Roadtrip-Pacific Northwest

**Streetcar** · 29th July 09, 08:35 PM

Well it was a fine craic all around last night. Unfortunately, my terrible thirst (brought on by the unseasonable heat, don't you know) caused my hand to stray to my pint glass more than the camera. Consequently I only have a few snaps to share.

Morrison and Panache

The F.H.C.A.G. had to hold down Kilted John when a neighboring table started talking about how Volvos were inferior automobiles...

F.H.C.A.G. and She Scott try to keep cool. (Kerry is in the foreground)

A couple shots of a proud papa...

The F.H.C.A.G. was showing off her nails...

But it turns out she had a pretty serious case of Happy Feet as well:

A picture of Jamie, um, taking pictures...

A last shot of the travelers as we left that evening.

I don't know about anyone else, but I had a fantastic time. I'm always happy to meet fellow Xmarkers for the first time, and feel like I've known them for years.

Panache, F.H.C.A.G., Sinbad and Xena, it was a joy to meet you all, and you need to come back to Seattle again!

(Sinbad, don't forget - cats are EVIL!!)

**Ancienne Alliance** · 29th July 09, 10:43 PM

What a great thread.

A beautiful and interesting saga indeed.

Best wishes to the travelers and hosts,

Robert

**Kilted_John** · 29th July 09, 10:58 PM

Geez, I gotta shrink some... 'twas fun, that's for sure.

-J

**Arlen** · 30th July 09, 10:52 AM

Those are some fantastic pictures. And what a great time you seem to have had!

I'm volunteering at the Boise Brewfest so hopefully I can have at least haft as many delicious beers.

**McMurdo** · 30th July 09, 10:56 AM

Great shots it looks like a fun evening for sure.

**Alan H** · 30th July 09, 12:00 PM

You hit the hottest week on record, right? Sheesh...103 in Seattle?

**Monkey@Arms** · 30th July 09, 12:24 PM

Loving the pictures, Gang. Just heard about that Seattle weather. Shocking! Its been down right chilly here where I live. Will want to chat with you two after you get back as my family is headed up to OR & WA in Aug.

Best regards,

Jake

**GMan** · 30th July 09, 02:57 PM

Too much fun, but good for you.

**The F-H.C.A.G.** · 30th July 09, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by Streetcar

...snip... my terrible thirst (brought on by the unseasonable heat, don't you know) ...snip...

Originally Posted by Alan H

You hit the hottest week on record, right? Sheesh...103 in Seattle?

Originally Posted by Monkey@Arms

...snip... Just heard about that Seattle weather. Shocking! Its been down right chilly here where I live. ...snip...

Every time I visit up north, it's the hottest day on record. Yesterday, in White Rock, was the hottest day ever recorded! Jake, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! Here we come up to the cool Northwest and all the cool Northwest weather goes down to the Bay Area. Ugh!

We're in Victoria, and the weather is just fine, by San Jose standards, but for here, it's unbelievably hot.

Unfortunately, because it's rarely this hot up here, there is very little in the way of air conditioning! Luckily, museums are the exception to this rule, and since we had a nice long tour of the museum this afternoon, I'm feelig slightly less overheated. The tea room at the Empress Hotel was not air conditioned, by the way!

We'll be heading out for a nice BBQ and pool party at Macman's shortly, but I thought I'd try to post a bit before then.

So, hang on a moment and I'll find some pictures...

Be well,

Star

P.S. Streetcar, we had a wonderful time, thanks for posting the pictures!

**The F-H.C.A.G.** · 30th July 09, 06:43 PM

So, I'm going to break sequence a bit, so I can collect my thoughts and remember where we've been.

On the way to Seattle, we came up I-5 and stopped at this State Park (mostly because I thought the name was fun).

We checked out the beach and then walked through a lovely marsh area (which would have been more enjoyable, had it not been about 90 degrees and humid). Sadly, although we heard many birds, and glimpsed a few, we got no positive identification of any new birds.

Here's the beach:

Jamie went out to the end of the pier, but no new birds to be seen (maybe becasue of all the people splashing about, hmmm...)

So, we took to the woods, and still found nothing, but a beautiful family of peacocks!

Then we reached Seattle, to stay at my uncle and aunt's place up on Queen Anne Hill (they were not there, so we had a lovely house all to ourselves-unfortunately, not air conditioned).

Immediately on arrival, we found a pair of Northern Flickers! Lovely and boldly patterned birds! Of course we saw them for about 2 minutes, they promptly flew off, and we saw nothing new for the rest of our stay in Seattle (birdwise that is).

Pictures of Seattle and Utilikilts to follow...

Be well,

Star