The Duck Tour

We got to Seattle at 4:00 and hit the ground running.  Not enough time left to tour the EMP, but since we could see the Duck Tours from our hotel window that seemed a good place to start.

It drives my sons crazy, but I can't resist the cheesy tourist photos.

I think we had the wackiest, or quackiest, tour guide.  You don't go on these tours to be serious, folks.

So here are some Seattle sights.

Are you old enough to recognize what this is?

The blue trees near the Westlake Center are meant to draw awareness to global deforestation.  The paint is supposedly water soluble but hadn't washed off since they were painted in April.

Men in Kilts?  I'd hire them.

One of the boats from Deadliest Catch.

Next trip, we're going to see the Fremont Troll close up!

Saturday PhotoHunt: Chocolate

What better way to get back into the Saturday PhotoHunt than with chocolate?

Chocolate.  Swiss Chocolate.  Swiss Chocolate in Switzerland.  Swiss Chocolate in Switzerland on Ernest's 2009 trip.

But are they macarons or burgers?

Pink Saturday: Pink on the Road

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound hosts Pink Saturday.  Let the color pink inspire you!

Of course I found some pink on my road trip!  The first two are in Seattle, taken while on the Duck Tour.

The next two were from a street fair in Port Townsend.

Road Trip: CA/OR/WA

On the spur of the moment (or about a week ahead of time which really is spur of the moment when trying to make hotel reservations during summer tourist season), I decided it was time to visit my dad in Washington.

There had been random talk in our house about taking a road trip some day, and Frank volunteered his car for this one. Handy could not leave work, as a co-worker was gone at the same time. So it was just me and the boys.  The cats were quite pleased that Handy stayed home to feed and pet them.

Ernest was struck by the different roadside businesses as we traveled. In the State of Jefferson area, hydroponics were big. Well, we did pass through Weed.  Just kidding, Weedians.  Weed was named for sawmill founder and pioneer, Abner Weed.  I'm sure he didn't inhale.

On the California side, giant liquor warehouses were widely advertised. Only 80 miles away! Just in case you need to stock up! Oregon is rather controlling of its alcoholic beverages.

On the Oregon side, boldly announced in yellow and black, were numerous Adult Store and Arcade signs at truck stops. No picture of those.

Some great roadside art, though.  "Mom, did you get a picture of the dragon?"  Yes, I got rather good at shooting out of the car window at 80 mph.  Ahem.

Although I sat in the backseat, I was not your stereotypical backseat driver.  I mostly minded my own business, only letting the Mom-Thing rear her naggy head once a day.

Day One:  Please get gas before we get into the middle of nowhere.
Day Two:  You should have done your summer homework before we left. *
Day Three:  Don't take off your EMP stickers in case you want to go back after lunch.
Days Four and Onward:  The Mom-Thing was tamed and didn't have much to say.

We split the drive into 2 parts, spending the night in Ashland, Oregon.  Add the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to my bucket list!


*This in response to how long we should take on the return trip.  The quicker return was requested, using homework as the excuse.  But I noticed that no homework was actually done on the first day home. Or the second.  Today's the third...

Happy Birthday, Gene Kelly

On our road trip, my sons enjoyed asking those eternal questions like "Star Wars or Star Trek?"

Here's another one: "Astaire or Kelly?"  

My BFF might say Astaire...she touched his shoulder when we were 15.  

But me, I'm a Gene Kelly Girl.

No one in the world could ever rock a lavender blazer like Kelly.

Look at that smile!

And those thighs!

Happy 100th Birthday, Gene!

Thematic Photographic: From Behind

Carmi at the blog Written, Inc. hosts a weekly photo challenge. Aunt Snow often participates but this is my first time.  This week's theme of "From Behind" seemed appropriate for me today since many of my Frank and Ernest pictures are taken from behind.  They seem to get annoyed when I want to take pictures of them...but from behind they'll never know.  

I have to do an entire post on Chihuly Garden and Glass.  Breathtakingly beautiful.

Entering the Sci-Fi museum.

Port Townsend, Tyler Street Stairs.

And going back to 1998, one of my favorite from behind pictures of the two of them...

