Beautiful Weather in Seattle

Greetings from Seattle! I flew down from Anchorage yesterday and spent a night trying to catch up on sleep...and that flight took a bit more out of me than usual. I took today as a tourist day and what a day it was! Positively gorgeous here...the weather was breathtaking. In excess of 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I found myself asking whether I was actually in Seattle or not!?! Actually picked up a bit of a sunburn, too...but that's typical for me.

First I headed down to Pike Street Market to visit a favorite toy shop. It is rare that I actually purchase anything at the Market itself...rather, I enjoy taking it all in and just seeing the people and all of the items for sale. From the market you could see Mt. Rainier clearly, but the pictures were faded by the sun and they didn't come out.

I then went north to the Chittenden Locks and surrounding gardens. What a treat! I could sit all day, watching boats and people pass...and in such an amazing setting. You also get to watch the salmon pass (see the pictures below!).

Some shots of the queue for the locks.

Looking west to the bay.


And then from the same spot, but looking east over the dam/spillway

Here's a picture looking back to the park, gardens and original gatehouse. There are actually two locks, one small and one large. When I first arrived they were using the smaller one but they quickly switched to the larger because of so much traffic (no doubt, given the weather!).

The whole site is on the national register.


Perhaps the coolest part for me was seeing the fish ladder...


...where you can see real, native salmon of many species spawning back to their freshwater homes...


...the Army Corps of Engineers rebuilt the fish ladder in the '70s, I believe, and there are now more than 30 steps for the fish to climb, easier than the original 10. Very cool.

Downstream from the dam and locks you find this warning sign:

Down in the blue print it warns you to "Keep Pets Away" and all I can think is how funny it would be if Ellie the Cat (who lives at my house in Gambier) was to start chasing seals and/or sea lions. Just love that image!

This is from downstream looking at the dam and locks...

Finally from the locks, this bit of public art.


Finally, I headed to south Lake Union where the community was celebrating the opening of a new park. What luck! You should see this place...I wish I was around more often to take advantage of it.

From the park, looking north on Lake Union...

And though these might look like sailboats on the lake, they're actually from the toy boat pond! How cool!


And for Phan, back in Gambier, a small dragonboat set in front of the harbor...

Well, that was my day...I spent the evening catching up on emails and work things. I'm looking forward to a busy week with 18 school visits and a number of interviews. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a Kenyon friend, and it will be great to catch up.

And just for fun, on the opposite coast, a picture of my beautiful niece, Kaylin...

From Lake Union, all the best.
-Noble