Tuesday, August 24, 2010

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!

7 comments:

  1. Oh, I miss Northern Exposure! I never thought to get the DVD set, duh. Glad you trip helped pick you up and that your daughter is so well settled!

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  2. I LOVEd your photos -- just great! Thanks

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  3. There is a good novel about the Oregon Trail that you might like. It is called A Sudden Country and is based on the diary of the author's grandmother (I think I have that right). It got a lot of attention when it came out a couple of years ago.

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  4. You really crack me up. We make this trip at least annually if not more often. It is such a long tedious drive at times. Looks like you hit some of the high points tho'. The Wyoming part had me busting out laughing. It seems like it drags on forever that part of the trip. The Snake River is gorgeous. We have friends in Twin Falls and if we stop it's about half way between. If we go to see kids we go further east out of the way at least another few hours. Then we take the shortcut thru Laramie down into CO. Wyoming is tiring but road construction...ugh. I think we hit it last time too. I can't complain too much it's what my husband does for work...lol. Glad you made it home tho' shortlived.

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  5. P.S. that glass art is truly amazing. tho' i haven't gotten to go thru the whole museum yet and it and we have been here for years. Gorgeous stuff!

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  6. It's been over 10 years since we last went to Roslyn. It might be time to go back! And this really is a wonderful part of the world. I hope your daughter enjoys her time here!

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  7. Rose City Reader - thanks for the recommendation of A Sudden Country--I ordered it from Paperbackswap.com and so will soon be on my TBR shelf. Hope to read it before I make the trek again!

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