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Left for the USA this morning.   A bit sad to leave Vancouver.   I really love that city and its energy.  I think it may be both Colette and my favorite place we’ve visited so far and there have been many beautiful places along the way.  The high-rise apartments, the intense multi-culturalism, the bus/light-rail/boat transport system, the mountains looming over the city from the north, the skyline … all of it speaks deeply to me.  I can see why Vancouver is often rated among the world’s top cities.

Exiting town was a non-event.  We stopped at a Safeway and bought some apples and a deli sandwich for the road and we were off.   

We’d planed to go east and then re-enter Washington State on highway 9 but in the confusion of exiting town, we forgot that plan and thus retuned as we came; on US Interstate 5.

At the US border, I was curious to see how stringent the security would be.   I was also curious to see if Colette’s reentry would be smooth or fraught with bureaucratic fussing.   It turned out to be a non-issue.   We stopped and I handed over the passports and the fellow asked me a few questions and looked at his computer and we were good to go.   No confiscation of our deli-sandwich as a threat to American security, no interrogation of my foreign national traveling companion, jus a question about what we were doing and how we came to have a dent in the side of our rental car.

Down the road again on cruise-control.   I turned off onto Chuck-A-Nut Drive just south of Bellingham and followed it along the coast.   It’s a beautiful coastal alternative to highway 5.   It was the first road connecting Bellingham to points south.   Prior to that, boats were its only connection.   The road was completed in 1896 and it’s still a wild and beautiful bit of road today.

South … ever south to the outlet stores at the Tulalip Reservation where Colette wanted to revisit several of the stores she’d looked at on the way north.   Once there, I sat in the cafe area and played on the computer and read while she shopped.   It was a nice break from driving for me.   Oh, and there was a big chocolate cookie that I consumed as well (yum!).

She returned happily with several purchases in tow that she’d gotten at prices FAR below what she’d have paid in New Zealand and then we were off again.

During the drive today, we’d been discussing the various options before us with regard to routing and, after some discussion, we decided for various reasons to abandon the idea of going to Port Angeles and crossing to Victoria in BC.   

Instead, we opted to go to Port Townsend and check in for two nights so we can have a quiet and leisurely look about town and to rest a bit.   In fact, we’ve decided, after our experiences thus far, that it makes the best sense to spend two nights at most places where we stop so we have a full day to check things out without having to ‘up sticks’ at mid-day and scurry to the next place.

It’s been many years since I’ve been to Port Townsend but my memories of it were quite positive.   I was hoping I’d remembered well as it is a bit off the beaten track.

It was just after dark when we reached Edmonds and lined up for the ferry crossing to Kingston.   And, it was nearly 7 PM before we reached Port Townsend and checked into the Aladdin Motor Inn.  We got a nice room at the end of the building and looking out over the bay beside Port Townsend.   Colette made us a light meal of melon, granola and yogurt and I have a big can of Australian Fosters and we both fell into bed and we were out like lights.

Port Townsend, at least what we could see if it as we pulled in after dark, was as I remembered it.   A bit like Astoria, Oregon.   Old brick buildings, a slightly funky counter-culture feel to it.   Lot’s of coffee shops, antique stores, books stores and the like.   Obviously, a tourist destination in the nicer months of the year but quite quiet now.

dennis

Today is an extra day in Vancouver.  We like it here so much, we’ve decided to extend a day.   However, we are going to switch to a new motel over in North Vancouver.

In the morning, we got in the car and drove to the Whole Foods market at 8th and Cambie and had granola, yogurt and coffee.

Then, we drove back to the room, packed everything up into the car, checked out, made sure it would be OK if we left the car in their lot post-checkout and then walked to the local bank.

There, we changed an Australian $10 for about $9.78 Canadian so we’d have enough to each buy two bus tickets for the day (at $2.50 per ticket, two rides are cheaper than an all day ticket @ $9.00).  I still had a small amount of Canadian change as well as the $9.78 we’d just received.

