Oregon...We Enjoy You Too!

After an amazing tour of Boeing, pictures forthcoming of that, we headed down to Portland. I had never been to Oregon. The city is filled with bikers and lots of folks outdoors. It is a city full of microbrews. After checking in, we headed out to dinner to taste some local ale.

The Big Guy enjoyed his dark stuff. I enjoyed the Bavarian pretzels we ordered with the beer!

This is such a statement to how Portland really is. I love that you are free to be yourself.

The streets are narrow and one lane is designated for buses. I love the use of public transportation and the use of bicycles.

Peanut is an Oregon Ducks fan. So, we drove down to Eugene and toured the campus. The Big Guy and I loved the setting. This is outside the building that houses their business classes. They put that O decal up the week before just for ESPN Gameday. There were bikes everywhere!

The stadium is off campus. We swung by there on our way out.

The next morning we got some local donuts at Voodoo.

You have never seen so many choices of doughnuts. I broke the mold and ordered a berry fritter. It was good. I just wish they left the sugar coating off of fritters. I'd really enjoy the fried dough all by itself.

We worked off the sugar high by walking through Powell's Books. What a place! It was so refreshing to see an independent bookstore that is thriving. I'm gonna order my books from there from now on.

On our way back to Seattle to catch our flight, we stopped at Mount St. Helen's visitor center. We got there right before it closed, glanced around, and snapped this photo. This is the only time we encountered rain on our trip.

It was raining and grey. You have to trust me on this one that Mount St. Helen's is in the background.

I'd go back to the Washington or Oregon any time... I'd go see the rocky coast. We were so close to the ocean, but did not make it out there. I'd go to an apple orchard. I'd go on a ferry. I'd go to Canada. I'd go to the Olympic mountain range. I'd drink a coffee that I never drink. I'd people watch. I am not complaining. We had a great trip even if we only scratched the surface.

Seattle...We Enjoyed You!

A VERY early departure...

Led to catching some zzz's on the first leg of the trip.

We toured U Dub (aka University of Washington.) There is a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier from campus. Gorgeous!

The main library on campus is something out of Harry Potter. It was a happening place as the school was in the midst of midterms.
We don't normally drink coffee, but Pumpkin, Peanut and I all imbibed. After all, we were right were it all started - in the original Starbucks.
Pike Place Market looking a little groggy. We hit the ground running once we landed in Seattle.
We even got to see them throw some fish!
We ventured to the USCG museum that is in the Seattle port. It was small but informative.

Peanut's highlight of the trip - attending the Seattle Sounder's soccer match. There were over 64k people there! It was amazing.

The Sounders were losing and pulled off a victory!
The Ballard Locks were educational. We even saw some salmon swimming up the ladders.
The Ballard Market was wonderful. My nephew lives there and we enjoyed being locals for the day.
One of my highlights was the ice cream at Molly Moon's. It was yummy!
Our view from our hotel room on the 41st floor was phenomenal.
We all enjoyed the NW. The people just seem more relaxed. They love the outdoors and take advantage of it. We were so lucky. The sun shined the entire time we were there. We ventured down to Oregon too. More of that to come in another post...

Schubert's Mass

The high school choirs performed Schubert's Mass last night. They arranged it with our pastor and actually sang at our church.

The sound was phenom. I have never heard such a beautiful sound in our large sanctuary.

The Big Guy and I sat pretty far in the back as we had to shuttle Adam to soccer. I snapped this photo of the chamber and mixed choir filing onto the risers.

After the concert, our pastor was so excited. He pulled out his iphone and asked another parishioner to take his photo with Elliot. I took this one with my real camera - love the smiles.

It was wonderful. More than anything, I am so happy that Pumpkin gets exposure to all of this. He really enjoys singing classical music. We are grateful for his director rising to the challenge and sharing a variety of music with these kids.

New Driver

It is official!

Pumpkin got his license.

He drove himself to swim practice this afternoon.

I am excited for him! I think I will grow to like this!

My schedule just opened up. What's a mom to do???