A Visit to the Seattle Aquarium

The old warehouse building on pier 59 on the Seattle waterfront may look rather plain, but step inside and discover the colorful, amazing undersea world of the Seattle Aquarium.  I hadn't visited for several years and this visit was prompted by my desire to see the new baby sea otter before she was all grown up.  Who doesn't love the adorable sea otters?

 I loved watching the sea otters, but I had forgotten how interesting and fun it is to explore the entire aquarium.   The Seattle Aquarium features the marine life of Puget Sound like the Giant Pacific Octopus, jellyfish, tide pool creatures, shore birds and fish, but also has a beautiful coral reef section.

For more details and photos from my visit to the Seattle Aquarium, check out my page on Squidoo called Discover the Seattle Aquarium.

Recommended Reading:

Blueberry Crisp Recipe

Fresh local blueberries are ripe in the Pacific Northwest.  Blueberries are one of my favorite berries and my favorite easy blueberry dishes is Blueberry Crisp!   Crisps are also called "crumbles" and with healthy ingredients like oatmeal, nuts, cinnamon as well as the blueberries we can justify eating it for breakfast as well.  Crisps are an old-fashioned dish that is so much easier to make and, in my opinion, tastier than a pie.  The complete recipe and instructions can be found on my Squidoo page: Bake a Blueberry Crisp    Enjoy!

More blueberry recipes:

Take a Trip Back to the Future - Celebrating the 1962 Seattle World's Fair

From April through October 2012 Seattle is celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the 1962 World's Fair.  With its futuristic theme, it was officially called the Century 21 Exposition.  The expo brought together ideas of what the future might hold from industry and governments. In 1962 Seattle was a virtually unknown outpost to people in the rest of the US and the world.  Those of us who lived in Seattle at that time were treated to a steady flow of sightings of famous people visiting the fair each day.

The highlight for many women and girls was having Elvis in town to film "It Happened at the World's Fair". 


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One of my personal favorite parts of the fair was the Bubbleator elevator located in the Washington State Pavilion.

(Photo credit: DCC on Flickr - Creative Commons License)

The fair inspired and encouraged a generation of young people to think about the possibilities in science and technology - especially some local young men named William Gates and Paul Allen. 

As its planners intended, Seattle was left with the legacy of the Seattle Center and the Space Needle, the latter of which became the symbol of the city.  To take a longer trip back to that exciting time in 1962, visit my page about The 1962 Seattle World's Fair on Squidoo. Suggested Reading:

Escaping the Winter Blahs

The holiday frenzy is over and the Christmas decorations are put away.  As much as I love the Pacific NW, about every year at this time the dark, dreary days of winter seem to loom ahead for an unbearably long period.  I long for warmer temperatures, sunshine, beautiful beaches and adventure!  Fortunately many years I've been able to make a mid-winter escape.  For people living on the west coast, a trip to paradise can be fairly affordable and is only about a 4-5 hour flight away.  Hawaii is hard destination to beat for pure relaxation.  No need to make sure your passport is valid, no currancy to exchange, you can speak the language and the water is safe to drink. One of my most fond adventures in Hawaii was on a trip to Maui a couple of years ago.  We did the Haleakala Volcano Sunrise and bike downhill.  I know the Haleakala Sunrise is a bit of cliche, but sometimes the reason things are popular is because they are really great experiences. 


The sunrise was gorgeous and as it rose we were treated to the Hawaiian chant to the sun performed by one of the interpretive naturalists at the Haleakala National Park.  The whole experience was very moving and added added a uniquely wonderful Hawaiian cultural experience.

We opted to rent bikes and do the famous Maui Downhill Bike Ride after the sunrise.  It was fantastic - beautiful scenery at every hairpin turn!

See more details about our adventure on top of Haleakala, the full story is on my Squidoo page: Maui Sunrise and Downhill Bike Trip My favorite Maui Travel Guidebook:

The Seattle Christmas Ships

The Seattle Christmas Ships at Edmonds, WA

The Seattle Christmas Ship festival will be starting again the weekend after Thanksgiving.  This is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season.  The colorful parade of boats decorated with Christmas lights is led by the Argosy Spirit of Seattle which has a choir on board singing Christmas Carols.  Each night for about a month they travel to a specific destination around the Seattle area People can purchase a ticket from Argosy to cruise on board the Spirit of Seattle or on one of the "follow" boats.  Private boat owners are also invited to decorate their boats and join in the parade. On any given night the procession may include large vessels like tugboats and large luxury yachts to kayaks and everything in between.  Spectators on the shore gather around bonfires in numerous parks to watch one of the best free holiday light displays pass by.  Visit my Seattle Christmas Ships page on Squidoo for more photos, details and the 2011 Christmas Ship Schedule.

Marymoor Off Leash Dog Park

It has been called Doggie Heaven and Doggie Disneyland - perhaps those are overstatements, but the 40 acre Marymoor Offleash dog area is definitely a great place for dogs and their people.  We try to beat the crowds that can sometimes make it a little too congested and chaotic for our easily overstimulated border collies, so we got there just after the crack of dawn on a not-so-nice Saturday morning.  It was pleasantly uncrowded and the dogs had a great time - no rain and they came home tired and ready for a nap.  Meanwhile we humans enjoyed the beautiful fall colors on a pleasant walk through the trails and along the river.  See more about our adventure......

Skagit River Bald Eagles - They're Back!

The arrival of November in the Pacific Northwest means shorter, dreary days and noticeably colder weather, but it also signals the return of the Bald Eagles to the Skagit River.  The Skagit River is the largest bald eagle winter resort area in North America.  The eagles come south from Alaska and northern Canada for the warmer weather, large trees to lounge in and the all-you-can-eat salmon and steelhead buffet served up on the Skagit and its numerous tributaries.



Skagit River Bald Eagle in Winter

Fortunately for residents and visitors to the Pacific Northwest the Skagit River eagle wintering area is only about 2 hours from the Seattle area.  A trip to the Skagit River Bald Eagle Natural Area makes a great day trip.  It is possible to see the amazing spectacle of sometimes more than 100 eagles in a few short hours along a 10 mile stretch of the river.  Eagles can be viewed from several turn-outs along highway 20, but one of the most enjoyable ways to see the largest number of eagles up close is to take a float trip down the river with one of the professional river rafting companies.   The eagles start arriving in November and reach their peak numbers in late November and December.  They start to depart in January with most being gone by the end of February.  If your goal is to see the maximum number of bald eagles, the best time to see the most is by taking a trip to the Skagit in the next 2 months.  For more details see my Skagit River Bald Eagle Float Trip.