We took bus #19 which routes through Chinatown where we wanted to take a look around.   Chinatown here is old.   It seems a lot like the one in San Francisco to me.   Lots of food markets with their wares displayed on the sidewalk and inside, nearly always, rows and rows of big jars on the walls full of mysterious things.  Colette’s put up pictures of all this stuff on her Facebook page (Colette Meehan).

We found the Dr. Sun Yat Sen park in Chinatown and had a walk through it.   A beautiful place that I had no idea existed.

From there, we walked towards Gastown a bit to the north and this took us through an intermediate area and across the street, Hastings.   I recall from the early 80’s that Hastings was the locus for the rougher elements in town. The bums, the homeless and the drunks with attitude.  Indeed, I saw one today.   He just walked right into my personal space like I wasn’t there and then proceeded across a busy street (Hastings) completely ignoring the lights and the traffic – oblivious when a truck honked its horn at him.  Nice.

Once in Gastown (named after a fellow named ‘Gassy Jack’ (don’t ask)), we found a nice coffee shop (The Coffee Bar on Water Street) and had coffees and a small lemon bar and watched folks walk by out on the street.   We are both big people watchers and we spend maybe 40 minutes entertaining ourselves this way.

Then we walked off to find the stream-driven clock of Gastown.  The clock’s a quite famous tourist destination.   But, just as we spotted it, Colette saw an gallery of Inuit influenced art (paintings, sculpture and furniture among other things).   Inuit Galley of Vancouver, Limited (www.inuit.com).   Beautiful stuff inside.  Some by native artists and some by non-natives but deeply influenced by native motifs.   I saw some furniture that I stood and looked at for a long time.  Colette liked it all as well. 

We were so impressed by the Inuit stuff, that we walked on and never did look at the stream-drive clock.

Soon, we found ourselves at the Sea Bus terminal which we’d used to cross to the North Vancouver side the other day.   Inside, there was a restaurant, “The Rogue Kitchen and Wetbar”, and we decided to go there for a light lunch.   It was  a nice upscale place just mere blocks from the bums of Hastings.   Lots of professionals in business dress out for a nice lunch.

From the restaurant, it was just a step to the SkyTrain which shares the Sea Bus Terminal.   We got on the King Edward line and four or five stations later, we jumped off at Main Street/Science Centre where we switched to the #19 which runs up past the motel where we’d left our car parked.   All these moves with the bus/train/boat system here are beginning to seem familiar; the names of the stations and how things are arranged.

We recovered the car and headed over to North Vancouver via the same route we followed the first night in town; across the Granville Bridge, into downtown, along Georgia Street into Stanley Park and then up and over the Lion’s Gate Bridge into North Vancouver.  We were bound for Capilano Road and one of two motels we’d scoped out on booking.com.

It turned out that the North Vancouver Hotel was the one we liked so we checked in.   Booking.com has saved us a lot of money on this trip.   We find out what a place’s low-rate is before we engage them and then, if their at-the-counter quote is something higher, we point out to them that they are advertising a lower rate on-line.   Works like a charm.  $89 went to $76 here.

After checking in, we just relaxed a bit.   The idea was that later in the evening, we were going to investigate a harp concert we’d discovered by chance the other day in a small Vancouver newspaper.    About 5:00PM, we took off to see if we could locate the Harp concert venue at Capilano University and if there were still tickets available.

It was raining and here we were again heading out to a place we had only half an idea of where it might be,   But, we’re getting to be old masters at this sort of thing.   So, after some false starts in the dark and rain, we found it on the campus.   Inside, we determined that the ticket booth was not going to open for another hour but that there were still tickets available.   We talked to a nice fellow (the facilities manager, Gary?) who made a note so that the ticket booth people would save us two of the best remaining tickets when they opened and he left it for them.  Then he gave us some (very good) advice where we might find a place to eat in the local area.

It turned out to be “The Pantry” which was beside the Holiday Inn which was not too far from the university.   We had a nice meal there served by a lady with an accent like Marge’s in the movie, “Fargo” and then we headed back for the concert.

As promised, nice tickets had been held for us (the event was very nearly sold out) on the right side in the 4th row back.   They were perfect.

Before the concert proper, there was a small group out in the lobby that played for us and while they were young, they had real talent and promise and it was fun listening to them.

