Seattle, Washington

When our Alaska Cruise was complete, we returned to our origin, which was Seattle, Washington.

We had one last breakfast on the ship, and then made our way to land.  I left Robyn with the luggage and took a shuttle to where the car was parked.  We figured it would be easier for me to drive to her, so that we wouldn't have to load all of the luggage onto the shuttle.  That would probably have been true if I had any idea where I was going.

I pulled out of the parking lot and found myself on a one way street.  The one way street had signs saying that I was getting on some highway.  I didn't want to be on a highway, I wanted to drive back to the boat dock where my wife was located.  I was looking for a place where I could do a U-turn.  No such place existed, but as I was searching I wasn't exactly driving fast.  The guy behind me didn't appreciate my slow speed, he made some gestures that weren't exactly friendly.

I eventually got turned around and made my way back.  I was able to pick up my wife.  I didn't have to return to Utah in shame after losing her.

Once we got all the luggage loaded up, we drove to our hotel and just parked the car there.  We got an expensive hotel that was centrally located for everything we wanted to do.  Then we took on downtown Seattle on foot.

Our first adventure was at the Seattle Aquarium.  I took millions of pictures of various sea creatures but I'll just share a few.

They had different lights shining on the jelly fish so they changed colors.

I really liked this picture Robyn got of the Octopus.

I want to be Cthulhu when I grow up, but I'll settle for an Octopus.

They had an exhibit of Pacific fish.  It made me really happy to see all the fish I saw snorkeling in Hawaii.

I got to touch an anemone!  It was so cool, the tentacles were grabbing me and trying to eat me.

The next place we wanted to hit was the EMP museum.  It was about 1.5 miles from the Aquarium.  Our walk took us right through the Pike Place Market.  My original plan was to eat lunch somewhere inside, but when we saw the billions of people inside we decided we wanted something simpler.  We stopped at a Subway that we happened to pass near the museum.  That was sufficiently delicious (plus we had a fancy dinner planned for that night, but more on that later.)

The EMP museum was super fun.  We didn't spend tons of time with the music exhibits.  We were there for the geek stuff, (the science fiction and fantasy exhibits.)

I got to sit upon the iron throne.

Robyn had trouble with tribbles

The Dalek tried to exterminate me.

Sometimes I go at warp speed.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the Seattle Center.  We saw a laser show that was attuned to the Beatles.  It was pretty awesome.

Finally, it was dinner time.  That's where our fancy dinner came in.  To see where we were eating dinner we just had to look up.

We totally ate dinner at the top of the Space Needle.

Robyn is cute in space.

The view was fantastic.

The restaurant slowly rotates as you eat dinner, so throughout your time there you get the city view, the lake view and then the view of the sound.  The food was absolutely amazing as well.

Finally, after a day full of adventure we returned to our hotel room for a relaxing evening.

We stayed there for the location, but the view was pretty fantastic as well.

The next morning, we wanted to visit Robyn's grandfather in Bremerton.  We wanted to take the ferry, but we had quite an adventure getting to the ferry terminal.  Our GPS got us lost a few times, but we made it alive.  I've never driven my car onto a boat before.

Onboard the ferry, they let you get out of the car and walk around.  The ferry was an adventure in itself.

Robyn was super cute with the skyline in the background.

I had to use the bathroom, but when I walked in I was super confused because there were no urinals, but there was a giant sink.  I really wanted a picture of it, so I waited awkwardly until everyone left.

The sea gulls were flying the same speed as the ferry so it was like they were hovering.  People were throwing food in the air and they would have dog fights to see who could catch the food mid air.  It was pretty awesome.

 After I finished watching the sea gulls I noticed the jelly fish.  I was just looking over the edge when I saw a whole school of them.  They were pretty amazing.  I wanted a picture, but by the time I pulled out my phone they were gone.

Finally, we landed in Bremerton.  I didn't realize that other members of Robyn's family would be visiting her grandfather that day.  So, it was a special treat to get to spend time with lots of family.  Some of them I had met before, most of them this was my first time.  But all of them were super kind and super fun.

This isn't everyone that was there.  Some of them had already left when we thought to get a picture.

We spent the night at grandpa's house..  It was definitely special to spend time with so much family.  Grandpa even provided bacon for breakfast.  That is love.

Unfortunately, after breakfast we had to make the long drive home.

We got home about 1 in the morning.  I was so tired I wanted to cry, but I got to sleep in my own bed.   It's the best bed on the planet.