A Day Downtown

A few weeks ago Daryl and I met with some friends and strangers as part of a photography outing in downtown Seattle. The group had about 15 people, starting at Seattle Center. From there we took the monorail to Westlake Center then walked to Pike's Place. Here are some of the shots (click to view larger size image):

Seattle Center, near the Pacific Science Center
Street scene of downtown
Indoor mall - 4 stories high!
Penguin statue inside the mall
Downtown Old Navy - for some reason I just really like this image
An old partially torn down wall
Street entertainer and her dog
Post Alley at Pike's Place, there's a GREAT chowder shop in there
View from Pike's Place, what a beautiful patio garden. Puget Sound in the background.
A small portion of Pike's Place outdoor market

Little Boat Adventure

(Click on photos to see them larger)
Daryl has been looking for a project to work on ever since we moved and he sold his Jeep. Since our boat has to be winterized (ie. not used in the winter) and it's too big to use in the rivers we decided to find a little aluminum fishing boat. Daryl had his eye on one that included so much I was surprised they didn't throw in the kitchen sink. The price was right, but it was a 3 hour drive to the coast of Washington.

Since it was such a long drive, Daryl kept looking for something else a bit closer, but nothing was catching his eye. We made a day trip of it; the area we headed to called Gray's Harbor. First we passed through Aberdeen, then on to Westport where we found a place to have lunch.

The harbor is home to lots of those big fishing boats, kind of like what you see on "Deadliest Catch". Beyond the big rock breakwater wall (probably about 8 foot tall) we could see the foam from crashing waves. I couldn't wait to get up there and check it out! The place was deserted, but in the summer it's a bustling beach town.

It started to rain and we had a long drive home so we headed off to Cosmopolis to go see the boat. It was a junker! The motors were junkers! But he was throwing in a lot of stuff, some of it brand new (anchor, winch, etc.). Daryl could see beyond the filth much better than I. He had a gleam in his eye and said 'SOLD'. I wondered if he knew what he was getting himself into... From the looks of the trailer I was highly concerned about the three hour trip home.

We got everything loaded up and started back... the trip was successful - the trailer had no problems and Daryl had his project. He could hardly wait to get started!!

I'm happy to report that he's done a WONDERFUL job. It always amazes me when people don't put just a bit of work into something. Daryl had to remove all the rotten wood seats and transom. He bought new high quality 3/4" plywood, cut it to size and varnished it all. Got all the dirt and grime out of the inside (from sitting for a year unused, 6 months uncovered) and she looked almost new again! Amazingly, Daryl has now gotten both motors working as well!!

So, here are photos of the finished product; we took it to the little lake by our house for the first ever 'sea trial':