WALK IN MT RAINIER PARK

 We left early and headed south to Mount Rainier National Park for my birthday trip today.  It's about a two hour drive. 

We first drove up to the Longmire Visitors Center to get a stamp in the passport.  Then we headed back to the Kautz Creek Trail where we went for a short walk. 

When we reached this foot bridge we turned around and headed back.  This was the one mile mark.

There was lots of interesting mosses and lichens.  This is 'Toy Soldiers' lichen.

After, we headed out of the park to this nice little restaurant/inn, Copper Creek Restaurant and Inn for breakfast.  They had homemade blackberry jam!  So good, nice breakfast scramble, too.

A really nice mural in the dining area.

INTO SEATTLE

We took Quinten with us into Seattle this morning, in the rain, to have breakfast at Lowell's in Pike Place Market.

Afterwards, we walked around the Market a bit.  I stopped in the Starbucks for a coffee and bought a Pike Place Market mug, too, to add to our collection.

Then, still raining, we drove up on Capital Hill to the Blick Art Supplies store.  I bought some needed watercolors and some marking pens and other bits.

The Jimi Hendrix statue is in front of the store.

GREAT BREAKFASTS

 Staying at Saint Andrew's starts every morning with a great breakfast.  They usually serve up eggs and bacon, and oatmeal with the fixings, and Greek Yogurt with berries.  There is toast and juices, and sometimes muffins.  It's always good.

NOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH

 It's Darrell's birthday today.  I took him out to lunch at Easy Street Records in West Seattle.  We've never eaten there before today.  So, I took my sketchbook to record the event.

I spent the rest of the day in my studio catching up on some sewing.  I got another month's blocks of the SeaMQGBOM2024 made.

BREAKFAST DOWNTOWN

 Darrell and I left early and went downtown to see the new Waterfront Walkway. 

And I didn't take any pictures.

Then we went to breakfast at Biscuit Bitch on First Avenue.  We have been missing the one that was here in White Center until the Pandemic closed it and it moved out.

They make a good gluten-free biscuit, if a bit dry.  It's great with a coffee though.  They don't have inside seating.  You place your order at the door, then wait for them to call your name when your order is ready.

We took our sandwiches back to the overlook outside the Market, sat and looked out over the Sound while we enjoyed them.

It was a good morning.

FRIDAY MORNING

 We went for a walk in Lincoln Park this morning.  I was pleasantly surprised that I felt as good as I did.  I slept well after my ordeal yesterday.

I love walking in the fall - the beautiful autumn colors and kicking through the fallen leaves.

Afterwards, we went to PCC in the Admiralty District for breakfast.  It was a bit disappointing.

SUNDAY BREAKFAST

 We've gotten into the habit of going out to breakfast after our morning walk on Sundays.

Our usual place to go is the Alpine Diner in White Center.  Good food and a great waitress.  

QUILTCON SUNDAY

Stood in line to get my breakfast and coffee at Starbucks, with everyone else.  Then it was off to a lecture with Carole Lyles Shaw entitled Geometric Abstraction.

I met up with Claudia and her friend Anita.  We all went to Durham.  Anita was meeting up with an old friend for brunch.  Claudia and I went to some art museums.  First was a wonderful Art Deco Hotel, 41C, downtown Durham.  They had an electic collection of interesting art.

The Art Deco Lobby

The restrooms, with see thru walls.

But, luckily the glass would become opaque. 

Then we headed to Duke University to their Nasher Art Museum.  It was a very interesting building, too.  It was five-sided and the structure inside was a marvel, connecting the five 'buildings' which contained various exhibits with an open atrium.

I didn't take many pictures in the exhibits, but really enjoyed them.  We all headed back to Raleigh for a late lunch.  Claudia had found a great little place where you could get breakfast biscuits with egg, cheese and added bacon for under $9.  I splurged, it was delicious.

Then Claudia was nice enough to drive me to the airport.  I arrived a bit early because I was getting nervous.  I walked back and forth in the small airport, then sat and sketched the others waiting for the flight that wouldn't leave until 6:50pm.  It was the only non-stop flight I could find.

Good-bye Raleigh. Good-bye Quiltcon - until next year!

 

FLYING TO MINNEAPOLIS

 I started my adventure this morning by flying to Minneapolis Minnesota.

I sketched my breakfast, and it was so good.

GREAT BREAKFAST

 We left Eugene early and headed north on I-5.  After googling for a good breakfast place, we stopped in Salem.  We were a little early, so we stopped at the capitol building first.  They are doing some remodeling or something there.  We walked around the building, stopping to admire some nice Sequoia trees in the gardens. 

We like stopping to visit capitols in the states we visit.  It's odd that we've never been inside Oregon's capitol - someday, I guess, but not today - they weren't open yet.

