8/14/00

The previous evening we hopped a taxi to the Holiday Inn Express. Our cabbie never drove in the city before but 10 dollars later we were at our hotel.

After breakfast, Enterprise picked us up, had our car ready, and off we went to Discovery park. The park is really a wooded area on the edge of Seattle. The girls had a great time romping through the woods, playing in small streams, throwing rocks into a murky pond, and learning that you really shouldn;t touch all of the plants. Marissa managed to get a slight skin irratation that went away in about 5 minutes - with the help of Cortaid.

Seattle is a beautiful city. The city planner must have had a warped sense of humor. It seems as though all of the streets are one way, there is no grid. The provided maps were fairly consistent, but need some creative interpreting. However, we did make our way to the Seattle Center.

The Center has a permanent carnival where the kids rode a small roller coaster, merry-go-round, duck rides, and others. We went to the top of the Space Needle. The 500 foot elevator ride only took 13 seconds. The kids loved the view.

5/15/00

A 6:30 AM wakeup call gave us enough time to have breakfast, mail ADDRESSED post cards, and make the 100 mile trek to Bellingham for our whale watch tour. It was a cool 55 degrees and even cooler on the top deck of the boat.

It took a good 2 hours to get to the San Juan Islands, but once there, orcas were plentiful. We probably sighted 40 or so. Erica kept yelling for "Free Willie". The girls were extremely excited. At one point an orca came within 3 feet of the boat as it was chasing fish.

8/16/00

More used clothes were packed and left for the staff. We spent the later part of the morning and early afternoon at the Seattle Seaquarium. It's an interactive place. Marissa and Erica were espescially impressed with the seahorse exhibit along with the baby sea lion and baby otter. For lunch, the girls had cod...and loved it.

We returned our car to Enterprise and were dropped off at the train station. The power was out at the station due to a major traffic accident in the area. After 2 hours, the power was restored, but due to the accident, as well as an earlier freight train derailment, our outbound train to Chicago would be 3 hours late. There were several children around so the kids were able to keep each other entertained.


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Chicago and DC