We landed the evening of the 9th and basically just vegged out and went to sleep b/c we'd had a long day and were still on Texas time! i have a tendency (against my will sometimes) to be quite the early riser on vacation, esp the first day when i still was on Texas time! Blake and Hillary had work and school responsibilities on Tr & F so we ventured on our own like "real tourists." Brent and i actually were awake before most of the city Thursday morning! We stayed pretty close to the apt because there was a severe wind advisory in effect for King county that day and boy was it ever an appropriate warning! it felt like it did when we were in Henderson as Hurricane Ike came through as a category 1! we did some shopping, went to the aquarium (thanks mom and dad for the Christmas present :)
aand wait for it..... wait for it.....
"LaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawelcometoSeattleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
taped and photographed the experience (of course we did)
ok so we did "make" these faces for the shot but no joke, if we hadnt done it ourselves the wind wouldve done it for us!
if youve seen this port of Seattle youll understand the wind intensity here. if not, let me describe. For Seattle being on the coastal area, its not that "close" to the coast. the water in here is normally pretty gentle and whitecaps certainly arent a usual. needless to say, it was crazy...pretty sure i got windburn lol. after proper documentation we spend the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch, relaxing and watching 3rd Rock from the Sun. :)
Friday was probably our most active of the days. We knew it was going to be a nice day so i wanted to make sure we got some of the "outdoor activities" we had chosen to check out done today. our first destination was a nature preserve called Discovery Park. its on the very north tip of the "peninsula" where Seattle major is (i have no idea what the actual geographic term is for this but go with me on this one).
We took advantage of their more advanced public transportation system (ps costs us $5 for both of us to travel around all day). This park was by far one of my FAVORITE parts of the whole trip. i loved everything about it. it was gorgeous views from the top and on the rocky beach, totally serene, had tons of hiking/biking trails, a historic lighthouse at the tip, SEALS, i could go on and on
anytime i need to de-stress and do a calming visualization technique THIS is my new place ill be envisioning! i just cant decribe or photograph how charming and beautiful this place is... im sure its a little "louder" in the summer but still must be nice!
after hiking we took a "challenge" from Blake to go to this fun little noodle restuarant in the international district (waaaay on the south side of downtown). We took advantage of our bus ticket once more and made our way back to downtown. The district is one area of town we actually hadnt visited in our previous trips. it was delicious food and a very unique area of the city.we then just walked around and enjoyed the nice day. We probably walked about 6-7 miles on Friday! yes, we're conscious of our fitness on vaca too., lol Friday night we all went out to hit up the bar scene of town and went to a fun, frilly little place called The Unicorn. we basically stayed there till it closed but we were all still pretty awake so we headed over to an oddly fancy, 24 hr restaurant called 13 Coins for fried ice cream, rolls, and pie! :)
Saturday we met up with Chad at a popular brunch spot (whos name i cant remember at the moment) in Capital Hill (where Hillary and Blake are moving in a few days fyi- the area, not the brunch spot ;)) we did a little shopping, wondering, pikes marketing, went to Bellvue to see the new Bungie building (it had moved since the last time we were here) and was just as cool and youd imagine, and then picked up Rusty from the airport so he could join our vacation party!