Finally, it was 7:30PM and the main event began.   I estimated that there was 400 to 600 people there and the hall was virtually full.

The music?    Excellent.   They had several unique medieval musical instruments that neither Colette nor I had ever heard of and they play all of their instruments very professionally.  If was an excellent concert and both of us were very happy at our luck to have chanced upon it.  “WinterHarp” is the name of the Canadian group – highly recommended.

Then, another drive in the rain (easier this time) back to our room.   An excellent day!

Tomorrow, we’re off headed south again into the USA.

dennis

At 7:30 AM this morning, I was loath to roll out of bed it was so nice and warm.   But, up we got and prepared for another day on the road here in Vancouver.

We walked three blocks to a market where we could buy all-day bus tickets and then, with these in hand, we went to the bus stop to take the bus into the central city.  But, we got on the #25 rather than the #19 and the #25 goes out to the University of British Colombia.   A few moments of discussion and we decided to just ‘go with it’ and see what unfolded.   We both like to tour universities and we like adventures.

The bus ride was through areas of the city that were new to us so it was interesting.   We arrived at the central bus terminus on the campus and got out and had a look around.  The first order of business was coffee and a light breakfast and we located a small shop where we each got a cream cheesed bagel and a cup of Java as we each like it; a latte for me and an expresso for Colette.

A long walk around parts of the campus failed to ignite us.  We were looking for a central quad area or a campus clock tower of some sort of focus.  But walk and look as we might, we saw nothing like that.   We did find the student union and explored it a bit but as soon as that novelty was over, we elected to get back on the bus and head for our next adventure.   

After asking a bus driver, we determined that if we took the #22 from the campus, it would drop us right into the heart of downtown.

Back downtown, we took a walk and quickly found ourselves by the Vancouver Courthouse.   It’s a huge building with a sloped roof made entirely of glass.   Colette, of course, works for the Ministry of Justice on New Zealand so she like to see courthouses in other parts of the world to see what’s different and what’s the same.

This one was certainly different.   The entire place, in the middle of a normal workday Tuesday, was virtually deserted.   We saw only two or three people in the entire edifice.  It seemed strange but it was,what it was.   So, we had a good look around, scratched our heads and moved on.

Then we decided it would be fun to get on a SkyTrain and ride it to the end-of-the line to see what we would see.   

We got on one bound for the King George station (the terminus)  in the town of Surrey on the SkyTrain Expo line.  We had one mishap and had to double back a bit but it was all good fun and, eventually we arrived at the end.   But things there looked a bit sparse so we went back one station to Surrey Central and got off and found a huge great complex which was both a major shopping center and a business tower 20 to 30 stories tall.   We had a nice wander in the center even though we weren’t looking for anything in particular.  It was mostly to see how folks lived and what their recreational activities looked like in the suburbs.

After that, we boarded the SkyTrain system again and switched to its Millennium Line and returned to central Vancouver via a different more northerly routing.

Today’s SkyTrain rides were interesting to me in several ways.  

It gave us a chance to see what the commuter’s lives looked like in the greater Vancouver metro area.  And, it’s not too bad.   The trains are clean, fast and the seem to run frequently and there are enough seats.   They’re automated so there’s no engineer on them.   It’s all apparently centrally controlled via computers.

You just can’t help but see the pervasive logic that supports the use of light rail in complex urban areas like Vancouver.   The city is virtually free of freeways, cloverleafs and all that stuff that acts as a separation between a city’s neighborhoods.  Instead, the buses, light rail and SeaBuses provide much of the necessary connectivity to replace the freeways and are so much more efficient in terms of fuel and CO2 emissions.

Another thing I saw that seemed remarkable to me were the clusters of tall apartment towers that rise periodically outside the city’s central area.   They seemed to appear periodically along the light rail avenues in groups of four to ten towers; each 20 to 30 stories tall and all standing in relative proximity to each other.   Colette told me how in Britain, many towers like these are council flats and are actually social hell-holes.  They are nasty, dangerous and rundown.  But none of the ones we had a look at seemed at all like that.   These all looked nice, clean and upscale.

