Marketing Genius

A Lamborghini in Lexington?

Wish I'd been faster on the draw with my camera phone...

Farewell, Mildred's B&B

Thanks for being home base for a few days.

Volunteer Park

This park was right across from the B&B I stayed at. There was a water
tower observation deck that had a view of the downtown area.

Do you know who Frederick Law Olmstead is? He was a 19th century
landscape architect who designed Central Park, The Biltmore Estate
grounds, the 1893 Chicago World's Fair fairgrounds, ... and this
little park here.

Argosy Harbor Cruise

Well worth the $22... Our guide Christopher was informative and
entertaining.

Did you know that Seattle actually gets less rain than New York? It
lives in a Rainforest Somethingorother. (I forgot what it's called,
but it basically is the Olympia mountains wringing all the water out
of clouds before they hit Seattle.)

Ivar's Fish Bar

Waterfront Park

Pikes Place Market Bookstore

I'm intrigued...

Public Market Center

This public market was created in the early 1910s in protest of the
huge mark-ups wholesalers were charging for food and other goods.
Think fish market meets flea market...

Pike Place Chowder

I'm not a huge chowder fan, but this was pretty good....

Space Needle: Night

There were lots of better pictures on my real camera, but these are
the best from what the phone would take.

You might be able to make out Mt. Ranier in the background of the
third/skyline picture.

Mmmm...

I was craving pizza all day, so thankfully we were able to find
Pagliacci Pizza not far from the Space Needle. We enjoyed a leisurely
dinner while we waited for the sun to go down...

Space Needle: Day

For a few bucks more, you could get a two-visit pass that would let
you go both during the day and at night. Here are the pics from my
first visit.

The Space Needle was constructed as part of Seattle's successful
World's Fair bid in the early 1960s....

Mildred's B&B: The Lace Room

I feel pretty...oh, so pretty...

Stickin' it to The Man

Did you know that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon? I hear it's
supposedly to prevent spills and help the environment, but I'm
guessing some service station attendants' union lobbied the state
legislature so that everyone in the state would be forced to deal with
that awkward "tip or no tip" scenario.

My goal was to not have to buy gas in Oregon in protest, so I filled
up in Kelso before I drove south. This picture was taken when I
declared victory and filled-up--with my own very-capable hands--back
across the line in Vancouver, Washington.

Fireworks on the Waterfront

Happy 234th Birthday USA! You don't look a day over 120...

Multnomah Falls

This is one of the highlights of the trip so far. The first picture is
of the falls from the visitor's center entrance. The little bridge
with people on it is part of a paved trail all the way to the top.

The second picture was taken actually looking down from the very top
of the falls, after making the 1.4 mile hike over the 11 switchbacks
to get to the top. Way Cool...

Bridal Veil Falls

Latourell Falls

Vista House

Seriously...

...when would this ever be appropriate? For guests who were only
slightly exhibitionist?

Lan Su Chinese Garden

An oasis of serenity in the middle of old-town Portland....

VooDoo Donuts

Definitely worth the 40 minute wait...and empty calories.

Dinner at Pastime Saloon

Ok, so it was recommended by the pilot of the helicopter tour place,
but it was more of a dive than a restaurant...

Still, the Pastime Burger and Bottomless fries was pretty good, even
if I did enjoy it over the story of how the bartender served her
community service this week...

Um...Oops

It's not like they're monitoring anything important anyway...right?

1980 Mt. St. Helens Eruption Facts

Tens of billions of tons of ash...in a column 12 miles high.

Ash circling the globe in a few days. Twice.

Gas and pumice traveling at 300 miles an hour.

Buried groundwater superheated to form spontaneous guysers--some
creating craters a quarter of a mile wide.

Think about that.