An Attempt

The laptop flies out of town for the week with Dan. Not a huge deal except I just finished downloading pictures for a few posts onto the laptop and the ideas are fresh and ready to be shared. So....I am going to attempt to get multiple posts done before they leave. I ask now that you excuse the typos and spacing issues that are likely to appear. The priority will be quantity so the quality will have to take a back seat for now.

Winter...BLECH!

This is what our area looked like when we flew out on November 17, 2010:

All images found via: Picking up where we left off...

This is what our area looked like when we flew home on November 22, 2010:

(These are mine, all mine.)

Now, I know many of you are all thinking, "Big deal. We get that much snow in a hour around here and everything's just fine." Well you are fully justified in that thinking. We've both dealt with much worse conditions; however, most of the residents of the Tri-Cities have never seen it snow more than a skiff. The storm is unheard for this area and snow usually doesn't show up until January.

Due to the skiff of snow in January, we have also had the issue of few snow plows and non-existent salt (or other mixtures) on the roads. They just aren't prepared or equipped for storms and 20° temperatures here. Everyone kept telling us the snow only lasted for a few days....I'd like to have a word or two with everyone who informed us of that fact as it's been a week since the storm and the views from our windows haven't changed much, except that the snow kept coming. Thankfully the last couple days have been warmer so the the roads are beginning to get slushy and dry in some areas. I'll be very happy when the temperatures return to normal so I can thaw out.

(No I didn't overlook it...More will be coming regarding our above mentioned flight....)

Our 3 Hour Tour

Prior to our 2nd anniversary we found out the Portland Spirit would be in the Tri-Cities doing cruises along the Columbia River. After talking about our options (which were basically nonexistent) we settled on the idea of doing a dinner cruise the day after our official day.

We headed over to Clover Island to board our our ship:

 

As we enjoyed our meal we looked at the map, learned more about the area, and tried to orient ourselves along the way.

Since we were doing the dinner cruise we kept our eyes on the sunset. We headed up to the top deck so that we could enjoy the sunset and hopefully capture some good pictures; even managing a half-way decent self-portrait!

 

 

Due to it being our anniversary I decided to let Dan order the dessert of his choice (as long as it was the one that came with our meal...)

Once dinner and dessert were over Dan just sat back and made himself right at home:

We kept leaving our table to go onto the top deck so we could watch the scenery go by and visit the wheel house. I tried some to capture some night images...my outdated little point & shoot didn't do what I wanted but some of the images were still kinda cool:

 

After our 2 ½ tour (to be more exact) we were back at the starting point...

So we disembarked...

...then returned home commenting on how much we enjoyed our evening and that we were glad the dinner cruise was how we celebrated our anniversary this year.

Another Looking Glass

Do these two remind you of anyone?

JaNae & Lynette - circa 1974

  What about these two?

Shayla & Cambree-2010 via

 Sometimes watching my nieces and nephews I see images of their parents and me when we were little (though the 2nd generation seems to ham it for the camera a bit more).

It's Only Fair

The other morning Dan was in the bathroom getting ready for the day while I was still in bed sleeping.


The next thing I knew he was at the door saying, "Good-bye. I love you."I called out, "I love you too."


From the bathroom I hear, "Honey I haven't left yet."


I thought it was odd that he was leaving without saying prayers together or kissing me good-bye since he always does that, except in my dream that morning.

September Seattle Trip #2

Greetings from the slacker blogger. Lately it seems that someone’s (not exactly sure whose but someone’s) expectations of my life have gotten in the way of my expectations of my life. Thankfully everything seems to be slowly returning to normal so maybe I’ll be able to do a better job of getting things caught up in the blogging world. Here's hoping.

So, a couple weeks after this trip it was necessary to return to Seattle for a quick, overnighter. I contacted Kara and she was thrilled to have me stay again, especially so soon. And I was just as thrilled. So I put Dan on a plane to Phoenix for a week of trainings for work, went to work myself for a couple hours (I'll be doing a general update and talk more about this then), and when that was finished I was began driving off into the sunset.

Thankfully the sunset was gorgeous. So beautiful I just had to stop at a rest stop just west of Yakima and snap a few pictures (which don't really do it justice of course).

You can't see it because of the cloud cover but when we drove through this time we could clearly see Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood on each side of us from this same spot.

I arrived at Kara's and we visited late into the night. Poor Dan had fallen completely asleep in his hotel room waiting for me to call him for our scripture reading and nightly prayers. Quick reading and prayers for us that night.

The next morning I had a few minutes to kill and chose to do so here...

 This was just the parking lot!!! Complete with....

This....

...felt forever away.

I had only 10 minutes to wander through the store. Though I can do lots of damage with only 10 minutes in IKEA, I didn't spend any $$$ but did find a headboard/footboard I loved as well as a couch, both of which were on SALE!!!! Neither of which have been, nor will be, purchased anytime soon. :'(

After IKEA I headed into downtown Seattle. I had directions (thank you Google Maps!) and finally made it only a little turned around and few minutes late (thank you Google Maps!).

When the appointment, which brought me to Seattle in the first place, was completed, I wanted to meander to (can you meander in a car???).... 

Ultimately for a stop here...

While trying to find my way to Pike Place Market I was driving down a street I looked up to see...

  

Since I was going to be only a few minutes, I thought I'd look for a parking spot on the street. After only a couple trips around the block I parked by this...

I fed the meter with all my change which gave me 20 minutes to trek the round trip from the Seattle Art Museum to Pike Place Market. I booked it as fast as my little legs could go! As I was briskly walking I kept crossing my fingers that Le Painer had short lines. Well.....

SUCCESS!!!!!!

(My mouth is watering right now just thinking about the yummies I bought.)

For good or bad I purchased two pastries one for the drive home and one for the next day. I also learned, for good or bad, that they ship...no orders placed just yet but you never know....maybe it could be a fun treat to send to Amanda or Sid...or me...

With pastries in hand and after taking a picture for a couple women, one or two of my own, and buying a few postcards, I raced back to the car hoping the meter-maid (or whatever they are called) wasn't anywhere near. By my calculations it was a race between me and a ticket. However, when I got there I saw....

Time to spare, are you KIDDING ME?!?!?! Those 5 extra minutes would have been so well used shopping/taking pictures/eating/shopping/walking/shopping...if only I had known!

Despite the parking "issue" it was another beautiful, clear, sunny, and warm day in Seattle. The only bummer was the construction in the middle of Pike Market:

At least they were smart enough NOT to have this going on two weeks earlier.

While getting back into my car a duck drove by. Someday I want to take a tour in/on one of these.

The drive home was beautiful as well. I took a few shots of the gorgeous scenery trying to capture the last of the summer colors and warmth before rain, snow, and cold settle in...

I stopped for dinner and discovered this...

Such a super yummy salad! I had to take a picture so that I could try and recreate it at home (which I haven't done yet!). It was absolutely delicious. Amazingly enough here's where I bought it....

Definitely a quick trip but I managed to pack in some fun after business was taken care of and still made it home with time to spare before heading off to the Relief Society Evening Activity.

Thanks again Kara!!! So sad trip #3 has been so long in coming. The offer is open for whenever you want to come over to our side of the mountain.