So, people can live miles and miles outside the central city here and take a relatively cheap train ride into and back from work and live many stories up with  huge view in a beautiful apartment building.   That doesn’t seem like a bad thing to me.  In fact, it sounds like a damned nice thing and I find myself wondering why we don’t see more of it in the US.   It’s obviously seems like a good idea to folks here.   As we rode the trains, I saw several big holes in the ground where the land was being prepared for yet another apartment tower in one outlying area or another.

Another thing I noted as I idly watched folks today:   many, many people are listening to and/or typing away on their smart phones; androids, iPhones or whatever.   There’s a lot of energy and attention being spent on these devices.   They are entertaining folks and helping them pass their commuting time.   

It refreshed for me the idea that anyone who knows how to program and has even a glimmer of an idea for an application that could catch some of these folk’s interest should be giving serious consideration to doing some development of their own rather than thrashing away in the jungle of corporate software for other folks.   There’s a huge planet shaking opportunity happening right before our eyes today.

After our train rides (we only covered just a part of the Vancouver light rail network), we returned to downtown and worked our way to the same Japanese restaurant we ate at last night, ‘Asahi-Ya’ on Robson.   It was good and we both had exactly the same thing to night as we had last night.

Then, another SkyTrain ride from Burrard Station to Science Station on the Expo Line, off there and onto the 19N bus that runs up Kingsway and bim, boom, bam … we’re in our comfy room again planning tomorrow’s adventures.

dennis

Whew.   I’m tired after a long day doing things here in Vancouver, British Colombia, in Canada.   It’s 8:30 PM and we’ve just gotten home.

We’ve learned a lot today about how to move about the city via the transport system which, like Brisbane, Australia, includes trains, buses and boats.

We began the day with the free breakfast here at the Days Inn on Kingsway.   Mmmm, that wasn’t anything to write home about.   Let’s just say the room was too small, there were too many people and the food wasn’t much.   Colette ventured that she won’t participate in their free breakfast again.

Once the repast was done, such as it was, we walked to a bank just down the road and traded $30 USD for … $30 CDN and there was no conversion fee charged.   I knew that the exchange rate just now is hovering pretty close to 1:1 but I was surprised that they didn’t ding us for converting on money.   Nice – and good on them.

The we caught the #19 bus that said it was going to Stanley Park.   $2.50 each.   15 minutes later, it let us off in the middle of the park.   Stanley Park, for readers who don’t know, is a huge 1000 acre park on the western end of the peninsula upon which the city of Vancouver stands.   It’s beautiful.   The city runs right up to it and then you suddenly transition from city to park and woods.  

From the drop off point, we walked north until we encountered the seawall and then we began to walk along it heading west.   This took us under the Lion’s Gate bridge which we’d just driven over last night on our first look around.  As we continued around, ships anchored came into view and then, finally, English Bay and, across the way, the neighborhood of Kitsilano.  It was fairly early on a Monday morning so we had a lot of this to ourselves.

Once around to English Bay, we were now into the area called “The West End”.   It’s an area of Vancouver dominated by tall mixed use buildings with high-rise apartments above and stores at ground level.   The area is extremely dense and, in fact has the highest population density in North America; even higher than New York’s Manhattan.

And, lucky for us, the first are we came to sported a Starbucks; which was most appreciated by both of us.  Two coffees and tow chocolate chip cookies later, we were refreshed and now set on our next plan for the day.

And that was to work out how to get up to the top of the Grouse Mountain Ski area which sits on a mountain peak that overlooks Vancouver from the immediate north.

First we determined where the nearest SkyTrain  was on the theory that we’d find the information and connections we’d need there.   It was on Burrard which was eight or ten blocks NNE from where we currently were.   Right!   We like walking and Van. is a particularly interesting city to walk in – so we were off.

We found it (they have a big “T” just by each SkyTrain station) and I called on the public transport system help phone and asked how to do what we wanted to do.   

Piece of cake, it turns out.   Catch the train from Burrard to Waterside Station, get off and catch the SeaBus to North Van. there and once on the other side at Lonsdale Quay, catch the 236 to Grouse Mountain which will be there at the Quay.   And, indeed, it all happened just that way with one connection leading almost seamlessly into the next.   And, we were doing all of these moves on an all-day ticket that we’d each bought for $9.

