Western Trip (continued)

So there we were at the top of Blackcomb Mountain and we were freezing! So we stopped in at the snack shack for some YUMMY hot chocolate! After, Matt decided to have some fun in the snow. Luckily he wasn't throwing it at me! Since it was roughly 35ish degrees up there and we were scantily dressed (nothing more than a long sleeve lightweight shirt and a windbreaker), we made our way back down through the thick clouds via the chair lift. Matt said it was eerie going DOWN a chair lift. That night we had reservations at Hy's Steakhouse, a small Canadian chain. It was, by far, the best steak dinner I have ever had-- with service to match!

The next day, we had to say fairwell to Canada and head down to Seattle, WA. Though our fairwell lasted well over an hour at the border. Needless to say, America was a welcome sight. Seattle was fun, but exhausting! As soon as we got into the city and checked into our hotel-- which was right across from Safe Co. Field (and our room had a great view of the main gate)-- we walked up to Pike's Market, where Matt sampled some fresh sweet peas. The market happend to look down on the aquarium, so we walked down to the aquarium right before it closed. While we had a bunch of fun with the props, we were a little disappointed with the overall aquarium. There were not a lot of tanks and the ones they had reminded me of a pet store with a really good fish section! Oh well, you live and you learn, and traveling to new places is about experiencing new things, good and not so good. There was still some daylight left and we had some more time to kill before the Mariners game at 7:30. Where else would we go, but to the Space Needle. Unfortunately, we didn't actually take a picture from the bottom looking up-- slipped our mind. It was extremely windy and COLD at the top-- and I was getting more and more exhausted, so we called the hotel to send a shuttle to pick us up. All I needed was a quick rest before the ball game! We had really good seats-- outfield, just on the fair side of the fould pole. I know it was a Wed. night game, but it just wasn't a southern baseball game! I suppose at this point I was getting a little homesick for the south (and in serious sweet tea withdrawl). After the game, we made the long walk (across the street) to our hotel-- and went up to the roof, so that Matt could relax. I couldn't get in-- don't want to hard boil the babe.

Back to Portland! On our way to Portland, we detoured through Astoria. Sound familiar? It should! It's the location of the GOONIES! We had to take our picture in front of the house! As if that weren't enough... Matt had to listen to me saying, "I'M NOT A POLICEMAN, I'M A PRINCESS!! I'm not a POLICEMAN, I'm a princess. I'm not a.... oh, okay." If you haven't guessed, Astoria is also the location of the elementary school from Kindergarten Cop. Though that's all that's in Astoria... really... so we left.

Friday, Carrie had taken the day off so we could all go roaming around downtown Portland. Our first stop was to the science museum, OMSI. While waiting for the submarine tour to begin, we both goofed off-- as usual. Before our tour began, the guide told us that when we get to the control room, we weren't supposed to touch any of the buttons or knobs (just keep that in mind). This sub was the last comissioned diessel submarine, and boy was it teensy! This is Matt at the controls, great photo opp. Now me. Unfortunately, the guide was not so clear on what not to touch, so this is me getting in trouble for picking up a non-working phone. So I waited for him to leave the torpedo room before picking this up. We had gone to the science museum for Matt, so we went to the Portland Art Museum for me... and the M.C. Escher exhibit, but not before we grabbed a few tacos on the street for lunch! The cou de gras, however, was going to Voodoo Doughnuts. If you're not familiar, Voodoo sells anatomically correct doughnuts... among others. We waited in line for a while, but it was worth it! I got a Portland Creme (same as Boston Creme, only it has eyes), Dad got Coconut Cake, and Matt got Maple glazed Bacon (yuck).

Before we flew off Saturday morning, we spent Friday night hanging out. Dad and Carrie have two Bernice Mountain Dogs, Willie and Reba. Willie is completely laid back, but large and loveable!