Seattle or Bust

Last Monday we set out for Seattle as many of you know, and now 2,399 miles, 6 tanks of gas, and 6 crummy motels later we've returned to tell the tales of our journey.

Washington is officially on our list as a state we wouldn't mind living in. It was so green and pretty everywhere you went, quite a change from the Utah landscape we're used to. As we approached Seattle we drove through the Snoqualmie mountains, which was one of the coolest drives we've ever seen. Our anxiety grew as we came closer and closer to Seattle, but we still couldn't see any of the skyscrapers. We went through a long tunnel, then crossed over Lake Washington on a bridge, went into another tunnel, and then emerged directly into the city. It was such a cool way to experience Seattle for the first time. Safeco (Mariners) and Qwest field (Seahawks) were right there looming over us as we came out from under the overpass, to our left were large piers with cranes for the barges, and on our right was the cityscape. It was an eye opening first impression.

The Emerald City itself.

This is the view from the piers down on the waterfront.
You may recognize the top of Julia's head in the bottom left corner.

This is called Freeway Park. It's not just a clever name, it's actually a park that the freeway runs under in the middle of Seattle. There are parks and gardens all around the city, it's beautiful.


This is the world famous Pike's Place Market.....yeah, we'd never heard of it either. It was the first farmer's market in the US, and is known for crazy little shops, street performers, flying fish, and the first Starbucks. There are now 417 Starbucks in Seattle, making them the most caffeinated city in the world!!!

The Space Needle.

640 feet up there is a rotating restaurant that gives you views of Seattle and the surrounding areas. It ain't cheap, but it was worth it.

Covey couldn't believe his eyes when we saw it!

View of the city from the Space Needle.

In case you were wondering. Julia had the halibut and I had the steak.


They have these tour buses circa WWII that can also go on water, they call them the Ducks.

The tour guide was a zany, funny-hat wearing, certified captain that seemed to know quite a bit about this great city, from the architectural history to the famous movie/tv productions like Sleepless in Seattle, Frazier, and Grey's Anatomy.

We tossed our camera to a local fisherman so that we could get this action shot of us on the water. No, not really. This is another Duck tour that we came across.


We paid a visit to the Seattle aquarium, our favorite part was the seals and otters that were in these outside tanks.

The aquarium was pretty cool, until Covey had a massive diaper blow out that sent us running for a bathroom and leaving a trail behind us. It was at this time that we realized we hadn't packed a backup outfit, so we decided to look for some clothes in a gift shop and found this little gem. At this point he's just wearing a jacket and a diaper, talk about being ambassadors for the state of Utah, sorry everybody. It was a disaster to remember, but he was very embarrassed about the whole thing, so we probably shouldn't talk about it too much.

Ahh, the Twilight Reality Tour. This is the sign outside Forks, it wasn't long after passing this sign that we realized Stephenie Meyer received very little inspiration from this sleepy little logging town.

It was cold and rainy, but that didn't dampen Covey's spirits. He was anxious to see this magical place.

Exploitation at it's finest. The streets were lined with Twilight specialty shops, something the old duffers in Forks still don't understand I'm sure.

Forks High School.

Yes, this is the site where Bella met Edward for the first time. You can see why sparks would fly I'm sure. Romance was palpable in the air outside this glamorous place.

This is where Dr. Cullen works....no seriously, this is a hospital.

La Push beach.

Home of Jacob Black, every one's favorite werewolf. This was actually a really cool place, by far the best part of the Reality Tour. We loved these little islands that just shot up out of nowhere.

We took a couple of ferries back to Seattle from the Olympic Peninsula. This was fun. It took the place of our whale watching tour that was cancelled due to weather. If you can't tell it was really bright. One of the highlights of our trip.

We paid a visit to a little place called Covington, WA while we were in the area. As you can see, Covey shouted for joy when he saw it.

Covey made a few accomplishments during his first vacation. He started going 4 hours in between his meals. He started seeing and becoming interested in the toys that dangle from his car seat.

He started smiling much more when we play with him and not just randomly. (I wish I had his hair better in this picture.)

And I officially declared his hair auburn. It looks a lot more red in this picture than normal. Can you believe it, though? Where's that little dark baby from the hospital?

Video footage coming soon.