WASHINGTON STATE

We walked in our door last night at 1:15 AM, after our last flight of the day from Seattle back home to Sacramento was delayed 1-1/2 hours.  Plus we were up at 2:30 AM five days prior for our ridiculously early outbound flight. I'm not sure about Lou but I'm getting too damn old for these kinds of crazy hours.  We were both wiped out by the time we reached the Grand Coulee Dam.

We drove 250 miles from SeaTac Airport to Grand Coulee Dam for a guided tour. We were switching drivers depending on who was the least tired. We've seen pretty much all of the big dams in the U.S. now.

On our way back to Everett we happened on a small town that had us thinking we took a wrong turn & ended up in Germany. The people of Leavenworth, Washington decided to make their town a replica of Bavaria back in the 1960s.....and they did a great job!

There were blocks & blocks of decorated buildings that looked more like Oberammergau than Oberammergau when we were there a few years ago. We spent about a half hour wandering around our Bavarian find taking it all in. 

Next it was on to the Flying Heritage Collection museum which houses Paul Allen's (from Microsoft) incredible toys, most of which are still airworthy. From there we headed north to Deception Pass State Park & south through Whidbey Island before returning to the mainland via ferry.

This is one of the few planes that doesn't fly because it is the only one remaining in the world. It is called a Focke-wulf 190. I was reminded of an old German friend of mine who used to tell a joke about a man relating a story to his friend about a Fokker flying all over & fighting the enemy when the friend comments, "That Fokker was a great plane." The punchline is, "Whaddya mean? Those fokkers were flying Messerschmitts." Maybe you had to be there.

The planes are restored to beautiful specimans but this is an example of the condition they are found in.

One part of the two part Deception Pass Bridge that joins the mainland to Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island.

Admiralty Head Lighthouse on Whidbey Island. Unfortunately, we were too late in the day to tour the interior.

Mukilteo Lighthouse at dusk. We had just driven off the ferry from Whidbey Island which is docked in the lower right. Since Seattle is further north, it stays light later - we estimated that the sun sets about 45 minutes later than Sacramento. 

Our next day was spent in downtown Seattle. I have to tell you that It is a beautiful state & the scenery is gorgeous BUT you couldn't pay me enough to live there & fight the unbelievable traffic everywhere! Honestly, it was worse than Los Angeles traffic. When I was there twenty years ago, the congestion was nothing like it is now.

Since we had both been up in the Space Needle previously, we skipped that & instead journeyed to the Observation Deck of the Columbia Tower. The view of downtown Seattle from above.

The Columbia Tower Observation Deck is on the 73rd floor of the 76 story tower - almost twice as tall as the Space Needle! It was a little unnerving since Seattle is in as much or more danger of a big earthquake than San Francisco.

Years ago the Kingdome was imploded & two new ball parks were built.  This photo of CenturyLink  Field in the foreground & Safeco Field behind it was taken from the Columbia Tower. 

The 76 story Columbia Tower looking up from the street.

One of the historic buildings in Pioneer Square, the oldest district in Seattle. The Underground Tour starts from this building.  In the early days, Seattle experienced bad flooding prompting the city officials to raise the streets & make the second floors of businesses the ground floors creating an extensive underground.

One of the corridors under the streets of Seattle. At times on the tour we could hear people walking above us on sidewalks.

The Smith Tower is a 38 story skyscraper built in 1914. Its claim to fame is being the tallest building west of the Mississippi River until 1931. Unfortunately, the observation deck was closed for renovation.

No visit to Seattle would be complete without a stop at Pike Place Market, famous for the fish market employees who throw whole fish back & forth to the delight of the crowds.

That evening we watched our Giants lose to the Mariners 2-0 in a good pitcher's duel with an unfortunate result. Lou captured this photo of the gorgeous sunset over the left field fence.

The next morning we made the short drive to Renton. Lou is a big Jimi Hendrix fan & since we seem to have a propensity for visiting cemeteries, we had to include the grave & memorial for the Purple Haze singer. This Seattle area native is widely considered the greatest rock guitarist ever. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison of the Doors & Janis Joplin all died at age 27 from drug related issues. We've seen Morrison's grave in Paris & now Hendrix's. I just looked it up & Joplin was cremated - her ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Technically, we've been there, too.