At Grouse Mountain’s base, which is where the bus brought us, there was a massive huge cable car that runs 20 to 30 folks at a time up to the top of the mountain to the ski area.   The fee was $40 which seemed steep but (later) we were very happy that we’d done it.

The views going up and from the top are outrageous.  And today was a bright and sunny winter day with the temperature right at freezing.   At the top, we took photos, had more coffee, ate a pizza slice each, watched a great movie about the history of Grouse Mountain and then, at sunset, fired off another great burst of photos before we headed back down.

Once down, we retraced our steps; 236 to the SeaBus to the Waterside Stat ion to Burrard Station and then out onto the street.   This took us maybe 30 to 40 minutes, total.  

Once out on Burrard, we oriented ourselves and began to head back towards the West End where we hoped to find a Sushi place.  A bum panhandling tried to con us but we weren’t having nay but, in the process of having a short conversation with us, he mentioned that Robson was the ‘shopping street’ which I then remembered as well.   So, we adjusted our transit towards the West End to use Robson so we could window ship.   Colette found a shop called ‘Zara’ that she liked.

Two passes on Robson and then into a Sushi place called ‘Asahi Ya’ I think it was called.   Good food and friendly people.   I liked that the place was casual too.  The owners had their kids playing in the back.   A Chrashi Don, some Miso Soup and a Sapporo beer and I was a new man (or at least a more refreshed one).  Colette had Miso Soup, a California Roll and some Green Tea.

Now, it was time to work out how to use Vancouver’s cool metro system to get us back out to our Days Inn on Kingsway.    Not too bad.   From the Burrard Station, we headed west three stations to the Main Street station and then jumped off and caught the 19N bus which runs out Kingsway and it dropped us off a half bock from our place.

What an intense and satisfying day.    I would so much rather burn up the hours of my life doing new things every hour of the day like this rather than plodding the same old tired tracks day after day just to make the money to pay the bills so you can have a house to sleep in until you need to get up the next day to start it all over again.

Well, that’s far too pessimistic and negative but I think you probably get the idea.

dennis

Sunday, today, we were up early.  We’d decided to take off north towards Canada early and Chris needed to be at work at 8:30 AM so we gave him a ride in and then took off from there at Green Lake.

The ride north on Interstate 5 was, like all rides on U.S. Interstates, fast efficient and rather boring.   

We drove up past Everett and onto Marysville where we stopped at the huge Tulalip Premium Outlets area just beside their casino and hotel.   It was a 40 minutes before the shops opened at 10 AM so we found our way to the Starbucks in the complex which was open and set ourselves up with coffees and our small computers at a table.  This is something we’ve done once or twice daily for these last 30+ days as we’ve travelled.   The free WiFi that Starbucks offers is of huge benefit to travelers. 

The stores opened after a bit and we shopped for an hour or so.   Colette noted a few things she’d like to get but her shopping style is to look at things, go off and think about it all for a day or two and then make the buy, if she’s still motivated.    I’m much more an impulse buyer when I’m shopping (which I don’t do much of) and I swooped on a Body Armor jacket that I liked for $54 and carried it away with me.

Back on the road north.   The weather alternating between rain, mist, overcast and bursts of sunlight.  The temperature down near freezing.    Pretty country.   I’ve always liked this lost little corner of the U.S. between Seattle and the Canadian border.   I was telling Colette that Bellingham is a really nice city up there that most Americans outside of Washington State probably don’t know exists.

We stopped in Bellingham at an “Applebees” Restaurant.   I wanted to show Colette what a U.S. corporate restaurant chain store looked like.

In fact, it was a good experience once we got past the fact that Colette and our waiter couldn’t seem to understand each other over the barrier of her accent which caused some good laughter.   We each had a chicken something with low calories and were both well satisfied with our meals.

And away again, up the road ever northward.  Finally we came to the border crossing and drove up.   I passed our passports over and moments later, after a few perfunctory questions, we were over the border and into a new country.   

