision of what her life with Aragorn could be while traveling by horse to the Grey Havens. That ethereal light slipping through the forest branches and the ferns growing absolutely everywhere gives it a slightly spooky but ultimately fresh feel.

This is the view of the sunset on Mount Baker from my aunt and uncle’s house with the water and islands in front. So beautiful.

I’m ending this part here with the next post containing the 4th of July before I get into the very long posts about our sailing in the San Juan Islands.