Seattle in the Rain

On Saturday we decided to go to downtown Seattle and visit Pike Place Market. Although it was raining, there's one thing I learned about Seattleites. Rain doesn't bother them. The only people who use umbrellas are tourists. Fact.

The Seattle Skyline with brooding clouds and raindrops on the windshield.



I saw this sculpture of an upturned umbrella and thought it was perfect for this city!



As we walked to the market, I came across these two pigeons who didn't look too happy about the weather!



Shopping in the rain.



This piano sits out on the same corner no matter what the weather. I don't know the story behind it, but it was there when we visited two years ago.



Here's a short clip of a guy playing the piano. I don't know if he's the guy playing it in the photo I took, but the video is enjoyable.



Pike Market is famous for its fresh fish. The guys working at the fish shops are famous for throwing the fish across the counter. Watch this quick video and see what I'm talking about.



Some fresh fish



This fish monger looks all innocent as he stands next to this ugly fish.



Then some cute young girls walk by, stop and stare at this fish. I'll zoom in so you can see the sign that says, "Hello, I'm a wonk fish!"



He must have a long tail that they threaded through all that ice, because as soon as those girls stopped to look at it, someone on the other side of the counter yanked that tail so fast and that fish jumped up, the girls screamed and ran. If I had a video of it, I'd win some money on America's funniest videos!

Anything you want, anything you need, is available at the market.

From Flowers



to red hot chili peppers




to fruit.



A fruit monger (is there such a person?) He has a piece of apple on a knife.



Here's a young lady playing her violin in front of the original Starbucks while the bystanders seem to ignore her.



We stopped for a little "pick-me-up" at Crepe de France. Jim and I split this delicious strawberry crepe with whip cream on top. It was delish.



Next up? Bubble Gum Alley. Here is our adorable granddaughter Lauren as she poses in front of a bubble gum dripped window with her beloved dog Buster (who I insist on calling Cuddles for some reason.)



Here's Grandma, Grandpa, Lauren, and Buster in front of billions and billions of pieces of bubble gum.



Out of all the pieces of gum stuck on the wall, Lauren spotted this fortune.



It was surrounded by this lovely pink heart.



Leaving the alley, I saw this funny poster of what I thought was Mr. Potato Head in old age. Although are those feathers sticking out of his rear end? What IS this exactly?



As we walked up the sidewalk, we saw all these posters plastered to the wall. Jim pointed out this one. I checked it out. It is an actual musical!



I like the way the railing is considered a bike rack.



We saw this horse drawn carriage as we started walking home.



I saw the driver carrying a carrot to give to the horse - I assumed! I zoomed in on the above photo. Carrot culprit!



Actually he bit the tip off and then gave the rest to his horse. What, his horse doesn't like the tips, like a kid doesn't like the crust on bread? Or was the man just hungry?

If you ever are in the Seattle, you've GOT to go to Pike Market Place. It's a fun, upbeat, eclectic place.

Whew! We made it!

We arrived in Snoqualmie, Washington on Thursday afternoon. Although we had less than 250 miles to drive that morning, it was a long day.

Everything started out fine enough. We saw plenty of orchards.



We were in wine country and saw vineyards, too.

Of course, I had to put a funny sign in here. Nothing like old fruit.



We passed some freshly shorn sheep. They look a little cold, don't they? If you enlarge the photo, it looks like the one sheep is complaining to the other one.



Then we passed miles and miles of these strange looking things.





Do you know what they are? We found out later from our son that they are for growing hops. Yep. It turns out that Yakima, Washington is the largest hop producer in the U.S. In fact, the United States is the SECOND largest producer of hops - Germany is first. Gosh the things you learn from me! Here is a picture from Wikipedia that shows the hops growing up the wires. The poles are supporting the wires.



We were driving west on 90 on the Snoqualmie Pass when IT happened.

We both heard a loud noise.

"What was that?" I asked.

Jim looked in his side mirror. "Blow out!" He quickly, but carefully pulled over to the side of the road.

We both got out and looked at the damage. It was not good folks. It wasn't just a blown tire.



Pink arrow - This is all dented up. The pink line is where is should be. This is the bottom of our slide out.

Blue arrow - This piece broke off. I picked it up off the road.

