Cherry Blossom Candy Leaf

In the beginning of July, we flew to Washington for Ryan and Jackie's wedding. Even though we spent less than 4 days there, we packed our trip with a lot of mini adventures. If we had one more day, Ben would have chosen to visit Mt. St. Helens. At least we got to see it from the sky! Ryan recommended that we hang out in Seattle to miss the traffic. We parked the rental and headed to the market. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day. This may or may not be the original Starbucks. We had done some research and decided to have dinner at a restaurant that no longer exists. Luckily, we came across Taste of Seattle and found plenty of delicious goodies to enjoy!





We made our way to the Space Needle, which is kind of a dud. Our friend Ryan mentioned that he's never actually been to the top. Reasons why you may skip the Space Needle if you are ever in Seattle:


It is not that high especially when compared to the rest of the skyline.


You see the same views when your plane circles and then lands in Seattle.


There are lots of foreign tourists and families that don't understand personal space and the concept of waiting in line.


They try to force you to take a picture in front of a poster of the Space Needle for an extra $20 by making the line to the top go directly through the photo staging area (which is almost unavoidable unless you are bitchy like me).


You get the idea by photographing the Space Needle from the ground, as well and it's more interesting to look at.


And at $28 per person for a 1/2 hour of "fun", tops, you are more likely to have a good time in a nice restaurant or on a harbor cruise or something. But then again, if you don't make it to the top of the needle, you can never say that you did it!!!















The highlight of the Colonial Life Museum was the bonnet I found in the gift store. It really came in handy as we explored Mt. Rainier!















It was so sunny and bright due to the snow reflecting all the sunlight that I would eventually have to bust out my bonnet!

On the way back to our hotel, we continued to drive and make frequent stops where exploration was required.We stopped at this barn (the name escapes me) in Ashford.  An artist makes sculptures out of metal and wood pieces, basically remnants that he is reusing rather than throwing away.











We stopped in Elbe and checked out the oldest Lutheran church in Washington.  All the towns on the drive to Mount Rainier are located on the Nasqually River.  It's warm,  breezy and beautiful.



Later that night, we met up with our old friends at the Fish Tail Brew Pub. Jared lived in San Diego for some time when we were there, and Ryan, the groom, who has been friends with Ben since elementary school also lived in San Diego, where I met them both. Jared doesn't have a permanent address and camps in Mt. Shasta where he works. He measures trees and studies fire damage, so he isn't a park ranger, but a scientist. He also hiked and camped along the Pan American highway, a trail that runs from Mexico to Canada. Ryan is currently studying to be a fire fighter/EMT and about to marry Jackie, a future mortician. It was so nice to see these guys, especially since Jared's car broke down and he had it towed hundreds of miles to get to Olympia since Ryan was getting married the next day!



Before heading to Centralia for the wedding, we drove into the heart of Olympia, the state's capitol. We checked out where the government does its work.

And made our way to the farmer's market. This is a great place to shop and eat. We picked up a few things for our neighbors, who take care of our animals while we are gone, that are made or grown in the area. They also had food trucks with dishes from all over the world. I had Indian.