Sleep-less in Seattle

A couple of weekends ago, Paul and I took a MUCH NEEDED trip to Seattle. Away from the kids, the house, the job, the golf cart, etc. We had an amazing time, although we wanted to see and do everything we possibly could - so we didn't get a whole lot of sleep. My mom (Grandma Honey) was sweet enough to watch the kids for us - THANK YOU MOM!!!

Our hotel was in Bellevue - and it was a great room! It was a new hotel and the room was like a studio apartment - fully loaded with a kitchenette - a small living room - a King sized bed - and free breakfast. We even got a pretty good deal on the room - so that made it that much better!

When Paul asked me what I wanted to do in Seattle I told him that even though it was touristy - I really wanted to see the Space Needle. I was told about a great tourist deal on how to see a bunch of the Seattle sites from our neighbor. You buy a Seattle City Pass and it lets you in to see a bunch of the sites for a great price. So we began our trip on Friday by first seeing the Space Needle. It is really amazing how tall that thing is! What a beautiful view!!

Next we went over to the Science Fiction Museum. Neither Paul nor I are really in to Science Fiction, so we hurried through it pretty quickly. They did do a really neat job creating the feel of being on a spaceship though. So I do have to give them a little credit! The Science Fiction Museum is right next to the Experience Music Project. We went over there next - and I guess it was perfect timing because as we walked into EMP,they were setting up the famous sequined black coat and white glove of Michael Jackson. They also had a big screen playing Michael Jackson videos (on a count of his dying and all). People were going crazy, trying to take pictures of the jacket/glove. The EMP also set out sidewalk chalk so that people could write notes to MJ. It was kind of a weird experience and Paul and I were a little tired of all the media hype about MJ dying, but I guess it was kind of neat to see his jacket in person. I convinced Paul to let me take his picture by the jacket! The EMP also has a lot of guitar displays, a Jimmy Hendrix tribute and interactive stations where you can learn to play the guitar, drums, keyboards or sing. I tried my hand at the drums, but didn't do very well. Paul tried Karaoke - imagine that!

We then headed to the Pacific Science Center. This is a really cool center with LOTS of activities for kids. They had an IMAX movie that you got with your ticket so Paul and I saw the Lewis and Clark movie - which was really interesting. Then we went over to the butterfly area. This was amazing - you walk through a room where butterflies are flying around. You aren't allowed to touch them, but they can land on you if they want. They also had a tide pool and I got to feel a star "fish" and other sea creatures for the first time. This place made me really miss the kids - I wish that they could have come with us to this. There isn't anything like this in Utah. I guess we will just have to plan a trip to bring the kids with us next time.

After the Pacific Science center, Paul and I took the monorail down to Pike's Place. This is a very cool outdoor market. They are the ones that throw the fish! We didn't try to catch any, but it was fun to watch them. We also stopped to get Paul some deep fried oysters - his favorite. They have a ton of cute shops and A LOT of diverse people. We even saw the first Starbucks Coffee house - although I was not brave enough to go in and order something.

After going to the market we went over to the Aquarium. They have some really cool displays and a lot of things I had never seen before. My favorite part was the giant ring filled with jelly fish. The only bad thing about the aquarium was a little "incident" with the camera! Paul had just finished taking a picture of Nemo (for Carson) and was showing me the camera. He thought I was going to grab it from him, which I wasn't, and so he let go. The camera went crashing to the floor - with the lens still open - and completely jammed the lens up. This really sucked because this was the camera I had to buy 2 weeks before we left for Seattle because our other one was broken. This put a little damper on the rest of the visit to the aquarium, but then I decided I wasn't going to let it bother me - so off we went.

After the Aquarium we went on a 1 hour boat tour of the Harbor. This was a really neat tour and we had a great tour guide. She had a lot of information about Seattle - even some stuff that Paul didn't know. The water was so calm and the boat was so peaceful. I could have spent 5 hours out there! I only wish we had a camera to take some pictures - oh well! Once you get off the boat you are down on the piers - so we decided to walk down to 'Ye Old Curiosity Shop. They have a lot of crazy things in there, including 2 mummies, a two-headed sheep, old pictures boxes and tons of other things. You could spend hours in there and still not see everything. We found some souvenirs in there for the kids too!

This was a really long day, but we were able to see and do so much. Seattle is such a cool town and has so much to offer. I only wish we had more time!