The Memorial includes a few photos etched into the concrete gazebo along with several song lyrics. His parents & a grandmother are also buried there. It looks like there is room for another 20 or so family members to be interred. 

Olympia & Tacoma were our next destinations. The U.S. Open Golf Championship was being played just a few miles from Tacoma but luckily we stayed away & weren't affected by the crowds. The weather was really overcast but we only got a few sprinkles.

The Washington State Capitol in Olympia. 

This is the interior of the restored Union Station in Tacoma. It is currently a Federal Courthouse that displays several glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly. We discovered his work years ago in Omaha & have since seen it all over the country - even in one of our cruise ships. His unique glass blown creations are easily identifiable. We were surprised to learn that he is a Tacoma native & still has a studio in the Seattle area.

A pedestrian bridge between Union Station & the Glass Museum has literally hundreds of Chihuly sculptures encased along a wall & in the ceiling. Each in enclosed behind plexi-glass to protect it. This is only a small portion of it.

 A close up of one example of each unique work of art. If you ever get a chance to see some of  Dale Chihuly's work, it is amazing.

The exterior of the old Union Station taken from the Chihuly Pedestrian Bridge.

I'm not really sure how a woman who isn't big on flying & doesn't really get the lure of it ended up with an ex-husband, a son & a partner who all just seem to love airplanes! I have seen far more aircraft than I need to & know way more than I really care to about any & all airplanes. BUT we spent several hours at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field before our flight home.

This one was actually quite interesting since we were able to tour the inside of a Supersonic Concorde, a new Boeing 787 & the first Air Force One jet that Dwight D. Eisenhower used. It was also the plane that flew LBJ to Dallas after JFK was shot.

The Great Gallery in the Museum of Flight housed quite an eclectic array of aircraft - everything from an old biplane to the SR-71 Blackbird.

The "Red Barn" is the original Boeing Factory in Seattle. It is now part of the museum & tells the history of Boeing. The huge aircraft manufacturer currently builds planes in Everett, Washington.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

Last month Lou won two tickets to a Sacramento River Cats game at his Airport Volunteer Appreciation Event. The River Cats are the AAA farm club for the San Francisco Giants - a new affiliation this year. The tickets were for today & were in the fourth row just to the left of home plate....great seats!

Raley Field is a great little ballpark in West Sacramento. We've attended several games there over the years & will likely see a lot more now that the Giants AAA club plays there.

My favorite Giant's player, Hunter Pence, has been recovering from a broken arm suffered early in spring training. As the date for our free game approached, it was looking more & more probable that Hunter would play in this game as part of his rehab. As luck would have it, he did....& I was ecstatic! 

Our seats were behind the netting that protects fans from foul balls which made it tough to get good photos. The camera wasn't always sure what to focus on. Here is Hunter Pence (he's #8 on the Giants, but #9 here) at the plate. You can see the ball at the middle left of the picture.

The first five players in the line up were on the Giants roster at some time last year. This is Adam Duvall at bat with Pence on first after a walk.

Another popular Giant, Travis Ishikawa, was rehabbing a back injury with the River Cats, too. Both he & Pence played the whole game & will hopefully be back with the Giants helping them win soon.

Hunter Pence got his first hit as a River Cat & scored two runs today. He was on deck when Juan Perez knocked in Ehire Adrianza (two more Giants) to score the winning run in the ninth inning.

The River Cats celebrating the 5-4 win after Perez's "walk off" double that scored the winning run! It was such a fun game to watch & I loved seeing my favorite player up close & personal.

Of course, I joined half the people there by wearing my Hunter Pence jersey while Lou had on his Buster Posey. He had the creative idea to have the woman behind us take a photo of our jerseys while we watched the game. Love it!

A BIT OF HISTORY IN JACK LONDON SQUARE

This morning we headed out on a day trip to Jack London Square in Oakland. Having grown up & lived in the East Bay for the first 50 years of my life, I've been there many, many times but Lou had only been there once....on business.

