Elliott Bay

It wasn't Mother's Day, but it sort of seemed like it. M's mom was in town and my mom wanted to treat M and I for our recent anniversary (25th), so we headed to Salty's for dinner and the great view back at downtown.

Afterwards, we cruised Alki Beach (us and a few thousand other folks), watching the sun head down over the Olympics (although given the time of year, it still had a way to go).

Deception Pass

A month and half ago, I came down here to North Beach late on a Friday afternoon after my work day on Whidbey had ended. And decided that if i was to have a favorite beach, maybe this one should be it (Deception Pass 2016).

So this seemed like a good place to make our second beach stop on Father's Day, after our earlier walk at Kukutali. It was a lot more crowded than my previous visit, but still a wonderful spot, once you find a parking space. We didn't stay long, but I know where to find it and I suspect I will keep coming back. It's just funny that I went so many years looking at this beach from the distance (usually the southbound side of the bridge), but not actually stopping to explore.

Kukutali

Father's Day. We began with brunch at the Butcher and Baker on Latona, then drove north through La Conner and out to Kukutali, which I know fairly well, but M had never visited. This is a cool spot at the north end of Skagit Bay, with a view west through Deception Pass.

I posted from here after an early visit back in 2009 (Kiket Island 2009), when State Parks and the Swinomish were still trying to work out a mutually satisfactory way to manage the site.  They now share the job. Kiket Island, now the Kukutali Preserve, was once proposed for a nuclear plant -- a nice bedrock foundation and plenty of cold water for cooling. But thanks to seismology and economics and popular opinion, that never came to be.

Seattle

Springs often get particularly busy and then the posts fall behind. April and May were dedicated to progress on several house projects, so between work and moving pavers and fixing garage leaks, going through photos didn't get much attention.

But by early June, I really had made progress, and was determined that we get out. So on a Sunday morning we grabbed a bus to Husky Stadium, found our way down into the new light rail station, and rode one stop to Capital Hill. We wandered through Cal Anderson Park, where there would be a big gathering later in the day for the Orlando tragedy, and eventually ended up at the Chop Shop on Chop House Row for brunch. I guess that great restaurants and cool architectural reimaginings in chic urban neighborhoods are the upsides of more affluence than we know what to do with and housing costs going through the roof.

We walked through the Farmer's Market on our way to pick up the new street car, which we rode down to Pioneer Square. Where we played ping ping beneath the totem poles in Oocidental Square, Then it was up First Avenue to Pike Place, to mingle with the tourists just off the cruise ships. I gathered some ideas and inspiration at the NW Woodworking Gallery, then we took the bus back to Wallingford,

A nice urban adventure, a chance to check out some of Seattle's newer transit options, and a big improvement over lugging pavers home from Home Depot.