Seattle – Arrival and Overview

Frank and I just got back Saturday, July 26th from a ten-day trip to Seattle where we vacationed with two couples, friends from our college days at MIT. The first few days we did outdoorsy activities in the Mount Rainier area and at Snoqualmie Falls. Later in our stay we got a City Pass and enjoyed metropolitan day trips in the city of Seattle itself. We had a great mixture of eating out at local restaurants and eating in at the five bedroom craftsman style house we rented. We talked or played games in the evenings. This blog post is the first in a series that will describe our adventures.

Sue & John, Joe & Margaret, and Frank & I had this photo taken
when we were all at the top of the iconic Space Needle of Seattle.
This was our motley crew for the Seattle trip.

Before having all this fun though I needed to get ready for the trip. I am OK once on the plane but usually I am a nervous pre-traveler. I dislike packing and I generally stress out about forgetting something, or losing my ID, or having overweight luggage, or getting to the airport too late, or leaving something behind at security. For this trip I was more relaxed. There was no need to remember the oodles of gift items I usually take when visiting Dan's or Robin's families. Alex with his medications and other special needs was not coming along. It was just Frank and me traveling and we were taking Southwest Airlines as we do the majority of the time. We had an early afternoon departure time on Thursday, July 17th. The flight time was only 1 hour and 55 minutes. Piece o' cake!

Southwest does not pre-assign seats but you need to get a boarding pass within 24 hours of your flight that dictates your boarding order for the plane and subsequently your seat selection. We generally sit poised in front of the computer and hit the submit key at the first second of the opening of that 24-hour window. Well, I guess I was blasé enough this trip, that we nearly forgot to get those passes! We were so late that, horror of horrors we were B58 and B59, out of the boarding pass groups of A1-A60, B1-B60, or C1-C60. This meant that about two thirds of the plane would board before us and select their seats. Relatively calm for the trip up to this point, this minor incident illogically triggered my travel panic button and I fretted immensely over it. To my inane travel mind, it was a sign that the entire trip would go badly. Well, we boarded the plane and wound up sitting in an exit row. The row had only two seats and those seats turned out to be great. We had more room. Getting out to the aisle was easier. We had a view out the window unobscured by any other passenger's head. My mood brightened. This was a sign that the rest of the trip was going to be great! And it was. The weather was unseasonably beautiful for Seattle - there was very little rain and it was temperately sunny most of the time we were there.

Our two exit row seats were roomy, private, an a pleasant surprise allaying my dire fears.

Our flight went smoothly, landed on time, but was delayed slightly on the runway waiting for a gate to open up for our plane. Once we deplaned, we spotted our luggage on a carousel even before we were able to figure out which carousel it was supposed to be on.  We boarded the shuttle bus for the satellite rental car facility. On the way we passed the turn around for the ubiquitous Seattle County yellow taxis that service the SeaTac Airport. Those sporty, itty-bitty, sunshine-colored cars were so cute as they zipped around the turn-around quickly. They reminded me of bees busily buzzing around a hive.

I was delighted and bemused by this scene of scurrying taxis, our first glimpse of Seattle
from the windows of the rental car shuttle bus.

Our 72 mile drive to our cabin in Ashford at the base of Mount Rainier was full of a variety of sites to behold. We drove right by the Tacoma Dome, saw planes overhead from nearby military facilities, and had lush lakeside vistas to view along side the roadway.

The Tacoma Dome has the capacity to seat 23,000 and was built in 1983.
It loomed up in front to us on our drive to Mount Rainier.

We made a pitstop at the McDonald's near Puyallup and just had to look up to see
these planes that populated the sky due to nearby air fields.

There were several lake vistas and views of dams on our way to Mount Rainier.

Our cabin was in the town of Ashford at the base of Mount Rainier, just outside the west entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. Halfway up to the Mt. Rainier summit is a visitor and overlook area titled Paradise. Appropriately the place we stayed near the base was called Almost Paradise Lodging.

