Sleepy in Seattle

More like EXHAUSTED in Seattle as I write this.

Paris and I flew in this morning and made the most of a sunny winter day in the Pacific Northwest.

I have to say, an iPhone and map app make driving in an unfamiliar city so much easier than the good 'ole days of reading the map they hand you at the rental car counter. Add to it an eager co-pilot and it's about as unstressful as it gets.

It's been 15 years since I've been to Seattle. It's still beautiful. The water. The boats. The mountains. The skyline. We started off at Pike Place Market and satisfied someone's quest to find the original Starbucks. From there we went into the market proper and sat down to a late lunch with a view far and west. After lunch we explored more of the market and saw the fishmongers throwing purchased fish prior to packaging it.

Next on our list was the observation deck at the top of the Space Needle, built for in 1962 for the World's Fair. I'd forgotten that the Chihuly Garden is in Seattle and fortunately for me, it's adjacent to the Space Needle at Seattle Center. That's worth a post all by itself. I think this picture is my favorite from today. Paris and I are reflected in the glass along with the Space Needle.

Seattle seems to have a big commitment to art in public spaces. One of the most interesting things we saw were five solar powered flowers named Sonic Bloom at the Seattle Center. The 40' tall flowers absorb the sun's energy during the day then use it at night to light up and sing. 

The original Nordstrom was our final stop and now we're in our hotel room eating takeout from Maggiano's. I have meetings tomorrow morning and then we have a tour of UW. Crazy! And by crazy I mean both the pace of this quick trip following last night's dance competition and that Paris is interested in going to school here.

Bedtime.

The beach in winter.

There wasn't a lot of snow at Tahoe the week of Christmas. Sure, we skied but the conditions read more April than December.

One of my clients lives up at the lake full-time and she suggested meeting at the Commons Beach one afternoon with all of our kids. I would never have thought to go to the beach in the winter. And The Pinks were dead against it. Until we got there, that is.

The beach was covered in snow and ice, which made for fun slipping and sliding. Not surprisingly, the kids were drawn to the water's edge and were fascinated with the transition from ice to water. The beach resembled tide pools. I shot a lot of pictures -- the whole scene was beautiful and something I hadn't planned to see since we rarely leave Squaw during ski season.

Our kids ran around on the playground and then we headed to Syd's for a late lunch of smoothies and bagels.

An unexpected treat.