A Short Trip across the Border

Once again we drove down to Seattle, where towers are spacey, and cafe's are plentiful.

We were excited to be able to see our friends Guido and Andrea again, who came up from sunny California and brought some nice weather along.

We stayed at The Maxwell, a very nice contemporary hotel, just a block away from a certain popular Thai restaurant, where we met the two for dinner to eat and to make plans for the next day.

Friday was meant to be spent outside and involved a lot of walking. It was a bit nippy in the morning but nothing a good cuppa couldn't fix.

This plantlike installation is part of the Chihuly Garden and Glas Exhibition, a beautiful piece of art.

A metal forest at the EMP museum.

Our walk around town lead us down to the ocean and along the shoreline walkways. The water was calm and blue.

We noticed lots of newer buildings at the waterfront, alas train tracks would hint at living not being as peaceful and quiet as it looked.

We took a desperately needed break from walking at Starbucks' first Cafe, before we continued our tour. 

Guido wanted to shop for some new gear after his got damaged in a recent encounter of the deer kind, and we ended up at Touratech, the leading brand in motorcycle equipment. Touratech is German, need I say more? The shop had a world traveler's bike on display. It's owner, Mason Huffine rode 90,000 miles in three years on his BMW F650. Good for him!

 I like orange!

Our day came to its spectacular end at the probably best Italian restaurant at the Pacific Westcoast, the Serafina. We were too busy chatting and too hungry taking pictures, but believe me it when I say that the food was molto delizioso authentic Mediterranean cuisine.

The next day we visited Mount Rainier National Park expecting to see some sights of the gorgeous volcanic mountain itself.

We had to cross a single line bridge that was in very questionable condition, and swayed when cars drove over it.

Nevertheless we bravely stayed long enough for a quick picture.

At Carbon River the riverbed indicated that the stream would swell immensely during springtime.

We followed a logging road uphills and were rewarded with a gorgeous view on Mount Rainier. That was before we got distracted by another attraction: The familiar noise of two dual bikes, the riders waving at us while climbing further uphills. It was a good day for motorcycling.

A mountain called Rainier.

Alas, we could not dwell, as Guido needed to catch a flight home in the afternoon. It was fabulous however, that we were able to spend a few wonderful days with our friends. Life is good.