And Kristin visits!

We have been living in the Seattle area for almost 20 years and there are a few things that Amy has never done locally. That’s one of the nice things about having a friend visit, it gives a chance to see the local tourist attractions that you never get to as a local.

Kristin decided to spend her vacation traveling around the PNW. When we heard about the trip, we decided to tag along at least for a small portion of her trip. She joined us at our home and Amy decided to play tour guide.

Yesterday we visited sites that needed a car. First, we went to Issaquah to visit our friendly neighborhood troll, Jakob Two Trees. Then we visited the Salmon hatchery, followed by a visit to Snoqualmie falls. After a salmon dinner, we headed to the Ballard Locks with a quick stop to see Frankee Feetsplinters, another troll.

All that was nice, but nothing Amy or Greg haven’t done before. Today was the day to try new things. Amy and Kristin took the new light rail line into Seattle. The light rail is an incredible piece of engineering. It is the first light rail to cross a floating bridge!

Amy has taken this line before, but she has never taken the Monorail which has been in Seattle since the 1960s.

We took the monorail to the Seattle Center where to the top of the Space Needle - again, it has been here since the 1960s but Amy has never been up to the top. The restaurant has been removed, but you can walk around the rotating room. We took a couple of laps around the outside walkway for some fun views, even if Rainier was being shy. The mountain has not been out for Kristin to enjoy.

After the Space Needle we went next door to the Chihuly museum. That is always a special trip.

We took the waterfront shuttle to the water front, hence the name! There we rode the Seattle Great Wheel. Yet another new one for Amy. Kristin had not been there but she loves Ferris wheels, so it was an excellent opportunity.

We stopped for lunch at Pike Place market to get some Beechers grilled cheese sandwiches. Always a good choice!

We caught the bus to Pioneer Square to see the NPS Klondike Gold Rush site. There is a second location in Skagway AK, but this one was much bigger. It told the story of why Seattle was the launch point for the Yukon Gold Rush.

We tried to go to the UPS waterfall garden, which was the original headquarters of UPS, but was donated to the city of Seattle to create a pocket park. Unfortunately the park is closed for the summer for renovations. We hope it opens back up soon.

And it’s home for dinner where Greg is making some of his amazing pizza!