Colette laughed as she’d had on a cap and dark glasses and said nothings during the questions.  She could have been anyone sitting next to me at the border station.   Quite a different experience entering Canada than it is from entering the USA.

We had a bit of an adventure finding the Days Inn on  but we did and got settled in.  It’s not a great place and, if we had it all to do again, I think I’d opt for someplace else but it’s functional.   And the rates aren’t bad.

Then we decided to to take the car into the downtown area and do an initial exploration.   It’s been 30 years since I’ve been here other than for a quick pass through and it amazes me how much the city has grown and changed.

We drove Broadway, where I used to work very near for two years, and I could hardly recognize anything.  All the old Victorian homes have given way to three and four story apartment and condominium complexes.

Memory is an interesting thing, though.    After we roamed a bit, the layout of the city and many other memories began to come back to me.   It was like the pieces of a long lost puzzle slowly restoring themselves into a pattern.

We crossed the False Creek inlet over into the central downtown and the West End area by crossing on a bridge over Granville Island and then rooted around downtown until I got on the correct road to cross the Lion’s Gate Bridge into North Vancouver and up and over it we went then.   Now, we drove east exploring and got as far as the Lonsdale Quay area.  We also went uphill trying to get a nice view of the city from the north shore but we didn’t have much luck with that.

 Finally, we were hungry so I stopped at a shopping area with a nice bookstore and some restaurants nearby and we settled on one.   We sat at the bar and I had a beer and some Calamari and Colette had a bottled water and a wrap of some sort.   It was nice and I enjoyed it.

But, when we got ready to leave, the bar fellow forgot (?) to bring me my credit card back.   It felt suspicious to me the way it went down.   I had to wait several minutes before I could ask him for it back and I didn’t like the vibe I got from him when I did – like he knew he’d not given it back and was waiting to see if I’d notice.   All just impressions, I know, and it could have ben an honest mistake – but I didn’t think so.  

So, on the way out, I had a waitress point out to me who the manager was and told him what had happened as a ‘heads up’ and suggested he should watch and see if there’s pattern here with folks losing their cards.

Losing a card like this can be bad news.   It may be hours or even days before you notice and you may be unsure where you left it.   We’ve all had that experience.   In the meantime, the fellows off buying whatever he can anonymously and tosses the card after a day or so.  Bad news.

We drove home and got in after another most excellent day.   Tomorrow, we’re going to ditch the car and go see the city using their transport system.

dennis

On our last full day at Chris and Nikki’s place, they both had to work so we took off for a day of entertaining ourselves.

We took the car down to Green Lake again and parked it behind Duke’s where Chris works and took off for the full walk around the lake which we’d missed previously.   Green Lake is such a pretty place.   The entire walk is a great pleasure.   We took a small side trip when we got near the portion where the older buildings beside the lake sit.   The old downtown, you might call it except it’s too small for that, really.   I noted a Masonic Hall upstairs in one building and we discussed how, now that I’ve read Dan Brown’s latest book, “The Lost Symbol”, I am seeing Masonic Lodges everywhere we go.

Dan Brown’s book was excellent and has provoked a lot of discussion among myself, Colette and other friends and relations.

I wish the power that Brown assigns to the Masons in D.C. was as he describes because, if the Masons are as far-sighted and idealistic as he suggests then it’s unlikely that Washington, D.C. and the U.S. in general would be in the bad shape they are now.   

I have no doubt that they had a tremendous influence on the birth of the U.S. and in much that happened afterwards but the U.S. and its finances and politics have gone badly astray since then and if the Masons were as powerful and benign as Brown’s suggests, then I doubt that could have happened.  Ergo, their influence is not now nearly as much as he suggests.

After the walk around the lake, we dropped into Duke’s again and had their most excellent clam chowder.   Yum and yum!

Then we took off for the Capital Hill neighborhood to find a big art supplies store, Blicks, that Colette wanted to have a look at.   I liked the idea because Capital Hill is a fun place to walk and look at any time.  We found the store and parked and walked to it.   Colette was going to be awhile looking around and there was an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) encampment just across the street and I decided to go and have a look and take a few photos.

