We started our trip to the west coast at Chicago's O'Hare airport. This was my first time on a 747 and it was great! First of all, it was a direct flight- always nice. Secondly, there was a movie Along Came Polly - I admit not one of the best shows and I felt really bad for the ferret (even if they were all ferret stunts it looked painful). Lastly, we ordered an on-board meal, another first for me - We split a great greek salad!

This was my first time on the west coast, Mark's second time to Washington. We had a great time exploring the sites in our fancy Honda rental car - but goodness those brakes were touchy! The night we got in we had a fabulous dinner at Dan and Sarah's condo. In true Washington fashion, we had grilled salmon :) and Sarah served up a lovely treat of mashed sweet potatoes - I never knew they could be so good! With a side of grilled zuchinni and a fresh salad with Daniel's favorite (avocados) along with some wonderful homemade oils (loved the basil - I'll have to work up to the pepper one).

After a tour of their lovely abode - I am very impressed with all of the great work they have put in - and a bit of chatting and catching up, Sarah dished out some sweet homemade coffee ice cream. We ended the evening playing Squint - a great shape game to test any mind, and some of Mark's Ultra Violets. A very good day indeed!

Saturday morning we were free to explore Washington in our fancy car. First was the Seattle Aquarium - there was a great tidal display where you can touch starfish (I didn't realize they were rough on the white bumps and slimy on their skin) and urchins (we put our finger on the dull spines and the other spines wrapped around us gently ;) There were also some playful otters, a lazy ring of moon jellies, and an excellent display on Salmon. In the gift shop we picked up a nice wooden puzzle for our 2 year old nephew Will.

Next we were off to the Pike Place Market. After a large number of steps (I would have thought we were in San Francisco) we came to a very impressive and well established market. Our first site was the famous Pike Place Fish Market - they really do throw fish (and nicely enough they gave the crowd a stuffed fish to toss around). We got some salmon steaks to take home- in fact everywhere we went there were wares ready to take on a flight home. We saw a great spice market Sarah had mentioned with an extensive collection of tea pots. There were painters and many food shops. On the street we saw one man playing an Australian digerido, a quintet of string instruments, even a piano!

For lunch we had a lovely sandwich with fresh bread and crunchy chips. Then we wandered down to the chef's dream shop: Sur La Table. Every corner of the store was covered by cooking goodies. For a treat we picked out some unusual cookie cutters including our recently seen tropical fish. On the way through the flower section we purchased a large canvas handbag (for future use as a grocery bag- no more plastic sacs!) Overall it was a beautiful day for an excursion into downtown Seattle.

After a quick change and rest at the hotel, we set out for Mike Wade's wedding. Everyone looked so beautiful, the programs were elegantly tied with a red cord. The flowers were vibrant colors and the boquets stunning against red bridesmaids dresses. Everything went very smoothly, the priest was lively. After the wedding, we headed to the reception of hourdorves at a quaint Library Bistro bar. There we had a wonderful time and ate dinner with one of Mike's oldest friends and his wife from Minnesota.

Returning Sunday, on the perfect 747, everything went smoothly. We got a great view of the Rockies and I took oodles of pictures of cumulus clouds ;) What a great trip and a wonderful adventure.