(Part Two is here)

The flight from Atlanta to Seattle was long, but at least we were comfortable. I requested a digi-player, so I could watch a movie to pass the time. I was finally able to view “The Blind Side“, which was quite good. I also watched the movie “Arranged” - which I also enjoyed. (On the trip out to Atlanta from Seattle, I watched the movie “Water“, a poignant film with the most amazing scenes. Throughout the movie, I was taking photographs in my head. It was truly a treat for the eyes - at least this photographer’s eyes.)

We landed in Seattle at 9:45pm. By the time we collected our luggage it was close to 10. We had a reservation at the Best Western Airport Executel Hotel - a no frills hotel that suited our needs (and wallet) for the short time we’d be staying there.

We had a 22-hour layover in Seattle, which we planned so that we could spend several hours exploring the city. The Best Western had a free shuttle that carried us from the airport to the hotel, and then back to the airport the next morning. It also offered a breakfast buffet, but we didn’t have time to eat at the hotel, as we wanted to take the Link Light Rail train to downtown Seattle as soon as we got ourselves up and dressed.

Steve was quite disappointed, however, that the breakfast buffet - which was supposed to last until 9am - was out of coffee (and creamer, and sugar, etc) at 8:15am, when he went down to get us some coffee. He had to ask the waitress to brew another pot, and then to find some sugar and creamer, and each time he made a request she rolled her eyes and huffed and puffed. Not exactly professional.

Before getting on the shuttle back to the airport, Steve called the USO at SEATAC airport, to inquire as to whether we could stow our luggage there while sight-seeing in town. We were thrilled to find out that we could (free of charge to military personnel), because there are few alternatives at SEATAC for storing luggage. One option (Ken’s Baggage) is a pricey alternative if you’ve got quite a few bags (we had five, to include carry-on bags and Steve’s computer bag). The USO was a life-saver, and our bags were stowed in a secure closet and could not be removed without a claim ticket.

We then walked about 10 minutes (level 4 of the parking garage) to catch the Link Light Rail to downtown Seattle.  The opening of this station is a real plus, and makes exploring Seattle without having a rental car (or using a taxi) easy.

We took the train to Pioneer Square Station ($2.50/pp, one way) - about a 40 minute ride - and then walked to Pioneer Square, which was only a couple of blocks, so that we could do the Seattle Underground Tour.  This tour ($15/pp) is about 90 minutes and takes you underground (literally) to see and learn more about the early days of Seattle, prior to the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. If you’re a fan of history, with a humorous twist, you’d enjoy this tour. We paid for our tickets, and then walked to Fado Irish Pub to grab a very quick bite to eat before the tour started.

Since I’m not very adventurous, I opted for a bacon cheeseburger. Steve chose the Pulled Lamb French Dip and declared it the best French Dip sandwich he has ever had. We washed our meals down with a Guinness (of course!), and then walked back to the meeting place for the Underground Tour.

The only thing that bothered me about the Underground Tour, was that our tour guide (Gail) had a habit of targeting a particular group when speaking, so that those of us who were standing to the side of her had a hard time hearing everything. She also spoke quite fast, which was hard to follow at times. Other than that, she was awesome. If you’re hard of hearing, or just have old ears like us, try to stand in front of her so you don’t miss a thing.

I found the below description of the Seattle Underground Tour online: (You can also read more details about Seattle Underground at Wikipedia)

In its early days, downtown Seattle was a chaotic place, built on tidal plain with poor drainage. After the Great Fire of 1889, city planners wanted to raise the streets to solve the city’s ever-growing sewage problems, but the downtown building owners, unwilling to wait for the city to get to work, rebuilt their buildings at the original level.

Years later, the city raised the streets, leaving sidewalks and entrances as much as 36 feet below street level. For a time, pedestrians clambered up and down between street level and building entrance on ladders, but eventually the building entrances were raised, and the old sidewalks covered over, creating the area called the Seattle Underground.

