Seattle, WA

We have made it to Seattle Washington. We arrived here yesterday and the first place we visited was the infamous Pike's Place Market. There were many stores, and stands that sold everything you could think of: Fresh produce, fresh seafood (even octopus), jewelry, soaps, street performers,ostrich or quail eggs, etc. We stopped in at one place that sold wine, oils, vinegars, etc all which were made from truffles. We tried this 15 year old balsamic vinegar/oil that changed my life = ). !!! You could by your own bottle for like $65 = ).We also bought a small cup of potato-leek soup that they put a couple drops of white truffle oil in. So very very delicious!!! We stopped to watch the "flying fish" where they threw the fish to one another. At one point this guy stopped us and I took a picture of Sandy, him, and a large fish. He went behind the counter and acted like he was throwing a huge fish for us to catch. We were both startled and jumped back, only to see that we had been tricked and it was a fake fish = ) At one point we stopped at this little vendor who had some very interesting/thought provoking art. One of his magnets read “I could sponsor a child with the money I spend on coffee” As most of you know I am an avid coffee drinker, and this one really made me think. Oh I should mention that we visited the orignial Starbucks, right here in this market = ). One of the things that was so wonderful abou this market where the rows and rows of absolutely beautiful flowers! Bouquet after bouquet! The were so inexpensive as well. I don't know how they do it, but i can imagine with all the rainy cloudy days that Seattle see's, those flowers help bring some warmth and smiles. Along with the colors of those flowers, if you look at the sidewalks you will see the autumn leaves that have fallen. The colors of the fallen leaves here are spectacular. Beautiful pastel pinks, greens, purples, blues. Well, we bought a bit of produce and shared a piece of Salmon, and after we had adequately explored the market place we headed towards Pioneer Square, which was full of cute shops and old buildings. The time was running out on our meter so we went back to the van. The rain had stopped at this point, but the wind…the wind nearly knocked us over several times. I had never felt wind this strong, it was so great!!! We got in the van and went to find the Fremont area of Seattle. Sandy had read that it was another artsy area of the city. We made it there and found it to be very inviting. We parked the van on the side of the road, just up from all the shops, and went to a local coffee shop called Peet’s Coffee and Tea. We spent some time there just relaxing. We met a very nice woman by the name of Joey who gave us the scoop on the area. Thanks go out to her for her kindness!!! We then took off to find a place Sandy has wanted to visit since she was fourteen. The memorial site for Kurt Cobain. He was cremated so there is no grave stone to visit, only a park bench near the home where he allegedly committed suicide. Kurt Cobain is an icon of nineties alternative rock music, which was an influential movement during Sandy’s teenage years. With the help of our GPS we found this unmarked memorial park bench. It sits on a grassy hill near Viretta Park. It sits alone besides a tree behind it with the letters RIP written on it. Sandy gave her respects, and signed the bench. We then headed back to the Fremont area where we parked the van once again on the street, and spent the night.

This morning we woke up and headed down towards the shops in Fremont and found that there was the Fremont Sunday Market. There were many booths, featuring art of all kinds! My favorite was this place in the underground area that sold Vintage clothing. We then headed towards Peets, where we now sit once again. But on our way here we found that outside of a local grocery there was a Fair Trade Exhibit taking place. There we were able to get free samples of all kinds of organic chocolates, teas, coffees, soaps, lotions and more. Not sure where the road will take us next, but will update soon. Just know that we are missing you all and sending our love!!!!