Imagine my amazement when, 10 seconds after I arrived, I saw an old friend of mine standing just a few feet from the stage on which an orator was talking to the small crowd.  

It was Michael Douglas whom I’ve known since the late 90’s when we were both members of Michael Torresan’s Group Four.   Michael T. teaches what is called the Diamond Heart Method (http://www.ahalmaas.com/) which is based on the work of A.H. Almaas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._H._Almaas) and both Michael D. and I spend nearly four years absorbing this teaching from Michael T.

Michael is a pastor of the Sufi Faith and was volunteering his time as well as participating in the OWS movement.   He and I talked for about 20 minutes and he told me about the police tactics and about how he and his wife, along with many other people, had been pepper sprayed by the police twice so far.

He told me that the police herd the non-violent protestors and push and harass them until someone shows resistance and then they use that as an excuse to pepper spray everyone.   I’ve know him for many years and trust his honesty so I believe he’s telling me the truth.   Interesting stuff.

Colette came over from the Art Supplies place and I introduced her to Michael and then we took off down to the the old downtown areas of Seattle.   I’m talking about Pioneer Square here.   We got down there and made several passes back and forth up and down the waterfront along the piers and beside Pike Place Market and then parked a block from Pioneer Square.

Colette checked out a dress shop and I walked the square and took photos.   Then we had a beer and a mineral water in a small place and, as it was now getting dark, we took off back to Chris and Nikki’s in Bothell.   Along the way, we popped into a Safeway and got some General Tso’s Chicken and some Chop Suey for supper.

Back to C & N’s place, we turned the TV on and watched two episodes of Wild China and then Nikki came home and then, and hour or two later, Chris arrived.

Chris and I stayed up until midnight talking as we often do when we’re together and then finally turned in.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Canada and the Great White North, eh?   If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you’re a hoser, eh  (smile)

dennis

Ps something fun I saw on a sign in a shop a few days ago:

“Put on your big girl panties and get over it.”  

Wow, I really laughed when I saw that.   And no, this has nothing to do with Colette who is an absolute model of sanity.

Nice day, indeed, today.   Up with Colette and out for coffee.   Nikki’s gone to school and Chris is sleeping in.

Then back, Chris is up and we make plans to take off into Seattle before we need to deliver him to his work at Duke’s on Green Lake when he goes on shift as manager there.

We drive into Seattle.   This time, we so south on the 405 until we hit the I90 and take it west.   I wanted to take Colette over the other bridge that crosses Lake Washington.   Nice.   Across Mercer Island, through the tunnels and then into Seattle, proper.   A quick jaunt south on the 5 and then we’re going west again over the bridge into West Seattle and the Alki area where we are bound.

Once we’re into West Seattle, some amazing views of downtown Seattle presented themselves.  We stopped and shot some pictures and then continued around the peninsula into the Alki Beach area.   What a nice area.   It looks out onto Puget sound and various islands and the far shore with Kingston.   Lots of beautiful apartment buildings and not at all far from downtown Seattle with the bus system.

After we roamed round and explored a bit, we came back over into the main area of Seattle and drove north to Green Lake where we all had lunch in the Duke’s that Chris works in.    I’ve been there before and it is a neat place.   Chris told us a good deal about Duke’s philosophy of how restaurants should be run and it’s inspiring that folks still think like that.

After lunch, we left Chris and walked part way around Green Lake.   It would have been nice to do the whole round but it was getting too late and cool and time was pressing us to get on out to Monroe where we were to meet friends at Sockeyes.

I had hopes that Colette was finally going to see Monroe in the sunlight without the deep fog cover that’s been laying over it since we arrived.   But, as we approached the Snohomish River, a huge fog bank reared up and it was obvious that the town was still blanketed.

No matter.   We pressed on and parked ourselves at my favorite Starbucks for a coffee and some necessary tasks.   The coffee was welcome.   I called Budget car rental to see if I could get the rental contracts for our car sorted out.   But, alas, it wasn’t to be so.   I need to wait another two days until we are definitively into the second contract’s period before they will FAX us a copy of the 2nd contract and before I can prove that the 1st contract has been terminated (at less than 45 days).

