I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 17 years and have never made it up to Washington!  Time to go!

When planning our adventure in Seattle, I settled on an RV park called Lake Pleasant RV Park.  If we stay at a place that we really like, I will always post about it.  We were here for four nights and it was definitely worth it.  Lake Pleasant has full hookup sites, cable and limited wifi.  Campsites surround a beautiful lake that is filled with fish with many geese and ducks.  Bailey was very happy here and couldn’t understand why the wildlife didn’t want to “play” her.  When we return to Seattle we will definitely stay here again.

If you are going to do the “tourist” thing in Seattle like we did, I definitely recommend purchasing a City Pass.  For $79 (adult) this is what you receive:

Your CityPASS Includes

• Space Needle
• Seattle Aquarium
• Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour
• Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)   OR  Woodland Park Zoo
• Chihuly Garden and Glass   OR   Pacific Science Center

It is absolutely worth it and we took advantage of every penny.  Our first stop was to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum named after Dave Chihuly.  He is a glass blowing extraordinaire.

“His work is included in more than 200 museum collections worldwide. He has been the recipient of many awards, including twelve honorary doctorates and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.”

Below are some shots taken inside the museum.  It’s tough to get a picture that do these works of art any justice.

The outside gardens were just breathtaking!  Each garden area had glass accents that enhanced the garden colors.

Our next stop was the Space Needle.  I really wanted to “get this over with” for lack of a better phrase since I have an acute fear of heights.  I mean sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, shaking…pure full on panic mode.  I had to get in the right mindset and it was now or never.  The Space Needle is 605 feet tall.  The only way up is via elevator and takes approximately 41 seconds to get to the top.  The line was not that long and I was surprisingly calm.  When it was our turn to enter the elevator I noticed there were glass panels so you could view the ride.  Hmmm…. Once we made it to the top I was fine.  The whole area was enclosed. What fabulous views!  As you can see from my smiling face I’m having a good time.  Even if you are afraid of heights, it’s really not that bad getting up to the top.  I highly recommend it.  Check that off the Bucket List.

After the Space Needle we went to the Museum of Pop Culture.  You have a choice of between the museum or the Woodland Park Zoo.

The Museum of Pop Culture is a leading-edge nonprofit museum, dedicated to the ideas and risk-taking that fuel contemporary popular culture. With its roots in rock ‘n’ roll, MoPOP serves as a gateway museum, reaching multigenerational audiences through our collections, exhibitions, and educational programs, using interactive technologies to engage and empower our visitors.

I thought the museum was pretty underwhelming; at least for me anyway.  One thing I thought was cool was this guitar structure.  They had an interesting Star Trek and Wizard of Oz exhibit as well as a tribute to Jimmy Hendrix.  However, next time I think I will opt for the zoo.  Just personal preference.

NEXT DAY

Today’s adventure includes the Public Market, a harbor tour, and the Seattle Aquarium.  It’s no secret, at least to those who know me well, that I hate large crowds.  On a scale 1-10 of “crowdiness”, this place is off the charts.  I really wanted to see Pike Place Fish Company.  You hear about these guys throwing fish around to entertain the crowds.  I managed to elbow my through the crowds to get a picture.  Okay…check.  Next, I felt like I was part of a cattle herd headed back to the barn to get milked.  OMG get me out of here. I wish I could have seen what the market had to offer, but it was impossible.  We visited during the week, not a weekend.  I can only imagine what it’s like on a Saturday or Sunday.  If you plan to visit the Public Market, just go with the mindset that it will be crowded and accept it.

Our next stop was Argosy Cruises.  We thought an afternoon harbor cruise would fit the bill.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, which we were told is not the norm for Seattle.  This was a one hour hour harbor cruise with great views of the  city. Our tour M.C. was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot of Seattle history.

After our harbor cruise we visited the Seattle Aquarium which was just down the block.  It is a small aquarium, but definitely worth your while.  They had touch pools, a giant 120,000 gallon exhibit with a plethora of marine life, and a sea otter exhibit just to name a few.  They had many volunteers that could answer questions or just input their knowledge.

The next day we decided it was a chill day.  We needed to get ready to head out to West Glacier which meant laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  We really loved Seattle, however the down side was the traffic.  I thought traffic in the Bay Area was bad.  Anyway, the traffic will not deter me from visiting again and definitely will take advantage of the City Pass.