VW

In honor of our trip to Seattle, here's a VW van in Seattle, Wa. Holla.

So True

I just love these. And they don't go anywhere else. So enjoy.


Fool me once, shame on you.

Paseo

This is Paseo. They serve good sandwiches out of a pink building wearing (for some reason) ties.
This is the tofu sandwich; it goes in my mouth.
Paseo is located right next to a surf shop across from the water. I don't know anything about surfing but this seemed like a good day for it.

Bellevue Farmer's Market

Bellevue Farmer's Market was right by our hotel. We went after we checked out Saturday morning.
Great produce, bread, cheese, crepes, and flowers from local businesses. Washington has a lot of good eats!
And have I mentioned that they manage to grow the most gorgeous flowers?
Especially sunflowers. And zinnias.
And dahlias.
Some artisan beverages available as well.
I bet these are fantastic!
Now that's a friggin' kolache, people!
I wish I could grow carrots like that! Unfortunately, we were flying home this day, so we couldn't buy all that we wanted to.

Longmire

On day 3 we drove two hours south to My Rainier National Park. Totally worth it.
Our first views of Tahoma (Rainer in white-man speak) were from Longmire Visitor Center.
It was one of those situations in which pictures don't really do the scene justice. Tahoma/Rainier is impressively huge and beautiful. It is one of a string of active volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest called the Ring of Fire. You can see many of its permanent (though shrinking) glaciers in these photos.
In the presence of this volcano and it's surrounding wilderness, it's easy to imagine (as early explorers did) that this land would always be wild, free, and untamed by man. However, the reality is that if Teddy Roosevelt had not acted to create a national parks system to protect such places as industrializing forces pushed west, we would not be able to visit these forests, rivers, and mountains as we do today.
Much of the northwest corner of the country was once covered in such wilderness. However, these old growth forest trees are valued for the high quality lumber they produce. Thousands of acres are gone already to logging, hundreds of year worth of growth (and the wildlife associated with it) gone to realize a profit in one generation. It's really, really sad to think about, isn't it? So much lost for money, as if money were the most important thing.
I am very glad for the park though. I am always impressed by how national parks balance preservation with access, protecting natural resources while fostering education and respect among the population.
This is what is important. It makes me happy.
Neat cloud formation leads to my discovery of the Cloud Appreciation Society.
VW bus with prayer flags!
I want to live here. I took a career aptitude test in middle school that said my ideal job was park ranger. Yay government work.
A library!
Progress.

Fremont

In case you were wondering, Fremont (Seattle) is just about the happiest place on earth.
Yes I know I used to say that about Alamo Draft House. And in case you were wondering, yes we do all have to hope and pray that they never, ever, EVER put an Alamo Drafthouse in Fremont, because then my head would explode from happiness and all hope of any thing in life ever getting better would vanish and there would be nothing to live for anymore.
Ahem. As you can see, Fremont is a neighborhood and Seattle AND center of the known universe. Since the universe is expanding, this means that all times everything is constantly moving father away from Fremont. This is just fine with me.
Traffic light and clouds in Fremont. It is my happy place.
Aurora Bridge, see: Troll.
Beautious public library. This photo contains many things I like.
Public telephone for Communist use only! In Soviet Russia, library borrows YOU!

Three Billy Goats Gruff, following up on the Troll theme. This should have gone in the Troll post. Oh well. YOU WILL READ MY BLOG AND LOVE IT!!1!
There is no way that this is bad. We didn't get to go in Deluxe Junk because 1) it was closed and 2) Thomas is lame.
Statue of Lenin. All types welcome.
Balls.
Sidewalk.
The Almost-Free Fremont Outdoor Theater. War would be impossible if there were more of these around.
Theo chocolate: speaking of things that stop war. Yes they have free samples
Spaceship!
Asians!
Prayer flags!
VW van! Two different ones on the same block!