Seattle I--Wooden Boats, Chihuly, and the Ferris Wheel

Michael and I visited Lisa and the Flindts on the weekend of May 3, 2013.  We arranged to meet for dinner at Petra, a Jordanian restaurant in downtown Seattle.  Michael and I arrived from the airport a bit early and walked down to the harbor.  It was a precious, clear day with Mt. Ranier clearly visible in the distance.

As Mike and I walked, we saw a dog that caught Mike's eye.  The dog's owner said it was a Great Pyrrhenese, and Michael immediately looked up its stats on his cell phone.  "I could see myself with that dog some day," he said.

Kyle, Lisa, Bryce, and Alyssa were waiting for us at Petra.  One special treat was the appetizer tray with hummus, freshly made pita bread, and other goodies.

 

Saturday morning, Mike, Lisa, Bryce, Alyssa, and I were off early on an all-day adventure.  We started at MOSI, the Seattle Museum of Science and Industry.  It had all sorts of treasures--a "toe truck" tow truck used to haul cars from Seattle streets, a sculptured "tree" made from the wood of long-ago sailing ships, a movie about the Seattle fire, and even an airplane hanging from the ceiling!

We then rented a rowboat at the Center for Wooden Boats, near MOSI.  We watched craftsmen remodel antique wooden boats, and we then commandeered Uncle Mike as skipper, to take us out into Lake Washington.  

We rowed past yachts and bumped into buoys.  

We decided it was time to declare the adventure successfully completed when we nearly ran into both a ferry and a sailboat, and a seaplane strafed us from overhead! 

 

 

We met Kyle for lunch at Hawaiian BBQ.  It seemed authentic, down to the Hawaiian servers and the Spam fried rice and macaroni salad, served with fried fish and barbecued pork.

There is now a permanent Chihuly blown glass exhibit at the Seattle Center.  We are so impressed with this Seattle artist, who has influenced glass blowing all over the world.

In the evening, Kyle and the big kids--Spencer, Grant, and Kirsten--joined us, along with Alyssa and Bryce, for a ride on the new Ferris wheel at the Seattle Harbor.  It whisked us high above the city and provided wonderful views of the Space Needle.  The neon lights around the pier were festive.

When we finished our ferris wheel ride, the only restaurant open for a treat was McDonalds.  In addition to enjoying our hamburgers and/or smoothies, we met this beautiful dog.

On the Road with Bernie and Elinor II--Arches and Floating Down the Colorado

After a hot shower and a good night's sleep under crisp, white sheets in a motel, Bernie, Elinor, Dave, and I were ready to go again.  On April 27, 2013, we spent a super Saturday hiking in Arches National Park and taking a float trip down the Colorado River.

Arches National Park was new to Bernie and Elinor, and we enjoyed exploring it anew through their eyes.  We took the Windows hike, which led us for a couple of miles around and through many "windows," or large holes in the red rock.

 

 

 

 

 

We hiked to an overview of the Arches park and surrounding red rock country.

 

We didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch, but we did view it from a different viewpoint.

 

We then hurried to catch our van up the Colorado River to begin our float trip.

 

My favorite Moab raft trip is the white water run through Westwater Canyon.  Today we had only a few hours, and we took a peaceful float trip.  Still, the scenery was spectacular, the company was interesting, and it felt great, after camping along the White Rim Trail, to just relax and be taken care of. 

 

Several guests got to ride in the "rubber duckies."



 

We floated past imposing red rock towers. 

 

 

We passed by a heron so well camouflaged that he hides in plain sight in this photo.

 

 

We stopped for lunch on the river bank.  We enjoyed getting to know a family from Aix-en- Provence, in the south of France.  The wife spoke very little English, so Elinor used her Spanish and I used my college French to communicate. 

 

 

We enjoyed a few more spectacular views before pulling out of the river. 

We ate supper on the patio of the Red Rock Inn. We began dinner in the twilight and watched sunset and then night fall over the Colorado River. 

 

 

Sunday morning, Bernie and Elinor headed back to Tucson.  Dave and I took one more Island in the Sky hike, to a viewpoint over the vast circle we had made on the White Rim Trail.  We began the hike be walking past an old corral from the days when ranchers and miners were the only inhabitants of this part of Utah. 

 

We were careful not to walk on the black-colored cryogenic soil which forms a crust that protects the fragile desert from erosion. 

 

At the viewpoint, we could look out and down on the magnificent, untouched land that is traversed by only one road, the White Rim Trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could also see the White Rim Trail winding beneath us. 

 

And we could see some crazy kids sitting way out on an overhang, just like our crazy kids, Jonny and Michael, did on an overhang hundreds of feet over a fjord in Norway.  The photo of Jonny and Michael in Norway still gives me chills, although they insist it was "perfectly safe."  This photo put into perspective how conservative Dave and I are, despite our pretenses at adventure!