The Seattle Underground Tour begins in Doc Maynard’s, a restored 1890s public house, then the tour goes underground to visit the abandoned, sunken storefronts of what was once ground-level Pioneer Square. Their well-informed guides recount the role of the modern toilet in Seattle history and the origin of the term Skid Road, taking you to some places where ghosts are said to hang out, all the while telling funny stories and spouting Seattle history.

The photos below were taken on the tour. While you do walk underground much of the time, you also come up above ground for some portions of the tour.  What I found quite interesting were the skylights in the sidewalk. These skylights were/are windows on a shady underground world, and illuminated the ‘old’ sidewalks below.

The skylights have purpled with age. Some are almost indigo. Some are a pastel lavender and opaque. Some of the oldest were shaped into three-way prisms that draw extra light into the eerie underworld of spider webs. They turned purple over time because of the manganese added into the glass mixture, and its reaction to sunlight over the years.

Look how fancy the toilets were! I’d love to have such a pretty painted toilet in my bathroom. (The wood lid - not so much)

When the tour was over, Steve and I caught a bus (Riding Metro Transit is free between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily in Downtown Seattle) to Pike Place Market. I LOVED the market! The flowers and the vegetables, fruits, seafood, arts, crafts, colors, textures, aromas, etc. were fantastic! If I lived in Seattle, I’d be visiting the market quite often. We saw huge bouquets of daffodils for only $5. I’d be buying fresh flowers every week at that price.

Of course, one of the biggest tourist draws to Pike Place Market is the fish throwing, and we were lucky to catch one fish flying through the air. As for the fish - particularly the salmon - what a shock to see the prices! With all the salmon we have in our freezer, perhaps we should hire an armed guard to protect our assets. I’ll never complain about the cost of a king salmon fishing charter again. One good size King makes back that expense several times over.

After a quick (much too quick!) walk through the market, Steve and I headed toward the waterfront for our return walk to Pioneer Square.  It was a beautiful day in Seattle - sunshine and partly cloudy skies. The weather was warm enough to only require a light jacket, and also incited me to opt for a frappucino at the local Starbucks, rather than a hot coffee.

We didn’t have to wait long for the train back to the airport, and after picking up our bags at the USO and checking in for our flight, we went to the Boardroom (another perk of first class flying) to relax before it was time to go to the gate.

And now for some more photos…

I love to people watch, and this man thoroughly enjoyed feeding this pigeon that kept coming by for some crumbs:

And, at Pioneer Square, you will find this Tlingit Totem Pole, which was brought from Alaska in 1899:

The last photo above is of the Smith Tower, one of the world’s first skyscrapers. You can read more about the history of the Smith Tower at this website.

I really enjoyed our short visit to Seattle, and would love to go back and explore some more.  We were both very impressed by the transportation system, which made seeing the city possible without incurring the expense of a rental car. I am glad that we opted for the long layover, so that we could spend the afternoon sightseeing, rather than sitting in an airport. If your travels take you through Seattle when flying, and you’ve got a long layover, consider hopping on the train and spending a few hours downtown.

Then, to add to the ’special-ness’ of this trip, we were treated to a view of the northern lights as we flew over Alaska! The quality of this photo isn’t the best, but I managed to at least capture something from the plane window:

All in all, we had a fabulous visit with family and friends, and enjoyed the different sights along the way. But, there truly is no place like home, and we’re happy to be back in Alaska.

Monday morning, we scheduled a 6am wake up call, as we had a very long day of driving ahead of us. Our route would take us from Statesville, NC to Blowing Rock, and then we had hopes of getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway for some scenic driving to Asheville. From Asheville, we planned to drive through the Cashiers area, and then continue on to Acworth via Blairsville and Ellijay, GA.  The drive would be almost 400 miles, on two-lane roads that meander through the mountains of western NC.  We knew there’d be no 65mph highway traveling, and expected to be on the road a good 10+ hours.

Well, we didn’t quite get to do what we originally planned. With all the snowfall the east coast has had, the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed in the Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain areas. We were able to get up on the road via ramp and drive about 1000 yards at one point, before having to get back off, and the views of the snowy landscape were beautiful. The road was a mess though, so there’s no way we could have driven it, even if the road was open.

