Okay, will start the Seattle Diary...HERE.

Saturday, July 21
We were about an hour later leaving the airport than we wanted to be this morning. But we finally got off and on our way. It was a pretty clear flight right up until we hit the mountains in Oregon, and then the weather came down on us. It didn't look like we were going to make it over them, as the Hubby isn't IFR current in the Cardinal and we didn't have the right maps anyway, so we stopped in Hood River to get on a weather computer to see what was the what. Kinda ugly, was the what, so we went to eat (Subway). Went back to the airport, decided to press on up the river canyon a ways to see if we could get out that way...and we did. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was good enough, and we made it into Seattle only a few hours later than we'd planned.

Toddled up to Half Price Books in Bellevue, where I scored 18 books for under $20. HAH. Chili's for dinner.

Wi-fi at hotel not working, v. annoying. Desk clerk let my use the hotel's comp to check my email and update LJ.

Sunday, July 22
Woodland Park Zoo! Rain! Nearly 400 pix! Am exhausted. Scored a plush anteater. Wi-fi still not working. Blah.

( A dozen sample pix under the cut. )

Okay, will start the Seattle Diary...HERE.

Saturday, July 21
We were about an hour later leaving the airport than we wanted to be this morning. But we finally got off and on our way. It was a pretty clear flight right up until we hit the mountains in Oregon, and then the weather came down on us. It didn't look like we were going to make it over them, as the Hubby isn't IFR current in the Cardinal and we didn't have the right maps anyway, so we stopped in Hood River to get on a weather computer to see what was the what. Kinda ugly, was the what, so we went to eat (Subway). Went back to the airport, decided to press on up the river canyon a ways to see if we could get out that way...and we did. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was good enough, and we made it into Seattle only a few hours later than we'd planned.

Toddled up to Half Price Books in Bellevue, where I scored 18 books for under $20. HAH. Chili's for dinner.

Wi-fi at hotel not working, v. annoying. Desk clerk let my use the hotel's comp to check my email and update LJ.

Sunday, July 22
Woodland Park Zoo! Rain! Nearly 400 pix! Am exhausted. Scored a plush anteater. Wi-fi still not working. Blah.

( A dozen sample pix under the cut. )

More Seattle Diary!

With twice as many pictures!

Monday, July 23
Boeing Air Museum. Wow, lots of cool stuff here. Highlights included an inside look at an early Air Force One (which had a dog door!), and a Concorde. I managed to get us going the exact opposite way we needed to go to the hotel. Good times. Still no wi-fi. Ate at the Red Robin downtown on the pier. What's up with the no fried zucchini or cajun shrimp??? Was still good (always is), but sheesh. Wandered south to a little state park on the beach and saw some sort of tern diving into the water. Pretty sunset.

There's a letter from the thirties that I shot and came out amazingly well, talking about putting stewardesses on planes. It's posted under the cut, but in case anyone doesn't want to plow through the capslock to the relevant portion, I'll quote it for you:

I am not suggesting at all the flapper type of girl. You know nurses as well as I do, and you know they are not given to flightiness. The average graduate nurse is a girl with some horse sense and is very practical and has seen enough of men to not be inclined to chase them around the block at every opportunity. Further, as a general rule nurses are not of the 'pretty' type which lends to their usefulness in this case.

Can you imagine such a letter being written today??? OMG, wanksplosion.

Tuesday, July 24
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. PUFFINS OMG. They are so funny. They look like they take themselves entirely too seriously, and they've got this little Groucho Marx walk they do, and bathing is serious business, yo. We also got to watch a polar bear under water playing with a ball and a plastic 30-gallon drum. We were lucky enough to see the keepers interacting with the beluga whales (not on any printed schedule), and I got some practice in for the whale watching in a couple of days. As we were heading out, disappointed that the Arctic Fox had been sleeping all the live-long day, I noticed that his keeper seemed to be calling him by banging a plastic dish rhythmically on the ground, so we hung out. Eventually the fox appeared, ate, wandered about a little, and then went back into hiding. The keeper told us that while most wild Arctic Foxes only live to be five or six years old, this one is ten. So, he's, like, Methuselah or something, and we were lucky to see him at all. Scored a plush octopus for the bathroom.

I also got to go up on stage and shoot pix of a porcupine, which, alas, didn't really come out so well, as you can't see his face too good. But they're better than the porcupine pix I had before...because I had NO porcupine pix before. SCORE.

Another Half Price Books, and scored some more books. Go me.

Lots of "scoring" goin' on here...

We met the lovely and effulgent fenchurche and her handsome and talented hubby rackham for dinner at Anthony's. Tasty tasty seafood, marvelous conversation about fandom stuff and life stuff. Will have to do that again.

( Pix! Soooo not dial-up friendly... )

More Seattle Diary!

With twice as many pictures!

Monday, July 23
Boeing Air Museum. Wow, lots of cool stuff here. Highlights included an inside look at an early Air Force One (which had a dog door!), and a Concorde. I managed to get us going the exact opposite way we needed to go to the hotel. Good times. Still no wi-fi. Ate at the Red Robin downtown on the pier. What's up with the no fried zucchini or cajun shrimp??? Was still good (always is), but sheesh. Wandered south to a little state park on the beach and saw some sort of tern diving into the water. Pretty sunset.

There's a letter from the thirties that I shot and came out amazingly well, talking about putting stewardesses on planes. It's posted under the cut, but in case anyone doesn't want to plow through the capslock to the relevant portion, I'll quote it for you:

I am not suggesting at all the flapper type of girl. You know nurses as well as I do, and you know they are not given to flightiness. The average graduate nurse is a girl with some horse sense and is very practical and has seen enough of men to not be inclined to chase them around the block at every opportunity. Further, as a general rule nurses are not of the 'pretty' type which lends to their usefulness in this case.

Can you imagine such a letter being written today??? OMG, wanksplosion.

Tuesday, July 24
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. PUFFINS OMG. They are so funny. They look like they take themselves entirely too seriously, and they've got this little Groucho Marx walk they do, and bathing is serious business, yo. We also got to watch a polar bear under water playing with a ball and a plastic 30-gallon drum. We were lucky enough to see the keepers interacting with the beluga whales (not on any printed schedule), and I got some practice in for the whale watching in a couple of days. As we were heading out, disappointed that the Arctic Fox had been sleeping all the live-long day, I noticed that his keeper seemed to be calling him by banging a plastic dish rhythmically on the ground, so we hung out. Eventually the fox appeared, ate, wandered about a little, and then went back into hiding. The keeper told us that while most wild Arctic Foxes only live to be five or six years old, this one is ten. So, he's, like, Methuselah or something, and we were lucky to see him at all. Scored a plush octopus for the bathroom.

I also got to go up on stage and shoot pix of a porcupine, which, alas, didn't really come out so well, as you can't see his face too good. But they're better than the porcupine pix I had before...because I had NO porcupine pix before. SCORE.

Another Half Price Books, and scored some more books. Go me.

Lots of "scoring" goin' on here...

We met the lovely and effulgent fenchurche and her handsome and talented hubby rackham for dinner at Anthony's. Tasty tasty seafood, marvelous conversation about fandom stuff and life stuff. Will have to do that again.

( Pix! Soooo not dial-up friendly... )