Out and About Adventure - South Lake Union

South Lake Union is great for an afternoon of free entertainment, strolling, seeing and for me it turns out, swimming (more on that later). Boats of all shapes and sizes dock together on the south end of the lake by the Center for Wooden Boats (free!) and many will allow you to come aboard and tour! They also have a wooden canoe on display as it's being made and a small pond with motorized boats to play with. We brought some snacks and sat down by the water watching the seaplanes take off and land. There's a tiny dot of a plane getting ready to land while this one takes off, and yes, that huge storm on the left eventually did come for us.

Love the kitty on this boat! I've actually been down to the center and on the boats before but this time there was a particularly wonderful boat, whose name I can't find but I will, that I really enjoyed seeing. The boat is an inn that you can stay on, decorated like a little oceanside B&B with a lovely common room. Some rooms were occupied while I toured but each room I did see was so quaint and inviting, I really loved it! 

I did not enjoying getting off the boat, as my wonderfully clumsy foot stepped into the space between the dock and the boat which causes one to fall off of the boat, hit the dock and land in the water, or like me suspended between with bottom half in and top half holding on. It was hilarious and cold and painful all at the same time. I think I frightened the boat keeper with my hysterical laughing, it was just too funny. I had a big purple bruise up the inside of my leg and under my butt for about two weeks, ouch!

But how cute are these rooms?! The first picture I think is the main suite but I love the little bunk beds just as much! I love boats/houseboats because all spaces are functional and purposeful, but they also took great care in adding special details to make each room welcoming and comfortable. 

This Beautiful Place - Carkeek Park

Life lately has been a fairly good balance of working hard and playing hard. My new summer schedule is underway and I'll still be adjusting over this week but it's been working out so far. I recently had a birthday and today my special present came! So, in celebration, and because it's Saturday, and because it was absolutely gorgeous out AGAIN, and because we both had the day off...we set out to test the new pack, to Carkeek Park! This park has great beach access but this time we took the South Ridge Trail to the South Bluff Trail for an amazing view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The woods are vibrantly lush and knee high grasses are thriving under the tall tree canopy, which tickled us with fluttering leaves and it felt like if I twirled fast enough in this magical green place I could fly away with the leaves too. At the end we laid in the grass and laughed at the daisies.

This picture doesn't really look like anything but lots of green and a leaning tree. But it's really domino trees! We actually heard these two leaning trees, creaking loudly with the wind, before we came across them and I bet they don't last much longer, especially if we do end up having some stormy weather soon. I definitely want to go back and check soon! Other things of note on the walk: an occasional burst of rhododendrons (and/or azelias?!), heavenly smelling lilacs, the sun on the Sound, a big brown slug, some freaky trees, and the wandering path - I love coming into a clearing and looking back into the wild, before heading into it again.

 

 

 

Happy Adventuring!

Out and About Adventure - Volunteer Park

I've been covering a lot at work these past few weeks which has left no time for a good outing!! Fortunately, the scheduling stars aligned somewhat the other evening and we were able to enjoy the last bit of light up at Volunteer Park. It's kind of a funny story - I thought this park had an observatory tower so I first went there at night...being new to Seattle the park had been recommended to me "because it's a great view" so when they must have also said there was also a conservatory inside the park, I heard observatory! Oopps! Just for the record, this park closes the tower stairs at 9:45 and the gates promptly at 10:00 pm, haha!

One of the many reasons I wanted to visit Volunteer Park is the view! Within the park, off to one side, stands a water tower, wrapped with stairs and covered in brick - from the top is essentially a 360 degree view of Seattle! Oh how I envy the view of the past! On the walls are delightfully informational plaques on the history of Seattle Parks. I'm fascinated with the fact that by and large, most parks are a cultivated, composed and maintained "nature." I'm not saying this fake nature is bad, not at all, my fascination simply stems from the change of landscape and adaptation over time and I enjoy fantacising about how it once was. For example Golden Gate Park, built entirely on sand dunes, almost didn't take at all but you would never know that from looking at the strong, tall eucalyptus trees. What could have just been windy dunes is now an escape within the city filled with all kinds of neat discoveries! I enjoy trying to picture the natural landscape of parks, how it was as the 'young' park with tiny trees and bushes, or what the view would look like without the buildings, etc.

A few of the pretty things from around the park : peaceful koi ponds : bold blooming flowers : blue waters that made me dream of white sandy beaches :

The sunsets recently have been wonderfully dramatic, especially the one from this night with that strange bottom layer of almost 3D clouds. 

I also really loved the Asian Art Museum building. The front doors are beauuutiful! One day I hope to actually go inside haha! The conservatory was glowing beautifully in the twilight but we didn't go into it, another adventure for another day.