West Coast Adventures

I become most motivated to blog when there is actually something exciting and new to talk about. So no surprise that I am updating based on our summer vacation - it is pretty cool! And it helps that most of our lodging has TRUE high speed internet (making this process much quicker and easier!). We began our adventure two days ago when we flew from KC to Seattle. We arrived early afternoon on the 4th, loaded our considerable luggage up in our rented Durango, and drove to the hotel near the space needle that would be our home for the next 48 hours. Since we were right next door, our first venture was to the Experience Music Project museum. The kids were only just tolerating the concept of our first outing being to a museum, that is UNTIL they saw what it was about. I was afraid we were going to have to break Michael out after hours as he refused to leave the jam session booths until it was closing! If you are a rock and roll fan at all, or a music fan in general, we'd rate it a must-see. Dinner was at the restaurant at the museum which was surprisingly good. Josh and I headed to bed early while David, Michael, and Daniel walked a few short blocks to Lake Union to see the fireworks display. Michael thought it was 'tight' - and Daniel appeared to also, though he told me the next day that he almost fell asleep during it! I'm sure it didn't help that it started at 10 pm Pacific time, which would have meant midnight or later to our tired central-time bodies!

Day 2 was spent walking...and walking...and walking...we hit most of the big tourist spots in downtown Seattle, on foot and/or skateboard. The Olympic sculpture park was very cool, though the boys most liked the small beach portion on the bay and the naturalist's talk. Then it was on down the waterfront to Pike's market (which we overshot by about 8 blocks...thanks mom). A late lunch of clam chowder and seafood bisque and we were refueled enough to limp back to the hotel for a big nap in anticipation of our evening. Our decision to splurge and eat at the Skyview restaurant in the Space Needle did NOT disappoint (though we will have to Taco Bell-it for a couple days to stay even on the budget). Before our 9 pm reservation though, we had time to hop in the Durango and tour the area a little...Univ of Washington, Lake Union, and Discovery Park were all very cool. We cannot believe how much housing is packed into these hills - very architecturally diverse and cool, most with fabulous views of water and/or mountains. Why exactly would one choose to live in the middle of the US- near no water - was the question? There were plenty of cool cars on our tour to keep the boys happy as well.

Finally it was time to dash to the space needle for our dinner adventure. The experience was ...well, amazing. Given how hard it is to impress the boys, David and I felt it was worth the investment - plus I thought it was one of the coolest things I have ever done too! Check out the pic of the Seattle skyline and the 'Summer Action' video link to get a sense for our dinner experience...

Today we are headed south to Mt Rainier for a hike up Longmire - then on to the Columbia River Gorge for some boarding and more hiking. More adventure to follow!