Then we drove to the 'Word of Mouth Bistro'.  Yelp said they opened at 7am, but when we got there at 7, it was filling up quickly. (Their website says they actually open at 6:45am, ah ha).   Its a great place for breakfast.  They made everything from scratch, including the breads and jam.  They even have a homemade GF bread, which we had and enjoyed. The restaurant is in an old house and full of kitschy stuff, most including little dogs.  There were dog portraits everywhere.  I managed to sketch a few.

We left, heading north through Portland and stopping in Vancouver Washington at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.  We went for a nice walk through the park and out onto the street, went under the I-5 bridge over the Columbia River (loud). Then back along the streets back into the park, which was now open.  I got my NPS Passport stamps and stickers.  Then we walked over to the actual fort.  There are people there portraying carpenters, metal smiths, and fur traders, in garb of the era.  It was fun.

And then it was straight through to home, another 3 hour drive, 165 miles.

Nice trip, if a little bit of a whirlwind.

LUNCH IN EUREKA

 We left behind the Redwoods and stopped in Eureka for lunch.  From Crescent City to Eureka is about 85 miles, about 1 hour 45 minutes driving.

We found another great place for lunch, The Greene Lily (516 2nd St, Eureka, CA 95501).  They serve breakfast all day.  It was very crowded by the time we got there.  We waited a few minutes for someone to finish and leave before we were seated.  The food was great.

When we walked out of the restaurant we walked by a quilt/yarn store with a big MOVING SALE sign in the window.  I couldn't resist but to go  inside and see what treasure might be left.  There really wasn't much to pick from, but I did find a few $8 a yard pieces and one really cool fabric that was $22 a yard that I got a half yard of.  It's Eureka Fabrics.  You can go to their website and get 50% off what's left, for a while.

FRENCH TOAST

We went for breakfast at Portage Bay in Jefferson Square for our anniversary.  We were married 22 years ago today.

I ordered this huge breakfast that had scrambled eggs, two links of the best-tasting Rosemary-Chicken Sausage and fried potatoes, and it came with two gluten-free french toast.  I ate the eggs and sausage, loaded the french toast up with berries, chocolate chips, a few nuts and whipped cream.  I brought them home and had them for dinner.  OMG, very good, but very rich.

DAY 19

 The prompt of the day is "Something on the Table".

We went to breakfast at the newly opened Portage Bay Cafe in West Seattle after our morning walk.  I took a quick photo of what was on the table when we sat down.  It was perfect for this prompt.

And breakfast was delicious.

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST

I made a Ham and Cheese Quiche for breakfast before we went for our walk.  It has brocolli, red pepper and a little onion in it, too.  I baked the hashbrown crust first, then we put all of the ingredients into it and popped it in the oven for 55 minutes and left for our morning walk in Lincoln Park.

We stopped at Starbucks and got coffee afterwards, and the quiche was hot and ready to eat when we got home.

Splendid.

THANKSGIVING BREAKFAST

 I made a Ham and Cheese (with broccoli) Quiche for breakfast.

Let the eating begin.

The family is coming over for dinner.  I'll be making roasted turkey, which has been brining since yesterday, green bean casserole, Italian sausage dressing (gf), and Darrell will mash the potatoes.  

Mom is bringing apple pie and pumpkin pie.  Julie is bringing yams.  Nicole will bring rolls, including gf rolls.  I also made some bacon, jalapeño and date appetizers.

WASTED THURSDAY

 The day started out very sucky.  I made my regular breakfast - a smoothie - with a NutriBullet type blender.   It's the kind where you put the ingredients into a big cup then screw the blender part on the top, flip it over and put it on the motor part which engages the blender blade and mixes up the ingredients.  So far so good, then I couldn't unscrew the top and the husband is out of town.  I tried and tried and tried and tried to unscrew it, but it wouldn't budge.  I soaked it in warm water to no avail.  I thumped it, I cursed at it and tried a few other things.  But it wouldn't budge.  

So, I put it in the refrigerator and went out to get a breakfast sandwich and chai tea at The Birdhouse Cafe.  I noticed this very interesting sky while waiting - 

Then I had to wait around for the shipping company to come and pick up a small table that the husband sold.

So, that disrupted my plans to go on my Art Date with myself, so I was upstairs.  I cleaned, oiled and changed the needle on my Bernina.  Then I got to work mending his work jeans.

That was fun.  I used a glue stick instead of the usual pins to hold the patch in place while I sewed it down on the inside.  That worked a whole lot better and I didn't get stuck with those sharp pins, which always seemed to happen.  Glue sticks have been a great new tool for quiltmakers.  I wish we'd discovered them years and years ago.