second time around

What a nice ferry ride, fast and smooth with clear skies and great views. The Cascades and Olympics were snow capped and beautiful. John and I had a nice visit and dinner with nephew Peter, Caroline and daughter Valerie. The next morning we did the Seattle tourist thing and it was fun. We took the Monorail to downtown and walked down to the Pike Place Market. We were ahead of the crowds, so it was very easy to stroll around. I had some Salmon shipped home, as the season had opened three days earlier! We strolled down the waterfront, pausing at the John T. Williams memorial totem pole project. He was a wood carver killed by the police, truly a sad event. I had to have a lunch at Ivar’s Acres of Clams, a Seattle landmark. It was very good, the chowder is the best! As we went to the Seattle Art Museum we found out it was international Museum day and admission was free! Ain’t life grand?

There was an exhibit from Nick Cave and his “soundsuits” which are incredible hand made suits/costumes made for improv street art. check it out on google, very amazing. We made it out of Seattle just in time before rush hour closed in.
On down to Olympia and a nice visit with brother John and Sue. We walked some of his property and I learned a bit about the trees and harvesting them. I had a great oyster dinner at the aptly named “Characters Corner” (the local bar) which got the oysters from 1.8 miles down the road, so they are fresh!

I had a wonderfully relaxed drive up passed Hoods Canal to Port Angeles. I went up to Hurricane Ridge for a spectacular panoramic view of the Olympic Mountains (including Mount Olympus!). Of course at 5200 feet and no sunscreen my face is pretty beet red now!

Today is the first day I have been completely on my own, and I am comfortable and at peace with it. I am still looking and planning the next few days, but soon I will calm down and just “be here now”. I caught a view passing by the harbor here of logs being loaded onto a ship for Japan or China. They are buying the logs to stockpile and of course we are happy to take the fast buck with no thought for the future. Look at the size of the ship, these are not small logs.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 10:07 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.