Dave and I flew to Seattle to see Lisa on Friday, October 24, 2014.  "I know what you consider essential, Mom, when you come to Seattle," Lisa said.  "You have to go to Pike Market, the Seattle Art Museum, and have chowder."  Lisa was exactly right, and we started our day Saturday with those essentials. 

 We had a special mission at Pike Market--buying some gifts for my "Christmas tables."  Lisa helped me choose packets of spices, a blue silk scarf, some flavored oil dipping sauces, and a hand-knitted, red cap.  We bought ourselves a bag of orange-flavored hazelnuts, as we always do, and we savored the sights at the fish and vegetable shops.

 We chose croissants and macarons at the French bakery at Pike Market, and then spent an hour at the Seattle Art Museum.  The special exhibit was on modern art from India.  There was an orange plastic sculpture of Ghandi wearing earphones, and another glittering scooter.  Scooters are a much-revered mode of transportation in a developing country.

 Alyssa picked out a red cloche hat at the gift soft at the Art Museum.  "That is so you," I told her. 

 We spent the afternoon at the cross-country qualifying meet for the Washington State championships.  Kirsten's Eastlake High School varsity girls' team didn't qualify for state, but Kirsten qualified individually.   Grant's boys' varsity team did qualify, so they will go to Pasco, Washington in two weeks.

 Bryce watched the ducks on Lake Sammamish as we waited for Kirsten's and Grant's teams to run.

There were furious wind storms in Seattle Saturday night.  Lisa's Church was first cancelled and then reinstated.  We were glad to go, since Lisa was accompanying the Primary program.  She played a piece arranged by Sister Cardon, of her ward, specifically for this program.

The electricity was off at Lisa's house, so we ate dinner at a fancy café in Issaquah. 

We took Lisa, Alyssa, and Bryce to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington.  The featured exhibit was tusks from "Lulu," a mammoth which had been preserved in the boggy mud beneath Seattle.  We took all of Lisa's kids back to our hotel, where there was heat.  I helped Grant write his college essays, and we planned another trip back to Seattle in February 2015.