summer in seattle

It's been a whole week ago that we were there, (I've been a bad blogger - let me rephrase that, I've been busy doing lots of other things besides blogging) but last weekend we went to Seattle. I love visiting Seattle, but I would not want to live there. The traffic is maddening. And that's an understatement. Here's one of the first views you'll get of downtown from I-5. You can't really tell from this picture, well, maybe if you study it a little bit you can, but Seattle is very hilly. It reminds me of San Francisco (even though I've never been there). So how can it remind me of a place I've never been you ask? Well, I don't really know, but just trust me on this one.

Two of Phil505's brothers live in the Seattle area. We stayed with his brother Steve and his wife Cindy. I was able to share my newfound love of pinterest with Cindy and she quickly became addicted as well :)

On Saturday the hubs and I took a ferry from Edmond to Kingston across the Sound. I think the ferry rides are awesome - especially when it's sunny and you can see all the mountains.

There are the Olympic Mts. on the Olympic Peninsula to the west, Mt. Baker to the North, and Mt. Rainier and the rest of the Cascades to the east. Add in all the water and, oh my goodness, it's so beautiful.

These ferries just go back and forth across the Sound. The boats never turn around. The captains just go from one end to the other. They also have very loud horns. I think I was standing right under one when it went off as we left. Besides the fact that I nearly had a fatal heart attack, I think I was deaf for at least the next half hour.

When we got off the boat we browsed an outdoor market. Have you ever seen purple and red carrots before? Personally, I wanted to snag up all those beets. Love me some beets.

Honestly, there wasn't much to see in the downtown area, but we stopped and had lunch with a view of the water. The ride back was just as lovely. Mt. Rainier is so massive it almost looks fake. See the Space Needle? Look close, it's almost right in the center.

It was a great weekend away. Our one last hurrah of the summer.

You know you're in Seattle when you see this particular sign. If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know my fascination with the
"you are now entering a tsunami hazard zone" signs that are plastered all over the Oregon Coast. Well, let me add this one to my collection because seriously, if that mountain blows, Seattle and friends will be no more. So you'd better know which way to go to get out of dodge!

I was half expecting an earthquake while we were there since everyone else in the US seemed to have had one last week. There was one somewhere nearby, but it was only like a 2.1. I didn't feel anything. That's probably a good thing. I've been under enough stress with everything else going on.