Sunday we headed up to Snowqualmie pass (i drew a visual on the map above for its location) for a little snowboarding. This was Brent and I's first time and we were sooo ready to get started. This was my THIRD attempt to be on the sloped. first time, in high school, i broke my foot after id already paid to go so i still went, with my orthopedic boot in a trashbag, and manned the walkies from the base-riveting. second time was last year up here but they didnt have any snow left to ski on by this point last year. But the cliche proved correct once more and third time was a charm! Once brent learned how to stop (important, yes) he was going down the slopes like it was nbd (he has skateboarded since he was like 13 so i attribute his natural talent for it somewhat to that, and you know basically, hes just awesome (gotta give my hubby a shout out)) Meeee, on the the other hand, while i did eventually get it, it did take me about 2 solid runs to grasp the "correct balance" to get down the mountain and not fall repeatedly on your hindparts! at first i had overprepared by wearing thermals and BOOOY was that the biggest mistake ever. i am a natural hot natured person, i have no idea what i was thinking wearing thermals as if id get cold doing an intense cardio activitiy but here i go trying to pull that off. so the first run not only am i trying to learn-getting frustrated while doing so, falling every 5 seconds, using arm muscles (that i do not have), and just boiling in thermal undergarmets!! man, i was cranky! but once i FINALLY changed and adjusted, i was ready to rock and picked it up pretty fast! once you get it it is an absolute blast! we all wanted to go back for more but we didnt have the time (or $$$) lol aaand honestly by tuesday, and the true lactic acid build up hit, i was moving at the pace of a arthritic turtle so i doubt my skills wouldve improvevd! haha
Monday we just enjoyed that everyone was off work and on spring break and just hung out around the city. we also went to the ever popular Crab Pot to stuff our face :) heres a fun little shot of the whole gang at The Athenian for breakfast...
Tuesday we explored more and more of the city, we HAD to visit Portage Bay which is this local, organic resturant with the tastiest french toast and toppings bar EVER!! went had one more serving of Fish and Chips in Cap Hill, got our 3rd? round of fancy cupcakes-yesssss, and shopped a little more. we even ventured around the market looking for some new fun things we hadnt found before and luckily got some of the best grilled cheese i think i have ever had. NO JOKE- i love me some cheese, and this grilled cheese was amazing, it even deserves its own shot....
we got an amazing surprise at the end of the day when Blake landed 4 tickets to the Seattle Sounders opening soccer game vs the LA galaxy (hottie david beckhams team ;)) the crowd def. loves their cities team and were super pumped up for the game. it was highly entertaining and i know the brothers had a blast which makes it totally worth it!
sadly, the next morning we begrudgingly boarded the plane back to hot, clamy Texas. We really love the city and feel its a place we feel at home. Of course it always helps when youve got people you love hanging out there as well. props to Blake for making it a possibility bc without his help we would not have gotten to do nearly as much, or even couldve come for that matter. it was such a nice vaca and i cant wait to go back.
aand wait for it..... wait for it.....
"LaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawelcometoSeattleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaataped and photographed the experience (of course we did)
ok so we did "make" these faces for the shot but no joke, if we hadnt done it ourselves the wind wouldve done it for us!if youve seen this port of Seattle youll understand the wind intensity here. if not, let me describe. For Seattle being on the coastal area, its not that "close" to the coast. the water in here is normally pretty gentle and whitecaps certainly arent a usual. needless to say, it was crazy...pretty sure i got windburn lol. after proper documentation we spend the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch, relaxing and watching 3rd Rock from the Sun. :)
Friday was probably our most active of the days. We knew it was going to be a nice day so i wanted to make sure we got some of the "outdoor activities" we had chosen to check out done today. our first destination was a nature preserve called Discovery Park. its on the very north tip of the "peninsula" where Seattle major is (i have no idea what the actual geographic term is for this but go with me on this one).
We took advantage of their more advanced public transportation system (ps costs us $5 for both of us to travel around all day). This park was by far one of my FAVORITE parts of the whole trip. i loved everything about it. it was gorgeous views from the top and on the rocky beach, totally serene, had tons of hiking/biking trails, a historic lighthouse at the tip, SEALS, i could go on and on
anytime i need to de-stress and do a calming visualization technique THIS is my new place ill be envisioning! i just cant decribe or photograph how charming and beautiful this place is... im sure its a little "louder" in the summer but still must be nice!