Our drive from Sea-Tac airpiort (A) to Ashford (B) took a little under two hours . On the final stretch
heading east, the silhouette of Mount Rainier would suddenly and periodically surprise us
by peeking out directly in front of us when the surrounding trees allowed.

Our cabin was the Paradise Guest House.

This brochure welcomed us to our cabin,
The Paradise Guest House.

The closest corner of this lodge building was our cabin home during our two night stay near Mount Rainer.
The three windows on the left were in our kitchen and family room. The sliding door led out to our hot tub.
We never did use the hot tub but the yellow rubber duckie perched on it
was a cheery greeting as we went in and out.

The roomy living room boasted the comfort of a cozy fireplace and
the simple pleasure of a TV and large selection of DVDs free to borrow.

I was very pleased to find a handcrafted quilt on the bed.

This is Dugan, a huge but very friendly German Shepherd
who roamed the grounds in search of any one willing to play.

Our friends John and Sue had rented a cabin a bit down the road and we found their place. It was late enough in the evening that they'd already had dinner but they came with us to the Copper Creek Restaurant. Frank and I both had chicken with a topping of apples and sour cream that was moist, delicious, unusual, and perfectly prepared. John had the unlikely but yummy combination of french fires followed by blackberry pie. Blackberry pie is a specialty of the Mount Rainier area. Sue was full. She just had tea. We sat at the outdoor table that you see in the photo. The balmy evening was perfect for dining alfresco and catching up with old friends. Afterwards, we all retreated to our cabins, tired from a day of hiking for them and a day of travel for us. 

Frank & I and John & Sue leisurely dined at the leftmost outside table shown in the photo.

Here is an overview of how we kept busy that hints at the content of the blog posts to come. You really did not expect to get six nerds from MIT together without generating a spreadsheet or two, now did you?

Here is a chart of our outings, meals, and games while in Seattle, Washington.

Actually, since we were socializing on this trip, we are more correctly dubbed geeks, rather than nerds. We enjoyed looking up the difference. I think that may make us dorks as well.

While at lunch one day we asked Siri what were the differences among nerds, geeks, and dorks.
She knew and displayed it easily. Does that make Siri a geek?

Busy Week the Fourth of July

You would think that after the last of our visitors left on June 24th we would have taken it easy. I was mildly boasting that all of the activities with my sister were relatively free - none required tickets. We made up for that the following week. Here is one week's worth of tickets.

Frank and I went to the A's game and the Shakespeare play with our friend Vickie.
We went with Alex to the county fair. Just the two of us went to the Jersey Boys movie.

Saturday June 28, 2014 Livermore Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing

Sunday June 29, 2014 Alameda County Fair

Tuesday July 1, 2014 Jersey Boys movie

Thursday July 3, 2014 A's baseball game and fireworks

Friday July 4, 2015 - Downtown Livermore fireworks... free!

The Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing was staged on and around the porch of a Victorian house in our local Concannon Vineyard. I am not a real fan of Shakespeare and by far no Shakespeare scholar. We go to this venue because of the ambience. The acting was excellent and the actors were expressive enough that I could actually follow what was going on. We dressed in layers and had a blanket because when the evening wind picks up a bit the breeze floating across the flat vineyard land can be a tad chilly. The play was a bit long at three hours and though we did enjoy ourselves, we were tuckered out at its conclusion. Perhaps the wine and hot chocolate contributed to our overly relaxed demeanor. Fortunately the drive home from there for us it about 5 minutes!

This intimate setting hosts plays that begin just as the sun is started to set over the vineyard. Beautiful!

We took Alex to the county fair the next day mainly to see the huge livestock shed filled with cages of bunnies. We looked at the quilts and crafts area too of course.

So many bunnies and so little time to feed them all...   carrots of course! 

This little recycling hero holding up the earth caught my fancy.
Can you tell what he is made of?

Made of lids and bottle tops I'd call him... cue music...
dada-dada-dada-dada, dada-dada-dada-dada, CAPMAN!

