Escape to Seattle DAY 2

We started out the day by heading to to some outlet malls east of Seattle. I had done some research and thought that they would include some of my favorite stores: Gap, Banana Republic and J Crew. I was highly disaponited to find that they only had a Gap with normal prices. It was more like an Outdoor Mall rather than an Outlet Mall.

When we drove up to the stores we were in awe of this mountain. Mt Si. So after talking to the owner of the Rocky Mt Chocolate Factory and eating one of his fab apples we thought we would try to drive up to it. Wow this picture really does not do it justice!

Some how we got a little sidetracked, but this is where we ended up.......

Snoqualmie Falls. These falls stand 268 ft tall. (100 ft taller than Niagra Falls). We got to view them from a lookout 300 ft above Snoqualmie River. It was majestic! So beautiful and powerful!






After lunch we decided to head out to the Boeing Factory north of Seattle in Everett.

We took a tour of the factory and it was amazing. That factory covers 98 acres. You could fit Disneyland in it with 10 acres to spare! We got to see how they assemble the 747, 777 and 787! It was really cool. Did you know that there are 6 Million parts to an airplane like that? Those blue bays are large enough for the planes to drive right out after assembly.

The plane pictured on the right was built to hold the fuselage and other parts of the 787. It was designed to transport the pieces of the plane to the factory for assembly. After all the parts arrive in Everett the 787 is assembled in just 3 days! People at Boeing work 24 hours a day, 5 days a week assembling airplanes.

After the tour I spotted a brochure for another Outlet Mall a little further N of Everett. Guess what it had the store I wanted. So after getting some dinner we headed up to the Outlet Mall.

We had fun! Mark was such a sport putting up with my shopping! We got him some nice new clothes and me some too! We even found some $2 shirts at Quicksilver! Can't beat that!

Escape to Seattle DAY 1

My husband and I have not been on a vacation alone (other than to visit family) since our honeymoon! A few months ago my friend Ellen told me about some $29 flights on Southwest Air. So we decided to be spontaneous and book a flight.

I called my mom and asked if she would stay with our kids and she sweetly agreed!

So off we went on our own little adventure. It is weird leaving the boys. I am really excited to relax, but I miss them and think about how they would have liked this or that! I must have seen 6 little families with kids our boys age struggling with their kids to get the to behave. I could not help but think I am glad that is not me! But I also caught myself thinking they need to lighten up! I need to lighten up sometimes too! It was fun to watch from a new perspective.

So our flight to Seattle went fine, we rented a car and we decided to first go to Pike's Market.

The Market was fun. We tasted fresh fruits, looked at flowers, hand crafted goods, fresh fish, and much more. We spent a few hours wandering through the vendors and shops. We bought fruit, flowers and honey sticks. I was tempted to buy some blown glass but passed it up.

Look at how pretty the flowers were. That is a rose cabbage in the middle, I thought they were interesting. I have never seen those before. I loved the fall colors of this bouquet. Oh the Asian flower ladies had signs that said small BO-K for $5. Funny huh?

When at the market we wandered off into a strange alley and found this wall of gum. Gross!


People had written their names with it, made picture and left messages.

For lunch we walked down the the waterfront to eat at Ivars! When I was a kid my parents brought us to Seattle a couple of times and we would eat at Ivars. Ivars is a fabulous fish and chips shop that has been in Seattle since 1938.
One of the best memories of Ivars is the seagulls. Look at them all lined up ready to feast! If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see that the one closest to us is squealing for more food!

You throw it they catch it! We each got fish and chips and a big bowl of chowder. We were too full to eat all of our fries so we joined in on the bird feeding fun!



After dinner we went to the Space Needle! A must see in Seattle!
There we are on top over looking the Puget Sound. Aren't we cute!?

This picture is funny because that guy there in the Seattle Seahawks hat became like our unofficial tour guide. He was showing this business man around also pictured and he was telling stories and educating him on the Seattle sites. We were interested so we just followed him around the needle listening to the unofficial tour!

We decided to go up to the needle just before sunset so we could get views of the city in the day and at night! Here you can see Mt. Rainer, Safeco Feild and Qwest Feild. Home of the Seattle Seahawks and Marriners!