Woke up this morning about 6:30 but stayed on the couch till my alarm went off at 7. It is vacation after all - I feel like I should loll in bed for a while. Turned on the CBS Seattle affiliate to hear that rush hour traffic was a mess - tractor trailer rollover on route 5. Backups for 6 miles. Glad we aren't going to be driving today in that mess.
Weatherman predicting 80 degrees, sunny and humid. He said it is unusual to have high humidity in Seatlle. We must have brought it from Boston.
Dan was awake as I poked around - watched some news - got my things for today together. Suddenly, Dan let out an ungodly scream and uttered a few frantic epithets. He had lost part of his blog that he had been working on for an hour. I could feel his pain. That has happened to me as well. I could only sympathize with him. But I still headed down for breakfast!
Breakfast was included with the room so we had decided to try it. Scrambled eggs, red potato wedges, sausage and onion hash, turkey bacon, assortment of toast, muffins, bagels, cereals. The make your own waffle station was packed. I started with a bowl of oatmeal and some OJ. Dan made it down as I was eating a forkful of eggs and hash while reading on the TV that Diane Sawyer is out - David Muir is in. I was touched when Dan brought me a waffle with blueberries and strawberries. He had the same. I think mine was the practice one.
We went back to the room to apply sunscreen and pick up our knapsacks. Then we met Terry, our tour guide from Shutter Tours - http://www.shuttertours.com, out front. He had a 12 seater bus, and we were the first stop. We picked up 8 other people and headed out to Snoqualmie Falls which is a miniature version of Niagara Falls. Terry explained to us that he had been a professional photographer for 10 or 12 years - had done magazine covers, a Globe Trek article on Thailand. He finally had to get out of the business when digital photography became popular - he explained that publishers could look on the internet and get pictures for free or very little. Big loss to photographers. Terry said he then worked in a bank until the big collapse - lost his job in 2012 but by that time he had a back up option - a tour company that he had developed.
So we headed out of town to the falls. Snoqualmie Falls are a popular attraction here in Seattle. The force of the falls provide enough power for two plants to serve 85,000 people in the area.
This area is where filming for Twin Peaks took place. We drove through the small town used as the setting for Twin Peaks.
Terry was giving photography tips at each stop. He took this picture using Dan's camera.
Our next stop was to see a giant troll under the George Washington Memorial Bridge that once was the location for the homeless and discarded trash. A competition was held for ideas to upgrade this area under the bridge, and the Troll was the winner. It is surrounded by sand, and while we were there, kids were climbing all over it.
Fremont Troll
View of Dan from the Troll's left hand.
Our next stop was a chocolate factory - we weren't able to take a tour, but we sampled some of the chocolate. Unfortunately, it was all dark chocolate which might be good for you, but did not appeal to us. Give me milk chocolate any day!
I thought of JB and Amy when I heard that it was an organic and free trade roaster.
We headed to Ballard Locks and the salmon ladder.
The locks are how ships go from Puget Sound to the fresh waters of Union and Washington Lakes and vice versa.
Lock draining water so the sailboat can move into Puget sound.
I found the locks quite interesting because I had been through the locks in Lowell on a cruise through the canals to the Merrimac River.
These white tubes are helping salmon into the fresh water going to Union and Washington lakes. They will lay their eggs there. Then the young salmon will return to the ocean. They eventually return to the fresh water to lay their eggs. They seek out the smell of the waters where they were born and return there. The salmon die shortly after laying their legs.
Dan at Ballard locks.
When Dan was young, we spent time at the Salmon Weir in Galway City when we were there a couple of summers. He and other kids loved watching the salmon jumping. Unfortunately, we didn't see too many salmon in Seattle. The fellow from the US Army Corps of Engineers told me that the fish are very slow this year - just starting to pick up now. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and we were on the water! What could be better!
Flowers along the walkways to the locks.
Space Needle on the left.
Lake Union - our Marriott Residence Inn was on Lake Union.
Dan's picture - he shot the Space Needle through the sculpture.
Terry said that they have a well educated young work force - not sure if he was joking when he said that the long dark days in the winter were conducive to studying. He talked about the different start up companies that took advantage of the graduates. He said there are a lot of high tech companies that pay good wages so real estate is booming. There is a Seattle Big Dig taking place as well.
Terry said that they only have 8 days of snow yearly! He said that they don't have as much rain as people think, but they do have more cloudy days. So between short dark days in winter and the increased cloudy days, people who move to Seattle may suffer from seasonal affective disorder from the lack of sun.
The architecture was quite interesting as we traveled around. There were many small houses - no driveways. Trees, shrubs, flowers everywhere!! Even sidewalks had shrubs and flowers. Trees were everywhere - in parking lots, along highways, on overpasses, on roofs! Talk about a green city!! That is what I will remember - all the beautiful parks and the trees!!
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