Sitting Bull

When we talked to Teena Franklin at Linda Franklin's retirement party we learned that she grew up in Ellensburg, Washington which is known for its Clymer Museum of Art and for its Sitting Bull. So after we learned that Kirk Franklin had never heard of or seen the Sitting Bull we just had to post this photo of the Sitting Bull. Hope Kirk gets to see it. Isn't this a cute little sitting bull statue? We just had to take a photo of him when we were driving across Washington state last May on interstate #90 and stopped for a big breakfast in downtown Ellensburg. Click on the photo of the bull to see what he has in his lap.

Memorial Day Weekend

This is Memorial Day Weekend. The weekend to remember our past and present fighting men and women. That Spokane Armed Forces Lilac Parade was so patriotic. It brought tears to my eyes. And the parade was top notch. As good as the Tucson Rodeo Parade or the Washington D.C. Cherry Blossom Parade. This is some of what I remember:

Air Force jogging down the parade route. Marines riding in a truck and pulling a howitzer. The National Guard with a sign that said: drivers needed. Coast Guard marching in snappy uniforms. And the red hot mommas! Yep! These mature women dressed in pink with pink flamingos on their straw hats and pink Kirby vacuum cleaners in their hands. The vacuum cleaners had pink lights to match the pom poms on their sneakers. What a hoot! I have a new goal: to become a Red Hot Momma in the Spokane Parade. Just wish these ladies could vacuum up this Iraq War.

May 20 -- Missoula

Today we transversed some of the prettiest scenery in the US. We drove on I-90 through Coeur d’Alene to Missoula. Fantastic views of pine covered mountains and mountain lakes and streams. At the apex of Lookout Pass (elevation 4680’), we crossed the border into Montana and into Mountain Daylight Time. We descended for over 70 miles into Missoula stopping at the St. Regis Casino for lunch. After checking into our hotel in Missoula and resting for a bit, we headed out to see the town and the University of Montana--home of the Grizzlies. Being Sunday evening, things were pretty quiet. We had dinner in a restaurant that was built over the raging Rattlesnake Creek. Our table was in front of a window in the middle of the creek so we had a perfect view. They had a paper on the table showing you pictures of some of the wildlife we might see. The only thing we actually saw was a blue heron, but we were satisfied. Unfortunately, the hotel was having problems with their server, so we couldn’t update the blog until tonight.

May 19 -- Seattle to Spokane

The ship arrived in Seattle around 5:00 am and was docked by 5:30. The first passengers didn’t disembark until around 8:00 am. The crew contributed this to customs in Seattle not being ready. ln the meantime, we had breakfast and headed back to the observation deck for one last farewell. The disembarkation was by the number with the ones catching early flights off first. We were off by 9:00 and on the road by 9:20. A very efficient process, but they have been practicing this for a few years.

Joann had her sightseeing books in hand and selected Ellensburg, WA for lunch. It turned out to be a great selection. We had what they billed as “The Perfect Breakfast” and it was very good. The town was very picturesque and they were having a famers’ market on one of the streets. We visited the Clymer art museum and saw many of his original paintings. Some were the ones used on the covers of the Saturday Evening Post.

The landscape along I-90 from Seattle to Spokane changes drastically. We were in the clouds in mountains, then in ranch and farm land and then back to the mountains. Joann wrote about our experience in Spokane, so I won’t repeat it except to say it was a very interesting parade. Since it was evening it was called a “torchlight” parade and many of them were lit. It started at 7:45 and was still going when we decided to call it a night at 10:00 pm.

Blog A Go Go

So much has taken place since Thursday night. Need to find time to write three blogs about the last two days cruising: jampacked activites aboard ship, the port stop in Victoria, British Columbia Friday night, and the disembarkation from the ship in Seattle early Saturday. We promise to do it but not now.

And so much happened after we started heading east on interstate 90 yesterday. Need to write a blog about our nice stop in Ellensburg for lunch, the Farmers' Market and the Clymer Art Museum. We promise to do it but not now.

