About That Seattle (June 24 - July 1)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello from Seattle! We left Portland on Sunday and arrived in Bothell, Washington, in the early afternoon. We are staying at Lake Pleasant RV Resort which is about thirty minutes (depending on the traffic) from downtown Seattle.

Monday found us heading into Seattle in the morning. We were thrilled to arrive at Pike's Market in only thirty minutes. Not bad for an area (tri-cities of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett) that contains more than 3.5 million people. Our goal today was to see Pike's Market and go up in the Space Needle.

 The first Starbucks

 Starbucks

 One of the flower stalls in the market.

 Gorgeous Peonies

 Yummy looking crab

After spending time at Pike's Market, we hiked several blocks to the Space Needle. It was constructed fifty years ago for the Seattle World's Fair. Roger stands in front of the Space Needle.

We waited in line for about thirty minutes before we got our tickets and then had to wait about ten more minutes before we could go to the top in one of the elevators. The views were spectacular.

Tuesday was a rainy return to downtown Seattle. Roger and I found a parking space at the Pacific Science Center. What a great museum with lots of exhibits. It was here that we toured a beautifully done Butterfly Museum.

 Owl Butterflies feeding on bananas.

 Rice Paper Butterfly

 Common Bluemorpho

 Heliconius Melpomene

The Pacific Science Center

The King Tut Exhibit is currently making it's final stop in NorthAmerica before heading back to Egypt. We were able to get tickets and tour this magnificent exhibit. 

Our final stop on Tuesday was at the EMP museum which houses music, science-fiction and pop culture. Highlights were the Jimi Hendrix collection (he was from Seattle) and costumes and props from different science fiction movies.

We awoke to a beautifully blue, cloudless day on Wednesday. We drove back into Seattle to see the Seattle Aquarium, do a harbor cruise and take an underground Seattle tour. What an incredible day!

The Seattle Aquarium

 The Seattle Aquarium is one of the best that I have seen. Lots of docents are available to answer questions. In this picture the fish are being fed by a scuba diver.

A cute little boy is pointing to the eel in this picture.

 Starfish and Anemones are in a "touching" tank.

 Huge Seahorses

 A Sea Otter preens.

Leaving the pier for a harbor tour.

 The Seattle skyline with the new ferris wheel that opens this weekend.

 A great view of the Space Needle from the boat.

How lucky we were to see Mt. Rainier in the background of this shot.

 Cranes that remind us that Seattle is a working harbor.

 The Coast Guard owns the largest ice breaker in the US.

The Seattle Underground Tour

This tour is designed to take visitors underneath the original part of downtown Seattle, when the main street was much lower than it is now. Constant flooding necessitated the need for a higher city.

 Hanging Baskets in Pioneer Square where we began our tour.

Actual walls and sidewalk of the original city are underneath the streets of the modern city.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying our lives in the Pacific Northwest. We will be ready to leave on Sunday, for Warden, Washington. Warden is located near Moses Lake, closer to the eastern border of Washington. We look forward to sunny skies and warmer temperatures.

Thank you for your interest in our travels. See you in a week!