Vacation - Episode 2

Episode 2: Seattle, WA

Picked up the rental car and jumped right in to the sightseeing. Thank you Jim Lyon for the list of "must see" locations. We didn't get to them all, but we tried our best to get as many as possible. Made reservations at Palisade Restaurant (Item 1) for dinner Monday and at SkyCity Restaurant (4) for Tuesday night. Wandered around the waterfront until dinner. Palisade was fantastic! Incredible dining experience. Tuesday we hit the Space Needle (2), Pike Place Market (5), Children's Museum, Argosy Harbor Tour, and the Seattle Aquarium. The Market was my favorite stop. It brought back memories of the markets in Argentina. Wednesday we drove up to Discovery Park (3) in Magnolia Bluff. Our one overcast day but it cleared up quickly. After the park we drove to SR 520 to cross the floating bridges (6), then down I-405 to I-90 for another floating bridge. I didn't get any pics because I was driving and G & G had a camera in each hand already. From there we went to Alki Beach and ate at Spud's (7). Back to Seattle Center to catch an IMAX presentation of "The Eruption of Mt. St Helen" and then on to Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Parking at the restaurant was limited, so we walked down, but it was too steep for Grandpa to walk back up, so I walked back to the hotel to get the rental. Returned the rental 1st thing Thursday (10th) and went to Pier 69 to catch the Victoria Clipper. See corresponding pics: View Seattle, WA

Vacation - Episode 1

So, I'm back from vacation. Boy, did I take a lot of pictures. 553 in 12 days... impressive, right? After sorting out duplicates and a shot of the inside of the camera case (don't ask me how, I don't know) I have 543 to share. I have broken them down into 4 albums - 1 for each stop.

Episode 1: Montana - Great Falls & Glacier Park

Flew to Great Falls, MT on the 3rd (Thursday). Deb picked me up and we went to Mackenzie River Pizza for a late lunch. They have THE BEST pizza in the world. http://www.mackenzieriverpizza.com/ Spent the rest of the day at Mike and Deb's. Played video games (Mike & I kick butt at soccer) and played with Jake. Deb & I drove the rental car ( a Jeep Grand Cherokee, very nice!) up to Glacier Friday and met G & G Wilson at Izaak Walton Inn. They took the train from Indpls to Glacier. Spent Fri-Sun in Glacier. Well, most of the time. I had to take a 9 hour detour back to GF on Saturday to get an abscessed tooth taken care of by Dr. Coleman. He is the Raschke family dentist and was so kind to come in on the weekend for an emergency call. G & G and I left Glacier on the train to Seattle Sunday night and Deb went back to GF. Arrived in Seattle Monday morning only 1.5 hours late. Not bad for Amtrak! Here are the corresponding pics: View Glacier Park, MT

Commute

So, my 45-minute commute is a thing of the past. School zones and buses have added 30 minutes to my drive... yay. At least I'll have something to look forward to next summer. :)