Fifth Avenue Theatre

While in WA we all piled into our car and went to downtown Seattle to watch a musical presentation of Second Hand Lions.  Withholding comment on the production, I will say that the theatre was beautiful.  And it was obvious that a lot of effort had been put into the production.  Looking at the line up of shows, this looks like a place I would probably frequent if I lived in the area.

The place was really ornate.  This is the dragon in the ceiling.

A close up of the dragon and the peacocks surrounding it.

Very ornate chandeliers as well.

We had great seats, up in the balcony, but down toward the front of it.

Riding the Ferry

Now back to Washington.

I believe when I was young we went on a ferry somewhere, maybe across the SF Bay.  All I remember was that it was very cool and that I wanted to do it again.  While visiting in WA we had a chance to do just that as we took the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston.  This time we left our car parked and just walked on board.  But it was still really a great trip.  Just going along for the ride, we did not spend much time in Kingston, just long enough to get some great ice cream at Mora Ice Cream.  They had so many flavors that looked good that I could not make up my mind and had to have 4 of them on my cup (2 scoops split in half).  Although I about froze to death eating it, it was really good.  We stopped at Ivar's for some good fish on the way home.  The only disappointment of the day was that I did not take a photo of a "onsie" inscribed with, "There's a nap for that."  As one who is well acquainted with the restorative benefits of naps, I thought that was a great message.  It wasn't until a few days later that I got the real joke that has more to do with apps than naps.  But enough about my "thickness", here are some photos of our day:

Looking through the fog toward Kingston.  Not much to see to get started.

As we approached, however, the fog lifted so we could see our destination.

Disembarking at the pier.  The fog lifted even more as long as we were there, then settled back in.

On the way back this interesting rainbow appeared of the front of the ferry as we plowed through the water back to Edmonds.

We came back on the Spokane, but went over on the other ferry, the Puyallup.

This is the top deck - very windy and cold up here.

The Puyallup.  Looks a lot like the one we were on. ;)

Looking back at Kingston.  As we left the fog gathered again, but the Olympic Range in the background looks impressive.

Pulling into port in Edmonds.  You can see the water being kicked up be the reverse of the engines.

A better sight than the coast of Kingston.

It was exceedingly windy right in that spot, making all of the few hairs I have left on top stand straight up.  Everybody got quite a kick out of this.

Our wonderful tour guides.

On the way back it was even more windy and cold out on the bow of the ferry.  What a fun day!

Downtown Edmonds - quite a nice little town actually.  This is a fountain in a roundabout.  Did I ever mention how much I like roundabouts?  They really are great.  And this one has a structure that appears to have escaped from Rivendell.

The Clouds of Yuba City

We have been back from WA for over a week now, and have been quite pleased with the cool weather we have been enjoying.  It even rained cats and dogs last Saturday!  See Uncle Peter's blog for details.  But even without the clouds there have been clouds around quite a bit, making for some sunsets that rival the sunrises we took photos of in El Salvador.  Here are a couple of photos to prove it.

Looking toward the SE on Sept. 2.

Sept. 2 again, looking to the west.

This one was taken just a couple of days ago looking west down Fredrick Street.