Field Trip to the U

For a little break from the usual routine, today my Mom, Alex and I hopped on the #73 bus down to the University district for lunch and some coffee. Alex was in good spirits the whole time.

Here we are at the bus stop, waiting for the bus going South. It's a bit hard to see, but Alex is all but giggling at G'ma

We had some so-so lunch at a little bar on University Ave ("The Ave"). I had a Thai green curry that lacked flavor, spice and imagination. My Mom's sandwich was better, but we won't go back. Alex just enjoyed the ambiance and made poopy pants.

After lunch we headed down to Cafe On the Ave for coffee and dessert.

Alex really just came for the dessert, and the exceptional service!

The couches were comfy and afforded Mr. Milk a nice brief nap, despite the noisy din of the cafe.

After Alex and Mom left, I stayed for a couple of hours more to get some work done. Here's me at the cafe cranking on the laptop (out of the picture)

Happy Father's Day To Me

Alex and Dana gave me a wonderful drawing for Father's Day. It was darn hard to get him to sit still long enough for Dana to draw this!

This is a happy kid.

Here's another good Father's Day shot. Just me and the boy taking a little rest.

Father's Day afternoon we drove down to Olympia to spend time with my Aunt Joan and Cousin Jennifer and their guide dog friends at the mall. It was a big day for guide dog practice. These puppies have a lot of work left to do, but they're making great progress...

Umiko the yellow lab/golden mix through the eyes of Alex (mostly just Umiko's nose)

Umiko sits at the ready in her yellow coat. "Umiko, stay."

... "Okay Umiko, come." She was a very good dog.

The littlest black lab puppy, Boone, is one week younger than Alex, but already 10 pounds heavier. I realized, though, that after 20 years with Alex we'll have a handsome, successful young man ready to face the world. After 20 years with Boone, we'll have a dead dog.

At Home In Seattle

We're now settled in to our new place in Seattle. By last Sunday night we were all present and accounted for - Dana, Alex, me and Grandma. Here is a shot of Grandma and Alex, two extremely happy people:


We've had adventures all week getting to know our new (temporary) home town. We found a terrific vegan donut shop (Mighty-O donuts in the Wallingford neighborhood) with woooonderful Stumptown coffee. It's the perfect antidote to a drizzly, gray Seattle morning. Especially the lots'o'chocolate donuts. mmmmmmmm...

Our neighborhood, Jackson Park, is very walkable and green. We're one and a half blocks from a big grocery store, dry cleaners, pizza place, Starbucks, and city park. In all fairness though, you just about can't fall off a bus here in Seattle and not be within line-of-sight of a Starbucks. On the plus side, we can buy coffee at Starbucks here and not feel bad about it, because "we're supporting a local company!"

Dana is all settled in at work. She has a corner office with a window. Literally. I also have a corner office with a view, at home. Our condo has a lovely sun room with views to the golf course's short-nine.

Alex has been working on a big project of his own since arriving: turning over. I'm proud to report that on Thursday June 7, he successfully rolled over from his tummy to his back for the first time. He's repeated that trick a couple of times over the last couple of days. Today (Monday 6/11) he started work on turning from his back to his tummy. His two fuzzy cows were juuuuust out of arm's reach, and he was absolutely fixated on them and working every combination of muscles he could think of to get to those cows. Stay tuned this week - he is REAL close!

For fun on Saturday we went downtown to Seattle's waterfront and had some killer seafood. Since Alex couldn't enjoy the salmon himself, we thought we'd treat him to his very first merry-go-round ride at the arcade. He was spellbound by the flashing lights, music, and crowds of kids and parents watching. What fun!

As of Friday 6/8, Alex weighed 14 pounds, 6 ounces with clean diapers on.

Look Out Seattle, Here Comes the Son

On the Road Again

I left for Seattle on Thursday afternoon from Fort Collins. I stopped Thursday night for an all-too brief visit at my sister's house in Salt Lake City. Then on to Idaho Friday morning. I made it to Boise at about 3:30 and tooled around there for a few minutes, stopping at the plant my company has there for a quick tour and to check my email and update the podcasts I've been listening to on the way out. I left Boise about 6:30 and headed up I-84 and through Oregon, stopping at Deadman's Pass around sunset, but I was not tired at all, so kept on driving all the way to Yakima, where I decided to call it a night.

Highway Monument At Deadman's Pass in Oregon's Blue Mountains

Sunset over the Pass

This morning I'm going to have breakfast in historic (?) downtown Yakima and then hit the road for the last, short leg of the trip to Seattle. I'll meet up with our landlord then and get settled in before I go to pick up Dana & Alex at the airport.

The road has been kind to me. I had a flat tire on Thursday morning before I left town, but half an hour at the tire shop and $12 later I was all set. Since then it's been peaches and cream.

The Lonliest Refinery: Sinclair Oil Refinery, outside of Sinclair, WY