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02/03/26 - Flying to Seattle

We flew to Seattle in the afternoon and had amazing views of the mountains and waters. We're off on an adventure.

The Olympic Mountains





Puget Sound


Mount Rainier - the ghost mountain

Seattle

Keywords: flying, seattle

02/02/26 - Dinner in Seattle

We stayed and ate dinner near the Pike Place Market. We had an early flight - this time on a big airplane - the next morning.





Keywords: seattle

02/01/26 - Flying Into Charleston

There aren't a lot of good flights to the southeast from Seattle. Usually, one has to change planes in Atlanta, but Alaska Air has a lone daily non-stop flight that leaves in the morning and arrives in the evening. This time of year, that meant we caught the sunset. We didn't see any mountains as we approached the city. The land was flat and the rivers meandered.









Keywords: flying, seattle

05/08/25 - Seattle and the Flight Home

Our appointment in Seattle went well. Then, we flew home. It was a much cloudier day, but there's always something to see out of an airplane window.

View from our hotel window

View from an office

Closer view

The port without cargo traffic

Seattle

West Seattle

The Hood Canal Bridge

That darn bridge again

Discovery Bay

Sequim Bay

The Rayonier cleanup site

Keywords: flying, seattle

05/07/25 - Walking Around Seattle

We did some wandering in Seattle. First, we made our way down the new ziggarut that connects Pike Place Market with the waterfront. There's no viaduct. Instead, there's a maze of ramps and steps, a playground, viewing spots and spectacular views. It's a great addition to the city.

Then we walked north along the waterfront, past the piers, the Edgewater, the cruise terminal and on to the Myrtle Edwards rose garden in the park just before the grain elevator. We hadn't been up this way in a while, but it was a perfect sunny day.

We did some more wandering after dinner in Fremont. We walked down the Fremont hill, across the Fremont Bridge and then along the South Lake Union waterfront until our feet gave out.


Looking south to the ferris wheel from the new Pike Place ziggarut

More rampways



Down on the waterfront



The grain elevator

Looking south - Mount Rainier

The rose garden


The Space Needle

The PI building

A heron

This was the only ship we saw in the harbor, loading grain.

Mount Rainier again, but no ships

Yup, no ships

Fremont sidewalk

Fremont Bridge

View from the bridge - South Lake Union

Blooming


South Lake Union again

Keywords: seattle

05/06/25 - Flight to Seattle

We recently flew to Seattle via Rite Brothers out of Fairchild, our local airport. The Hood Canal Bridge had gotten stuck open, and we had an important appointment in town. As it turned out, the bridge was repaired in time, but we really had to be there on time, so we flew.

As a reward, we got some beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains, Port Angeles, the countryside and even Mount Rainier.


Port Angeles from the air

Olympic Mountains and countryside





The Hood Canal and distant Cascades

Mount Rainier

There's all sorts of interesting stuff visible from the air. Is this an oyster facility?

Keywords: flying, mount rainier, port angeles, seattle

03/29/25 - Cherry Blossoms at UW

We made a quick trip into Seattle to check out the cherry blossoms at the quad at the University of Washington. It was a beautiful day, and the quad was full of people admiring the full bloom. There were lots of families with children, picnics, dancers and people in their Sunday best. You could tell that a lot of people were eager for spring. There was even a group of cosplayers, angels and devils, having a tea party complete with an etagere full of cupcakes.

The trees were in full bloom with every branch full of flowers and even flowers bursting from the trunk. The university was ready for the event with signs and facilities. We made a full loop of the quad stopping here and there to admire the flowers and to let people take photographs. Who could blame them? It's not like we didn't take a lot of photos ourselves.





Cauliflory


Cosplay tea party

They sure looked like they were having fun.















A guest magnoia

This one had a lovely fragrance, but we still haven't bothered finding out what it is.

Keywords: seattle

04/28/24 - Seattle Trip

We took a quick trip into Seattle. It was an overnight, so we spent the morning wandering the waterfront, then went to dinner at Rockcreek in Fremont and walked back most of the way to the hotel. It's been a while since we wandered Seattle. It was nice to get back.

Mt. Rainier on the ferry over

Seattle waterfront

More Seattle waterfront

An early rose

The Seattle PI Building still has its icon though the paper is long gone.

Fremont

From Fremont Bridge

South Lake Union

More South Lake Union

Keywords: seattle

03/22/24 - University of Washington Cherry Blossoms

It was a rainy day in Seattle when we made our to the University of Washington to see this year's cherry blossoms. We had been following on the webcam, and the flowers seemed to be approaching their peek. The rain may have thinned the crowd a bit. If nothing else, it discouraged picnickers. Still, there was a good crowd, and the flowers were in full bloom and stunning. We wandered the quad admiring this harbinger of warmer weather.

Our first view

A magnolia joining the fun

Another view

Across the way

Cauliflory

Flowers growing from the trunk

We don't really need all these captions.