Green arrow - There is a crack in this area. Needs replacing



Where's the tread?



It was scary standing on the side of the road while Jim changed the tire. Although we were a good 8 feet from the moving traffic, when the semis came charging by at 65-70 mph, our whole trailer shook, as did I.

Jim got the spare tire put on, but it was only at 60 psi instead of the 90 that it required, so we had to drive slow for cautionary measures. We finally found a gas station a few miles up the road. After several attempts with the air pump, Jim discovered that it wasn't working properly. He finally asked the guy if he could just plug in our air compressor to fill up the tire. The guy agreed. So while Jim was running around doing this, I sat in the truck looking at the scenery.

Here's a ski lift right to the left of the gas station.



Finally we were on our way.

You can tell we are in Washington by the abundance of fir trees.



And finally, the road into our campground.



We've been very lucky on our travels over these five years. We've had a few flat tires on the trailer, but never a blow out. At least it didn't cause us to get in an accident. Things can be fixed.

Coincidentally, we replaced all our trailer tires two years ago while we were out here in the Seattle area. So Jim called up the the place and they gave us a new tire; we just had to pay the difference in price of a new one. We are awaiting a call from an insurance adjuster to look at our trailer; we won't get anything fixed till we get to Illinois.

Reflections in a Puddle

When it rains in Arizona, the water has nowhere to go in the park where we stay. It tends to just stand around till the sun dries it up. This means there are puddles everywhere. (This doesn't happen very often, mind you!) This is a reflection of one of the park models. I love the blue skies and puffy clouds plus the palm tree, all captured in the reflection in the puddle.






For more Weekend Reflections, click here.

I love I-duh-ho!

Soooo, we've been on the road since April 5th, and can I say that I'm already getting tired of this packing up and setting up the trailer? I know, I know, this is my LIFE, get OVER it, stop WHINING. It's just that when we settle down in a place for FIVE MONTHS, and then start moving every two days, well, it's UNSETTLING. This is when confusion REALLY sets in. I wake up in a different state and time zone every couple of days. Don't expect me to know where I am. Seriously.

There is a lot to see out there on the road, I must say. One of my favorite states to say is "Idaho". Why you ask? Well, because I emphasize "I" "da" "ho". Just makes me laugh. I know. Immature, right? Yeah, well, I've NEVER admitted to being a grown up.

AnyHO, I do love the Northwestern, wide open states like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho. But I sometimes worry about the militia that is supposed to be popular in these states. Especially after I saw a bumper sticker in Idaho that read, "If you trust the Government, go ask an Indian." Well, okay then.

I liked this sign. "Honey, Idahome!"



You know you're driving slow when a semi, pulling TWO OTHER SEMIS, passes you up.



Truly a "Little House on the Prairie".



Do you think things are truly bliss in "Bliss"?



We had to cross the Blue Mountains, located in Oregon. It was a long stretch of a pass, climbing, climbing, climbing, then downhill was long and well, brake-stomping, at times. It doesn't help to see these kinds of signs on the side of the road. There were two previous signs warning of the downgrade ahead.



Dangerous curves ahead!



I love this sign. Just says "ROCKS". Okay. That's the same as saying, "Tree", or "Sky". Why not call a spade a spade and say, "WATCH OUT FOR FALLING ROCKS".



I wonder if this road was named for a reason.



And if you didn't pay attention, you'd be carried down this road in a hearse.



Seriously, where do they come up with some of these names for roads? "BLACK CAT ROAD"? Did one cross their path as they were constructing it and they thought it would be bad luck if they didn't name the road after it?



How about a little Highway Evangelism? I thought this was neat. No need to change the billboard every few months.



Good thing I read that because I felt like I was on the Highway to Heaven here with those clouds reaching down to the road.



I wonder if Hells Canyon ever freezes over?



Can you still go to "Happy Canyon" if you're in a bad mood?



Just look at this gorgeous scenery with the rolling hills.



There's rain in them thar hills!



This is a hardy biker; either that or someone who's too stupid to come out of the rain!




Interesting....



I'll be yours till the cow comes home.




Tomorrow we will reach our destination right outside of Seattle where we will stay for ten days. We will be visiting our son and daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. Great times!