we're still alive!

So . . .it's been awhile since I've posted. It's almost like I'm on vacation or something :) We done a ton of stuff in the past few days [and I've taken several hundred photos] so let's get to it!
Tuesday we took the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton to see Brandon's Grandma Virginia.

here we are on the ferry, heading to Bremerton. It was windy and about 65˙ - a far cry from Missouri weather :)

we met up with Brandon's cousin and uncle, and we all had a good meal at Tony's Pizza, where Brandon's Mom and Dad frequently visited when they lived there.

We went down to the waterfront to enjoy the sunny day; that's Grandma [on the left :) ]

we drove around for a while, and she drove us by Brandon's Mom's high school

after we visited with her, we crossed the Tacoma Narrows bridge to see Brandon's childhood home

you couldn't really see it for the 8' tall hedge, but the dog seemed friendly :)

Wednesday we got up and spent the day in Seattle. We started with the Olympia Sculpture Park, and we had fun with the Serra installation there.

neat-o.

one of my favorites - Eagle by Alexander Calder

fun and random type - I like this one a lot, too :)

then we headed up to the Seattle Center, and we visited the Experience Music Project - a very fun 'experience' [ha ha *sigh*]

pretty color shifts

um. . . .no caption needed.

that afternoon we went with my aunt & uncle to my cousin Joe's house, to celebrate his son Spencer's birthday. Great fun! He chose Arby's for dinner, and we had chocolate cake and ice cream.

the we drove by the Boeing buildings, which had doors open!
Then we went to bed as soon as we got back.

It was announced Wednesday night that the Supersonics were leaving Seattle, so here are the headlines from Thursday morning. Brandon was kind of bummed.

then we went to the art museum! It was great! They had a fantastic exhibition on Impressionism and their influences [but no photography allowed]

after that we visited Pike's Place Market [sorry for the gray pic - it was overcast and drizzly. imagine that.]

those vegetable peddlers had great sense of humor!

[if you look closely, he's catching a fish. I got really claustrophobic waiting for that pic, so there's only one]

. . . sucks to be a crab at the fish market.

we had tickets for the Mariners game that night, so we walked to Safeco.


this is a nifty baseball bat sculpture at the main entrace

this was taken in the middle of the game. there were lots of empty seats.

it was easy to get decent seats, though - and we did!
but we left in the 8th, when the score was 6-2, Tigers. Then we walked back to the hotel.

and I took this! I'm much happier with this one - what to you think?

So - I still have the 4th to blog about, but I may not. We've already started the trek back to Missouri, and we were on the road for 16 hours today. The 4th was nice and relaxing - sleeping in a little, the Seattle Underground tour, a nice meal and a nap. Then disappointing fireworks [I thought I heard people say you could see them at the Space Needle, but we couldn't. They were on the waterfront, so we walked a few blocks that way after they had started, so I have a few lame pics of the top halfs of the bursts]
So. . . .I think I'm done! Everything will be back to normal on Tuesday.

Good night!

we're here!

Well, we finally made it to Issaquah. Sunday morning we checked out from our crappy hotel room in Missoula and started driving. We did pretty much all driving - no fun stops or anything. But, after about 7 hours of driving, we made it! The heat followed us, though - they were in the middle of a heatwave with temps in the low 90s. Funny how that happens. . . .

Here's the pretty mountains we saw heading out of Montana - very pretty!

then we headed into Idaho. . . .

. . . and back out again. it didn't take too long.

we stopped in Moses Lake, WA for a quick bite. I love regional McDonalds menu items! They had a McCafe - better than the iced coffee because it's made with espresso [and not super sweet like the iced coffee] it was good. and fun :)

We stopped at a scenic overlook at the Columbia River. We were surprised at how much like a desert eastern Washington is - and it was HOT! our car thermometer said 105˙ - crazy!

and here's what 3 days of driving will get you - splattered with bugs. My uncle Ken washed them off yesterday, though. Thanks, Ken!

So, we were soon heading out of the desert, and we caught our first glimpse of the Cascades.

Then we finally made it. Here's my aunt & uncle's house in Issaquah - where we've been staying [thanks again, guys!].

here's the view from their back deck. behind the trees you can see the mountains - but not in this picture :)

Monday [yesterday] we got up and headed to their house in Ellensburg, in central Washington. It's called Griffin Hall, and you'll see that it is really fun - a very cool place to hang out.

Here's the great room in the house, replete with English flags - neato!

a view of the outside. . . .

here's the sign on the outside

and the big walk in fireplace

more flags. I like the flags - very cool!

This morning we're heading into the city to hang out, then it's off to Bremerton to see Brandon's Grandma.
Check back!

Dynamite Areolas

Today was a busy day. We did the tourist thing until about 11 or 12, then drove 9 1/2 hours. We're a little whooped. We're at a hotel room in Missoula, MT [a Days Inn, which btw, is really seedy. That's what I get for booking the cheapest room on hotels.com] Anyway - here are some pictures from today.

we started off the day visiting Mt. Rushmore [which has totally capitalized on the whole 'National Treasure' thing. all the billboards say it. even souvenir glasses. odd.]

apparently George, Tom, Ted & Abe enjoy a cool, refreshing coca-cola

the aisle of state flags was pretty cool - the gust of wind didn't hurt, either :)

one of the few photos of me [I'm ok with that]

[no caption needed]

this is a plaster model of the Crazyhorse monument. Brandon mentioned that he has dynamite areolas - a Scrubs reference [if you know Brandon you're not surprised]. ya know, since they use dynamite to carve the giant sculpture ;)

it's truly gigantic - much larger than Mt. Rushmore

We visited Bedrock! It's a 'Theme Park' [playground, really] that is really brightly colored and made of concrete. It was kinda lame, but really awesome at the same time.

Here's the Rubbles' house. I drove his car [or I at least acted to]

oh, kitsch. how I love thee.

the horizon is getting increasingly more interesting! the mountains are very pretty - I can't wait to get into the Rockies tomorrow. We'll be getting to Seattle tomorrow, so check back!