Back…ahhhh!

It’s been a loooong two years but we’re finally back in the Northwest!  If you look real close in the background I was able to catch a little of Mt Rainier on our decent into the Seattle area – no words ever can describe how I feel when I see that mountain, even if it’s just a little peek!

Amelia and I are staying in a really awesome Seattle neighborhood called Belltown.  Belltown is full of small independent cafes, amazing restaurants, unique stores and beautiful old buildings and architecture.   Lots of cool arts/artists can be found almost on every corner.  Our condo is a stones throw to the Puget Sound and the famous Pike Place Market.  It’s spring here, the sun was out today and it wouldn’t be a “day” in Seattle without a beautiful Northwest sprinkle…a few views just right outside our door-

Our day started at Macrina Bakery and a short walk to Pike Place Market.

You betcha… that’s fresh salmon and one of those babies will be riding on the plane with me back to Pittsburgh – packed in ice and in a box, that is!

Just about 30 miles SE of Seattle a beautiful place called Snoqualmie – a stop at Snoqualmie Falls –

then a 2 hour hike around Tiger Mountain State Forest.  The trails were so amazingly beautiful today – deep, rich smells of cedar and evergreen, streams flowing fast from the run-off of melting snow from the mountains, lots of ferns and moss, budding plants and sun piercing through the huge trees with intermittent sprinkles.   And this is a  four hundred year old Douglas Fir!  It was just amazing to look straight up the trunk and not even be able to see the top.

Tomorrow, coffee, coffee, coffee!