The next morning Paul decided to redeem himself and find us a new camera. He got on to Craigs list and found a camera that had just been listed in the Bellevue area (where our hotel was). He met the guy in a nearby parking lot and got a great camera for only $95.00. I was really grateful to have a camera - It would have been really sad not to have any pictures of the rest of our vacation. After getting the camera, Paul and I got dressed in our Sunday best and went over to the Bellevue/Seattle temple to do a session. The temple was beautiful and the people were really friendly. It was really nice to be able to do something spiritual on our vacation and to see another temple. When Paul and I were done with our session we went out front to take some pictures, there just happened to be another couple out there - also on vacation from their kids. We asked them to take a picture of us in front of the temple in exchange for us taking their picture. So this is one of the few pictures of us together (it's so hard when you are on vacation and only one of you can be in the picture).

After the temple we headed back down to Pike's Place (I wasn't done seeing everything there). We picked up a few treasures, including a handmade glass starfish necklace for me, and a big beautiful bouquet of flowers. We were going to go over to my childhood friend's house and I thought it would be fun to surprise her with some flowers. The funny thing about Pike's Place is that there isn't too much parking available - so we parked in a 30 minute parking spot and Paul had to keep walking back to feed quarters into the parking meter. He was such a trooper!

We had plans to meet up with my friend Nikki Garner Arnold and her husband Eli at their place in Issaquah, so we left Pike's place and drove over to their house. It was such a nice drive - the scenery is just awesome! I was a little nervous about seeing Nikki because I haven't seen her since High School, but Paul assured me everything would be fine - and it was! We visited with Nikki and Eli for about 3 hours - they were kind enough to treat us to pizza and I got to see Nikki's twin boys. It was fun to get to talk to her again and to reminisce about the old days. I am really glad that we got to see them!

On our final day in Seattle Paul really wanted to show me the rain forest, but was a little concerned about the drive. I told him I was game for anything - so we decided to make the 4 hour (each way) drive. It was really cool because we got to take the ferry! I didn't know how cool it was to drive your car onto a boat. I really liked the ferry ride - and we got to get out and walk around the boat.

The drive out to the HOH rain forest was really pretty. It is nice to drive down the highway and see trees - instead of dead grass and sagebrush. On our way to the rain forest we got to stop in Forks Washington - yes the home of Edward Cullen and Bella Swan (from Twilight!!). As you drive into the town there is a big Welcome to Forks sign and I wanted to get my picture taken by it - so we stopped and there happened to be a police officer there handing out Forks stickers, pencils and rulers. Paul joked that it was Chief Swan. The town was really playing into the whole Twilight thing and it was really cute. I was excited to get to tell Kelsi all about it. It is a very small town and I am sure that all the attention they are getting from the books and movie is very exciting for them.

The HOH rain forest is really neat. The moss growing on the trees, the flowers, the way that fallen dead trees "host" baby trees. It was really neat for me to see the rain forest, but it was what Paul had been waiting for the whole trip. He took a lot of pictures and was so excited to be there. I guess when he moved to Utah he didn't know just how much he was going to miss the coast and all the things he loved about living in Oregon. I think it was therapeutic for him to return to Seattle and especially the rain forest.

After the rain forest we drove a little while longer over to Ruby Beach. This was what I had been waiting for - the chance to see the Ocean!! I love the Ocean - I love to see and hear the waves, I love the sand, the shells. It was such a beautiful beach. Paul and I walked along the beach and picked up these really flat rocks that were everywhere. We tried skipping them, but didn't have too much luck. The beach was really windy, which made it cold, so I decided NOT to put my feet in the water - but it was so nice to just sit on some rocks, watch the waves crash onto the beach and just relax. I think this was my favorite part of the whole trip. I love the Ocean, and just wish there was one in Utah...hehe!! After we left the beach we drove the long trip back to Bellevue. We stopped in Port Angeles for dinner - which took 2 hours! They were SOOOO slow, and my food wasn't very good - but Paul really enjoyed his clams and oysters. The restaurant was taking so long that we were afraid we were going to miss the last ferry back. Luckily Paul was able to get us back in time to catch the ferry.

This was such a fun trip - busy, but fun!! The weather was beautiful and I was so glad to get to spend some time alone with my sweetie. It really makes you remember why you fell in love. I did miss the kids - and that isn't such a bad thing. I was so glad to have a break and to be able to enjoy life a little. Thanks Paul for taking me to Seattle!!