Seattle - last of the sightseeing, square dancing and hanging out

So my last few days in Seattle of my second visit. Did some more sightseeing, i love this city. Its got a great feel to it and there is always loads to see and do.

Another view of Amazon.com in the old military hospital this time from a walking perspective as opposed to whizzing by on the bus.

Walking over a bridge looking at the east side of Seattle, the dark building is the tallest building in Seattle.

China Town

On the boat to Bainbridge island with the city in the background! Bainbridge island for those Grey's anatomy fans appears occasionally in the series, of course this was one of the reasons i had to do this trip , well that and its a well known tourist destination. Also i could have bumped into Patrick Dempsey :)

A view of the city below. When arriving at the island, the bikes and cars get to leave first.

Coming back from Bainbridge island and some of the boats crossing our path.

Some time in the unbearable heat, the kids came to spend some time with me in my room, where we did some reading and writing - who would have thought!!!

In the second picture you see i am partaking in my favourite past time, snoozing!

And last but not least another night out doing some Square dancing, a little different from Contra dancing, i liked both. The crowd this time was much younger and the music more cowboy like as opposed to scottish folk, but it was great fun!!!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/SquareDancingInSeattle#

Seattle - a day with the little angels!

Those of you that know me well, know that i am not a fan of kids. Well surprisingly things have changed a little, as i have been spending alot more time with the little people they have taught me useful skills like patience, believe it its true! So this day i spent the whole day with Joe and Rebecca and it was really great fun, i think now i understand why people like kids so much. Kids see the world from a really different perspective and i was lucky enough to experience my day out from this perspective!

At the bus stop


At the underground tour

We bussed into town and our first stop was Bill Speidels underground tour, which was rather interesting as it gave us the dirt and history on Seattle and showed us some of the underground shops and streets still left.


Next stop the Space needle.




Built in 1962, the Space Needle served as the symbol of that year's World's Fair. It has since become the symbol of Seattle, and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The privately owned Space Needle is managed by Space Needle LLC.
























On the mono rail

Ice creams all round......



Lastly we had a fun ride ......a great day was had by all!

More pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/SeattleDayOutWithTheKids#

Seattle - The Parade!

Well today is the parade, Sally is so excited that she was downtown at 8.30 am with her ground sheet, reserving a spot for later, the parade starts at 7.30pm.

Parades are big in the USA and definately big excitement in this household. I have been told, marching bands, drum majorettes, floats, the list is never ending!



We arrived at our reserved spot with believe it or not, not only our ground sheet still in tact but nobody on it, despite tons of people milling around, i was gobsmacked! Where in the world do you think you could go and save a space on a pavement 12 hours a head of time expect it to still be there when you returned later. Only in America!




Sally marching over to where our untouched ground sheet is and Mark looking back.

The parade was about two hours long, with tons of different things and people take this very seriously and there is great support. See the link for some pics of the parade!

http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Parade#

Out and about in Seattle

Spending another 10 days in Seattle, its a cool place and the host family are great!! So what is life like here in the old US of A - pretty much the same really as anywhere else except for a few variations, like parades, more about that in my next post.





Display at Seattle art museum



We had Sally's birthday which was fun, a pool party with lots of pizza and yummy cake and lots of presents!











See more birthday pics here: picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/SallysBirthday#


Last night Sally decided to take me out on a talent scout, ahem! We went Contra dancing which was great fun and similiar to Scottish country dancing and quite easy to pick up - the dance that is! We got right into it and the dances are quite long so at least by the end of the dance you definitely get it!

However as the night progresses armpits get sweatier and smellier and when doing the swing which is like a "langarm" sometimes halitosis kicks in! You will see from the pics that i was lucky to pick up a few hotties, now ladies do not be jealous!!

See more dancing pics here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/ContraDancingSeattle#

Blaspheme Central!

This entry is purely on something i feel strongly about, i am sure there will be some comments!


Unfortunately my experience both in Canada and the US so far is the unlimited usage of the expression "oh my Gawd" - not pronounced unfortunately as i have spelt it. You know, if this slips in occasionally ok, but people of all ages, including kids and teenagers use this line. I have to be honest i cringe every time i hear it, i just find it so disrespectful. This opinion is not coming from a holier than thou outlook as believe me i really am lacking in this department and could certainly pull my socks up - but its just the lack of respect. In South Africa somehow people are abit more conservative and therefore possibly more respecting as i hardly hear this sentence back home. In addition i find the kids, more so in Canada not having alot of respect for parents either, this is no reflection on the children where i am staying but rather just observing around me and also what they show on tv.

Lastly i have to mention these names of businesses in Canada which tickled me abit:

1. Canadian Tire - not a drive in tyre store but a general store like Game which sells everything from tyres to plates.
2. The Brick - nope not a brick store, but a furniture store.
3. London Drugs - nope not a place where you go for an english drug fix, but rather a type of clicks store, or in the UK like Boots.