In the end, our trip took us from Statesville to Blowing Rock via Rt 321, and then to Linville via Rt 221. We followed 221 to I-40 into Asheville, got on I-26 to Rt 64 outside of Hendersonville, and then followed that switchback two-lane road to Cashiers, Highlands, Oakhill and Hayesville, where we picked up 515 into Blairsville and Ellijay, GA. From that point, we had highway driving to Acworth.  And believe me… we were happy about that. Rt 64 is so switchback and twisty, that I was feeling a little carsick. Blech.  However, the views were very pretty and we stopped a few times along the way so I could take some photos.

Some of the more interesting things we saw along the way were barns painted with quilt square blocks. I wish we would have had time to really appreciate these beautiful barns, and the colorful paintings on them. I did a little online research and found this great link about the NC Quilt Trail. Here’s an abridged version of the information I found on that website:

What started with one woman in Ohio honoring her mother by hanging an art block on her barn has now spread to a nationwide cultural art expression found in 33 states. Western North Carolina is second only to Kentucky for having the most painted quilt blocks as a public art expression. The quilt blocks are featured in the Western North Carolina Counties of Mitchell, Yancey, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Madison.

The beautiful Blue Ridge Mountain area:

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Our plans on this trip included meeting up with my friend Cyndi and her husband Scott, in Acworth GA. I met Cyndi online in a blogging community more than six years ago. Over the years, our friendship has grown. The internet is an amazing tool for enabling people - who may never have had a chance to meet - to not only get to know each other online, but to even meet in person when possible.

We arrived at Cyndi and Scott’s house around 5pm. Their home is gorgeous, with a wonderful front porch that I imagine is a great place to enjoy a morning cup of coffee or an evening glass of wine.

The three of us (Cyndi, Steve and I) sat and chatted for a little while before Cyndi’s husband Scott came home from work. A little while later, her daughter and son-in-law came over, with their three children.  I’ve pretty much ‘watched’ Cyndi’s grandchildren grow up via her journal. I remember when she wrote about the births of her two youngest grandchildren, so I feel like I know them too.  It was great to finally meet the kids; their personalities are exactly as Cyndi has described them in her writing.

After the kids and grandkids left, Cyndi and Scott took us to La Parrilla for Mexican food. Oh my goodness, but the food was so delicious! We also had a pitcher of Margaritas, which hit the spot quite nicely.  The restaurant was crowded, and clearly it’s a real hot spot for dining. In fact, it gets so busy that there is typically an hour or more wait on the weekends, when mariachis perform. What fun!

As a surprise, after our fabulous waitress found out that we were visiting from Alaska, a complimentary dessert of Sopapillas was brought to our table.  Sopapillas are crunchy flour tortillas topped with vanilla ice cream, kahlua, and whipped cream. Can you say YUM!? We would love it if La Parrilla opened a restaurant in Alaska. The meal was excellent! (Thank you again, Cyndi and Scott! We had such a great time!)

We spent the night at Cyndi and Scott’s, and their guestroom is beautiful! The bed was made up with beautiful hand-sewn quilts, and the room even came with a couple of cats. *grin* Cyndi has three cats: Boo (the matriarch of the family), and Juice & Kody (short for Kodama) - two rambunctious kitty boys that Cyndi rescued and has cared for since they were only a week or two old.  All three were in our room at one point, and we thought we got them all out, until Boo woke Steve in the middle of the night, pawing at the door. There we were at 2am, opening the door so Boo could escape, while trying to prevent the boys from getting in the room. I was giggling, but Steve was too tired to find the humor in it all. I think kitties should always come with a guest room.

The next morning, Cyndi prepared a delicious breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits, with scrambled eggs. What a great way to start the day. Between Kayla’s cream chipped beef and Cyndi’s sausage gravy and biscuits, we are thoroughly convinced that if we still lived in the south - and cooked like that - we’d weigh 400lbs.

