The Rest of July

I have finally gotten sometime to update my blog.  Unfortunately, this means there is a lot to cover.

July went by so fast!  From what I can remember and from the pictures that I took there were 4 major adventures.

Mariner's Game


One of the intern activities was attending a Mariner's game.  The seats were right next to the right field foul pole and had a great view of the field.  For the most part I watched the game, but I had a lot of fun eating and just hanging out.  It turned out that I didn't miss too much because the Mariner's lost by a significant count.

After the game, our group got lost trying to find transportation home.  On the plus side, we were able to walk up to Chinatown and grab some boba tea.

Most inventive use of baseball bats I have seen!  

Woo! Hoo!  SafeCo Field "Home of the Seattle Mariner's"

Best seat I have every had for a baseball game!

Our intern group!  The smirking guy is not in our group.  Does this count as a photo-bomb?

Great view of the field after the game.

Cherry Picking in Yakima

A couple of interns and I decided to take advantage of the wonderful produce in Seattle.  We found a place in Yakima that had Ranier Cherries for $1.50 a pound!  It was such a great deal we decided it was worth the 2 hour drive to Yakima.

Such a beautiful day for cherry picking!

I first thought this contraption was a potato gun, but it is used to scare away birds from the orchard.

Cherry Tree!

A close-up view!  I was amazed by the way the cherries grew in bunches!  They reminded me more like grapes.

Golden Garden's Beach

I had to make it out to the beach before I left Seattle!  Ended up that we picked a gorgeous day.  The location amazed me because of the juxtaposition between the mountains of Olympia with the sandy beach.  

Kayaking on Lake Washington


I figured since I was near large bodies of water I would take up a water activity.  Actually, this was an intern activity organized by the recreation center.  Nevertheless, it was a great experience and the day was so sunny.    We ended up kayaking near the University of Washington stadium, which is one of the few stadiums in the nation located on a lake.  Overall, a great experience.

Being a Boss!

A view of Lake Washington.

Some of the floating boats.  They were also featured in the film Sleepless in Seattle.

Bird's Eye and Underground of Seattle (7/8/11)

Although it was sad to see Dad leave, we had an amazing sight-seeing day.  We started the day in the Seattle Underground Tour.  The tour took us to the original sidewalks of Seattle.  Modern downtown Seattle is actually built upon burnt ruins.  After a devastating fire in 1889, the city decided to fix a plumbing problem by raising the city.  Unfortunately, increasing the altitude of the city meant a 3 to 5 year construction time in the business district.  The local businesses decided the construction time was too long and rebuilt their businesses at the pre-fire height.  Undeterred, the city decided to just raise the streets.  This created 10 foot ditches on either side on the street, where the sidewalk and business fronts were located.  Eventually, the ditches had to be covered up because of fatalities and the Seattle underground was born.

Walking in the Underground.  The guide said there were reports of ghosts.

Maybe if you look close enough you might see one!

 Junk in the underground.

Skylights were built into the sidewalks when the underground was first created.

The tour group in a large portion of the underground.

After the Seattle underground tour, we got tips that a great view of the city was from the top of Smith Tower.  The tower was built in 1901 and was the fourth tallest building in the United States.  Although no longer the 4^th tallest building in the United States, Smith Tower’s observation deck provides gorgeous views of the cityscape and Pudget Sound.

After viewing Seattle from a great vantage point, Dad and I traveled to Chinatown for a bite to eat and then went to the Klondike Museum.  The food was great in Chinatown and the museum was very interesting.  Afterwards, I said goodbye to Dad and plan on relaxing tomorrow.

A beautiful view of Pudget Sound from Smith Tower.

The observation deck was originally called the China Room.  The artifacts were gifts from the emperor of China.

Retro-Elevator that we took to the observation deck.

This is a view of the Seattle Downtown area.  In the distance you can see the Seattle Space Needle.

According to the guide, this chair is 200 years old.