Seattle Trip Report One

Greetings from the GPNW.  The weather has been astonishingly not awful.  Spring is breaking out all over here, the daffodils are up, the pink trees are blooming and the white trees are blooming.

 

Thursday Jim had his teeth cleaned, afterwards we went over to QFC, a high zoot grocery store in Issaquah, for provisions.  One must have snacks for the hotel room, after all.  This is one of the things we really miss when living in south Tucson for the winter; the visual delight of the high end grocery.  This is salt.  There is Fleur de Sel, Himalayan and something else there.  I mean really, when have you seen a round of pink salt? Look in the middle at the bottom of the photo, that's how the pink salt arrives.

 

The cakes at the bakery are just lovely.

 

We also had time to go to Fred Meyer.   It's like a Super Walmart only with better stuff.  Since I got the smart phone (which is heavy), it has a tendency to want to jump out of my fanny pack.  So, I broke down and bought a purse, haven't carried a purse since I retired.  Haven't worn a name tag, either, but I digress.  Anyway, I got it at Fred Meyer, for inexpensive.  It's vegan!

 

Thursday night the COs very kindly invited us over for dinner.  Dave was mixing cocktails.  I forget what all is in this, but I do remember maple syrup, cedar infused whiskey and Chartreuse.  They were pretty tasty.  Dave has mastered the art of properly shaking a drink in a shaker.

 

Dinner was lamb stew and kale.  I've never eaten sauteed kale before, but I can report that it's good.  It's a super food, so go try some.

 

We stayed at the airport Double Tree hotel Wednesday and Thursday nights.  I am so sorry we were not there for the weekend.  They were hosting a science fiction convention.  I swear there is a genotype for people who attend those things, you can spot them in the elevator or the parking lot.  One of the hotel employees was telling us that the costumes would be out over the weekend; vampires, Star Wars, Star Trek and etc.  I am sorry I missed the photo ops.  The people in the room down the hall from us came prepared.  They have flats of juice and Rockstar energy drinks, a beverage dispenser, a crockpot and 5 pounds of nacho cheese sauce.
 

 

Friday afternoon we took the ferry over to Bainbridge.   This is under the viaduct on Alaskan Way. Work on relocating the utilities for the eventual demolition of the viaduct is underway.  The bike path to the ferry dock is closed, which makes life harrowing for the bike commuters.

 

Is not Seattle lovely when it is not raining?

 

 

Harbor Island and the cranes off-loading container ships.

 

Something blooming at May's house.  Are we detecting my complete lack of horticultural knowledge?

 

The light was  brilliant this morning.  This is light reflecting off the water on to the living room ceiling.

 

Jim continues to slog his way through the bales of unlabelled pictures of people he does not know.

 
The Olympic Mountains were out this afternoon.

 
Today we went over to see May.  She moved from a one bedroom apartment to a studio.  We took her love seat out and put it into her old empty apartment because she did not have enough room for it.  Wyatt House will have Goodwill come get it.  May fretted for quite some time, that because we put the loveseat in the other apartment that she would have to pay rent on that unit as well.  It's clear that she's lost ground physically and mentally since the last time we saw her.
This is a tough trip, while we are overjoyed that there is an offer on the house (did I mention that?  we have a serious buyer), it's sad to close out yet another chapter in May's life.  She lived here for 52 years. Tuesday will be the final ejection of furniture and stuff if Monday's home inspection does not turn up anything terrible.
Other than this maties, I have nothing more of great import to convey.