Back in Seattle!

 Today officially marks the end of our Alaskan Cruise Adventure. The ship was in port in Seattle by 4:30 AM, but the call for the process of disembarking wasn’t made until 6:30 AM. 

We made our exit just before 8:00, opting to just roll out our own luggage, which went without a hitch. We shared an Uber lift with our cruise friends, as we were all booked into the same hotel. Our rooms were ready by 9:00! We couldn’t beat that!

We dropped off our luggage and went out to explore the city. 

My knee is a bit tight from all of yesterday’s walking which exceeded 20,000 steps, so we just traveled a bit slowly as we headed to the Smith Tower which was our ultimate destination. 

The city for the most part is exceptionally clean, particularly where we are staying. We passed some very interesting sculptures 

and fascinating buildings

Old mixed with the new. 

We spotted the totem pole in Pioneer park, which really isn't much of a park.

This is actually a Tlingit Totem Pole and is referenced as the Chief of all Women Pole. Just a block away, there were several other carved creations, but I am not aware of the history associated with these. 

From here we made our way to Smith Tower.  

We had opted to tour this tower rather than the infamous Space Needle. It's not nearly as tall, but in 1914, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, and it had an interesting history.  On the 35th floor there was a restaurant which offered a 360 degree view of the city.  Considering that it was a bit hazy, we felt we had made the right choice.  It was less expensive, had less people, and we could sit and enjoy each other's company for over 2 hours!

There was also the entertainment of watching one of our friends photograph salt and pepper shakers that he takes with him on all of his trips. 

Here's one he took with the Hubbard Glacier in the background. 

I think he might be onto some kind of artistic career!

We had some fun with selfies:

As you can see, we make an entertaining crew. 

We certainly had another fun adventure with these two couples, and are thrilled that they asked us to join us back in March.  I had been skeptical about taking a cruise on a large party boat, but they made the experience very entertaining.   The fun that we had in Italy continued in Alaska!  We bid them fond farewell last evening and they might even be planning a future excursion that includes us.  How nice of them to include us "oldies". 

Today Marty and I are going to view Seattle on the Hop On ....Hop Off bus before we head to the airport for a night flight.  I'm not sure how much hopping I will do, but it appears to be a beautiful day, so we might as well make the most of it!

Thanks for following along!

Settled in Seattle

After four full days of fun, it was time to head onto our next adventure. We bid fond farewell to Steve and Sarah who had graciously chauffeured us to the train station in Salem. 

Our seats were roomy and actually quite comfortable.  The train stopped several times to board and unboard passengers, and the entire trip was less than 5 hours.  The conductor certainly got a workout, walking up and down the attached cars over and over again after each station stop. 

Steve had packed us sandwiches for the trip, so we were perfectly content to settle into our seats and  have someone doing the long drive for us. 

When we reached our destination, I was surprised at how warm the temperatures were as I had expected them to be a bit cooler.  Once we arrived and retrieved our luggage, we began the mile trek to our hotel with the last few blocks being uphill.  I'll admit....it was a bit of a workout, but we handled it well. 

And, we managed to see some interesting sites along the way. 

Here is our hotel where we are settled in a room on the 16th floor. 

When we walked into the hotel we were surprised to see our friends from the Italy tour waiting for us in the lobby!  They had arrived earlier in the day from Tennessee where they call home.   We all decided to meet for dinner, so Marty and I headed out to explore some of the streets on our way to Capital Hill. 

We certainly stumbled upon some fascinating sites.  Lush green plants

as well as various fountains to add to the tranquility. 

This plaza looked like the perfect place to sit, relax, and take in the beauty of it all. 

And there were some interesting scenes worth photographing for the memory. 

 As we headed up hill towards our destination, I was taken with the brilliant reflection in the glass of this building along the walk, so I captured a photo. 

We had chosen an Italian restaurant to celebrate our reunion, which seemed quite appropriate considering that was how we all met.  

We had a grand time chatting and catching up and the time flew by. 

We figured it was time to head back down to the hotel, which, I will admit was much easier than the opposite direction! 

In case you are interested, here is a sneak peek of the view from our hotel room. 

It's quite comfortable, and I actually hear a soft bed calling my name. 

Until next time.....