Portland - Seattle

Just got back from great weather - well, if you consider great weather 60 degrees and raining! I headed up to the NW over the last several days to see my sister in Portland, then on to Michelle's 30th B-day bash in Seattle. It had been several years since I had been in Portland and I felt this time I was able to actually see the downtown area. Thursday, drove first to Mt. St Helens. I had always been facinated by a National Geographic my parents kept from the year it exploded. I had seen it once before the first time I went to Seattle 7 years ago, but this time there had been some action in the volcano. You can see it steaming, there is a glacier in the bowl, and the bowl is expanding. They estimate it will be back to size in under 300 years at the rate it is growing! Friday, I walked all over downtown Portland. I was excited to get a pair of Nike's with the nano chip to show distance. I will have to see how that works with my runs. There is something about vacations that I find the group is always looking to see where to eat next. Portland and Seattle have yummy seafood that I tried to get at every meal. In Portland, the place to go was Jakes, a historical restaurant around for over 100 years. That night, we headed out to the districts of Pearl and Nob Hill to hit a few spots with my sister.

Saturday, I went on a quick hike with the sis to a place by her apartment that looked like a jungle to me! Then on driving to Seattle.

That afternoon, Michelle had a BBQ for her 30th. The best part was the cubcake royale "cake". A tier of about 30 subcakes of all different frostings. I actually stayed in Bellavue, so headed over to that part of town for the evening. Sunday, well, you cannot be in Seattle without heading to the Pike's Place Market! Walked all around there again for the day, then then went to my fav Seattle restaurant Salty's on Alki. As you can tell, I got ALOT of walking in on this trip!

Monday, I had to head back to Portland for the flight out. Wanted to hit the coast, but did not have enough time. Instead, I went to the Japanese Gardens and Rose Gardens. I also discovered how bad the traffic can be there, it took over an hour to go 10 miles, almost missing the flight home. Luckily, made it in time to get back to the heat!