A little exploring

This weekend we were actually supposed to be staying with our nephew Sterling for the weekend while Jenny and Scott went to AZ. Poor little guy woke up sick Friday morning, so they had to cancel their plans. We suddenly had a weekend we hadn't planned for, so we made the most of it.

It was so much fun! Rod and I decided we would do a little exploring in Seattle and take a picture for our Christmas cards.

There are so many cool places we want to see, so I went through and made a list of a few that we could visit today and one that we decided would be the spot for our photo.

It wasn't raining when we left and wasn't windy that I noticed...until we set up the tripod. Then the wind began to blow and it was freezing. Luckily, after several hair blowing photos, we got our winning shot!

From there, we decided to see a few of the places from our list. It was a very gray day and before long it started to rain...alas, I was only able to get a few more pictures in-between drops.

It was so much fun to get out and explore...and so much more to see!

Next stop:

Ross on Pike St. (okay, not really on the list, but Rod likes to find deals at all possible Ross locations)

Seward Park

After Ross, which was kind of fun since I'd never gone to the downtown Seattle store, was Seward park. The neat thing about this park, for me, is that it looks across at Mercer Island (where I grew up).

The boat and docks you see are actually the south end of MI. I've never seen the Island from this view before. We'll definitely have to come back and walk some of the paths (this is where it started to rain so we didn't do much walking.)

Fisherman's Terminal

On our way to Discovery Park we passed Fisherman's Terminal. I had to pull in and take a look. I loved seeing the docks and boats. It was sad to see the names of those who have died at sea but I'm glad we stopped by.

Yes, it was as cold as he looks.

Discovery Park

I was so excited to go to Discovery Park over in Magnolia because there is a mile and a half walk to a beach and lighthouse. This is what we hoped to see (not my photo):

Now imagine that with a giant tarp over it.

Unfortunately, we were told upon arrival that they are renovating the lighthouse and it is covered with a tarp. Without the lighthouse and the late hour, we decided to wait on the hike to the beach. Maybe this coming summer? I'm really looking forward to coming back.

Gas works Park

Our next stop - Gas works park on Lake Union. It is a very unique spot. It is an old manufacturing plant (previously manufactured gas from coal) converted into a park.

I love the views from Lake Union. It's the lake where Tom Hanks' houseboat was located in "Sleepless in Seattle".


Sorry it's dark, and the boater is small, but this picture reminded me of the scene where Tom Hanks is riding with his son back from the park on their little boat. There are houseboats all along the lake but since it was so dark and started to rain again, I decided to hold off on photos. If you magnify the picture he actually looks like Santa Clause.

So we did stop at one more Ross, believe it or not, in North Seattle. At that point we were tired of "adventuring" and headed for home in a torrential downpour, but seriously had a great day. We both had a lot of fun!

P.S. Our apartment is so quiet that this morning I thought it was still early a.m. when I rolled over...only to find that it was 8:30am! Geeze. Sleeping-in is sublime in our lovely tranquil apartment.

P.P.S. Thursday morning my mom and I went to West Seattle for another bakery run (bakery nouveau). It was so much fun and is so great to be able to have a fun morning with my mom whenever I want to!