Travelogue: Tacoma and points south

Last Thursday I flew up to Seattle to meet my daughter and husband, who had driven up from Colorado earlier in the week. She moved into her freshman dorm on Friday, we did the parents part of orientation, took her out to dinner on Saturday, and then drove back to Colorado on Sunday and Monday.

Before I left on Thursday, I had been feeling pretty poorly--stressed, depressed, and generally battling the blues. When we left Tacoma on Sunday morning, I was riding an emotional high--she was happy, the school was great, and our second encounter with the Puget Sound area convinced us that it really is a wonderful part of the world.

On our first visit we stayed in the downtown area and I fell in love with the cool, gorgeous swirly glass art of Dale Chihuly which adorns the area, both in museums and in public places and spaces.



This time we stayed further north and spent a lot of time walking in the parks along Commencement Bay--the weather was absolutely perfect (mild, slight breeze, sunny).

We continued to find wonderful little restaurants that had great food, great service, and were interesting, unique, and not outrageously expensive. Pacific Grill did not disappoint--we tried to go here last time, but couldn't fit it in--this time it was top priority, foodwise. We also made a return visit to our favorite from our previous trip, Primo Grill, where we pretty much ordered what we did last time--a variety of appetizers followed by the prosciutto/fig marmalade/rosemary/goat cheese pizza.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed home...making the all-important pilgrimage to Rosalyn, WA, which plays the part of Cicely, AK in one of our favorite TV shows, Northern Exposure. It was too early to hit the gift shop so I'll have to wait until next visit for my t-shirt and coffee mug. As it turns out, we're rewatching the series and are currently in the midst of season four.



We then proceeded to follow the Oregon Trail in the reverse direction, stopping occasionally at the historic sites. I am newly inspired to find a diary from someone who migrated west along the Oregon Trail. It's a topic of great interest and yet I still haven't read much about it...yet.

We stopped for the night in Twin Falls, ID, where we discovered that the Snake River had carved a magnificent gorge. It was absolutely breathtaking, and we found a restaurant with a terrific gorge view where we could relax and unwind after a long day of driving.

The second day of driving took us across Wyoming, where we must have encountered roughly 100,000 orange road construction barrels. I think there might have been 10 miles of highway that wasn't under construction along I-80, but I doubt it was that high a number.

Now we're home, and I'm ready to get serious about getting some posts up on all the great reading I've been doing, but first I have to go on another business trip tomorrow, and then I can write this weekend...I hope!