Seattle

So... a bit behind in posting this, but better late than never, right? :-)

For some reason, I've always wanted to go to Seattle. I don't know why, but I've wanted to, and so I put it on my 101 list. As time went by, I figured it wasn't going to happen. But Karen figured out a way to make it work--over Labor Day/my birthday weekend. And it was fantastic. Karen, Jenna, and I had a blast.

We left Thursday after work and arrived in Seattle really early Friday morning. (My birthday!) We stayed with some family friends' of Karen's on Capitol Hill. It was a beautiful house with a fantastic view and close to everything.

Once we got some sleep, we got going on Friday. We started out by going to Volunteer Park and exploring a bit and also checking out the gorgeous dahlia garden. After that, we went to Ballard Locks and wandered around Ballard a bit before going kayaking on the Puget Sound and kayaking through the Locks. Super cool.

We then got a bit more fancy and had dinner at Skycity Restaurant, which was a neat experience. A nice birthday splurge. And they even have a photographer that comes around and takes your photo and you get it e-mailed to you for free.

Saturday, we started out by going to Smith Tower. I took a seat in the Wishing Chair. Tradition is that a wishful single woman who sits in it will be married within the year... I'm looking forward to proving it wrong. (Or maybe I'm just not wishful enough.)

We then went on the Underground Tour, where we learned some really cool facts about Seattle. Pretty fun stuff. We wandered around Pikes Place Market and then went to Chihuly Garden and Glass. Most of my pictures didn't turn out that great, but I'm super proud of this one. (Not the one labelled Chihuly...that was another photographer they have that takes your picture and then e-mails it for free. I'm not that professional.)

Sunday, we went to a sacrament meeting with the people that we were staying with in a beautiful and unique chapel. I wish I had been able to explore more. We then visited the Seattle Temple grounds and then visited Discovery Park. We had a little picnic on the beach, and then napped on the grass near the lighthouse. It was a beautiful day. Oh. And we visited Bruce Lee's grave. Random, I know. But it was super close to where we were staying. And why not? :-) 

Monday, we woke up and drove home. Kind of a long drive. Especially when ALL of Oregon has a 65 mph speed limit.

But I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Even the crazy roads that made for crazy driving. So grateful for GPS that would give me a bit of warning to get over because a lane was about to end or I suddenly had to take a left exit, Seriously...it was nuts.

And with this trip, I crossed off 3 more things from my 101 list... buy dinner that's at least $50, take a trip every year in honor of my birthday, and go to Seattle. Woot!