Lake Washington and Mt Rainier

Back to our American vacation.


Mt Rainier showed itself the entire time we visited Seattle, because we didnt' see a drop of rain the entire time. It was in the 80s and I was really unhappy about the weather, but, it being America, I could simply move from AC environment to AC environment. Very nice.

Here the boats gather for the  hydroplane races for Seafair. 

I got a bad sunburn watching the Blue Angels, and I would show you a picture, but no --- you cannot show  a pic of the Blue Angels to reperesent them. They are too fast to be shown in freeze frame. We found this awesome spot on Beacon Hill, just a little grassy spot between houses on the side of the hill over Lake Washington, where the Blue Angels play. A neighbor came out with chairs for us, even though he didn't know us! I was soaking in the American experience. Then I found out that we'd picked the perfect spot -- we could see everything, and the Blue Angels flew directly overhead, over and over. Sometimes surprising us, making us duck for cover.

 

All my life in Seattle, I'd never actually attended a Blue Angels airshow, and finally I have, and I have to say, do it, at least once!

This photo shows one of Seattle's floating bridges, the 520 across Lake Washington, one of the longest floating bridges in the world, but now, since it has a toll, I won't drive it.  We did lots of navigating around it this trip.

The hydroplanes followed the Blue Angels in Seattle's SeaFair festival, but we only watched them on TV. My man did not know what a hydroplane was, I guess they are not common in Germany.

 It was really, really hot in Seattle during our visit. I've decided to never visit in August if possible. The one month were the rain stops. The city you see in the background of this photo is Bellevue.

My man on the ferry to Southworth.

I still don't really get it.

I took this photo because this is something you don't see in Germany.

I have to include this sign we encountered at the salt marsh on the peninsula. It is a YMCA type place, that cancels all activities when it gets to be hot out, or what Germany considers comfortable.

I ordered an air conditioner for my house as soon as we arrived home, because had to endure days of 37C and high humidity, so high that when I pulled a bottle of water from my fridge, in a few moments it would be standing in a pool of water on the counter. There was no relief. Well, now the temps are OK, but I'm totally ready for the next attack! AC is not common here, even big shopping centers bake in Summer. I thought it was funny, that since I bought this AC here, there were reviewers warning people to NEVER stand right next to it, or you could get sick. In Seattle, we slept right next to them: )

I had to laugh, because the first time I filled my car with gas, it stopped pumping at 35$. I shook the handle, I adjusted it, I spoke to it, and couldn't get it to continue pumping. I couldn't understand how a car could be FULL at 35 bucks. I drove a Mazda 3, a mid-size, fast model. So, that's how it is. Gas is ...affordable!



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I adjusted the contrast on those Mt Rainier photos because it was so hazy out it was hard to make out the mountain in the photos.