This is the first proper chance I've had to say much about our holiday in Seattle. As many of you know we went to visit my OH's sister and her OH. They've lived over the Pond for 40 years and despite being US citizens they still sound very British. We were rather surprised that, living as they do in the shadow of the mighty Microsoft that they didn't have Wi-fi, so chatting on here was hard most of the time. I did miss you all!
SIL and BIL had been asking us to visit for a while and they gave us a very warm welcome. Since we were last there over 30 years ago Seattle, Redmond, and other surrounding towns have grown out of all recognition and as we joined the rush hour traffic outside the airport, I was glad I wasn't driving! BIL is 86 and not very mobile - even less so since he sprained his ankle badly just before our arrival, but his driving skills are still A1 and the journey was smooth and comfortable.
The scenery around Seattle is stunning - everwhere you look there are vistas of tree-clad mountains and hills, with the mighty Mts Baker and Ranier still capped with snow. We saw quite a lot of this beautiful scenery - often on the way to an excellent, out of the way restaurant. America is not all fast food and cola!
We spent 3 days on Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. Here time has stood still - it's still 1955 and any minute you expect a film crewe to leap out and start a remake of Back to the Future! The pace of life is sssllllooowww and very relaxing, with magical views everywhere you look. The 1400 permanent inhabitant aren't in a hurry to go anywhere. Someone remarked that it reminded them of parts of New Zealand. Sadly the economy there is very sluggish, depending on a very short tourist season. Nearly everyone you meet is an artist or craft worker of some kind, but there was an Irish themed pub which served good fish and chips! We had hoped to go on a whale watching expedition, but the whales had other ideas. However, we did go for a flight in a bi-plane, which gave us a bird's eye view of the islands, with Mount Baker in the background.
Back on the mainland, we enjoyed spending time with SIL and BIL's family, including their 3 gorgeous grandchildren aged 8, 4 and nearly 2. The two-year old was so like our little GD it was uncanny! We also met up with some friends in the area and a couple of BIL's ex-colleagues invited us for meals.
We went on a lovely boat trip round Washington Lake, where Bill Gates has a magnificent home, along with the CEOs of a lot of other high-tech companies in the area. I wasn't particularly looking forward to our pre-booked trip round the Boeing factory, but in fact it was really intereesting, and the sheer scale of the operation is awesome. Apparently we could have ordered a 787 Dreamliner there and then, but since engines are an added extra, we didn't bother!!!!
SIL and BIL had been asking us to visit for a while and they gave us a very warm welcome. Since we were last there over 30 years ago Seattle, Redmond, and other surrounding towns have grown out of all recognition and as we joined the rush hour traffic outside the airport, I was glad I wasn't driving! BIL is 86 and not very mobile - even less so since he sprained his ankle badly just before our arrival, but his driving skills are still A1 and the journey was smooth and comfortable.
The scenery around Seattle is stunning - everwhere you look there are vistas of tree-clad mountains and hills, with the mighty Mts Baker and Ranier still capped with snow. We saw quite a lot of this beautiful scenery - often on the way to an excellent, out of the way restaurant. America is not all fast food and cola!
We spent 3 days on Orcas Island, one of the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. Here time has stood still - it's still 1955 and any minute you expect a film crewe to leap out and start a remake of Back to the Future! The pace of life is sssllllooowww and very relaxing, with magical views everywhere you look. The 1400 permanent inhabitant aren't in a hurry to go anywhere. Someone remarked that it reminded them of parts of New Zealand. Sadly the economy there is very sluggish, depending on a very short tourist season. Nearly everyone you meet is an artist or craft worker of some kind, but there was an Irish themed pub which served good fish and chips! We had hoped to go on a whale watching expedition, but the whales had other ideas. However, we did go for a flight in a bi-plane, which gave us a bird's eye view of the islands, with Mount Baker in the background.
Back on the mainland, we enjoyed spending time with SIL and BIL's family, including their 3 gorgeous grandchildren aged 8, 4 and nearly 2. The two-year old was so like our little GD it was uncanny! We also met up with some friends in the area and a couple of BIL's ex-colleagues invited us for meals.
We went on a lovely boat trip round Washington Lake, where Bill Gates has a magnificent home, along with the CEOs of a lot of other high-tech companies in the area. I wasn't particularly looking forward to our pre-booked trip round the Boeing factory, but in fact it was really intereesting, and the sheer scale of the operation is awesome. Apparently we could have ordered a 787 Dreamliner there and then, but since engines are an added extra, we didn't bother!!!!
)
Comment