And we must write about what happened in Spokane yesterday when we exited the interstate.
Have you ever had a strange sensation like you have been dropped down in the middle of a major event when it is about to occur? That's what happened to us yesterday. In retrospect we should have become aware as soon as we spotted many many yellow school buses heading east down #90. And when we entered the city we should have become more aware when we noticed people rushing about with grandmothers, new babies and portable chairs. It was like that song-----pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and go to the salvation show. And when we had a difficult time finding a motel with a room we finally asked what was going on. Like had we missed an announcement that Spokane was hosting a spring superbowl. We were informed that Spokane was about to hold their Annual Lilac Festival Parade! Lilacs! Lilac Parade!
Joann's ears perked up and her mind made a decision: we are staying and attending instead of heading down the road to a cheaper room. So we did. And what a parade it was! Totally awesome I tell you. Joann captured it with over 100 photos that she is now editing. One more thing--that clerk failed to add two important words to the title of the parade. Armed Forces
Annual Lilac Festival Parade. Yep, the US Armed Forces were the main attraction of the parade. In fact, for every lilac that I saw, I saw 25 handsome men in uniform.

May 11 -- Back to Seattle

We left Vancouver early this morning headed for Seattle with a few stops along the way. Our first stop was at the Boeing assembly plant in Everett, Washington, where they assemble the 747 and the 777. It will also be where they assemble the 787 and they already have the area prepared to start. The shot of the building doesn't do it justice. For example, each of the blue doors you see are over 3 football fields wide, but they don't look that large in the picture. They do not allow cameras on the tour, so we had to take our shots from a distance. The building you see is the one we toured. It is also the building Matt Lauer was in last week when he started his annual series "Where in the World is Matt Lauer." The building has been certified by the Guinness book of world records as the largest building in the world by volume. It is 2.2 miles around and could hold all of Disneyland with 12 acres left over for parking. Apparently Matt talked about rain clouds forming inside. That happened shortly after the building was built in 1963, but was immediately corrected. Jennifer, the tour we took today was a lot diffferent then the one you and I took in 1998. This one was shorter and focused on what tourists want to hear and see versus their environmental programs. It was not as up close and personal as the one we got in 1998. It was still very interesting. After leaving Boeing, we drove to Chateau St. Michelle Winery. The grounds and buildings were gorgeous. And since this is one of our favorite Washington wineries, we just had to buy a couple of bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon. It was outstanding. Next, we drove to Snoqualmie Falls. The falls are still very impressive, Jennifer, and very loud. We then went into Snoqualmie, which was used as part of the setting for the filming of the TV series--Twin Peaks. We learned from the train conductor that some of the filming was done 3 miles down the road at North Bend and that Twede's Cafe was still serving "a damn good cup of coffee" and cherry pie. (That must have been said in the TV program.) Of course we had to go and see for ourselves. They were both pretty darn good. We stopped in Snoqualmie Ridge shopping center at Great Clips to have our hair cut. Rudy did Jack's hair and Debbie did Joann's. We wanted to pack them up and take them home with us, but Rudy said he was pretty expensive so we sadly left them behind. If you're ever in Snoqualmie look them up. We ended the day in Seattle and we are all packed for the cruise tomorrow. We're very excited.

May 6-- Touring Seattle

Seattle has enlarged their Seattle Art Museum (SAM), and we were lucky enough to be here for SAM's grand re-opening. They celebrated the re-opening with 36 straight hours of free admission. So, being the early bird Joann is, we headed to downtown Seattle early today to take advantage of the free opportunity. And, being early, we even got free street parking. The Taurus you see hanging from the ceiling was one of 7 Taurus all painted white with lights sticking out of them hanging in the lobby. Guess someone figured out what to do with the used cars--create art. After touring the Museum, we went to Pike's Place Market where our tour guide yesterday said to go early and watch them getting ready for the day. The brass pig you see in the market is a piggy bank. Behind him are loads of seafood. The picture of the flowers was also taken at Pike's Place Market. There were at least 3 huge flower stands inside the building. Next, we climbed down the stairs to the water front and walked along Elliott Bay stopping for a Starbucks. We then took the 11:00 am Underground tour of Seattle. The guide was great and we learned lots of interesting facts about Seattle. Did you know that in the 1880's there were 2,500 seamstresses in Seattle, but there were no sewing machines and they all lived in a 25 square block area near the waterfront. The first mayor of Seattle was so corrupt he almost bankrupt the city by suing it and then settling the grievances by paying himself out of court. He was so corrupt, they only re-elected him 2 times. The "skirts" you see in the store window are "mankilts." Our guide yesterday said "What will they want us men to do next, stand on a pedestal?" The picture of the park with the pergola was taken in Pioneer Square, which was the original part of Seattle. We then drove past the University of Washington--the home of the Huskies--and on to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field. There we got to go on board a Concord and the first Air Force One, which was used by Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, but the most frequent traveler on it was Henry Kissinger. All worn out, we returned to the hotel to rest up for another day.