Seattle and Portland trip

Friday, my last day at work, Marian and I drove to Murfreesboro to spend the night at Taylor's. We all rose early Saturday morning so Taylor could drive us to the airport at 3:30 for our flight out west. We started the trip off by going to the wrong airlines. We were convinced we were flying Delta and couldn't understand why our number wouldn't work. Turns out we were on United. So after finding the correct flight, off we went to San Francisco. We were fortunate that we were the only two people in our row. Our flight attendants were older ladies, one of who was horribly rude. The other was very nice. It was a good flight. Once in San Fran, we had lunch and then after discovering our flight had been delayed an hour and moved to a different gate, we were off to Portland. Once in Portland, we caught the train to the Amtrack station. Our train was delayed an hour because a bridge was stuck in the up position so our train couldn't get to us. We arrived in Seattle after midnight. We weren't certain where the apartment was we had rented so we called Uber. After driving around the block twice, we discovered we were across the street. Lol  The apartment was nice. Right on the edge of Chinatown, close to the mission so we didn't go out at night. The only thing we didn't like was that it didn't have cable, so we only got 5 stations, none of which were great.

The weather in Seattle was fantastic. On Sunday, we got up and walked down to the Sound. (That's when we discovered how close the mission was.) We had purchased a City Pass and one thing we got to do was take a boat ride around the Sound. Turns out we were very lucky. Only 90 days of the year is the weather clear enough to see Mount Rainier and Sunday was one of those days.

Isn't it beautiful? The trip around the Sound was so much fun, we decided to take a longer boat ride that included going through a lock. That was really cool. We also got to see the house from Sleepless in Seattle. We also visited the aquarium. It was right on the dock. It was an old port warehouse. Nicely done and fun. We got to see an octopus. It was UGLY!

On Monday, we started our day at the Museum of Pop Culture. It wasn't as great as we hoped. There was a great exhibit on Marvel Comics. We learned so much. There was also a good Jimmy Hindrix exhibit. The best part of the exhibit was the playground outside. Then we went up into the Space Needle. The view was amazing. They are working on it, so the restaurant wasn't open. 

Next was my favorite part of our day in Seattle...the Chuhily Museum. I love his blown glass.

Each room inside the museum is dedicate to a period of his work plus they had a garden. I could have stayed there all day. Then we went to the market. I was disappointed. It was mostly junk. We did get to see a fish being thrown, but everything else was disappointing. Then we went to a quilt shop. I bought a piece of fabric designed by a local artist. I hope to use it for my Healing Quilt Project.

On Tuesday, we got back on Amtrack and headed back to Portland. The train was delayed, of course. Our hotel in downtown Portland was very nice. We were right across the street from VooDoo Doughnuts. We went over after our Welcome Meeting with our tour group and got a couple of doughnuts. I wore the chocolate the rest of the week since I spilled on my PJs. lol

Our tour began the next day with visits to a couple of quilt shops. The first, Fiddlesticks, was great! We discovered Ann Shaw, a designer, who we later saw in person in Sisters. Loved her patterns and I'm looking forward to completing the patterns. The next shop was Fabric Depot, which was not that great. That night we visited Powell Book Store. This large bookstore takes up a whole city block and is 3 stories high. It was fabulous! They give you a map when you enter. Then we walked across the street and found the Doc Marten store. I got some cute shoes. 

On Thursday, we went to the Lattimore Quilt and Textile Museum. It is in the middle of nowhere, but it is very nice. Author, Ann Hazelwood was at the museum. She lives nearby. She signed a book for us. The museum staff did a bed turning for us. It was nicely done. After the museum, we traveled to Cannon Beach. This is the beach where Haystack Rock is located on the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful city! There is a wonderful quilt shop there. 

Our toes in the Pacific.

On Friday, we drop to Sisters, Oregon and spent the afternoon in town visiting the Stitching Post. We followed this up by dinner at the High School. Then we listened to the founders of the quilt show as they showed their quilts. On Saturday we spent the day at the Quilt Show. I got to get a signed book from Marie Bostwick. 

On Sunday, we traveled back to Portland through the Mount Hood area of Oregon through the orchards. It was beautiful. 

We got to see the Olympic Summer Camp. We stopped by a fruit and vegetable store. On Monday,our last day we did a tour Portland and then off to the airport. We took the red eye home and it was a long flight. 

This was a great trip. Once in a lifetime!