So back at the end of June I headed up to Seattle to hang out with my friends Emil & his girlfriend. First goal: stop by Leavenworth, see the faux-Bavarian-ness, and have Emil's girlfriend eat one of the pig legs (there’s an actual German-ish name for it that I can’t remember…) that had been recommended to her by her coworkers (co-interns?) at Microsoft. It was…larger…than anticipated. Leavenworth was fun in a ludicrously touristy way, complete with the crazy thick crowds. Second goal: get to Grand Coulee Dam and check out that engineering marvel. It’s definitely impressive! And the laser show at night was really cool. Third goal: stop at Lake Chelan and see that “gateway to the North Cascades”. That was less interesting for me, but it was still a nice chance to get out of the car for a bit. Yeah, there was lots of driving on this trip :). And all of this was just on the weekend!

So after that weekend I had another 2 days up in Seattle, so I did touristy stuff around the city. Got to finally the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project (EMP), general downtown (was looking for the SafeCo office, but I couldn’t remember the address at all, so it ended up just being just wandering over dozens of blocks), and the wharf area. Also stopped by Pike Place Market, the University of Washington campus, Gasworks Park, and took the Ride-the-Ducks tour. So lots of stuff, and lots of fun!

And lots of pictures :). But here are a select few; the full photo set can be found in the Seattle, WA Vacation (2009-06) album.

US-2 on the way out to Grand Coulee Dam

Grand Coulee Dam itself, as seen from the top of the extension added to accommodate the third powerhouse

Marion Oliver McCaw Hall screen-thingys at Seattle Center

Space Needle (and a little bit of the Experience Music Project (EMP))

Seattle waterfront, seen from a pier on the wharf

Hill in Gasworks Park, Seattle, plus a bit of the tops of the remains of the gasworks

Now playing: Learn Filipino – Book 1, Disc 1 – 12 Pronunciation-Malumay-03-82*
* Note on now playing: yes, I’m trying to multitask, and no, this probably isn’t a good idea…hehe…but it’s now abundantly clear that my mapping of sounds-to-language needs mountains of work…