07/21/09-0728/09 Seattle and Vicinity

Well, its the end of a very long vacation, nearly five weeks, and for the past eight days we have been staying with brother Scott, his wife Marion, son Reid and, for a few days, son Hayden and his pals.

On Tuesday, July 21st we got unpacked and largely hung out. Went to downtown Seattle and Pike's Place Public Market. Had a great lunch and did some shopping. Generally a take-it-easy day. It had been 20 years since we have been to Seattle and it all has changed. Scott and Marion's house is Northwest meets Brady Bunch. A big makeover the last year or so has it charming and really comfortable. Huge deck in the back for dining overlooking a fern-lined creek. Marky and Hayden joined a couple of pals and went out on Lake Washington wakeboarding.

Wednesday, July 22nd had us taking off on Scott's 34-foot sailboat across Puget Sound to Blake Island, a state park where you can rent a slip for the day or overnight, grab a mooring, enjoy a traditional indian salmon bake, and so on. I hadn't been sailing since Scott, brother Mark, Scott's pal Trey and I sailed in the BVIs for Scott's 50th birthday. Its not too hard when you have a very capable skipper. The sailing out here is pretty terrific, but you have to watch out for a lot of good-sized timber (driftwood) and the ferries, tankers, cargo and cruise ships. Lots of older Chris Crafts, many Trawlers and Tugs,

Mark spend the day with cousin Hayden and the kids, getting a new skateboard deck in Seattle and checking out the Market.

Thursday, July 23rd we left about 830 AM for Mt. Rainier and the Paradise Inn. Marion, Martha and Mark went in Marion's replacement car, her GLI being semi-permanently in the shop and ready for invocation of the Lemon Law. Pals Stephen, Astro and Emi went up in Stephen's M3 while Emi's roommate Ari, who we had supper with on the 16th, was my passenger on the BMW. Hayden was on his Honda and Scott on the GS1150.

It took us a long time to get to Mt. Rainier, our initial route including a washed out route and adding a few hours to the trip. The ride to Mt. Rainier had us paralleling Lake Washington out of Seattle and heading to the foothills once a little south. We stopped at the obligatory Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts not having any presence here in the Northwest. I miss my chocolate crullers. What the hell is a double-shot, extra skim late grande anyway?

Once away from the maddening crowd we were on sweepers and twisties again. Part of the road had some pretty bad tarmac require some sudden braking due to too much gravel.

We finally made it to the Paradise Inn which was initially constructed in 1917 and expanded in the 1920s. Its an old-style lodge with no phones, television, wifi or cell service. It is at the foot of Mt. Rainier and many folks use it as a base to take the three-day roundtrip climb.

we went for a hike down to a wonderful waterfall, up to a lake and then back. There were some serious elevation changes and we got very close to one of the deer inhabitants. When I get home its back to Body Strong. These last several weeks have me further out of shape.

Martha, Mark and I stayed in cramped but comfortable quarters after a fabulous dinner that Scott and I agreed to split, but we were preempted by Astro, Stephen, Ari and Emi. Should have had that second after-dinner drink!

Friday, July 24th

After a sound sleep we all had breakfast together with much of the same staff serving us who had served us last night. Not exactly indentured servitude, but these kids obviously work hard. It is a beautiful place to work and I can only hope they get paid adequately.

We hiked up a VERY steep trail in the morning for some great views. The walk down wasn't so easy either!

Back at the parking lot we headed toward Seattle and, after a brief lunch at Brunos (named after a 150-lb dog), we were home about 5PM.

Emi, Hayden, Ari, Stephen and Astro hosted us to a cookout at Emi's family waterfront home on the other side of Lake Washington. Emi's mom was there and a lot of Emi and Hayden's pals. Supper was magnificently prepared by Stephen, capably assisted by sous chef Astro. We ran out of Tequila real quickly so I ponied up the dough for another 1/2 of Cuervo and some much-needed ice. Much better! Chicken, beef, rice, veggies and salad. The older folks left the kids to have some fun; Mark stayed behind to supervise!

