Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
These are a Few of My Favorite Vacation Spots
I love to travel. Anywhere. Everywhere. And as the world is (finally) opening up again our travel planning has begun. So for this week’s Sunday Stills photo challenge, I thought I’d share some of my favorite vacation spots, starting closest to home.
Olympic National Park
I love all the national parks but Olympic National Park is one of my favorites. Fortunately we can be there in less than four hours and enjoy all of this – and do so every year.
Canadian Rockies
For the perfect road trip from Seattle there’s nothing like heading north to the Canadian Rockies to visit the best of Canada’s National Parks – Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff. I can’t believe it’s been almost five years since our last trip. Clearly it’s time to go again – hopefully when the border reopens.
Hawaii
Finally, I can’t think of a better vacation spot than Hawaii. Four major islands to choose from and direct flights from Seattle. One whiff of the fragrant, warm breezes and I’m immediately on island time.
Maybe we can squeeze in a trip to Hawaii this year too. One can dream, can’t they 🙂
~ Susanne
Downtown Seattle in Black and White
For Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge I thought I’d take you on a tour of downtown Seattle with a little history on the way. Use the slider to view the image in both color, and black and white.
My first job downtown was next door to the tallest building in town at the time. Then called the Seafirst Bank Building it was also known as ‘the box the Space Needle came in.’ I think some folks believed it.
Later on I worked near another monolith – the Columbia Center – at 933 feet and 76 stories, still the tallest in Seattle.
But the earliest record holder for tallest Seattle skyscraper was the Smith Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi when built in 1914. I remember taking the bus downtown when I was a kid and paying 35 cents to the bellhop to ride the elevator to the top.
It’s still the most iconic of Seattle’s skyscrapers though it’s clearly dwarfed by it neighbors in the skyline.
The Amazon spheres appeared much later downtown as the company gobbled up real estate in South Lake Union.
Their new buildings created a canyon through which to view the Space Needle in the distance.
Finally I’ll close with scenes from the Pike Place Market, opened in 1907 and a favorite of locals and tourists alike.
Mostly I prefer a Seattle in color but it was fun to experiment with black and white.
I hope you enjoyed the tour.
~ Susanne
Where’s the Mountain? Behind Seattle’s Gray
The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle, sang Perry Como.
Perhaps they are – just not often enough! 😉
It turns out that Seattle is one of the cloudiest cities in the country, with over 300 cloudy days a year on average. Which means there are many days when clouds obscure that beautiful mountain to the south.
In fact, many a traveler has come to Seattle hoping to see the elusive Mt. Rainier, only to find it shrouded in clouds.
Sometimes the clouds are indistinguishable, a mass of milky gray blanketing the sky. Other times they are threatening and ominous, like when they hovered over the city on our second ever cruise.
We watched and waited as they threatened, then made good on their promise.
Fortunately for us the rain stayed south and was short lived. We left Seattle high and dry, enjoying a perfect sunset later at sea.
Still – it might be time to add a new verse to the song.
“The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle. Perhaps the grayest too.”
~ Susanne
Where’s Benji?
Happy Saturday from Susanne and Benji!
Sweet Smelling Azaleas!
My favorite azaleas are blooming this week filling the garden with the fragrance of honeysuckle!
Can you smell them?
For Cee’s Flower of the Day. 🙂
~ Susanne
Bicycling Along the Mighty Columbia!
Looking for someplace special to ride your bike? We were too! And we found it along the mighty Columbia River on the Apple Capital Loop Trail! Yes it did require a quick jaunt over the mountains and an overnight stay in Wenatchee – but that was half the fun!
We took a leisurely drive on Stevens Pass over the Cascades through Bigfoot Country
and the next day we were ready to roll, starting at Wenatchee Confluence Park.
The trail was a perfect 10 miles round trip with waterfront parks and sculptures dotting the west side of the river.
Under the watchful eye of a nesting Osprey!
On the east side we had solitude, lovely views of town,
and more birds, larger in number but smaller in size.
Tiny quail running across the path as fast as their feet could carry them.
As we neared the end of the loop, views of the Cascade Mountains came into focus and we were back to where we started.
That afternoon we drove back home over Blewett Pass under big sky leaving the mountains behind.
We’ll be back to take the trail further up to Rocky Reach Dam but this will do for now.
– Susanne
Glorious Tulips at Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival!
Happy, happy to have stopped by the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, Oregon last month, on the way home from our road trip! That’s Mt. Hood in the background in case you wondered.
It was our first time at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm but it won’t be the last! It’s my new favorite place to celebrate tulips!
Sharing with Lens-Artist Photo Challenge and Cee’s Flower of the Day.
~ Susanne
Road Trip – Part 4 San Francisco!
In my last post on our Road Trip I left you in the tunnel where San Francisco loomed large!
We’d already traveled the Oregon Coast, through the Redwoods and California’s Coast to get here. I honestly had my doubts about stopping in San Francisco; it was Bob’s idea.
“Remember we’re in a pandemic dear and it’s only just reopening after a year in lockdown. It’s not easy to drive in either.”
But all my worries were in vain – they usually are. We arrived fresh off Highway 1 on a Friday afternoon with light traffic, and easily found our hotel on Fisherman’s Wharf. The streets were mostly empty and those who were out were masked up. We walked to Pier 39 as the sun began to set and I remembered why I love visiting this city!
The cable cars and trolleys weren’t running so the next day we settled for the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus (on top open air) to get around town. Our first stop was the Ferry Building where we had coffee and pastries – not mushrooms in case you wondered.
From there we walked to Union Square when our bus failed to appear in a timely manner. Fortunately we know the city and enjoyed the walk.
But after lunch we rode through the remaining stops so we weren’t forgotten again! Here are some highlights of our tour.
Eventually we were back where we started. We still had plenty of daylight so we explored more of Pier 39, then walked over to Municipal Pier for another look at the skyline and bridge.
We had dinner at McCormicks at Ghiradelli Square where they even took our temperature upon entry. The lobster bisque was wonderful.
Afterwards we returned to our hotel to relax for the evening. That is, until I realized it was almost time for sunset, and ran back over to catch it. I’m glad I did.
And that mostly concludes this road trip – after San Francisco we took I-5 and were back home in two days.
I say ‘mostly concludes’ because there was a stop at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival outside of Portland, which was quite wonderful.
Stay tuned for that! 🙂
~ Susanne
Close Up on Raindrops
After a warm and dry spring the rain has returned to Seattle like an old friend and the raindrops were welcomed all over my garden.
Captured by Lady’s Mantle
Adorning Strawberries like Jewels
Resting on Golden Spirea
Inspired by Sunday Stills, Water in the Details and Cee’s Midweek Madness, May Close Up.
~ Susanne
Bloom Where You’re Planted – Or Not!
They say you should bloom where you are planted. My Clematis thinks otherwise and is climbing up, up, up and over to escape the confines of my yard, fence or whatever else is in the way.
I think it has the better idea.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 