The Jersey Boys movie we went to on the following Tuesday afternoon was entertaining. Frank and I enjoyed it. The music was good... Dawn (Go Away), Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Sherry Baby, You're Just Too Good To Be True. There were some New Jersey gangster innuendoes but nothing violent or offensive. It was amusing the number of names they went through before setting on the Four Seasons.

Was it the glamour? Was it the fame? No.
It was about the music.

On Thursday July 3rd, the A's game was exciting and we had excellent seats. There were some unusual plays and part of the game was played under protest. But the good guys won - Oakland A's not Toronto Blue Jays. There were fantastic fireworks afterward and fans were invited down to the field to watch. Frank, Vickie, and I stayed in our seats and enjoyed a marvelous, comfortable view of the spectacular full-fledged fireworks show.

Fans at the Oakland Coliseum were invited to sit on the field after the game and watch the fireworks.
This photo was taken from our vantage point.

The next night, July 4th,  Frank and I walked with Alex to downtown Livermore and watched a pancake style fireworks show set off from the top of the municipal four story parking garage. A pancake show is smaller in scale and less expensive. It was big enough for our tastes, lasting 20 minutes. We were impressed and it was free. 

The relatively small crowd was friendly and low-key.

We could walk to the down town parking garage from our house to enjoy this show.

On the way back home we stopped at the lighted leaping fountains of the downtown area. The evening was warm and pleasant. The jostling throngs were jolly and not rowdy. All in all, it was a great 4th of July.

Alex loves to be out at night and among the hub-bub of crowds. He loves lights and water.
What a great way to cap off an evening of good ol' American fireworks!

A Week with My Sister - Part 2

Friday June 20th after the tea room and Berry Patch store Maxine and I met up with Frank at the Ironwood new home development in Pleasanton to browse the models. It had been a busy day and after touring briefly we came home and crashed on the couch with the movie Just Like Heaven.  Earlier in the week we had watched Hitch and Spanglish. I've have seen these movies several times and they always are enjoyable light entertainment.

Hitch: The Sea-doo scene and the food allergy scene are hysterical.
Spanglish: In one fast-paced scene the young daughter translates during an argument. She is amazing!
Just Like Heaven: This romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo is one of my favorites.

Saturday June 21st Maxine announced "I do not want to look at any model homes unless they are over $1,000,000." That is not difficult at all in California so we set off to Cameron Place in Pleasanton. We enjoyed looking at the decor but did not pine over anything we saw. There was an extended size great room with adjoining office and a media room that were pretentious but not all that desirable. There is a quote by Lin Yutang that goes "The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you have, and to be able to lose all desire for things beyond your reach." I think we were on the same page.

Maxine is relaxing in the great room. Just behind her is the office extension option.
From the angle of this photo it looks to me like she is on post in a gun turret
and the viewer is gazing down the barrel of the cannon.

Frank and Maxine are on their way to join me in the extended office. This place was HUGE!

Media room anyone? What is there to watch that merits this dedication of space?

My favorite parts were little details in the home. The laundry room had a gift wrapping section. I liked this stack of wrapped packages. It reinforces my strong penchant for polka dots.

Colorful and cheery this stack of gifts just made me smile.
So I took a picture to remind me. Maxine said I was silly.

I just thought Maxine looked so nice in color-coordinated, beautiful shades of blue.
 I made her pause for a picture between model homes.

After our model home outing we had lunch at Red Robin. They are known for their gourmet burgers but we went their mainly for the variety in their menu and the ambience. The hostess station where you turn in your name for the wait list is actually half a car. There were large model airplanes hanging from the ceiling in the eating area and retro metal signage on the walls.

The bird mascot is fun and (do not quote me on this) but I believe the car is a '57 Chevy... red, of course!

When we got home, I dug out some piano music and Maxine began to warm up her fingers by "tickling the ivories" a bit.

Sunday June 22nd we picked up Alex from St. Denis where Alex demonstrated his puzzle assembly skills to Aunt Maxine. We then went bowling with him and had lunch at the Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl where Alex is a regular. We took him back to St. Denis and then drove back home to Livermore.