We left for the airport soon after, and had no problems with the commute, despite the snow that fell in GA that morning. What weird weather the southeast has had.

Me and Cyndi:

Juice and Kody:

Next: Part Three - Long Layover in Seattle

Steve and I had the most wonderful trip to NC and GA (and Seattle) last week. It was a long flight, but thanks to frequent flier miles, we were able to upgrade to First Class. It sure made traveling much more enjoyable, with the wider and more comfortable seats, the free Digi-player to watch movies, free drinks, and much better food. It’s going to be difficult to go back to coach traveling again, but since we don’t have a money tree in our back yard, nor do we have a glut of airline miles, you’ll find us being herded like cattle on future flights.

Traveling First Class does have its privileges, but unfortunately is not immune to rough-handed baggage crews or TSA agents who like to paw through your dirty laundry. The airline broke a wheel off my duffel bag, cut a zipper pull totally off the same bag (there was an unlocked lock hanging from it, but apparently they were too blind to see it wasn’t latched), and I found a TSA card in my bag indicating that a stranger’s hands touched my clothes. I always feel so violated when I find that card.

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We left Fairbanks at 1am on Wednesday morning and arrived in Atlanta at dinnertime. We were exhausted from the long day of travel, and worried that it would take us some time to collect our bags, pick up our rental car, and make the drive to our hotel northeast of the city.  But we were so wrong! The transportation system at the ATL airport has improved greatly since the last time we traveled through in the late 1990s. A quick train took us from baggage claim to a centralized car rental center, where it only took us 10 minutes to get our car. Before long, we were on the highway heading out of the city.

Steve and I have been in Alaska too long. We no longer know how to drive in east coast traffic. Although the speed limit was 55 on the interstate, and Steve was doing a respectable 65mph, cars were whipping by us as if we were in a Nascar race. We were so happy to leave the traffic behind and settle into our room in Suwannee. We were asleep by 9pm.

The next morning (Thursday), we were on the road by 10am. The drive from Suwanee to Statesville NC is about 275 miles via interstate.  We settled into our room and then called Kayla to let her know we had arrived. She, Robby, and Colt met us at our hotel, and we all went out to dinner, and then back to their house to visit with each other. Colt didn’t really remember us, but within minutes he was climbing all over (Steve) Paw Paw’s lap and snuggling with him on the sofa.

Robby and Kayla just moved into a new house (also with a dairy) a couple of months ago and they’ve been busy doing some renovations (new wood floors, painting, etc). Their home is lovely - and spacious - and their property is beautiful. We took a tour of the dairy facilities, and had a short lesson in milking. We also met the newest additions to the family - tiny little furball puppies born three weeks ago to Kayla’s Corgi, after a tryst with a Labrador! We later discovered that there’s actually a name for this cross-breed: Corgidor! Puppy cuddling is so relaxing, and if they would have been able to leave mama, I might have tried to smuggle one home to AK.

We visited until nearly midnight and made plans to go back at 9am for a home-cooked country breakfast.

Here are some photos from our first night in town:

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Kayla took the day off from work on Friday, and we arrived bright and early for a delicious breakfast of home made cream chipped beef on toast with scrambled eggs. Kayla is such a good cook, and everything was delicious - and filling.

The sun was shining, but the wind was really blowing strong. The temperature hovered in the 30s and low 40s, and the cold was more bone-chilling than what we’re accustomed to here in Alaska.

Steve and I watched Robby do what has to be done on a dairy farm: feeding the cows, cleaning up the stalls, and a long list of other things. Then Steve and I followed Kayla on the four-wheeler (we were on a golf cart) to see the rest of their land and meet the baby calves. Their property is beautiful, with wide open pastures and fields for planting.

Later we watched the milking in progress. It was interesting to see all of the preparation that goes into milking cows. Herding the cattle into the milking stalls, disinfecting the teats, hooking them up to the machines, herding them out of the stalls (they walk through a medicated foot bath on their way out, to prevent foot rot and other ailments), and repeat with the next group.  When you have 100+ head of cattle, this is a time consuming procedure. It’s done twice a day, so you can imagine the work involved.