Saturday, July 25th

Martha and Marion went over to the arts and crafts fair in Bellingham. Its a pretty big deal drawing lots of local and national craftspeople and artisans.

Scott and I ran some errands and managed to take in the swap meet at Ride West BMV. Lots of nice older and newer bikes for sale, including to Moto Guzzis and a Triumph Thruxton. Afterward Scott, Hayden, Emi, Ari, Stephen, Astro, Mark and I went for a day's sail aboard Scott's boat Jammer. Hayden and crew had mercifully picked up sandwiches along the way abd the boat was stocked with sodas, beer and some Mt. Gay. Astro and Stephen got to play Captain and we had a very nice day of it. On the return leg we were in irons so used the iron genny to get us home, during which everyone under 24 years old (thats all but Scott and Me) took a nap. They just can't keep us with us older guys.

Sunday, July 26th

Scott and I were up pretty early, but it took us all of the morning to clean the bikes. Six of them including Reid's. Today was the first day of really hot weather, in to the 90s. Seattle has been suffering from a two-month drout and now the heat is kicking in. We attacked each bike one at a time and, I must say, thy came out looking a lot better than that which we started with. Hayden, Stephen and Astro drove back to San Francisco getting home pretty late while Emi and Ari checked out the fair in Bellingham before flying home.

Monday, July 27th

Scott had to work today so Martha, Marky, Marion and I headed in to Seattle to check out the EMP (Experimental Music Project) located at Seattle Center. It is a Rock'nRoll based "museum". There is a really neat area dedicated to Seattle native Jimmy Hendrix who, as it turns out, was part of the 101st Airborn! In addition to that and the history of the guitar, M.Jackson's black sequined jacked and the GLOVE were on display from the MTV Music Awards program in which he first showed the moonwalk. Pretty topical.

Later, we took the monorail (from the Seattle Worlds Fair sometime in the 1960s) downtown and had lunch at the famous Athenian restaurant.

After too late a lunch and too little exercise we returned home for a quick shower an out again to Ray's for supper. Ray's is located where the canal from Lake Union dumps in to Puget Sound after going through a series of locks. In a banquet seating we had a great view of Puget Sound ande eachother. Dinner was first rate. I had the sampler of Alaskan King Salmon, Sablefish and Halibut. The Sablefish was the best and reminded me a lot of Haddock. After a very satiating dinner we went for a walk on one of the public docks with lots and lots of beautiful boats on the slips.

Tuesday, July 28. The end is near!

Scott and I left the house at predawn for a several hour ride. We drove north along Lake Washington to its northernmost point, picking up route 522 and heading east through rural farmland (dairy) and cherry orchards. In Monroe we headed south on Route 203 through the towns of Duvall and Carnation. Duvall is a very pretty farming commuunity now being gentrified as more and more folks are moving further out from Seattle. Carnation, still a small town, is reportedly where the "Carnation" brand foods got its name from. Skirting the Snoqualmie River, much of this area flooded a few years ago causing lots of damages to homes.

We stopped at the Snoqualmie Falls where there is a very nicely maintained state park and a lodge. There was an old hydroelectric plant at the falls, but it was a ways away to render inspection. Just down the road we turned west and in to the city of Snoqualmie. This is a planned community in the foothills of the cascade mountains which will ultimately house about 14,000 people. This was originally Weyerhauser timberland but the closing of the mill and being just about 30 miles east of Seattle made it ideal for residential development. Continuing east we picked up Rotue 90 and ultimately back home so Scott could catch a 830 conference call.

Today was packing day. Scott and I siphoned the gas out of the bikes and they were picked up about 2:30. Afterwards, we launched Scotts motorboat (he has all the toys) in Lake Union and took in the local waterfront including all the housboats!. Martha, Marion and I enjoyed the coolness of being on the water, it being 95 degrees at home! We headed up to Lake Washington, past Bill Gates' home and watched some sailbot racing back again on Lake Union in downtown Seattle. What a wonderful, water-oriented city.