Aunt Maxine and Alex pause from working on his safari 100 piece giant wooden puzzle.
Note how Alex hogs all the puzzle pieces.

Applause is in order after every piece is popped in place with a decisive slap.

Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl is Alex's home alley. He is well-like and welcomed here anytime!

On the drive back to Livermore we drove south of the Livermore Airport by the more rural Jack London Boulevard. The airport is bordered on the north by the I-580 freeway and on the east by Isabel Avenue and we take either the northern then eastern 580/Isabel route or the south Jack London route. We did both during Maxine's visit since the two routes gave different perspectives. Maxine seemed to enjoy watching the small planes landing or taking off at the local airport, occasionally commenting on how low they were.

Central to the map is the Livermore Municipal Airport.
Point B is roughly the crash site and Point C is roughly our house.

The evening before a small private plane, had taken off from this airport about 5:00 pm and had caught fire, crashing 2-3 miles northeast of Livermore. Since we had been returning from Pleasanton about that time Saturday June 21st, it very well could have been one of the planes we'd noticed. The plane had been built from a kit by a veteran pilot but he did not survive. The crash set off a grass fire that consumed about 1.5 acres. Our two weeks of visitors had coincided with two fires and a plane crash. Instead of driving directly home after bowling, we detoured north to see the crash site.

The plane went down in a rural area so no-one other that the pilot was hurt.
Property damage was limited to the 1.5 acre grass fire, the blackened area on the hill.
The silver region in the center of the blackened area is remaining debris from the plane.

Once we got back home from our rubber-necking excursion, Maxine sat down and played the piano in earnest. She fearlessly attacked all sorts of classical music that I had never had the training nor courage to attempt. She apologized that her fingers were a bit rusty and that she had not brought the correct glasses but I thought she sounded way, way better that I ever could!

Just look at all the notes on those pages of music! Way out of my league!
The next book up in her repertoire was the one to the right with the portraits of classical composers.

Is this intense concentration? Or is this, "I wish I'd brought my music glasses"?

Monday June 23rd was the day before Maxine was to leave so we intended to keep it low key. But we did venture across the San Francisco Bay. We drove out to our closest IKEA, 45 minutes and 34 miles southwest of us. We crossed the bay on the Dumbarton Bridge, which, at 1.63 miles long, is the shortest bridge across San Francisco Bay. We ate lunch at their cafeteria renowned for, what else, Swedish meatballs!

Although on the other side of the bay, IKEA is a reasonable drive from us across the Dumbarton Bridge.
This was our farthest day trip during her stay. 

The store is arranged in three levels: a showroom level where their products are displayed in room setting type situations, a market place level where you can pick from shelves items you'd seen and wanted to purchase, and a furniture and checkout out area.

After leisurely strolling the showroom area and having lunch
we began to tire and made only a brief tour of the marketplace. 

Of course for lunch we had to have their famous Swedish meatballs - fifteen per serving. 

We counted! And they were sooooo good!

Maxine enjoyed hamming up playing her role of Vanna White as she demonstrated some kitchen cabinet features in the IKEA display kitchens.

And here we have a highly engineered, efficient rotating corner storage unit.
Maxine was even color coordinated well with the kitchen she promoted.

 

And Voila! You too can own this precisely organized drawer system for all
your kitchen tools, utensils, gadgets, bowls and specialty items!

After IKEA we came home and Maxine packed for the next day. We played Scrabble late into the night, since Maxine's flight was, thankfully not until Tuesday afternoon.

The games we played were close. But I won!

I almost forgot one of Maxine's major activities while here. She really liked my HGTV magazines. She read through over a years' worth of the issues while she was here. Maxine was very methodic, placing a check mark in the upper left corner of the cover of each issue as she read it. She even circled some articles on each cover that she thought might be of particular interest to me. Even the night before she left, she was up to the wee hours determined to finish the last ones. I offered that she could take them with her but she did not want the weight. I dare say she will be getting her own subscription. They have lots of good information and ideas in them and are so colorful, they are just a joy to browse through even if all you do is look at the pictures.

