Columbia Tower – wow(er)

On Saturday we went up to the Columbia tower observation deck.  The views were spectacular and we enjoyed seeing our current neighborhood and our future neighborhood (the Central District).
north, including the Space Needle and my new hat

we are landed

Jack and I are really excited to say that we now own a tiny patch of land.  It's in the Central District, just east of downtown Seattle.  In a few years we'll be building a wonderful, small, tall house with a western view of downtown Seattle.  

hiking report 1

We've been enjoying hikes in the beautiful northwest.  I don't trust myself to remember where we've been so I'll occasionally track it here.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/pratt-lake

November 2012 – Rachelle & Cari – We planned on rain and hiked up past where the rain turned to snow.  It was a nice gentle path with parking immediately off of I-90.  I got to use my new thermos.

http://www.hoytarboretum.org/files/6512/9261/1646/4_mile_walk.pdf

October 2012 – Jack & Cari – We saw some neat trees and got a bit lost.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-pilchuck

September 2012 – Janet, Steve, Jason, Cari & Jack – It was a bit challenging with all the rocks near the top, but on a clear day the view must be spectacular.  We were in a cloud the whole time, so we need to do this one again.  The drive there was not straightforward.  Someday we'll impress Jason with a good view of mountains.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/wallace-falls

September 2012 – Glenn, Jasmine, Rachel, Hana, Ethan, Cari & Jack – We had an excellent WVC reunion on a nice trail.  We managed to get a parking spot by going late enough (11 am) that some people were already leaving.

July 2012 - Rachelle, Katie & Cari - Somewhere off I-90...   Good company on an uneventful hike.

 

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/hoh-river

http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/hoh-river-trail.htm

July 2012 – Jack & Cari – We camped two nights on the river delta at Olympus and day-hiked to Elk Lake on the second day.  It was spectacular.

 

http://aglie.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html

May 2012 – Jack & Cari – We went on two exploratory hikes and managed to find our way back to camp.  I think we even figured out where we were on the Green Trails map we bought.

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/squak-mountain

May 2012 – Steve, Janet, Jack & Cari – The Mother's day company was good but there was no vista at the summit.

L'automne est un deuxième printemps où chaque feuille est une fleur.

People talk a lot about the beautiful autumn leaves in New England.  They have a point.

Above: Mount Monadnock, NH                                   Below: Provincetown, MA

Now that we've spent our first fall back home in the Northwest again, I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised.  In the suburbs, where we grew up, the maple trees were huge and old and native.  Their leaves were very brown and dull.  I still enjoyed raking them and playing in them, but they weren't at all impressive.

Now that we live in the city, it’s a different world of intentionally planted trees.  Clearly they are planted partly because of their stunning colors.  Jack informed me that the city even has a handy list of approved trees.
I think this has been one of the prettiest falls I remember, partly because I didn't expect any colorful trees.   Here are a few pictures from Seattle and Portland.

The difference between the leaves in the Northwest (cities) and the North East is not quality, but quantity.  Seeing a whole forest of vibrant trees is what’s special about a New England fall, so make sure to go for a hike there, if you get the chance.

escape to Portland

Last weekend, we went to Portland, reveling in the freedom of having a car, a smart phone, a credit card and someone to look after the cat.  I overcame my advance planning instincts and we booked a nice hotel for half-price using priceline in the car, during the drive down on Friday.

We'd both been through Portland before, but had never visited the downtown area properly.  Even if we had visited a lot during high school, it seems like nothing would have been familiar anyway because there's been so much recent construction.

We ate at Little Big Burger, which was tasty and cheap and seemed like a good pick until we both got sick from it that night...  The next day we had some great chowder and beer, including one with this irresistible description.

The transit looked great, but we just walked around downtown, the pearl district and northwest Portland, including 23rd (aka trendy-third).  The city really reminded us of other familiar river cities - particularly Pittsburgh and Providence (RI).

We also did some shopping (no sales tax!) and trend-spotting.  I enjoyed the owls, even if they’re old news.  My friend's upcoming mustache-themed 5k (http://mustachedache.com/) is spot-on with the mustache trend. Jack is pretty sure that holiday octopi are The Next Big Thing.