Seattle +

We had a great time in Seattle. Nikki made reservations for dinner at the space needle. It was great company, great food, and the view never got old. We did 3.5 rotations before we were ready to go. After dinner we spent a few moments on the view deck in the rain and wind, but still managed smiles for the photos. In the photo left to right, Edith, Nikki, Jazzi, Garrett, and Alex. Lou and I have heard many people talk about the underground tour of Seattle, but honestly we were skeptical it really existed. So while we were in Seattle this time we made a point to find out, and check it out. We really enjoyed the tour, learned about the craziness that is the history of Seattle. One favorite story was about the exploding toilets. Back in the day, 1880ish, Seattle didn't have the sewer system figured out all too well. They used gravity to move the sewage into the bay, ok sounds like that might work except at high tide the flows reversed. If you flushed your toilet during this reversal the pressure was released and voila, exploding toilet. YUCK! The newspaper published the tidal charts to help people avoid these incidents, but you can bet from time to time some out-of-town guest didn't quite believe it until they saw it. So next time you are in Seattle and have a spare 90 minutes, try the tour.
Lou and I are in one of the underground rooms, the floors are all warped because they were built on tidal flats.
As Lou posted earlier, we were in Seattle to hang out with my sister and other Homerites participating in the Pinapple classic fundraiser race. For this event each team must carry a pineapple across 5km of obstacles, costumes encouraged. My sister's team went with the superhereo theme, and they looked fabulous! If you are ever looking for that just for fun race the Pineapple classic is for you. Plus you are raising money for a good cause. There were some great costumes and great entertainment watching teams lob their pineapple over cargo nets or haul them through tunnels, all good family fun.
The last night we made a visit to the Pikes place brewery, Pete was hanging out, Clayton (another Homerite) came over from Bremerton, and Crystal, who I have known since before we were born, came down from Bellingham. It was really great to see everyone. The brewery was followed by a visit to the candy store and a delightful candy apple treat challenge. There are candy apples and then there are CANDY apples. Pete picked out the largest most sugar coated apple in the store, green apple covered in caramel, marshmallows, nuts, and two kinds of chocolate. The rocky-road topping was over an inch thick all the way around and it was delicious. A perfect treat for six, but can't imagine trying to eat all by oneself.
photo left to right: Gala, Clayton, Louie, Jaz, Garrett, Pete, Crystal, Alex. Thanks for taking the pic Nikki.
We are back in Santa Cruz this week, Lou was offered a few days of work and we decided to take them. I should be editing my thesis, so enough for now. Headed to CO on Saturday, for more family, friends and fun!