Note the check mark in each upper left corner. Bravo for Maxine. She met her reading goal before she left.
Ironically when we got home from taking her to the airport my newest issue was waiting in the mailbox.

Tuesday June 24th Maxine's flight left mid afternoon so we left for the Oakland airport around noon. Frank dropped Maxine and me off curbside at the terminal and parked the car. Southwest personnel were so nice and allowed us both to have gate passes so we could go back and wait with her and not say goodbye til the last moment when she boarded. It was a great visit. I think we mutually tired each other out but had fun.

Maxine poses for one last picture before leaving for Oakland airport.

Maxine's flight went through Chicago and left just a few minutes after schedule.

Our visitors have all  left. Time for Frank and me to go home and collapse. There will be opportunity enough later in the week to clean out the refrigerator and catch up on laundering sheets and towels. Details. Details. Having visitors is well worth the effort!

A Week with My Sister - Part 1

Monday, June 16th, the kids' Father's Day weekend visit officially ended with Jeremy, Robin, and Autumn's morning departure for the San Francisco Airport. I think I would have been really glum but my sister was staying on for a week. We did not plan to be very ambitious but did get out of the house most every day with some minimum outing. On the Monday they left, Maxine and I returned several baby items I had bought just in case they'd be needed. As it turns out, they were not. I had a co-sleeper and a stroller to return at Target.

In this history of Target logos, note that the newest does not bear the word Target.
A milestone in the success of an organization is that its logo need not bear its name.
Other examples are Nike and Starbucks.
I think you need to be a generation younger than I am to appreciate this distinction.
I still miss commercial jingles like "Snap, Crackle, Pop, Rice Krispies"!

There was a duplicate Vivian outfit to return at Marshalls. We also did a mundane Walmart trip to refill some prescriptions. No excitement here.

Returned outfit. In and out.

Picked up presciption. In and out.

Tuesday, June 17th was exciting, for me at least. I have always loved the Hobby Lobby store that Robin has in Oklahoma City. Actually the Hobby Lobby chain originated there in Oklahoma. One finally opened in our neighboring town of Dublin a couple months ago, and I had not been to it yet, so Maxine and I checked it out Tuesday. She bought some cute kids buttons in owls, ballerinas, monkeys, frogs, and butterflies and I bought a couple half-yards of flannel, but basically, we just enjoyed a couple hours walking around looking at the big assortment of home and wall decor. I am a cheap date.

Rhyme time. Tame name. Ever clever. Foam home. Dye supply.
 Glue for you. Quaint paint. Decor galore. Leads in beads.

Whooo is going to get these buttons?

Wednesday, June 18th Maxine and I went with Frank  to look at model homes but we failed miserably. Apparently they are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays we found out after going to two sites with no luck. But we salvaged the day with a nice lunch at Panera Bread.

I never noticed until I posted this logo that
the beige swirl at the top contains a loaf of bread.

We followed the Wednesday's lunch with a quick zot into the Jo-Ann's Fabrics that is just on the other side of the parking lot from Panera Bread. I was in search of a quilting magazine to replace one I'd just bought but given to Robin since she liked so many items in it. They did not have the magazine but patterns were on sale so Maxine got a few for her grandkids.

Among snobbish quilters this is known as the J store.

Afterwards we browsed my local quilt shop In Between Stitches where I succeeded in getting my replacement magazine (and a bit of fabric too but I will admit this in a tiny italicized font that is hard to read).

This store in on the main street of downtown Livermore.  I love having a quilting store so close!

Thursday, June 19th Maxine and I drove up to Walnut Creek about 25 miles northwest of Livermore to visit The Container Store.

This was the furthest away from home we'd ventured thus far during Maxine's stay.

The Container Store is a neat place that does way more than just closet design. They have a system or container or gadget of some sort to store or organize just about anything. 

