Saturday, June 23, 2007

Touring Seattle

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A friend of mine, Ran Xu, goes by Eric, who lives in Indianapolis just flew in Seattle. We went to college together for 2 years and have not seen each other for 6 years. Eric and his fiance are going on a cruise trip from Seattle to Alaska. They got here a day earlier before their trip which gives us the opportunity to meet up and tour the city. The weather today is typical Seattle - with sunshine and overcasting sky interchangeably. Although I warned them about getting some jackets with them before leaving the hotel, they thought they wouldn't need jackets as it looked like a sunny summer time until they get in downtown that they have to buy ones.
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After a few walks downtown, we decide to take "Ride the Ducks" tour, a 6-ton tour bus/boat which was used in Military in World War II. It can go on land and water. So quack quack we go.

Apparently our driver/captain is very hyper. Not sure how much caffeine (I hope it's the caffeine) from Starbucks she's been consuming. But she's doing a very good job telling us history about the city while driving. We feel welcomed by locals that wave and smile at us as we pass by on this funky vehicle.
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After sightseeing on land, we cruise on Lake Union where we have the best view of Seattle. There are a lot of boats and home-boats where people reside on.
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View city skyline from Lake Union.
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This plane is just above our heads as it's about to land on Lake Union.
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The evening is followed by dinner at a delicious seafood restaurant at the Waterfront on Alaskan Way avenue. I call it a good weekend of city tour and reunion with an old friend. Oh and we enjoy the Washington's Chardonnay as well. More pictures here.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Behold Mount Rainier

The 14,410-foot (4,392 m) stratovolcano. View from Puyallup on a clear day, about 30 miles away.

On cloudy days, the whole mountain is invisible which seems like it magically disappears.
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