We ordered pizza for dinner so Kayla wouldn’t have to cook, and settled in to watch the Olympics. Steve and I were still adjusting to the time change, and Kayla and Colt both had a cough and weren’t feeling very well, so we called it a night at around 7pm.  We made plans to visit Fort Dobbs the next day.

The perfect end to a wonderful day:

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Steve and I had some light fare at the hotel on Saturday morning (continental breakfast), and made our way to Kayla’s at 11am. Robby had things he had to tend to around the farm, so he wasn’t able to go with us to Fort Dobbs. It was sunny and much warmer, although it was still a bit breezy.

We thought that there was going to be a re-enactment (guns and cannons) at Fort Dobbs, but in reality there were only people in costume milling around and answering questions about the French and Indian War. It was still quite interesting, and gave Colt a chance to run around and work off some energy.  He didn’t like the Indians though, and when one of the soldiers fired his musket Colt jumped.  The drive to and from the Fort was lovely, as we took the back way from Kayla’s house - which took us past farms and barns, cows and horses, and country homes with big porches.

When we got back from Fort Dobbs, I had a maternity photo session with Kayla. Kayla is positively glowing with this pregnancy, and it was such a joy to capture her beauty at such a special time in her life.

Kayla planned a BBQ for Saturday evening and invited both her and Robby’s parents. Steve and I were looking forward to meeting everyone, although a little nervous. I think Kayla was nervous too.  After all, her bio-dad (Steve) would be meeting the dad who raised her (Norman) for the first time. Steve would also be seeing Linda for the first time in many years. I suppose a gathering like this could be awkward for some people, but the evening turned out to be a fabulous one, with much talking and laughter and socializing.

Later, Steve told me that he and Norman went outside for a few moments, and Steve thanked Norman for doing such an awesome job raising Kayla. I believe there were more sentiments expressed in regards to Steve’s presence in Kayla’s life now, but out of respect to both Norman and Steve I won’t share the conversation here.  There is a saying “Any man can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a dad”, and that fits this situation perfectly. We are thankful that Norman has loved and cared for Kayla all these years, and it’s apparent that both he and Linda are fantastic parents, because Kayla is a very special young lady. Steve is so happy to have her back in his life.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening with good company, good food, and a whole lot of love in the house.

Here is a very small sampling of the photos I took of Kayla at our indoor session. She is so beautiful and is absolutely glowing:

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On Sunday, we enjoyed a delicious brunch at Childress Vineyards. After filling ourselves to the brim with good food and dessert, we took a tour of the winery (free).  The grounds of the winery were gorgeous, as was the decor inside the winery itself. I didn’t have my camera (left it in our car - duh!), and missed out on quite a few beautiful photos of the surrounding landscape.

When we got back to Kayla and Robby’s place, Kayla changed clothes and she and I drove out to the back field for part two of her maternity photo shoot.  We took an antique rocker with us, as well as her cowboy hat. While the first photo shoot was much more intimate, part two was quite casual and showed a beautifully pregnant Kayla surrounded by grass and trees while the sun shone down on us. Despite the sun, it was really cold! So cold that in between scenery changes, Kayla had to pull her coat over herself to stay warm. In fact, in some photos - if you look closely at the large files - you can see goosebumps on her skin. Poor girl was freezing to death, but you wouldn’t know it when you look at the photos. She is absolutely stunning and radiant.

Here are a few photos from our outdoor photo shoot:

Steve and I had an early morning ahead of us, as we planned to drive the scenic western part of NC back to Atlanta. Kayla was feeling much worse with her cough and chest congestion, so we didn’t stay too late. It was sad to say goodbye.

I’m glad we were able to visit, and I’m happy that we were able to meet Kayla’s family. They are good people, and our family has grown in knowing them.

Farewell for now, Kayla, Colt and Robby. We love you!

Next up… Driving western NC to GA, and visiting with friends in Acworth.