Tash & Trish's Excellent Adventure...

Tash & Trish's Excellent Adventure

Thanks to Tash's SIL, Amy, I was able to fly FREE to Seattle from Long Beach, last Thursday night (11/4).  I arrived pretty late at night, but was able to get the quick tour of her new house.  It is adorable and perfect for their family!

Friday morning, I was awaken by my cute little friend, Natalie and we had some danish and muffins for breakfast.  Then it was off to Seattle for the day.  Tash got the Seattle City Pass and we were able to do so many things!  We parked near the Space Needle but were immediately side-tracked by the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame!  I was so excited!  This place was full of all things Sci-Fi!  I loved it!  I was able to get the kids some cute little Star Wars souvenirs at the gift shop.  Attached to the SFM is the EPM (Experience Playing Music Experience).  It was full of instruments and of course exhibits dedicated to artists from Seattle.  We had fun running around and testing all the fun instruments.  Next, we hopped on the Monorail and headed downtown to the Public Market.  SO COOL!  I loved all the fresh flowers, fruit, veggies, bread, fish, etc.....We grabbed lunch at this cute little bakery, Three Sisters.  I had the yummiest roast beef sandwich!  We ate our sandwiches on our way to our Harbor Cruise tour.  We learned a lot about Seattle and the bay and the sound and the Olympic Mtns.  We also got to see so much of the city!  It was awesome!  After our tour, we explored a little around downtown, before taking the Monorail back to the Needle.  Then it was up, up, up the elevator to the top!  It was breathtaking!  360 degree views of the city!  Once down on the ground again, we stumbled upon the Pacific Science Center.  It just happened to be housing Harry Potter the Exhibition!  No Way!  We were so excited!  It is a traveling exhibit full of props, scenery, costumes, etc..  It was so cool!  They wouldn't let us take any pix inside and I was bummed to find out that this was the last stop of their N. American tour.  I wanted to be able to take the kids.  They would love it!  Maybe we'll have to make a trip back up, before it leaves for good at the end of January.  Before leaving Seattle, we ate a delicious dinner at Ivar's.  I had some amazing wild halibut and Tash had Crab Legs...mmmmmm.  Once we got back to Tash's, we took a spin on their new XBox Kinect.  We played Dance Central and it was so much fun!  What an incredible day....we were exhausted!

Saturday.  We decided to take a little road trip down to the Vancouver/Portland area.  Dave made some yummy crepes for breakfast, and then we were off on our adventure!  First stop...taking pictures of the Columbia River Valley and Fall foliage just over the WA/OR border.  I loved looking at all the colorful trees along the way!  It was so  beautiful!  Next stop-Astoria, OR-Home of the Bowpicker and The Goonies House!  We had to have lunch at the much hyped Bowpicker and I was not disappointed.  It's just a little fishing boat parked in a parking lot that serves delicious fish and chips.  I didn't like it as much as my Harbor Fish and Chips, but it was delightful!  When we realized we were in the town that "Goonies" was filmed in, we headed over to a cute little museum and met Sally.  She gave us the "down low" on all the films and locations in the city.  Apparently, a lot of 80's movies were made there.  But we just had time to stop by the "Goonies" house.  While we were up taking pictures, we met this guy who was on "holiday" from Scotland.  I loved his accent!  I could've talked to him all day!  He was actually on a tour of the US, visiting all his favorite movie locations.  We thought that was pretty cool!  Next Stop-Cannon Beach.  This is an amazing beach.  Very cute tourist town and the rugged coastline is so beautiful.  It's also the beach in "Goonies" at the end of the movie, where the kids are rescued and you see the pirate ship head out to sea!  It was really cold and rainy, so we jumped back in the car and headed for Portland.  WOW!  What a cool city!  So many bridges!  We were hoping to meet up with some friends, but it didn't work out.  So we passed some time at the local mall, before heading back over the border to Vancouver to meet up with Trini!!!  We met her at her cute apartment and met her cute little dog Max.  Then we headed over to Applebee's for dinner and Yann.  Yann is Trini's BF and a totally cool guy!  We all hung out and talked unitl 1:00 AM!!!!  We, of course, were too tired to make the 3 hour drive back to Seattle, so we stayed the night at a hotel and got ourselves a good night sleep!
Sunday.  After sleeping in, we were still pretty slow and sleepy.  We woke up to a sunny day and found ourselves along a pretty river.  We enjoyed a very satisfying breakfast at Denny's and then started the drive back to Seattle.  We had some time to kill before my plane left, so we made a stop at the Capital in Olympia.  All of the trees surrounding the mall were so pretty!  We took lots of pictures of trees, leaves, buildings, and the port.  Then it was off the Sea-Tac!  I made it just in time to board my flight and head back to CA! 
It was such a fun, adventurous and memorable weekend!  I can't wait to see what we do next year!