Seattle

Thursday, a beautiful day. We say goodbye to Portland and head for Seattle. Enroute we stopped in Tacoma to see the Tacoma Glass Museum with it's  large collection of Chihuly drawings and Glass. (Dale Chihuly is a Glass Sculptor noted for his large, colorful and fanciful installations. Pat is a huge fan.) 

A few (maybe .05% of Chihuly's Drawings.

We crossed over "The Glass Bridge".

Ceiling panel on the Glass Bridge

 Then we stopped at the former Union Station, now the courthouse....for more Chihuly.

Chihuly installation at Union Station...
probably 10-12 feet in diameter.
This is one of several pieces there.

We caught one of the final days of the "Georgia O'Keeffe & Still Life Art in NM" exhibition at the Tacoma Art Museum. Yet the Georgia O'K piece Pat liked the most was from the recently donated Haub Collection of Western American Art. There were several pieces by Bill Schenck that we liked as well.

Georgia O'Keefe - Pinons with Cedar 1956

Bill Schenck - South of the San Juan River 2002

We arrived in Seattle in the late afternoon and settled in to the first of several home exchanges we have arranged for the trip.

Our first exploratory trip in Seattle was to a downtown shopping area and Pat’s pilgrimage to the original Nordstrom store. 

It's not that spectacular, but the architecture does suggest it's 1901 founding,
not at all what Pat first discovered in California. in 1985.

Lunch was another Brew Pub, Gordon Birsch. From there we walked to the Space Needle and the nearby "Chihuly Garden and Glass", an extensive display of his works both inside and in the garden. The Chihuly pieces here were really amazing. If you only get to see one exhibit in the area, do not miss this!!!

The Glass Forest (taller pieces are probably 6 foot tall).
The lower part reflects the upper part.

A Chandelier.  This is roughly 6' in diameter.

Glass by Chihuly, Gardens by Mother Nature

One small view of Mille Fiori
(a huge installation probably 30 feet long and 10 feet wide)

We also got photos of the nearby “Space Needle” and EMP (Electronic Music Project) Museum.

Space Needle 

Paul Allen's Electronic Music Project building
...architecture by Frank Gehry

Saturday we walked across the Hiram M Chittenden Locks and into Ballard for lunch at the Lock Spot Cafe - Salmon fish and chips. Continuing down Market street we shopped and bought a half-dozen books (lightweight, secondhand fiction). 

In the locks as the water rises

In the evening we dined with Lee Daneker (Stanford classmate and fellow San Miguel resident) and his wife Moi (and other of their friends) at their beautiful home with a view of Lake Washington. 

Sunday we took it easy, kind of. We helped Bill’s Mom sort out a problem with her computer, we figured out how to pay our TelMex bill on-line and completed other similar fun tasks. Then we went for a 2.5 hour walk around Discovery Park, Seattle's largest green space with miles of rugged trails & beaches, plus views of the Sound. Then we enjoyed dinner at Ivar’s Salmon House on the Waterfront with Alison & Kurt, our delightful hosts at our home-exchange in Seattle.

They cook a LOT of salmon at Ivar's

Bill had the Salmon Sampler (King, Sockeye & Coho)

Pat had the the fresh Copper River King and Sockeye Salmon

Monday we returned to the Chittenden Locks to seek out the Blue Heron rookery.  We managed to just miss this on our Saturday trek. Thanks again to Bill's telephoto lens and steady hand, he captured some nice shots of a Mama Heron.

Then we headed to Fremont, home of Google, Adobe and Brooks Running. We wanted to catch up with our great-nephew and “Brooks Beast”, Riley Masters. Don’t be surprised if you see him on the US Track team in the 2016 Olympics. In the meantime he sees himself as one of the luckiest folks in the world, being funded by Brooks to do what he loves most, running. 

The "Family" photo with Riley

In case you can't read the card above, his current records are 1:49 for the 800m and 3:38 for the 1500m.

Fremont is a cool town with funky art being noted for it's "One-eyed Troll". There is also a statue of Lenin.

The One Eyed Troll

Brooks, founded in 1914, is a very eco conscious firm.  They monitor ALL of their water & energy use and are committed to achieve aggressive targets. They may be slightly motivated by the fact that they will a owe huge (think over $1 million) fine if they do not achieve these goals.  Why the huge fine?  They were granted the privilege of having the tallest building in Fremont thanks to their environmental sensitivity. 

A piece of a wall-size sculpture that reflects energy & water usage.
The closed flowers reflect using too much water.

Tuesday we began working on locating a home exchange in NYC for early September, then we went to explore Pike’s Place Market. Pike’s Place Market consists of a rambling set of buildings along the waterfront. For a first-timer it is hard to locate any specific shop or restaurant but it is fun to wander around. We stumbled onto Cafe Campagne, a French Bistro. Pat had poached eggs (a french favorite of hers) that came with garlic fries. Bill enjoyed his lamb burger and fries…finally a burger that we could consider medium-rare, not over-cooked.

Wednesday we went on the Boeing Factory tour to see 747’s, 767’s, 777’s, and 787’s being constructed. The tour is impressive but no photos. In fact you are not allowed to carry ANY electronic equipment or bags of any kind. Hence, we have no photos from the tour.  However, they will shoot a photo of you on a green screen and then you can choose your preferred background.  Hence the following photo of Pat "in" the factory.

Pat "in" the Boeing Assembly Plant

The Everett Assembly Plant spans nearly100 acres and is recognized by Guiness
 as the largest building by volume in the world. The 4 doors are 81 feet high.