Another flowering plant with a wonderful scent














Keywords: flowers, seattle, weather

12/17/23 - Christmas Trip to Seattle

We took a quick trip into Seattle for a bit of urban life. The ferries were their usual mess. We found out that one of the Bainbridge ferries was out only at the toll booth. We made it into town a bit late but with plenty of time to explore. We scooted up to Volunteer Park to see the Christmas display and back to our hotel in time for check in. There had been a convention going on last time, but this time the lobby was much quieter.

We did some shopping down at Pikes Place Market loading up on holiday cheeses at Delaurenti and admiring the fish and vegetables at Sosio's and Pure Food Fish respectively. There was a beautiful sunset over the sound. We had dinner at Nishino for the first time in a few years and were pleased to see that the food was as good as ever. We even had our usual corner table and really enjoyed our omakase dinner.

Mount Rainier as seen from the ferry

At the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Winter flowers

Is someone hungry?

A bit of Christmas color

Orchids

The Christmas village

The Christmas tree

More Christmas color

And some more

And yet more, with nutcrackers

The view from our room

A Christmas tree downtown

Seattle sunset

Sosio's

The Market

The market again

Downtown Seattle, under the monorail

A bit of city life

Across from Nishino

Nishino

A night view

And more night

Keywords: christmas, seattle

11/16/23 - Fog on the Hood Canal Bridge

We've crossed the Hood Canal Bridge on our way to Seattle many times now, but this time the fog was thick. Cars and trucks seemed to appear out of nowhere.



Keywords: seattle

10/31/23 - Seattle Morning

The next morning, we were up early. We had a great view of the morning sunrise and Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier

Seattle view

Not quite full daylight

Three antennae

Bluer sky

Cranes: it must be Seattle.

Still early light

View from a window

Another view

Framed view

Mount Rainier aain

Almost day light

Day light

Keywords: mount rainier, seattle

10/29/23 - Seattle Evening

We made a quick overnight trip into Seattle. Our hotel room had a great view, and there is definitely something about city lights at night.

View from our room

Another view

Evening in the city

Guess where we ate.

More city night

Quiet streets at this hour

Buses still running

More night in the city

More lights

Another street

So much to see

From our room after dark

City view at night - It has to be Seattle. Note the construction crane.

Keywords: seattle

04/20/23 - Seattle Downtown

Seattle is much quieter than we remember it. Granted, we were wandering about early in the day, but downtown is no longer as bustling. Perhaps it was the cold, dank weather and a spring that has been all too slow in coming. Perhaps it was COVID and people working from home. Perhaps it isn't cruise season yet.

We checked out Pike Place Market which was still quiet. We bought some ramps and frisee. Ramps are a type of wild onion and special spring treat. There are signs of spring, out in the country and in town.


A Seattle street

Light traffic and careless framing

Another quiet street

Pike Place Market, still setting up

Sosio's is on the left.

The market, still calm

Sosio's always has a great display.

Another view

Pure Food Fish

Early morning

Another quiet corridor, but this was is almost always quiet.

The Public Market sign

Westlake Center

Keywords: seattle, spring, weather

04/19/23 - Seattle View

On our last trip into Seattle, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency for the first time. It's a relatively new hotel near the convention center. It met our basic requirements of cold, dark and quiet. The HVAC worked properly. The room was quiet. It was dark at night. Our room was well layed out and very comfortable. It also had an amazing view of Seattle, Lake Union and the Cascade Mountains.

Bustling Seattle, still building

Towards dusk

Even darker

Much darker; Note the three cranes in this view.

Full night

The next morning

The Cascades

Early light

Eerie light

Seattle has lots of antenna triplets.

Later in the morning

Daylight

Another look

Keywords: seattle

04/04/23 - Signs of Spring - Cherry Blossoms at UW

This has been a long, cold, rough winter, so we've been seeking out signs of spring. We checked the UW web site and saw that the cherry blossoms were at peak bloom. There was no way we could resist. We drove into Seattle and explored the Quad. It was full of cherry blossoms and people marveling at them. We had thought that selfie sticks had gone out of style, but the Quad was full of them. Even better, it was full of dark gnarly trees with clouds of pale pink flowers.

It seems like spring is finally coming even as a cold wind still blows now and then. It was worth driving into town for a taste of the still incoming season. We're in less of a hurry now, but we're still seeking out signs of spring.




















Keywords: flowers, seattle, spring

11/14/22 - Autumn at the Arboretum

We had an errand to run in Seattle. We left lots of extra time, but we lucked out with no Hood Canal Bridge closing, ferries running on time with lots of free spaces and minimal traffic, so we stopped and explored the Seattle Arboretum. They have a great winter garden, but we were a bit early for that. The witch hazels were still in waiting, but there was a lot of great fall color.

Fall color

More color

Even more color

The have a great collection of trees.

An unusual color

More trees as one would expect in an arboretum

The path

Autumn color - thank you, thesaurus

And more

And yet more

And even more

There was quite a show.

A mix of colors

Another great tree

Some of the first wItch hazel to bloom

Keywords: seattle, winter

07/29/22 - Hazy Day Flight From Seattle

It was a hot hazy day. It seems like it is a hot hazy day every time we head into Seattle. This time we flew, and we took some pictures of the Olympic Mountains on our way back. Yes, they are hazy.









Keywords: flying, seattle

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