after hiking we took a "challenge" from Blake to go to this fun little noodle restuarant in the international district (waaaay on the south side of downtown). We took advantage of our bus ticket once more and made our way back to downtown. The district is one area of town we actually hadnt visited in our previous trips. it was delicious food and a very unique area of the city.we then just walked around and enjoyed the nice day. We probably walked about 6-7 miles on Friday! yes, we're conscious of our fitness on vaca too., lol Friday night we all went out to hit up the bar scene of town and went to a fun, frilly little place called The Unicorn. we basically stayed there till it closed but we were all still pretty awake so we headed over to an oddly fancy, 24 hr restaurant called 13 Coins for fried ice cream, rolls, and pie! :)
Saturday we met up with Chad at a popular brunch spot (whos name i cant remember at the moment) in Capital Hill (where Hillary and Blake are moving in a few days fyi- the area, not the brunch spot ;)) we did a little shopping, wondering, pikes marketing, went to Bellvue to see the new Bungie building (it had moved since the last time we were here) and was just as cool and youd imagine, and then picked up Rusty from the airport so he could join our vacation party!
Sunday we headed up to Snowqualmie pass (i drew a visual on the map above for its location) for a little snowboarding. This was Brent and I's first time and we were sooo ready to get started. This was my THIRD attempt to be on the sloped. first time, in high school, i broke my foot after id already paid to go so i still went, with my orthopedic boot in a trashbag, and manned the walkies from the base-riveting. second time was last year up here but they didnt have any snow left to ski on by this point last year. But the cliche proved correct once more and third time was a charm! Once brent learned how to stop (important, yes) he was going down the slopes like it was nbd (he has skateboarded since he was like 13 so i attribute his natural talent for it somewhat to that, and you know basically, hes just awesome (gotta give my hubby a shout out)) Meeee, on the the other hand, while i did eventually get it, it did take me about 2 solid runs to grasp the "correct balance" to get down the mountain and not fall repeatedly on your hindparts! at first i had overprepared by wearing thermals and BOOOY was that the biggest mistake ever. i am a natural hot natured person, i have no idea what i was thinking wearing thermals as if id get cold doing an intense cardio activitiy but here i go trying to pull that off. so the first run not only am i trying to learn-getting frustrated while doing so, falling every 5 seconds, using arm muscles (that i do not have), and just boiling in thermal undergarmets!! man, i was cranky! but once i FINALLY changed and adjusted, i was ready to rock and picked it up pretty fast! once you get it it is an absolute blast! we all wanted to go back for more but we didnt have the time (or $$$) lol aaand honestly by tuesday, and the true lactic acid build up hit, i was moving at the pace of a arthritic turtle so i doubt my skills wouldve improvevd! haha
Monday we just enjoyed that everyone was off work and on spring break and just hung out around the city. we also went to the ever popular Crab Pot to stuff our face :) heres a fun little shot of the whole gang at The Athenian for breakfast...
Tuesday we explored more and more of the city, we HAD to visit Portage Bay which is this local, organic resturant with the tastiest french toast and toppings bar EVER!! went had one more serving of Fish and Chips in Cap Hill, got our 3rd? round of fancy cupcakes-yesssss, and shopped a little more. we even ventured around the market looking for some new fun things we hadnt found before and luckily got some of the best grilled cheese i think i have ever had. NO JOKE- i love me some cheese, and this grilled cheese was amazing, it even deserves its own shot....
we got an amazing surprise at the end of the day when Blake landed 4 tickets to the Seattle Sounders opening soccer game vs the LA galaxy (hottie david beckhams team ;)) the crowd def. loves their cities team and were super pumped up for the game. it was highly entertaining and i know the brothers had a blast which makes it totally worth it!
sadly, the next morning we begrudgingly boarded the plane back to hot, clamy Texas. We really love the city and feel its a place we feel at home. Of course it always helps when youve got people you love hanging out there as well. props to Blake for making it a possibility bc without his help we would not have gotten to do nearly as much, or even couldve come for that matter. it was such a nice vaca and i cant wait to go back.
1 comments:
Yay! Oh that was a wonderful post :-) It's so great to hear you had a great time! I meant to ask you about how it all went.. but my mind was a little else where when you got back :-) I can't wait to visit yall when you live there or maybe even be neighbors there ;-)
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