Days 1 and 2

The cowboy and I left Lakeside, Montana at 7:00 Tuesday morning, April 8th. His dad was giving his niece a ride to Moses Lake, Washington so we trailed them there and had lunch with them. This was my second time meeting his dad and he's a quiet, laid-back type fella - not at all like the cowboy.

We then drove to our first stopping point, North Bend, Washington - an absolutely quaint and lovely little town about an hour east of Seattle. This first stop was one of the most beautiful of the trip. Wednesday morning we set out to find Snoqualmie Falls which we had heard about and were eager to see and it was well worth the diversion. A short, easy walk to the lookout and the falls are incredible. That's the falls in the picture above.

After the falls we headed to Seattle with which I immediately fell in love. Sometimes I really miss being near a big city with all its attendant energy and chaos. We had a few tense moments maneuvering the 5-speed pickup truck along the very steep streets near the waterfront and finding a space to park. We actually parked in one space and were then confused by the signs about whether it was a legal parking space. We asked two or three passerby hoping they might be able to help us figure it out - but no one could! The signs made absolutely no sense. Another space came open that had no signs so we moved to it and no sooner did we move than someone snatched up the space we had been in. Remember, this is all taking place on a VERY STEEP STREET with a Montana cowboy not used to driving in the city. Did I mention we were in a 5-speed pickup truck? This is probably about the time I started my "road prayers" which would continue almost unabated the entire trip. They were short and sweet. "Please don't let it hurt." Trust me, if it hadn't been for my knee making the clutch an impossibility for me, I would've taken over driving at that point, post haste! To be perfectly honest, the cowboy's driving makes me nervous under the best of conditions. Good thing I didn't know some of the terrain we had yet to travel.

We spent the afternoon exploring Pike's Market which I found fascinating and fun beyond all reason. The colors, textures, smells, sounds and sights were a delight to the senses. I wanted to spend so much money, but managed to get away with only a couple of packages of dark chocolate linguine. Yes, dark chocolate linguine. Dessert linguine. I bought the packages as gifts, but I may have to hold onto one for myself. It's just too sexy and divine. And speaking of divine - we had lunch on the pier at Fisherman's Restaurant & Bar. One thing I really looked forward to was eating some good, fresh seafood and I sure got it here. We had a mixed seafood grill in a saffron and coconut milk broth. Shrimp, crab, mussels, fish and bananas! It was a true gastronomic treat, but the crab was still in the shell. Do you know how hard it is to crack a crab that's covered in broth? A little messy, but well worth it. Below are some pictures of the market

We then drove to Shelton, WA where we were to meet up with some of the cowboy's friends for dinner and to spend the night, but we missed our connection with them and stayed in some nondescript hotel that even now fades quickly from memory.