Emerald City Epilogue

Its been about 2 years since I called Seattle my home away from home. I enjoyed revisiting my old stomping grounds and exploring new ones with my husband. We spent the majority of our time wondering through the eclectic neighborhoods of Seattle and took a trip to the mountains to see the Snoqualmie Falls and go hiking. People always talk about how much it rains in Seattle, but we had 5 days of sunshine and 70s. In fact, NYC and Boston get more rain typically than the 38 inches Seattle gets each year. The Washington Coast is another matter, which receives a whopping 200 plus inches a year.

Coffee shops were on the agenda since this is where it all began in 1971, Starbucks that is. Luckily there are numerous independent cafes with a lot of personality and great espresso. Many shops were housed in old garages as seen in the picture. Lonely Planet had good recommendations as always.

Seattle is a geographic wonderland. To the North you have the San Juan Islands, Skagit Valley tulip fields, Vancouver, Whistler, to the east are the Cascades including Mt. Rainer and the Snoqualmie Falls, to the South you have Mt. St Helens, the Columbia River Valley and Portland, and to the West you have the Puget Sound, Olympic National Park, Hoh Rain forest and the Pacific Coast. If you plan to visit I highly recommend at least a week and check out all directions from Seattle.

We hiked around Snoqualmie Falls and found one of my favorite critters, a brown slug! I know it may be strange, but I had many pet slugs growing up and have a warm affection for them.

We visited Alki beach in West Seattle, where the water was surprisingly warm. It was low tide, so we made our way out to sea. I noticed a jelly fish close by and then Wyatt noticed one by him. Luckily we didn't wander

into a bloom of them. On shore, I managed to step on the top of one, but did not get stung.

We made a pilgrimages out to Ballard just North of the downtown area. Salmon were heading from salt to fresh water for spawning. At the Ballard locks, the have a fish ladder where you can view the salmon making their journey. Tons of salmon were jumping above the water too. We also made a trip to Mars Hill Church which was in downtown Ballard in a dark warehouse building. It was great to worship there.

Other activities included touring the Pyramid microbrewery and Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. The filtration equipment and heat exchangers made me nostalgic for chemical engineering. I could have been a brew master, alas.

Thought for the day: When you feel neglected, think of the female salmon, who lays 3,000,000 eggs but no one remembers her on Mother's Day.