Left Bloomington Indiana 6/18 at 7:00 AM, nervous about making it to Seattle on time. Without too much difficulty we made it to Prairie River Camp, Mn., 640 miles, the first day. Day two with a stop in Mitchel, S.D. to see the corn murals, and a stop at Wall Drugs for lunch saw us go 740 miles to Painted Skull Gallery, Wy. Day three 460 miles to Missoula, Mn. included a stop at Love’s Truck Stop for a much enjoyed hot shower. Day four, 6/21 included a side trip to Flathead lake, a dog park in St Regis, MT. and ended in North Bend Christian Church in North Bend Wa., just down the road from Snoqualmi falls and easy reach of Seattle. Prairie River, Painted Skull and North Bend Christian were Harvest Host sites, Missoula was a Cracker Barrel parking lot.
We stayed in Holiday Inn Express Monday 6/22, across from Angle Lake park, and met Will and Colleen at the airport Tuesday morning, about 9:AM. Took them to breakfast at Copperleaf Restaurant, early check in at the VRBO then Dim Sum lunch at Triumph Valley. Walked around the neighborhood, had ice cream at Molly Moon’s. In the Columbia City neighborhood, this is the house:
Wednesday at noon was our first world cup game, Bosnia v. Qatar, Peggy and I went with the girls. The atmosphere was different from other sporting events I have attended, lots of enthusiasm, and patriotism on display. We sat beside a couple originally from Bosnia who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Bosnian players. He sang all the songs, participated in all the chants. Bosnia had the lion’s share of the crowd and won 3 – 1. Will and Colleen used this day to see friends who have moved to Seattle. We finished the day with a birthday party for Will. Here is AK with his cake:
Thursday was sight seeing day. We are staying 5 blocks from a light rail stop. We took it to downtown Pike’s Place Market. Much more than just a fish market. There were local vendors of all kinds, produce, arts and crafts, and restaurants. We had a lunch of seafood at the Athenian.
After lunch we took the monorail to the Space Needle, the monorail goes only from one of the light rail stops to the Space Needle and back. Built for a world’s fair in 1961, the all glass exterior wall leans outward creating a feeling of falling forward. The topmost floor is fixed in place and you walk around it. There is another glass enclosed, floor one level beneath the top which slowly rotates. The top floor has a cafe in the center, while the next level down has a small bar. One can sit there, sip a drink and take in a 360 view from your seat as you slowly rotate. From either of the two levels you can see the Olympic Mountains to the southwest, the Cascades to the northeast and southeast is Mt. Ranier.
After the Space Needle Peggy and I went to Chihuly Garden and Art Museum, which is beside the Needle. Chihuly worked in blown glass, and was well known when in his late 30’s he suffered two accidents a few years apart. They left him blind in his left eye, and a dislocated shoulder, while repaired, was still too weak to hold the glass blowing pipe. From then on he used a team of glass blowers to create works he designed. Here is “Persian Ceiling” and ?, no name:
After the Chihuly we came back to relieve the dogs, Will and co. went to see the Queen Anne neighborhood. When they returned we finished the day with a picnic on the lawn next to a farmer’s market where a man with a Karaoke machine entertained the crowd and us. Friday 6/26 is world cup day for Will, Colleen and the girls, Egypt vs Iran.
Roses 1.0 Van Life 