After Starbucks, we drove to the other end of Monroe in the deep fog to Sockeye’s Restaurant over by Lake Tye.

Lot’s of good friends were waiting there for us and it was an excellent occasion.

Dave and Sally, Hiller, and Larry and Candice all came down to visit with us.   Beer, snacks and good conversation was the order of the evening.   Local politics, Hiller’s new job in Astoria, New Zealand and Christchurch’s earthquakes were just a few of the many topics that flowed.

About 7 pm, we took off back to Bothell and cleared the fog before we passed Echo Lake on the 522.   At Chris and Nikki’s place, Chris was still working (until late tonight) and Nikki was home.   She’s made some nice pasta and I had a bit and we all visited.

Another fine day with good friends.   I feel very lucky about all that is happening and to have such fine and supportive friends. I’ve been gone from Monroe living in New Zealand for two years now and when I return, it feels just as close and warm as it did back when. Truly nice.

dennis

We went out to breakfast and coffee this morning quietly so Chris and Nikki could sleep in. We went over to Top Foods Market in Woodinville and sat and ate and played on on computers in their WiFi.

Then we came back and everyone organized themselves for a day trip adventure.   But, there were other things to be done as well and these included putting Sammy the dog somewhere where he’d be watched and safe and getting Nikki’s car over to her dad’s place since there seems to be a problem with its clutch. 

So, we all went over to Mike’s place, Nikki’s Dad, and visited the folks who were there for awhile.   I really find Mike a likable guy.  I knew this when I met him the first time a few years ago.

From there, Nikki, Chris, Colette and I went into Seattle via Like City Way which goes around the north end of Lake Washington on city streets.   It’s a drive and route I’ve always loved though it’s changed a fair amount over the years.

We went to Niiki’s workplace on Lake Union and went in and chatted with folks for a bit.   Colette and I went outside and shot photos and looked around.

We left the car there in the lot because it is cheaper and easier than trying to park downtown and we took the tram into the city center.   It dropped us near the WestLake Center and from there we walked down to Pike Place Market which is a Seattle Classic.

It’s where they throw the fish among other things.   We also walked down Post Alley which in interesting.   Pike Place has been where it is for 100 years and has grown and morphed many ways in that time.   It’s easy to see this as the shops and levels lead haphazardly from one place to the next like a huge three dimensional maze.   We had lunch in a place that looked out over Puget Sound where we could watch the ferries come and go.   Colette and I had crab sandwiches which were great.

When it was getting into late afternoon, we walked six or eight blocks back over to the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is and had a look around there.   This is a place where I brought Chris many times when he was a boy when we were off on Father / Son outings.

Then we caught the same trolly back to Nikki’s workplace, Duke’s, at Lake Union and then drove home.

To top a nice day off, Nikki made us all a nice Salmon supper.  Yum    She’s a sweetie and I am very happy that she and Chris are together.

dennis

We went for our last Monroe Starbuck’s visit this morning after saying good by to Larry and Candice at their place.  We sat and talked to folks at Stabucks until about 8:30 AM and then we took off for Chris and Nikki’s place.

Except that it was way to early to arrive so I took Colette on a loop ride down the 425, over the 520 floating bridge into Seattle and then up the 5 and back east on the 522 to the 522 and 425 where we started.

At that point, we  went to Chris and Nikki’s place.   Nikki was at school and Chris was out walking their dog, Sammy, so we let ourselves in and made ourselves at home and played on our computers.

Chris came home and we watched movies on TV.   Two episodes of “Wild China” and “Vicky Christina Barcelona”.   The latter was a definite ‘chick flick’ though I have to say I enjoyed it.   Not sure I could do a steady diet of such though.

Nikki had started a crock pot of good stuff before she’d taken off for school and when she came home, we all enjoyed it.

It’s nice here at Chris & Nikki’s.   They really make us feel at home and welcomed.   They even gave us their bedroom over our protests and they slept on a couch and a blow up bed. If their bed wasn’t so comfortable, I’d have felt guilty.   But the bed was too nice to allow any of that (smile).

dennis