Monday, August 29, 2011

Snohomish Falls

I'm sitting in Colorado posting about Washington. I'm just a day behind. We went golfing with cousins, Bert and Melissa, last week at the base of Mt. Si. It was a beautiful course and Steven and I both had a good day. I bogied two holes and Steven pared one. After golf we stopped by a beautiful waterfall, hence the name of this post.

Cousin Melissa and me




Thursday, August 25, 2011

Space Needle and the Locks

Tuesday brought a visit to the Space Needle. Along with a delicious meal at the SkyCity restaurant at the top. The restaurant rotates the whole time you're up there and you get the most amazing views. We were seated staring out at the beautiful Seattle landscape.


Look, I don't even seem that scared. Maybe I'm getting used to this heights thing? Or maybe not?


The view from the restaurant.

My delicious meal. Chicken stuffed with local cheese, lemon ricotta ravioli, and the best fresh green beans I've had in a long time.

Cousin Wendy, Tom, and Steven at the Locks. This is the place where they get the boats from Puget Sound to Lake Union. The Locks are in place to keep the fresh water from being polluted with the salt water.

This was a huge yacht. I think I could use one of those! If the locks are sparked your interest, check out THIS website to see how they work.


Then we headed over to a water front park. Yes, I know this picture looks fake. I wish you could see the Olympic Mountains in the background. It was a beautiful day.



Another fake background photo.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pike Place Market

We headed down to Pike Place Market the other day.

and walked down this ridiculously cute alleyway.

and attempted to find a restaurant my cousin recommended in this mess.

but when we finally found that restaurant, these were the views we were greeted with.

 
it was stunning.

and the food was great.

and it was the very diner that Tom Hanks ate at during a scene in Sleepless in Seattle. They even have his bench marked. This photo is from just outside of the diner.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The Original Starbucks

We had a glorious time at Pike Place Market today (more picture to come soon!) We made a little trek to the original Starbucks. It was just a tiny storefront with a giant line outside full of tourists.

Steven and I both enjoyed the Pike Place Special Reserve. 


Here's a view inside the store. It's basically a madhouse with tons of souvenirs. And, of course, we picked up a t-shirt for mom and a mug for us. 

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Seattle time

 We arrived in Seattle last Monday and haven't put on our tourist shoes yet, but trust me we will. We already had a nice visit from our cousin, Melissa, and will have more family time next week. 

Here's a shot of the 5th Ave Theater. It's one of the most beautiful theaters we've played in, if not the most. It's a little cramped in the pit and backstage but we're all making do. The theater put on a great opening night party for us at a wine bar called Purple. We have a lot of changes happening during and after this Seattle run. A couple of new players in the pit, a new lead actor, and several cast members change. It'll be exciting.

Here's a picture Steven took with his iPhone of the ceiling. Do you see what I mean by beautiful? Everything is so ornate.

We found this pizza place called MOD (Made on Demand). It was by far, the best pizza  I've eaten in America.  You know Italy still holds the ultimate winner. You get to pick exactly what you want on the pie and every pizza is the same price. This is a little pesto spectacular. Amazing.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Playing photo catch up

Uh oh, who are these two studs?? Why it's just Steven and me in our sweet wet suits before we rafted. 


Steven and Bob at the Hawthorne Hophouse trying out some local brews. My favorite beer this whole trip was a raspberry ale. It was super summery and delicious.

Meet guide dog Cass. Well the view of her from under our table. My Aunt and Uncle are raising a guide dog puppy right now. It's been a really cool to learn about and understand all the elements that go into raising one. They are one a pretty strict schedule and have to behave so well all the time. This is a primo example, she's just hanging out and napping while we're eating our dinner. I'll try and get a better picture of her today because she's a beautiful dog.

We have golfed three times since arriving in Portland. The golf bug bit Steven this summer and now I'm getting into it. I think it helps that my normally softballish golf swing is starting to resemble something more appropriate for the game. Don't you worry, I'm still really awful. It's just fun. I will still 9 chip and 7 putt every hole (you think I'm exaggerating, but trust me, I'm not). 

Monday, August 1, 2011

White Salmon River Rafting

We headed an hour and half east of Portland yesterday, just into Washington state to do a little rafting. It was a guided tour down the White Salmon River. The rafting company was awesome. Check out their website HERE. These are just a couple of stock photos, we didn't have our camera with us and we certainly weren't paying $35 for a CD of pictures in which you could hardly identify us. 


This is a picture of our favorite rapid, the corkscrew. Steven "rode the bull" on this one and we're not going to lie, it was awesome.

Here's a picture of the put-in site. The river gorge was beautiful.