Right well that's my observations for the week, I am in Seattle now. so lets see what pops out here!

In and around Vancouver

Well after getting a horrible cold and recovering a week later, not totally ignoring the swine flu
pandemic of which i luckily avoided i am back to me old self. I did start drawing again which is
good, really need to get back into that.

Lake at Banff National Park, incomplete

Rockies scene, incomplete

Last week in Vancouver was still part of the recovery from the horrible cold week but in between i did manage to terrorise the resident kid - see below, actually she put herself in the fridge!

And do some painting..............

What handi work!

And even cook a chili con carne and potato curry!

Actually on Sunday i went to the aquarium, you know when you do this, that you have probably
overstayed your time in a place. However it was a great day out and i saw things in that aquarium i have never seen in my life, take a gander at these pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Aquarium

Alaska via the Inner Passage

Day 6 & 7 - Ketchikan and last day at sea




We are now heading back down towards Vancouver, Ketchikan is our last stop before home. Quite a diverse little town and great to walk around.

See more of the sights of Ketchikan here : http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Day6Ketchikan#


Last day at sea


Passing ferry at breakfast and Jennifer learning a dance from one of the show girls!



On my way to dinner....

Seymour narrows, quite an interesting and dangerous part of the Inner Passage, i have attached a link if you are interested in reading more about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Narrows















A few final pics.... .http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Day7LastDayAtSea#

Alaska via the Inner Passage

Day 5 - Glacier Bay National Park
Today we are sailing round Glacier Bay national park. The scenery is what you see in cruise ship catalogues, it really does exist and there is only one word. exquisite and even that isn't descriptive enough. I don't think there are too many places in the world, where you can go almost right up to a glacier and see the ice actually breaking off, called calving. The entire day is spent cruising round the park surrounded by snow capped mountains and many glaciers and abundant wildlife. Some of the wildlife seen was a moose swimming, at least five sightings of brown bears, loads of whales and seals and even a sea otter!

More images here : http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Day5GlacierBay

Alaska via the Inner Passage

Day 4- Skagway

Up early this morning, we have docked in Skagway which is as far North in Alaska as we are going. Skagway is another small town, surrounded by gorgous scenery and snow capped mountains. The ship is docked almost right in town, when looking out from the bow it feels like you have run aground. We are going on the train today up to the White Pass Summit - the train is parked right outside the ship. After breakfast in bed, what a treat, we are off. The train goes right up into the mountains and follows the route of the miners back in the day when they were heading up looking for gold, tough terrain i can tell you.

The scenery is spectacular, the train trip is 3 hours return and goes right into the Yukon at White Pass summitt - this is where we head back down the mountain to the town.

The town is really like an old mining village with just a few streets and architecture very similar to those old days, even a saloon with a bordello which you can have a tour around. Of course four cruise ships in so lots of tourists and lots of tourist shops! Skagway is much smaller than Juneau and that wasnt big!

See more pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Day4Skagway##

Alaska via the Inner Passage

Day 3 - Tracy Arm and Juneau CONTINUED......



In addition just a little something about icebergs, what you see on the water is usually only 10%, of the actual iceberg. If the iceberg is newly calved (this is the name for when icebergs break off the glacier) it has that gorgeous blue, you will see some in my pics.



I am attaching a link to more pics of the icebergs and Juneau town!



http://picasaweb.google.com/sbramhall/Day3TracyArmAndJuneau#



More glacier and iceberg pictures when i get to Glacier Bay national park

Alaska via the Inner Passage

Day 3 - Tracy Arm and Juneau

Woke up earlier this morning, we have lost an hour as we are now in the States and this morning we are cruising up Tracy Arm, which is a fjord to view two spectacular glaciers, called the North Sawyer and South Sawyer glaciers - this whole area is spectacular with loads of small glaciers floating by and we managed i believe for the first time in ages to get right to the end of the fjord.

In the afternoon we arrived at Juneau the capital of Alaska, which is a very small, pretty little town overrun with tourists, as there were 4 cruise ships in port and it seems that now this town survives on just that.

Just about every shop is selling something touristy and i think those cash registers were ringing up a storm! I walked round the town, unfortunately there was cloud so we couldnt really see the surrounding mountains very well.

However they did break through sporadically and i managed to go up the hill abit at the back of the town to have a look at some of the houses, all wood, very interesting and very attractive architecture. Got back on the boat round 6ish, its a 25 minute walk from the town and of course, what comes to mind.... food!

I think tonight i will take it abit easy, as we have an early start tomorrow when we arrive at Skagway at 7.30am with a train trip into and over the mountains into the Yukon!

Street views of Juneau

Um Taxidermy is rife in Alaska, poor sods!