Space Needle

After our "Duck" tour around Seattle, Larry, Diane, Tammy and I went up in the Space Needle.  Curt has a fear of heights so he and Cathy waited back at the SUV for us.

I've been up the Space Needle before but that was many decades ago.

It cost $18 (or $18.90 with tax) to ride up to the top.  Included in the price was a free photo they took of you before you got onto the elevator.  You could have the photo emailed to you, or for a fee, they would print a copy for you.  The price is a bit spendy, so if you've never been to the top, the view is nice.

Tammy and I met a Seattle native a few days later and she said you can get a very nice view of downtown Seattle at Kerry Park in the Queen Anne section of Seattle, and it is free.

While there were plenty of people at the top, it was not crowded.

After we got back down to the ground Tammy bought a magnet of the Space Needle for her magnet collection.

Here are some views of Seattle, Puget Sound, and Mt Rainer.

The following photo shows the Olympic Mountains in the background.

Seattle Duck tour

While my uncles and aunts, Tammy and I were at Pikes Place Market we saw a few "Ducks" drive by.  Cathy had ridden on them in the past with her Red Hat group so we decided to go on a "Duck" tour when we saw the headquarters across the street from the Space Needle.

A "Duck" is a vehicle that can drive on the road and boat on water.  They drive around downtown Seattle and then boat on Lake Union.

After driving around the sights downtown Seattle we boated around Lake Union.

Lake Union as seen from the Space Needle

We got a good view of the Seattle skyline and the Space Needle.

We saw the houseboat (from a distance) that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan used in the movie, "Sleepless in Seattle".  We were so far away (as the ""Duck" are restricted from getting close) I couldn't get a decent photo.

Here are photos of other houseboats we saw.

Our "Duck" driver was "Joquin DePlank". Along with pointing out the landmarks he told lots of corny jokes and played some fun music. Whenever we passed one of the numerous Starbucks cafes we all called out "Cha-king! Baby!" and made a downward motion with one arm as if we were ringing a bell.

The tour lasted about 90 minutes and we all had a fun time. 

Cathy was the only person on the tour to buy a quacker to make noise when having fun.  Cathy knows how to have fun even if the rest of us were to reserved to act goofy.

Here is a short video I took from the Duck.

Downtown Seattle

Here are a few photos from our drive around Seattle.

This is a moving statue.

I believe this is the site of the first Pink Elephant car wash.

A reminder of Montana in downtown Seattle.

Pikes Place Market

May 19 my uncles, aunts, Tammy and I drove up to the VA hospital in Seattle to see my uncle Gary who was in the ICU.  He was on a new medicine and was extremely drowsy.  I don't think he knew I was there to see him.

After our short hospital visit we went to the Pikes Place Market to walk around and shop.  We also ate lunch there.  While eating lunch we talked about medical marijuana in Washington and Montana.  During my conversation with my uncles a woman came over and joined our conversation.  She tried to somehow link our  Montana/Washington medical marijuana conversation to gay rights.  I'm sure how the two were related other than her girlfriend is originally from Helena, Montana.

We didn't see the entire market but enough to give Tammy a flavor of what it is like as she had never been to Seattle before.  Curt bought a small photo of sailboats in a marina in heavy fog.  Diane was going to get some fresh flowers but we didn't walk back that way on our way out of the market.

There were a number of street performers at and around the Pikes Place market.  Across the street one old man was playing an upright piano on a street corner.  It looked to be a lot harder to 'lug' around on the hilly streets than a guitar.  Here are the "Beatles" minus Ringo.

Here is another supergroup, though I must confess I never got their name.

To Tacoma and back

May 18 Tammy and I drove to Tacoma, Wa. to visit some of my uncles, aunts and cousins.  And to hold a Homemade Gourmet party in Bellevue, Wa. for Rachel, my former insurance agent.

Our start was neither late nor early at 9:20 am.  We made good time even though we passed through a half dozen or more sections of road construction.  The traffic was lighter than I expected.  I wonder if it was because it was a weekday or if it was due to high gas prices.

Barn along Hwy 28 north of Hot Springs, MT

Crossing Lookout Pass into Idaho

From Lookout Pass, the view back into Montana

I-90 in Idaho

Bridge where we crossed the Columbia River in Washington state

View up river of the Columbia River

As we pulled out of the Columbia River overlook parking area a woman arrived with her dog with its leg in a cast.

Our first view of Mt Rainer as we were slowed by heavy traffic between Auburn and Puyallup.

Our view of Mt Rainer the next day as we drove up to Seattle.

On our drive back home, as I filled the car with gasoline at the Flying J truck stop in Post Falls, Idaho, Tammy bought two monster pieces of pizza and devoured them both.  Though she was afraid I would take a photo of her eating the pizza, I didn't.  But I did get a photo of her sticking her tongue out a me. (not included here, but for a fee I will send a copy to you. )

Even though we got a late start from my uncle and aunt's house, we made good time as we stopped only once for gas and a bathroom break, and we had one less highway construction project to go through as the chip sealing of the new pavement on Hwy 28 was done.  We got home before dark.

The cattle still had plenty of hay.  Here are the hay levels in the metal feeder when we left and after we got back.

Leaving for Tacoma

My girlfriend Tammy and I are leaving now to drive to Tacoma, Washington to visit my relatives, and also to hold a Homemade Gourmet party on Friday for Rachel, my former insurance agent who lives near Seattle.

We will be there only for a few days as I have 8 heifers in my corral.  I left plenty of hay and water for them and my neighbor will check on them when we are gone.  I have a second water trough and I got it out and cleaned it.  I found a small cut in the bottom of the metal tank and I decided to use some waterproof glue to seal the cut.

Last night I finished my rebuild of the feeder next to the barn and put hay in it.  Hay is in their regular feeder and I tossed bale after bale this morning into the round feeder I recently bought.   All this hay should last the cattle almost a week, more than enough time.

The cattle were looking at me strangely this morning as my behavior and all this hay and water is something new.

I hope all continues to go well and the heifers behave while I am gone.

Cattle eating hay

Here are a few photos of my cattle eating hay.  Some cattle are camera shy as they moved out of the photos.  The one heifer still has her limp, though I think her leg may be getting a little better.  Tammy and I decided to name her Grace.