Tag: Seattle

A whirlwind with a couple of calm breaks

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travel4 Comments

We left San Diego and our California family and headed to Portland, Oregon. It has been a whirlwind, mostly. Our first stop was Newberg, OR, with our daughter and son-in-law, Alexis. We had lunch with my son and daughter-in-law, visited my other son in Vancouver. We stayed with friends in Portland, then back to Newberg for a few days then back to Portland. We drove from Portland back to Seattle, stopping along the way to visit my stepmother and my stepbrother. We were invited to multiple gatherings and met some wonderful people. This was a Christmas season we will long remember. Here are a few photos I took along the way, I could have taken many more for sure.

Peacock Lane in Portland with Alexis and Joe

Dinner at Papa Hayden’s with Alexis and Joe

Dinner at Clark Lewis with Tim and Lisa.

Tricia worked hard to bond with Cleo

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Zoo Lights at Woodland Park Zoo with Dave and Rosanne

At a New Year’s Eve party in Seattle with Tricia’s sister and family

One of the kittens tried to get a snack

We are at the Doubletree Hotel next to SeaTac airport, we head to the airport in an hour for a flight to London. Thanks to our many frequent-flier-miles we get to go First Class, should be fun. Then it is the Eurostar to Paris, and the train from Gare Montparnasse to Flers, then a short drive back to La Thebauderie. Our place in rural France seems like a world a way, and it is, yet right now, sated with love from friends and family, saturated with wonderful memories, it is a welcome destination. We have had a great trip, better than I could ever have imagined, yet as Dorthy said so simply, “There’s no place like home.”

Downtown Seattle after two years in France

On By Terry ChristophersonIn Trips and travel4 Comments

We arrived at SeaTac on a direct Delta flight from Charles De Gaul Paris on Friday afternoon, our first time back in the US in almost two years. We stayed downtown for a few days to do a bit of shopping and adjust to jet lag rather than imposing our groggy bodies on friends and family.

The view from the 22nd floor.

Seattle has been changing for a long time, we were aware of that before we left, but our absence of 22 months made the toll that COVID and street people have taken on the city quite dramtic.

My first real impression happened at the airport. After clearing customs, which was quite easy, though slow, I stopped at les toilettes. In CDG airport the facilities are imaculate, at SeaTac it smelled like an outhouse and there were pieces of toilet paper all over, yuck. Not a good first impression.

American showers are a joy, spacious and water that maintains its temperature. This of course is from the perspective of someone who lives in a rural, 230 year old cottage with bad plumbing. Our water is scalding if someone else in the neighboring cottage is using water, it makes for exciting mornings.

In Seattle, at least this part, a lot of restaurants and shops are either closed or gone. Some did not survive COVID, others are victim to the unsafe environment. Many have closed rather than struggle with the rampent shoplifting. We went in a Bartells, which is closing in a week, it was awful. Tricia wanted nail-files, she had to get an employee to unlock a case where they were kept to prevent theft. We needed a gift bag. All of the bags on the rack had the backs cut out so they could not be used for theft, another employee had to go to the stockroom and find us one, it took him close to ten minutes – I almost felt bad for asking. It is a sad state of affairs.

We did get our shopping done. We ended up eating at the same restaurant a few times just because some of our old favorites are gone.

This part of Seattle seems tired. We started to walk to Pike Place Market but with all of the street-people it just did not seem inviting. We did not get to the waterfront which may be more vibrant as it is, or was, a big tourist area.

I hope somehow Seattle recovers, I have so many fond memories of the town.