I know - I love alliteration but Seattle really was wonderful For a city/area that has a high rainfall average we managed 4 days with great weather.
Flying in we had a close up of Mt Rainier and a lot of forested area - much of it planted for logging. We had dinner at a local Japanese restaurant and breakfast in true Purdy style at a cafe close to the Seattle Fish Market.
The fish market has been on my bucket list for a while as I was fortunate to work for an organisation that introduced the Fish Principles which emanated from the Seattle Fish Market. “Choose your attitude, Make someone’s day, Be there and Have fun”. It made a real difference to those we worked with and cared for. When I told my story to the servers at the fish market they asked if I wanted them to do “the thing” - Oh yes! They proceeded to throw the fish as they describe in their books. Happy me.
We then packed the car and took the Ferry across the bay toward the Olympic National Park. Another gorgeous journey. We arrived at our lodge in the park at dusk and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and a lavish dinner at the lodge. Our accommodation was on the lake and very picturesque. Sadly the road to the famed rainforest walk was closed the day we were there but we made up for it by taking a number of other walks and saw the largest spruce in the world, giant maple leaves that had turned every shade of autumn and mushrooms for the ages. The purple one was quite unique.
We also drove to the ocean - in itself quite rough and windy - but we then saw the logs and trees that have been washed ashore over the ages - mostly from natural tree falls - quite eerie and a lot of sun and sea bleached timber. We set off the next day back to the city but not before a brunch at a well regarded cafe en route.
Our arrival was timed perfectly for Tony and Adrian to go on a tour of the Boeing factory - like to two kids in a candy store - the excitement was palpable. Fortunately Sonya, Maddie and I were dropped off and we went to the Seattle Art Museum and participated in print making. We also viewed the gallery exhibitions.
I then finally found a wool and craft shop and we ended our afternoon with coffee and an uber trip back to our hotel. We had a last dinner and breakfast with the family before they headed off for a long trip home - Maddie to Austen and then Adrian and Sonya to Austen and then a long drive home to Houston.
Our gratitude for their presence and for organising such a great trip is immense.
We ubered straight from the hotel to the port where the Noordam was waiting for us - and 1800 of our closest friends!. Strange who knew the day would finally arrive when this epic voyage would begin.
