The Seattle Vacation Continued

Well, after the Underground Tour and the Seattle Aquarium (which was overrun with kids. Kids that ran wild. Kids that crowded the exhibits and pounded on the glass with their sticky fists, leaving a greasy residue on everything ), we were ready to tackle the Space Needle! I've heard of the revolving restaurant and always wanted to go, so Mom made lunch reservations for 12:30 and we were off! Since we had some time before lunch, we decided to got to the Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum. The Science Fiction Museum was totally awesome. They had Star Wars and Star Trek artifacts, which would have been enough for me, but we also got to see the robot from The Swiss Family Robinson as well as stuff from Terminator, Rocket Man, Barbarella, Blade Runner, The Matrix, and tons of other SciFi programs I had never even heard of. Dad and I had lost Steve and Mom in the Music Project somewhere, so it was just the two of us and we totally embraced our nerdy-ness....
A quick note about the Experience Music Project. They didn't have any classic rock stuff. None, nada, zilch. No shrine to Led Zepplin, no rare Pink Floyd concert footage, no fur-lined jacket belonging to Janis Joplin, no Pete Townsend bell-bottoms. Anyone who knows me will understand how heart broken I was and how affronted I felt in the face of this HUGE oversight. Oh, but they did have a whole mezzanine devoted to latin music, which included bands like Hannibal and the Headhunters, The Texas Tornados, and lest we forget, Salina. Ugh...I just can't think about it.
Anyway, what they lacked in taste, they made up for in architecture. The building was visually stunning and was designed by the same architect that did the Walt Disney Music Hall in LA. Here are some pictures I took of my family as we were waiting for the museums to open.





Here are some classic shots of the Space Needle, and, my parents....


Here we are enjoying our brunch, while watching the whole city rotate by...


Ah, Seattle, the Emerald City! We had a great time and I hope to make this a new tradition for the Andersens!

The Seattle "Underground" Tour

We've just arrived back from Seattle, where the Andersen Family decided to take our holiday vacation. As a family, we thought that instead of a material holiday, we would fill only stockings and go on vacation instead, just the four of us! Because time and money (of course, stupid money...) were limiting factors, we considered a few choices and settled on Seattle. After the three hour drive, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and headed straight to the Pike Place Market! I got a tea cozy (because when I unpacked, I realized I had three tea pots, but no cozy, go figure), some whole nutmeg, proscuitto ends that I'll use for stock, cheese curds, chocolate covered cherries, and some really fabulous dry salami. I would have pictures, but my brain was still addled from the drive and I forgot it in the hotel room...boo....

Anyway, the next day dawned bright and early at 10am (Mom and Dad let the kids sleep in), then we headed off to buy tickets to the Seattle Underground Tour. Yes, there's a lot more to any city than meets the eye and apparently any port town (Portland and Long Beach included) will have more than it's share of subterrainian relics and numerous tales of shang-hi, prostitution, gambling, and general vice. Hmmmm....sounds perfect for the Andersen's! We bought tickets for the 1pm tour and after an orientation of sorts in the "Doc Maynerd" bar, we were off to hear the sinful past of Pioneer Square. Here are some innocent surface shots. Yes, they looked happy, but little did they know......Bwa ha ha!!!!

The Smith Building....


We finally decended underground and after touring several dank, abandoned (well, except for all the tours), and cobweb draped corridors we found ourselves under the city streets. An old skylight was the only natural light available and we could see the shadows of people's feet as they walked overhead. This is the view of the glass from underneath....

and from above....

This is how the glass started, as cones, in order to reflect the light underground for the people working below. After time, the cone disintegrated and only the hexagon shape was left.

Some relics of the old hotel on top of which the current Pioneer Square sits.






If only they still made toilets this pretty! This is an example they had at the Underground Tour museum.

Thank you Thomas Crapper for your timeless legacy! A quote from the tank: "Crapper's Valveless Waste Preventer". Yay!

The Huntington Library

Well, since there has been a small (very small) break in our travels, I decided to post some of the pictures I took in California before I left. I decided to go to the Huntington Library and Botanical gardens once more, taking with me my then new digital camera. Here are some of the photos I took of the Bonsai displays and the Japanese Gardens.

