Advertisement
Published: September 12th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Bellvue
Local Park Hello Everybody.
Recently I took a trip across the country to Seattle and Portland (blog to follow) to see some more of this country and also take a chance to catch up with one of the Jackman 5...Johanna and her family. Now leaving Jacksonville I was paranoid about the cold as it’s rather warm here in Florida and I’m really not that good in the cold..... see NY blog for more details, so I had packed warmish type clothes. With everyone I had spoken to saying "it always rains in Seattle take an umbrella" I took the gamble and decided not to. Umbrellas really annoy me, short people with them poke me and then if you use it you have lug around a wet dripping mass so I jumped on the flight from home (sans umbrella) and headed to Minneapolis where I would connect flights. On the flight the guy across the aisle managed to jabber away for the whole 3 hr trip with the woman next to him. I shit you not, no break, no toilet rest, just nonstop chatter. To make matters worse he sounded like Jack Black and talked nonsense, you would think that once the conversation
Scenary
The rocks below caused entertainment and havoc got to watermelons...(the fruit, mind out of the gutter boys)....it would cease.....hell no, it just kept on and on.
After listening to that retard jabber on and on it was time for a wine so I hit the bar and started to people watch. The lady who sat next to me ordered Merlot, then when it came out she said I wanted Merlot not red wine. I had an out loud “pfft” moment and next thing I know she is glaring at me trying to convince me merlot is in fact white wine. After pointing on the menu to her under Reds and her seeing Merlot, Einstein was still not convinced.......I’m learning slowly to fight only the battles I actually want to win so I left her and her perplexion. Next flight some old guy gave me a CD of pictures he had taken, flowers apparently.....which I left conveniently in Johanna’s kitchen, which in turn went in the trash. I remain wary of old men handing out CDs of pictures they have taken.
I arrived in Seattle, found JJ and we headed back to her place for an early night, considering I had lost 3hrs. Next morning I
Pikes Market
The throwing fish concept started here woke up and met John her husband and an ever growing Joshua. That morning Johanna had planned a hike so I could see the very scenic NW USA. We set out and it wasn’t long before we witnessed a young boy being attacked by bees. Now in my mind I always thought this would be much funnier to witness than it actually was as he had managed to obviously piss the Queens protectors off and was now being hounded. Some quick thinking from Johanna had the boy drenched in water and stings being plucked out while I monitored ‘loose term’ the 3 other children trying to climb bloody everything. The rest of the hike was event free and very picturesque however anytime anyone saw something flying bee paranoia emerged. That night I was treated to some excellent Thai food which Jacksonville is lacking, and of course wine was involved.
Thursday we headed downtown to Seattle where we wandered through Pike’s Market place, past the first Starbucks and the Space Needle. The marketplace was a little crowded so armed with my fondness of crowds and Johanna’s mutual dislike we headed to see the troll under the bridge. Noting peak hour
Space Needle
Obvious landmark traffic was going to emerge soon we both decided wine was in order and grabbed some Champagne and sat outside in fold up chairs Kath and Kim style while Josh set up his “shop” in which a dime buys you an original piece of artwork. Sitting outside chatting and being able to use Australian terms was excellent. Not having to repeat, explain or translate ensured a very relaxed afternoon. Friday we went for another hike ( no bees) which gave a great sight of Joshua trying not to fall in the water and also a bunch of women trying to walk over rocks and towards a waterfall. Now this could have kept me entertained for hours, however after lunch it was time to go. A bit of shopping in the afternoon, some wine and an awesome home cooked meal ensured a very contented traveler.
Seattle is actually a real contrast in comparison to my Florida beach lifestyle. While I sit on flat land and deal with high temps and humidity Seattle is blanketed with greenery everywhere. The city itself is hilly, though not uniformly so, like Rome, the city is said to lie on seven hills, although the similarities
Troll
Not sure who the strange child is up the top he just stayed there.... there end. It is surrounded by scenic mountains and the cooler weather made it a great escape for a few days. Having said that, a place that rains 9 months out of the year, and concepts such as ‘snowed in’ coupled with temps about 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower then where I am I can safely still call Florida home. As well as weather shifts, Seattle is a little more liberal and hippy esq then this little Florida town and while we experience rednecks, guns and fried okra Seattle exudes a more hippy/grunge relaxed feel, of course this may stem from the fact is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and grunge music, including Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. Bill Gates lives here and it’s the home of both Microsoft and Boeing.
I had a great time in Seattle and the hospitality was sensational....thanks very much to the 3 J’s. AND I had Milo for the first time in 10 months! Saturday it was time to get on a plane and head to Portland where the concept of hippy/grunge would be transformed as would my initial perception of what quantifies as carry on luggage. Stay tuned....and
no I didn't need the umbrella.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 10; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0469s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kerry
non-member comment
Bees
I to always thought seeing someone attacked by beess would be comical. I laughed so hard at your bee paragraph I spat on Brads computer. Thought I'd share that with you.