Pre-Vacation Vacation

This summer has been a full one, with family vacations and reunions with old friends...

On the way to start the Vander Naald family vacation in Washington, we drove through Portland and Seattle and got to visit with good friends and family.  It was like a pre-vacation vacation.

Chris & Rachel, Portland, OR.  Anne & Rachel became good friends while living in Garmisch together.  (They are preparing to move to New Zealand for Rachel to go to grad school!)

This is what an evening of hanging out with Rachel & Chris does to Brian...tired in a good way!

This is what sharing a bottle of wine does to Anne & Rachel...happy and wide-eyed!

One of the many reasons we love the Northwest: random yogi spottings at truck stops :)

Now for some interesting big-city sights:

There's Seattle!  This was Anne's first time of actually spending any time in Seattle.

Gotta have the quirky, edgy political statement outside a convenience store

Yet another political statement being made: a downtown rally for the teachers' union

Yep, that's a boat driving through the streets of downtown Seattle.  It has retractable wheels, so it can do both street and water tours.  Brian did this with his cousin a couple years ago and said it was as bizarre as it sounds!

The Pike Place Market!

A busking Beatles cover band!

Yummy and beautiful produce!

We opted for some raspberries, and they were dee-lish.

Jovial fish market dudes...we didn't get to see them throw any fish, though.

Gorgeous flowers were everywhere

The very first Starbucks

Great view of the harbor

We sat on the lawn and enjoyed the view for a while in the sunshine with other city-dwellers.

Anne: "Look!  It's a horse cop!" (can you tell we're not in Eugene anymore?)  

Seattle Public Library...an amazing facility, inside and out.

We felt like we were in a museum or science center-ish place.

The view of the ground floor from the 10th floor of the library.  Cool floor mural, huh?

a better shot of the mural from above

Kyle & Beth!  Beth is Anne's cousin, and she cooked us up a lovely dinner at their downtown apartment.  It was great to spend time with them and get a glimpse of their life together in Seattle.

Anne & Beth...a great visit and a great cousin!

Next to come, the vacation-vacation...