I had post Christmas ennui, I needed to be cheered up so I went to a few antique shops here in Alameda. I found a few things that made me smile:


These are the most hideous/fabulous lamps I have ever seen. The remind me of 70's superheroes.

















I also found this totally awesome guide to being a valley girl. Furr Shurr!

Lets just say every fucking thing that could go wrong on my return trip to California did.

They couldn't print me a receipt for my rental car (they are supposedly mailing it to me),

My plane was delayed by an hour leaving Seattle,

I had to sit next to an approximately 7 year old boy that made farting noises the whole flight,

and to top it off, while I was waiting for my luggage, a stranger whispered in my ear that I had toilet paper sticking out of the back of my pants!

Welcome Home!

But here is the thing that made up for everything; When I got off the plane and was on the way to get my luggage, I heard an announcement over the intercom:

"Paging Mr. Ben Dover, paging Mr. Ben Dover, Mr. Ben Dover please pick up the white courtesy phone."

Oh, and I was back in love with the world again!

This is my last weekend in the Seattle area so I decided to do a few things I had not gotten to do so far here.

Saturday, Mhairi (my co-worker from the UK) and I went into Seattle to go to the Aquarium. We wanted to see the new baby Sea otter. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. The rest of the aquarium was a lot of fun as well.

Here are the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1610643/


On Sunday we drove about 2 and half hours out into the mountains to Leavenworth, Wa. It is a little town in the middle of nowhere that in the 60's was doing very badly and decided to give itself a facelift. It totally remade itself into a copy of a Bavarian village. We had a great time shopping and walking around in the snow. It was really cold, but that didn't stop us from having a fun day out.

and here are the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1610581/


So, it is back to work tomorrow and my last week here. I will miss this area, but I am ready to go home. See you all soon!

I think we are all friends here.

So, I'd like to make a confession:

I am driving an SUV and I like it.

I am probably going to go to environmentalist hell just for saying it, but there it is, out in the open.

Forgive me.

Ok, I feel so much better now.

Today I had the day off and decided to go out to a botanical garden in the near by town of Bellevue. I know that most people wouldn't think of going to a garden in winter, but it actually was very beautiful. There were an abundance of winter berries and evergreen plants as well as a lot of birds and squirrels.

Here are some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1505178/

After the garden I went into Seattle and went to Pioneer Square to go on the Underground Tour. It was a lot of fun, the whole tour is underground (of course) on the old street level. There were a lot of fun and interesting stories about the founding and past of Seattle. It was a real behind the scenes look at the city. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seattle.

Here are some pictures of Pioneer Square and the tour:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mayitaazul/sets/1505240/

After the tour I did some shopping and had dinner at the underground cafe of the Elliott Bay Bookstore. This is a great bookstore with a little of everything and a great friendly atmosphere.

Back to the grind tomorrow...Oh well, I had fun today.

This past Monday I drove out to Snoqualmie Falls. I got lost getting there so it took me about an hour and a half to get there (and only 40 minutes to get back) but it was a nice drive. The falls are really beautiful but it was colder than a witch's tit out there! I swear I got a minor case of frost bite. I am leaving my scarf, hat and gloves in the car from now on just in case. Here are some pictures of the falls.
















On a whiter, fluffier, even colder note, it has finally started to snow here in Renton. It started to snow in other areas yesterday. Today it was mostly snow that turned to rain as it fell, but there is rumor of a heavier fall tonight or tomorrow. I went this afternoon and traded in my Chevy Impala for a Ford Exlporer. It makes my feel safer and if I decide to trek out to the wilderness at any point I want to be prepared. I will keep you updated!