Here is something I'd never seen before: Bonsai Pomegrante!



I started playing around with perspective and discovered mini forests...



Two shots of the famous Japanese Bridge. I know, everyone takes a photo of this bridge, but I couldn't leave So. Cal without them!





It had just rained and all the foliage was covered with dew, making the plants sparkle!




By the time I had fiddle-farted around taking pictures of the Japanese Garden, it was time to make my way back to the Rose Garden and Tea House. Here are some pictures I took while waiting for my reservation.

Moving

A quick note to Brent to say "You were right about moving"!!! Recently, Brent had experienced a substantial hike to his already exorbanent rent and casually started looking for other apartments. In the end, when I asked him how the hunt was going, this is what he said to me: "Well, I thought about it and realized that paying the extra money is worth it to me not to move". I now know exactly what he means. I'm so sore...I never realized how much kitchen crap I had! I mean, it all has a purpose, and I love it all, but I must have the most fitted out kitchen of any 26 year old I know! It seemed like every other box had "KITCHEN-FRAGILE" scrawled on the top in big, black writing. Also, now that I finally have enough room, I got to retrieve some of my things from the barn....things that had been in storage for three years.....in the barn. All I'm saying is that I've been running this dishwasher for two days straight and we have some very lazy cats! Anyway, it's like Christmas has come early as I discover treasures long forgotten (or replaced). I will take some pictures of my new pad when it's not such a disaster area. However, after helping me move to college, then back to St. Helens, then to Lakewood, then back to St. Helens, then finally to Portland, Mom has told me in no uncertain terms that this is the last time she's shifting my shit! She said next time, I'd better have a boyfriend and three of his biggest, strongest friends to help. I told her I'd work on it....
To everyone at Farmer John, Happy Holidays! You're holiday cards are in the mail and enjoy the Mariachi's! Have a plateful of salsa, dumplings, fried chicken, and Tres Leches for me!
To Brent, you have probably already left to Nebraska for the Holidays and I expect some good family stories on you blog, mister! You're Birthday and Christmas gifts are picked out, but not mailed yet. But I do have them, and so will you when I finally get my ass to the post office!

Picking up a Hoosier

Well, it seems like we get home, unpack, do laundry, just to repack and hit the road again. This time, it was my hare-brained scheming that got us back in San Francisco (and Petaluma) only a month after being here the first time. If you've been following my blog, you'll remember that I did a very un-Becky like thing and bought an expensive, antique piece of furniture at the spur of the moment. Well, the time has come to pick it up. This means hitching the trailer back on my truck, driving down I-5 again and try to figure out a way to put this expensive, antique Hoosier on the trailer and how to protect it from the various weather elements without damaging it beyond all recognition. I hope we can pull it off tomorrow.....In the meantime, Shelli and Jeff (proud owners of Knitterly in downtown Petaluma), were very kind to put us up for two nights yet again. As if that wasn't punishment enough for them, they also volunteered to take us around San Fran on our own private tour (Shelli must really like our yarn, I think). We went to the farmer's market where we found fantastic paninis made by an actual italian and lots of mouth- watering produce. I won't list all of our purchases, as some of them are destined for stockings......

Here are some shots of the Farmer's Market. Shelli is picking out some really beautiful flowers, while Jeff carries some goodies...


Mmmmm, it all looked good....



Hand made glass earrings....

Here is a quick update on the self-proclaimed "World Famous Bushman" (that's actually written on the bucket, heehee). He is still wreaking havoc on the streets of Fisherman's Wharf, but has now changed his instruments of horror from regular tree branches, to the more festive evergreen branches. He's so hilarious....

Here is Shelli preparing for the Dungeness crab we had for lunch.

We saw this on a hot dog stand and found it so similar to the "Trish the Dish" nickname Mom has at Knitterly, that we had to take a picture. What a strange coincidence, huh???


And so, here we are, at the end of another day in Ghirardelli Square. Sigh...to anyone reading this, wish us luck tomorrow. I really hope it all goes smoothly!