Friends under a holly tree in Lake View Cemetery, in Capitol Hill just north of Volunteer Park.
Wednesday/ Pier 57 🛞
Here’s Pier 57 and the city skyline, seen from the Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront.
Monday/ at the roastery ☕️
Here’s the scene at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Pike street.
We didn’t get to see the roasted coffee beans spill from the roasting barrel into the giant cooling pan, but the place was packed with tourists and locals (a guy wearing a shirt with an Amazon Web Services logo on, for example).
Coffees from Sumatra, Malawi and Viet Nam were being brewed, and we picked Malawi. (My friends that are visiting Seattle, are from South Africa).
Saturday/ setting sail 🛳️
Here’s the Norwegian Bliss just leaving the pier in Seattle and setting sail for Sitka, Alaska, shortly after 5 pm this afternoon.
She will go as far as Juneau and then to Icy Straight Point 30 miles across the Alaskan Inside Passage, before turning back to Seattle.
Wednesday/ Mowich Lake 🏞
This morning, I dropped off the hiking party of two (my friends visiting from South Africa) at the Mowich Lake campground on the slopes of Mount Rainier.
Mowich Lake is where they will start out on Thursday morning, on the Wonderland Trail/ Northern Loop Trail for an eight-day hike.
Monday/ ferries 🚢
Happy Labor Day.
My friends and I made a round trip across Puget Sound today:
crossing with the Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry, driving to Silverdale REI* to pick up a tent, and returning on the Bremerton-Seattle ferry.
*Outdoor recreation gear and equipment store
Saturday/ gearing up 🧗♀️
My friends are gearing up for hiking on Mount Rainier’s Wonderland Trail— and so a visit the the flagship REI store in Seattle’s South Lake Union was in order for today.
Some of the purchases: water bag and microfilter system, powdered eggs, shredded beef with beef broth in a pouch, energy bars, Mount Rainier Wonderland Trail map, waterproof compression bag (keeps clothes dry), pressure-regulated pocket-sized gas stove, isobutane fuel cartridges.
Friday/ last gasp for summer travel 🛬
Happy Friday.
This weekend is the last hurrah of summer travel for many families.
Kids in California are back in school already, and kids in Washington State go back next Wednesday.
I am wedged in between a big old Dodge Ram Off Road truck and another truck to my right, waiting for my two friends from South Africa to call from the airport.
It took longer than an hour for their luggage to appear on the baggage claim carousel, and it was TWO hours after they had landed, when I finally picked them up at the curb outside the arrivals hall.
Sunday/ a reflection pool 🪞
Here is the reflection pool in the Bloedel Reserve forest garden on Bainbridge Island. (I took the photo on Saturday.)
Saturday/ smoky skies 😑
Here’s what the Seattle skyline looked like at around 8 AM on Saturday morning from the top deck of the MV Wenatchee.
The ferry is making its way to the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal.
Friday/ summer’s winding down ⛵️
Happy Friday.
The weather forecasters say this weekend will be the last of this summer’s warm weather— 88 °F/ 31 °C in Seattle on Sunday.
The Duck Dodge is a loosely organized regatta (held on Tuesdays in summer) where sailboats of every size, speed, and soundness gather to raise their sails, and a few adult beverages too. [Photo by Luke Johnson / The Seattle Times]
Wednesday/ at the museum ⚔️
The National Nordic Museum is a museum in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, dedicated to the Nordic history, art, culture, and the heritage of the area’s Nordic immigrants.
Here are a few pictures that I had taken inside of the museum, and of items on display.
Tuesday/ curiosities 🧟♂️
A thousand curiosities are to be found at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (founded in 1899) on the Seattle Waterfront’s Pier 54.
Monday/ clear enough 🌝
The surface smoke from the wildfires in Canada and the Pacific Northwest that hung over the city on Sunday, had cleared enough by Monday morning so that the amigos could go out and play a little pickle ball.
Sunday/ at the zoo 🐻
These creatures are all from Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo.
The zoo opened 124 years ago, in 1899.
Top to bottom: Grizzly bears, Langur, Gray wolf, Canadian lynx, Kookaburra, Asian small-clawed otter, Western Low-land gorilla, Jaguar, Toco toucan, White-naped crane, Reticulated giraffe, Hippopotamus, African lion, River otter.
Saturday/ Seattle Center ✨
Here is a smattering of pictures that I took at Seattle Center: from the Space Needle, from inside the Chihuly Garden and Glass and from inside the Museum of Pop Culture.
Happy Friday ☀️
Happy Friday.
Cool marine air pushed in from the Pacific Ocean this morning, and made for a beautiful day (78 °F/ 26 °C).
Sunday/ sunny and warm ☀️
It was warm today, and it will remain warm until Thursday (highs up to 92 °F/ 33 °C).
Granted: residents of the South or places like Phoenix or Las Vegas are allowed to say ‘Yeah— that’s not warm’.
Phoenix had seen highs of 110 °F/ 43 °C for 18 days straight, this summer.
Friday/ sunset 🌇
Some clouds, but no rain.
Sunset is now at 8.39 pm.
Wednesday/ fire truck lights 🚒
It was Seattle Night Out last night— an annual event that encourages neighbors to meet each other, and to increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts.
