Leslie’s friend, Mona, arrived Sunday afternoon, a little late due to delays, but she finally landed. We immediately headed to the Pike Place Market. Everything fresh…the seafood and flowers especially…seemed to be on steroids. David’s cousin couldn’t come down and meet us for dinner, but suggested Lowell’s in the market as a good bet. He was right. It was spot on. A quirky place but we found a table on the 3rdfloor overlooking the harbor. As we ate, a fire boat passed along the shore and boasted its powerful spray nozzles. What a spectacle that was!
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| Fire Boat showing off its water cannon |
Monday, Leslie took David to the airport where he left for a week’s business in Fort Worth, TX. The rest of the week was left to the girls in Seattle. That afternoon they enjoyed a 3hr tour of Seattle. Several wonderful divisions of Seattle included downtown, Pioneer Plaza, the statue dedicated to Chief Seattle for whom the city is named, the iconic Space Needle, China Town, Queen Anne districts and the Ballard Locks. At one point on the way to the Ballard Locks, the driver stopped under a bridge overpass explaining it was once a heavily trafficked place where drugs were sold. City Council sought a solution and decided to turn it into a tourist attraction. A giant concrete troll was constructed to take up most of the space and in it’s hand it’s crushing a BW Bug. The eye of the troll is actually the hubcap from that bug. Sure!! Draws a crowd!! No more drug dealers. Problem solved.
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| The Troll |
After the tour’s conclusion, hunger became a driving issue. A long standing curiosity has been Etta’s, a well known restaurant in Seattle. Their website was always stronger and seemed to overpower that of the little Bed and Breakfast run by the 2 women. Eventually finding it, they convinced a server to take a few fun pictures. Did they eat there, NO. Etta’s had no fresh oysters on the menu and that was the call of the evening. So about a block down, a restaurant serving fresh oysters was found and many consumed!!
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| Etta's Restaurant in Seattle |
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| Mona and Leslie with the Space Needle behind them |
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| Public Market |
Tuesday the girls went on a daylong tour to Mt Rainier. The driver imparted a great deal of information regarding the history of the development of the park and the lodge. The Longmire family was the first of many to see the potential of tourist traffic. The lodge at Mt Rainier is absolutely beautiful but not quite the scale of Yellowstone’s or the lodge at McDonald Lake in Glacier. The driver stopped at Paradise Lodge for the afternoon break. A 2hr free time break. Mona enjoyed an afternoon of clean crisp air and gorgeous views. The sun was out and clouds were minimal. Grateful for a beautiful ending to a long day, the Wanderer was looking mighty good. Etta (aka,"The Pup"), our dog, was still living upon arrival.
A tour of the Seattle underground was scheduled for Wednesday. Knowing traffic was horrible, they embarked a good hour before the tour was scheduled. Traffic was even more horrible due to a Rolling Stones concert at the Convention Center. By the time downtown was even reached, the tour had already commenced 20 minutes earlier. Not ready to give up the city just yet, Lowell’s sounded like a good way to wind down. No fire boat this time! So the beast of a truck was again parked with a valet service of a well known hotel and the Pike’s Place Market was again sought out for another wonderful meal. Thursday was spent recuperating. Mona slept on and off most the day. Certainly she needed it and it was happily granted. Friday good-byes were said and smiles exchanged along with I love you’s. Such blessings to behold and wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.
While David was in Fort Worth, he had dinner with our friends from the old apartment building, Sharon and Jim Greenstone. They had a good time catching up on happenings in downtown and our travels since we last saw them. We miss them and our other friends from Sanger Lofts.
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| Our friends the Greenstones |
Friday night we met David’s long time friend from High School and his wife, Dave and Sherry Teasdale, for dinner and to catch up. We brought them back to the Wanderer to show them what an RV could be in case they catch the bug. It was a wonderful even and a fitting way to wrap up our visit to Seattle.
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