We went to Woodinville for lunch (at Village Wines….flatbread pizza) followed by a little wine-tasting. The best winery was the Mark Ryan. Airfield and Goose Ridge were also good. And for efficiency in wine tasting, Woodinville gets top marks with more than a dozen tasting rooms in one small area. This was on a weekday so we didn’t bother to checkout the “warehouse” district with it’s dozens of small wineries. These are mostly run by folks with a “real job” so they are only open on weekends.  

A few wine tasting rooms

It was a lightweight day...we only bought these three.

Along the way we noticed this vehicle. It seemed to be a shuttle bus to take you to get your LEGAL pot.  Yep, Pot is legal in Washington. It will soon be legal in Oregon. And it is legal in Colorado. While interesting this isn't all that significant for us. We love our wine and we limit our "vices".

Portland OR

The drive to Portland along route 26 is mostly through forest. In fact we were nearly to our homestay before we saw any real city traffic.  And our home was only a walk away from everything in downtown.  Portland OR is a SMALL city. With roughly 10 times the population of Portland ME, it feels smaller to a tourist ...who isn't bothering to check out the greater urban area.  

We arrived for the first weekend of the Rose Festival. There was a foot race and other festivities in process when we arrived. Apart from the serious runners, the race encourages costumes.  We “ran” into group dressed in Togas.  We talked with some of them and it turns out they were from the local Hash House Harriers (HHH) group. 

For those unfamiliar with HHH, it's an Ex-Pat tradition where a "Hare" lays trail and the "Hounds" have to find and follow it to get to their drinking spot. For our Hasher friends, we neglected to mention that they were doing a "Red Dress Run" in Ashland while we were there. Somehow we suspect we have a down-down coming to us for our lack of awareness of these honored occasions.

The Portland "Saturday" Market is in fact a "Weekend" market . On Sunday we walked down to the river and through the various stalls selling artisanal items and food delicacies. After the market we made our way back up the hill passing Voodoo Donuts (with a line of maybe 50 people waiting their chance to sample the local favorite.) 

We especially enjoyed lunch at Andina, a Peruvian Restaurant serving small plates. For lunch we had beef heart, a 3 potato dish with different sauces, a red and yellow beat salad, and stuffed peppers. We could not resist the chocolate mousse dessert. 

3 potatoes with 3 sauces AND beef heart kababs

Bill anticipating the mousse

Further up the hill we paused at the Art Museum to view impressionist paintings.

Monet - Water Lilies

Renoir - Young Girls Reading

There was a special exposition of works by Betty LaDuke. Her works reminded us a bit of Diego Rivera...with little wonder. She studied at the Instituto Allende (yep, the one in San Miguel) and met the 4 great Mexican muralists while in Mexico.

Betty LeDuke - Grape Harvest Frenzy - Picture these as nearly lifesize.

Monday we headed out to visit Danny, Jean, and Leah who moved to Hood River from the Bay Area 7 years ago. We drove along the Columbia River via the Historic Route 30 and visited the Crown Point Vista House, as well as numerous waterfalls. As we approached Multnomah Falls (the 2nd highest waterfalls in the US, Yosemite Falls being the tallest), our viewing was interrupted by rain and it followed us to lunch at Doppio in Hood River. 

The Columbia River - with cloud cover until you get east of Hood River

Bridal Veil Falls 

Bill with the leaves of a plant that clings when it only barely touches things

After lunch we connected with Danny and went east to the Merryhill Museum which has an excellent collection of works by Rodin, displays of local indigenous history and sculpture, not to mention "La Théâtre de la Mode" which displays the latest fashions circa 1945 in dioramas.

Reclining figure

Blowing in the wind

La Théâtre de la Mode

There was also a great exhibit of native american arts by region.  We were quite impressed by the attention to child safety by several of the native cultures. Specifically there were a range of features for papoose carriers focused on protection from the weather or falls.

Love the "roll bar" on this Yakima (Washington area) Pppoose carrier.

The weather here was sunny and balmy with some seriously gusting winds.  The town of Hood River seems to be the break point between the wet and dry climate zones in northern Oregon. And also where the wind blows and kite surfers play.

Tuesday morning we headed back to Portland and encountered the rain as we again neared Multnomah Falls. Arriving in Portland we went to the Oregon Historical Society Museum.  

Detail of the faux design on the Oregon Historical Society Museum

An original RV from the Oregon Trail days

The rain continues and we decided to have lunch on the 30th floor at the Portland City Grill, trout that was just "OK" for Pat and a fine steelhead salmon for Bill. We stopped at the Columbia Flagship store and shopped for “cooling” shirts, tones designed to utilize perspiration to keep you cool. We are assuming we'll have some pretty warm days later this month in Monument Valley and Moab UT. Nearby we spotted this helpful signpost.

Rain continued on Wednesday and we dodged raindrops at the International Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden in Washington City Park.

Whoops, this is a dogwood, but it's really lovely!

Japanese Garden

Bunny thinking about disturbing the finely raked sand

Our next destination was 23rd street for a little shopping and lunch at McMenamin's Brew Pub.  After lunch we drove back to the park and toured the Pittock Mansion and grounds. The manison, built in 1914 featured all the latest in technology...

Lighting fixture use gas and electric. The lights pointing up are for gas

Shower with nozzles at every angle

Elegant staircase

Next: Seattle. But first, here's a snapshot of Oregon...