Long Drive to Twilight Town

We have a lot of blogging to catch up on as we found the wifi in the KOA doesn't like to download photos. We have found a nearby Starbucks to use the wifi of and have a well deserved cup of coffee (any excuse, I know :o)

We left the hotel early on monday. Destination...Twilight Town!!! We left shortly after a lovely skype chat with Sarah for an all day drive to the twilight zone (in other words Port Angeles with the intention of going to Forks and La Push where the vampire novels that I read as a teenager were set - woohoo!)

It was a lovely scenic drive and we saw our first real wildlife in the shape of one deer. We had the promise of eagles and elk but does a seagull count? We drove around the waterway that led to the olympic peninsula.

After a whole day of driving, we eventually reached Port Angeles KOA where it didn't take us long before we got the fire going for our first BBQ.

This is our accomodation for the next few days. Camping in style, I say! Although we did have to buy a kettle to support mums coffee needs ;o)

All the Kabins have a porch swing. They're very relaxing.

We weren't prepared for the cold wind off the ice capped mountains. Mum is wearing every layer she brought with her. Including the socks with sandals!!!

Glad to have some hair to keep her head warm :o)

This is our little corner of the campsite. Look at dad hogging the fire ;op

Weird Day :o)

Today we went to the centre of the universe according to the people of Freemont (they have a sign that says so).

We went there because this morning, Sophie read in a travel book about the Freemont Troll from the film 10 Things I Hate About You. Funnily enough it was under a bridge. Freemont is artist central and they thought it would be artistic to put it there.

Another sculpture we found was of Lenin. An American artist bought it from Slovakia for $13,000 and had it shipped to Seattle. There was no interest in Slovakia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It stands in Freemont as a reminder Art over Politics.

When we were looking for the troll, we stopped by some random sculptures including a metal easel and frame. Guess who was happy to pose for silly pictures?

We went to the local market which sold a mixture of crafts, antiques and food. It was interesting looking at all the different products and it was certainly fun to do on a quiet Sunday.

Also!!! On a very funny note Mum's not insane :op We saw the armadillo vehicle that she saw on the first day in Seattle. It turned out to be a pig but made all laugh all the same. Can you imagine this driving around Newport? I think we're all going to have nightmares tonight.

We're leaving Seattle early tomorrow morning and heading to Port Angeles and the start of Cabins, BBQs and Drives :o) Can't wait!

Birdseye View of Seattle and Sketchbook Project Tour 2011

Today we went up the Space Needle as you can see from my Dad wearing it on his head :o) This is a professionally mocked up picture because we have never seen skies that blue whilst here.

Feet safely on the ground before we went up in the lift (elevator). You wouldn't believe that it is 520 feet in the air until you're actually up there.

Do you see what I mean? Behind my lovely mum, is the Puget Sound.

The Seattle skyline from the Space Needle. You can see the monorail tracks that we went along yesterday.

On our way to brunch at the lovely Macrina Bakery which was opposite Form/Space Atelier that held the Sketchbook Project Tour 2011. This is 1st Avenue.

Sat in the bakery, we watched as the queue outside the Sketchbook Project grew. There were both artists and people from all over going to see friends and loved ones art work.

Behind the barrier you can see a few of the sketchbooks. This is only a small portion of the thousands that were available to look at. They filled both upstairs and downstairs.

Here are some of the bookshelves upstairs. Sam's sketchbook happened to be in one of these.

 Mum and Sophie, having queued for some time to get both library card and book, finally get to sit down and look through Sam's beautiful sketchbook.

We were impressed by Sam's artwork and poetry. Hers was by far more detailed and colourful than some of the others around us.

The All American Pancake Breakfast

After seeing Mum's pancakes for breakfast yesterday, Sophie got major pancake envy and was very excited when she got her own this morning. The other just-rolled-out-of-bed-for-breakfast people didn't understand our wonderment at the pancake machine. We got some strange looks when we started taking pictures of it. We don't feel like we've set a very good example for the educational standards of Brits but you just don't understand how awesome it is!!!

Sleepless in Seattle

We are pooped! Jetlag and 24 hours of travelling has made us tired from the feet up. Our legs had just woken up from all the flying when we decided to look round Seattle.

This is us pooped before 10.15 outside Pike Place Market :o) It was super busy in there considering the time but there were some lovely flowers and souvenirs. It smelt very fishy but unfortunately we didn't get to see the famous fish tossing.

We giggled over this picture because it looks like Dad is over the otherside of the road in a different Starbucks! He was in fact just two feet away. (I don't know what they're putting in the coffee over here but mum swears she saw a bus that looked like an armadillo complete with ears and a tail- don't worry sisterfaces, I'm looking after her really).

We saw the Space Needle when we were on the plane. It was very exciting for us and hopefully we will be going up there tomorrow, weather and comfortable shoes permitting.

This is was a very exciting ride on the monorail that took us from Space Center to Westgate which is the shopping mall where we catch the train back to our hotel. Though it only lasted two minutes we loved every second of our high speed ride. It felt like we were living the Barclays advert.

We're hopefully going back into Seattle tomorrow to see Sam's Sketchbook in the Form-Space Atelier Art Center which we tried to find today but didn't have the address with us.

Sending our love to everyone at home.
xxxxx

New garden pond

Dave's new birthday pressie. Designed and built by himself, with a little help from his friends ( Sam dug the hole, Mum landscaped the pond, Sophie bought some fish, Natalie and Sarah cheered from the sidelines and provided the odd drink!).

 Offical pond cleaner, pond feeder and pond drinker assigned their duties in the 3 Poultons absence.

Left behind

Not sure she's happy about us going! She's not going to make this easy.