Vacation Retrospective

Before we disappear into the fall rush and forget that we ever had a vacation, I'd better at least post the pictures, even with relatively little accompanying text. Actually, most readers will probably prefer this version. But I will include a Harper's-style index.

Destination: Pacific Northwest, from Seattle to Portland

Three phases:
(1) Downtown Seattle, in the company of friends Nadine and Mike
(2) Vashon Island in Puget Sound, on our own
(3) Portland, as guests of friends Kinnari and Chris and their 3 year old and 3 month old (a preview of things to come!)

Travel time index
Hours from Princeton to Philadelphia Airport (PHL), normally: 1 in car or 2 on public transport
Hours from Princeton to PHL, us: 3
Missed trains in a row: 2
Minutes early each of those trains was running: 5
Minutes it takes a NJTransit ticket machine to spit out a ticket: Too many
How fast a preschooler can run from the station snack bar to the platform: Not very

Minutes our original flight was delayed: 90 and counting
Minutes in line to change to different flight so as not to miss connection: 40
Seats left on new flight: 4 (whew)
Dollars comped by the airline for dinner for our trouble: 30
Hours from leaving home to takeoff: 7
Miles from home to PHL: 55
Hours from PHL to Seattle, including connection: 8
Miles from PHL to Seattle: 3000
Minutes from airplane seat to hotel bed, including baggage claim, hotel ground transport, and check-in: 40 (wow)

Hours from Seattle to Portland on I-5, normally: 3
Hours from Seattle to Portland if you take a big scenic swing east through the Cascades: 6-7
Minutes wife spends convincing husband that speed trumps scenery with a preschooler in the car: 3
Hours from Seattle to Portland on I-5 when there are brush fires along the freeway: 7
Minutes husband spends musing on what the Cascades must look like: 3

Hours from Seattle to Detroit by plane: 4
Hours from Detroit to PHL by plane: 2
Hours from PHL to Princeton by train: 4


PART ONE, SEATTLE

Day One, Downtown Seattle

Edith kicks off vacation the right way by luxuriating in a late morning at the airport hotel, taking full advantage of all available pillows and indulging in a Mary Poppins viewing before getting dressed for the day


We head downtown.

At the Maritime Museum, Edith and Mike fish for salmon by hand, then haul in their catch one by one, minimizing their environmental impact as well as their profit margin. Tom, Nadine, and Mike also try out some maritime alter egos.


Pike Place Market is still a real, operating open-air market full of fish vendors, organic fruit and vegetable farmers, and wholesale flower growers, as well as shops with baked goods and ethnic delicacies. Way cooler than Quincy Market in Boston or Pier 39 in San Francisco, both of which are the shells of old markets turned chain-store-boutique-malls. Pike Place inspired Edith actually to ask for fresh fruit for breakfast every morning.

We also sampled our fair share of coffee shops on this trip, of course, and Edith discovered that they often (though not always!) served something other than coffee.

Seattle Center has rides for kids.

We got just enough rain to see this on our way to dinner.


Day Two, Chittenden Locks and the University of Washington

I've always wanted to see locks. These were way cool: constant boat traffic, total viewing access for the public, and a salmon ladder on one side, allowing visitors a view of the salmon migrating back upstream. (I always thought salmon surged upstream at rapid-fire pace; it turns out that much of the journey looks like a day on the gym treadmill.)



An academic can never pass up a visit to the local campus; this one provided a nice setting for Mike's homemade zucchini chocolate cake and a nap. And allowed us to slip a note under the office door of a Princeton friend just completing his first year on faculty there, resulting in a lovely dinner out a few nights later.


Day Three, Kirkland

Nadine and Mike headed back to real life in Wenatchee, so we went to bother another college friend of Gretchen's at her home in Kirkland, just east of Seattle. Meredith is the grad student mother of a three year old and a six month old. She is in seminary and a candidate for Methodist ordination. Three-year-old Nathan loves maps. We found some things in common to talk about.

From Kirkland we head out to Vashon Island for some days on our own. Part Two to follow soon...