Wow!

I bought a USB hubman, a pretty cool device that lets me keep plugged in my HP color printer, my Brother black and white laser printer, my Dymo LabelWriter and still have a free "hand" for me to connect and disconnet my camera for picture uploads. Maxine bought some convertible dividers for her cutlery drawer. We were not major spendthrifts. I think it was less that $20 for the two of us. But the store is a mental overload of clever idea and striking colors!

Hubba, hubba. This hubman is great to have around!

From The Container Store we walked to lunch at the nearby California Pizza Kitchen. Their menu is rather eclectic and they have some inventive, yummy combinations that go beyond just pizza. We had some great salads there.

The first California Pizza Kitchen
was opened in Beverly Hills in 1985
and is reknown for its innovative ingredient combinations.

The carmelized peaches were warm and were delicious
with the red onions, toasted pecans, and cranberries
on a bed of field greens and spinach.

Around the corner from the pizza kitchen, we browsed a large, two-level gift store named david M. brian.

Is non-capitalization considered highfalutin?

A set of eight Mikasa globe wine glasses in there really caught my eye. I liked their balloon shape and each was a unique and striking pattern. When I learned they were on clearance that clinched it for me. I caved and bought them.

These globes came in two sets of four.
I am gong to start liking red wine just so I can use these goblets.

Friday, June 20th I made reservations for Maxine, my friend Vickie, and me to have high tea at 1:00 pm in The English Rose, a tea room in the adjacent town of Pleasanton.

Even the pink toile rose design behind their name oozes English.

Our serving caddy had three tiers.
The topmost bore our warm scones, petits fours, and treats.
The middle tier held our savories such as phyllo dough with walnuts.
The lowest tier had our tea sandwiches in several varieties -
chilled cucumber, turkey and cranberry, and egg salad.  

In addition to the food,
it was neat admiring all the different China patterns.

We had a cozy table in the corner right beside the window looking out on the sidewalk. The waitress brought a three tiered tray of goodies and we tried out the tea flavors Strawberry (in honor of strawberry-themed week), English Toffee, and Almond Joy.

"Oh, no! We forgot to take a picture of the presentation before we decimated the lowest tier."
Oh, well. Two out of three ain't bad.

My sister Maxine and my friend Vickie.

I just love Maxine's zebra top with the bright flowers.
She is standing in the gift shop portion of the tea room.

Maxine and I pause for a photo
during our exploration of the patio section of the tea room.

After the tea, Vickie dashed off to work, and Maxine and I walked one block to a quaint little gift store on the corner called the Berry Patch. They carry jewelry, children's toys and games, and handmade items from local artisans and crafts folk. I bought a couple greeting cards - one for an upcoming birthday and one to frame just because I thought the image was so pretty.

I will frequent this store if I am looking for a good quality toy or a unique piece of jewelry.

The cheetah magnifying glass pendant was for Maxine. It reminded me of an awesome photo she had of herself several years ago holding a four month old baby tiger.

With this magnifying glass pendant Maxine can now read the fine print
on her visiting contract ("thou shalt have a good time") and her airline itinerary.

Maxine is holding a four month old baby tiger.
This image started as a crisp, clear, glossy print.
Photographed by cell phone, texted, forwarded via e-mail,
captured as screen shot, uploaded to this blog...
  it got kind of fuzzy in the process.
But you get the idea. Maxine is still awesome.

After the Berry Patch, Maxine and I joined up with Frank for a second attempt at viewing model homes. I will save the rest of our adventures, Friday afternoon through the weekend, for A Week with My Sister - Part 2.

None of our excursions Monday through Friday this week required tickets. This was cheap entertainment. Maxine and I really just enjoyed our time together and bought very little. The money from my baby product returns exceeded my expenditures. This post reads like one big advertisement of stores but if I'd been a bit more savvy and set up an income stream on these web pages, perhaps I could have even made money by posting all these store logos. At mere pennies per click, I highly doubt that this blog has enough traffic to warrant the effort, though.