Travels in the Occidental World

Does anyone want to live on the Oregon Coast? Because I have information on a house for sale, with ocean views, right here. My aunt and uncle are trying to retire so they can move to McCall, ID but they can't until they sell their house, so please, somebody please buy it. Thank you.

I never did talk about our trip to Seattle. (That is my way of providing you with some clever foreshadowing.) Last month, we went to Seattle. The airport here in Redmond is about.....five, no....six minutes away from our house, door to door. The flight to Seattle was an hour and twenty minutes, with free beer! It's the northwest, you see, and we're big on our microbrews although really I think it's the airlines' way of taking passengers' minds off the fact that they're on a little, tiny plane which may, or may not have the latest in flight equipment and whatnot. When the passengers are liquored up - but not too much - they're much happier! I think. It was the morning, we didn't drink, although I wasn't unhappy. Hm.

So, Seattle. What a great city! (Oh, but here is my confession: I don't have any pictures. I forgot my camera. It was a very "D'oh!" moment when I realized I had forgotten it.) We went to the Space Needle, of course. OC and her uncle ran around the deck, racing one another. The Needle sure has changed. I was there maybe 10 years ago, and it's much nicer. There are new displays and I'm not sure, but maybe new carpeting, too.

Near the Space Needle, Seattle Center has carnival rides for kids. OC liked the Viking Ship, and also tried the bumper cars, and the Tornado. After she got off the Tornado, having spent most of the ride with a serious face and her eyes shut, she told us with a big grin, "That was fun, and a little scary!"

I wanted to see the Olympic Sculpture garden, a new installation located on an old industrial site right on the waterfront, and which features a 35-foot Alexander Calder sculpture. I was the only one of our group to appreciate the sculptures, the other two adults with me called it, "a waste of metal". OC thought they were nice, and that the artists "did good work on them". It was worth seeing, with free admission, and there's a path so you can wander and end up on the waterfront. It's not a bad way to spend a little time.

We also went to Ballard, a neighborhood not far north of downtown, and found a wonderful bar with an extensive selection of Belgian beers. REALLY good beer. I have to hand it to the Belgians, really; I had NO idea they were so gifted! We were there for a couple of hours, eating from the appetizer menu and tasting beers, then splitting a turtle chocolate dessert. Ooooh, that was good! I forget the name of the place, otherwise I'd link you up.

Those were the highlights. The baseball game was good, albeit late at night. I forget who we watched, OSU? Portland Beavers? It was somebody Beavers. Anyway. We had a good time watching that, and otherwise spent time downtown and at Pike Place Market.

Moving on to this past weekend. We hung around our area, and on Sunday afternoon we went fishing on the nearby Deschutes river. Our model displays current stylings you may want to consider for your next fishing trip:



Notice the pink heart-emblazoned rubber boots, a must for any young girl this season.



The model, hitting her modeling stride, strikes a pose.



Best fishing companion EVER.

The month of June so far has brought rain every day. Some days, it rains for five minutes; other days, like yesterday evening and overnight, it has rained on and off for hours. I am loving that. It smells SO good.



Thunderheads rolling in. There was lightening, but I wasn't able to capture any on camera.

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Next trip scheduled: Washington D.C.