Our first stop Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential yacht, The Potomac, which the press dubbed "The Floating White House." It has been restored & is berthed in Jack London Square. The ship is open to the public for tours & cruises.

The Potomac was originally a Coast Guard cruiser that was commissioned by the U.S.Navy to become the Presidential yacht.

This was FDR's cabin on the ship. The quilt has Scottish terriers on it in honor of his beloved dog,a Scottie named Fala, who was his constant companion.  I asked about the single bed & wondered where Eleanor slept. The answer was she never spent the night on the ship after a harrowing experience as a child & her husband's later affair.

The open air stern area was FDR's favorite location on The Potomac. He loved the sea & spent most weekends on the ship. It also provided transportation from Washington, DC, to his home in Hyde Park, New York.

The bridge which features some of the original teak wood. Most of the ship was submerged for many years after falling into disrepair & sinking near Treasure Island. 

We walked along the Oakland-Alameda Estuary & took in the sights after a great lunch of a giant hot dog, chips & a drink for only $5...the biggest bargain in Jack London Square! What can I say? I'm a cheap date. :-)

Some of the beautiful boats in the Jack London Square marina at the foot of Broadway in Oakland. Each December the owners adorn them with lights, Christmas trees & assorted decorations for the Parade of Lights.

I have no idea why the light posts were decorated with bicycles strapped to them but pretty much every pole had bikes on it - different.  

This was the site of the largest & the first Barnes & Noble bookstore. It closed several years ago & is now a beer garden & bocce ball bowling center.

No visit to Jack London Square is complete without a stop at "Heinold's First & Last Chance Saloon". It seems out of place among the modern buildings of a big city but is an unchanged landmark that attracts tourists & locals alike.

This saloon has been in operation since 1880 & was a favorite hangout of Jack London. When he was 17 he would study here & later wrote notes for several of his famous novels.

The interior & bar of Heinold's. It's a little hard to see but the bar & floor slope down - a result of damage from the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The bartender pulls lots of pranks on customers, such as dropping stuffed spiders down on unsuspecting drinkers or when a man uses the bathroom, a recording tells him to smile because he is on camera.

Of course, Lou & I had to have a beer & join in the fun. When my son & I first stopped in for a libation 15+ years ago, he announced, "I want to be a local here!"

Parts of Jack London's cabin from the Alaskan Yukon were trucked to Oakland & used in this reconstruction just a few feet from Heinhold's First & Last Chance. 

UC DAVIS ARBORETUM REVISITED

Back on Valentine's Day we wandered about the UC Davis Arboretum. It was the second time we had visited in February & we made the decision to come back later in the spring to see more of the flowers in bloom. This morning we enjoyed a 1-1/2 hour walk along the outdoor arboretum.

These are a type of giant poppies that were in full bloom. The flowers were 4 - 6 inches across. I know this because there was a sign.

There was no sign for these beautiful pink flowers that covered the bushes. We thought they might be azaleas but the leaves didn't look right. Maybe they were oleanders? 

The creek & lake were covered with bright green algae today. Back in February it was pretty clear.

I'm not too good at plant identification but I love taking photos of flowers we don't see every day.

We are planning on making this a regular half day outing once or twice a year. Each time we think we won't take many photos since we've been there before. But each time we see more & more interesting things to photograph.

This is a close up of some interesting growths on a cactus.

For some reason I loved the textures of these flowers & foliage next to the tree bark.

Another unique flower. It amazes me just how many flowers occur in nature. God really out did Himself!

Nothing but grass, algae & a tree stump but it made for a pretty cool picture.

And, of course, what stroll along the water would be complete without all the assorted critters. Another wonderful short trip for some great photo ops.

There are always turtles sunning themselves on the edge of the creek.

It must be baby duckling time. There were several families swimming through the algae covered lake. This mama duck had her hands full, but the babies seemed to line up pretty nicely.

Lou says this is a Western Scrub-Jay. It looks like a blue bird to me but it did sit still long enough for a decent picture.

This butterfly wasn't as cooperative but I was persistent. It took at least ten photos to get one that wasn't blurry or with closed wings. 

This a Green Heron (didn't even know there was a green one). Lou confirmed it in our bird identification book. It was really colorful & stayed still for his portrait.