Best Trip T-Shirt Contest

Frank and Ernest feel "Octopi Wall Street" is the winner, with "Harry Otter" second.

Hot and Cold

We've had a hot weekend.  I believe that was 105 on our porch on Saturday.  So I did not want to turn on the stove.  We had shrimp chef's salad, gyros (I learned you can cook meatloaf in the microwave) with cool cukey tzatziki, and curried chicken salad.

Frank made a banana cream pie with a graham cracker crust.  "That was the easiest pie I ever made!"

Frank and Ernest and I are heading off on a road trip.  Handy's manning the fort at home.  He can't leave work this week, but that also solves the problem of what to do with the spoiled cats!

I hope I'll come across something interesting to show you.

"Are You Going to Look Like Jamie Lee Curtis Now?"

While chatting with the Handy Husband the other night, I mentioned that I had been eating a yogurt for breakfast almost every day and I really noticed a difference if I didn't eat it. I wasn't even talking about intestinal issues. I said I had learned from Ernest to not eat a heavy meal before exercising, and the yogurt was perfect for that. And that I rarely had heartburn if I ate yogurt daily. He eats a lot of Tums, so I thought he would find that interesting. So what was his helpful and supportive comment? "Are you going to look like Jamie Lee Curtis now?" Gee, hon, I wish.

From Peaches to...???

The made-up Peach-Honey-Mustard glaze was OK.

The Cobbler was fantastic. Brave Ernest made this by himself, without a recipe. Frank and I were calling out instructions from the living room.  He served it with a dollop of half-and-half.  But Pie vs. Cobbler is still a tie.

I think we're done with the peaches.  We have some nectarines now, but we may be able to eat them up without resorting to recipes.

When I was cleaning out the fridge I came across 2 partial bags of elderly cherries. The cherry pitter got a workout and I made a delicious cherry tart in one of my elderly Watkins pie pan!  One of my uncles used to sell Watkins products in Minnesota and we ended up with a ton of products, of which 2 pie pans still survive.

I'm done cooking with fruit until our apples are ripe. But I'm told we may encounter blackberries on our trip to Washington next week. Mmmmmmmmmm.

The Golden Temple - Harmandir Sahib - Amritsar - India

The massacre at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin is especially despicable because the Sikh religion espouses goodness in life...

(I have copied these quotes out of Wikipedia, but Ernest learned much of this on his visit.)

Sikhs are expected to embody the qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī"—a saint-soldier. One must have control over one's internal vices and be able to be constantly immersed in virtues clarified in the Guru Granth Sahib. A Sikh must also have the courage to defend the rights of all who are wrongfully oppressed or persecuted irrespective of religion, colour, caste or creed.

Guru Nanak stressed now kirat karō: that a Sikh should balance work, worship, and charity, and should defend the rights of all creatures, and in particular, fellow human beings. They are encouraged to have a chaṛdī kalā, or optimistic, view of life. Sikh teachings also stress the concept of sharing—vaṇḍ chakkō—through the distribution of free food at Sikh gurdwaras (laṅgar), giving charitable donations, and working for the good of the community and others (sēvā).

Ernest had the privilege of volunteering at the Langar of the Harmandir Sahib or “Golden Temple,” the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion on July 21st.

Langar (Punjabi: ਲੰਗਰ, Hindi: लंगर) is the term used in the Sikh religion or in Punjab in general for common kitchen/canteen where food is served in a Gurdwara to all the visitors (without distinction of background) for free. At the langar, only vegetarian food is served, to ensure that all people, regardless of their dietary restrictions, can eat as equals. Langar is open to Sikhs and non-Sikhs alike.

At the gurdwara (temple) in Amritsar (Punjab, India), Ernest learned that the Sikhs believe one should not pray on an empty stomach.  The Langar, the kitchen where communal meals are served before prayers, prepares many thousands of meals a day.  All are welcome to eat, regardless of their personal faith.  

Volunteers of all faiths are welcome, with a few simple rules...

• Maintaining the purity of the sacred space and of one's body while in it:
  • Upon entering the premises, removing one's shoes (leaving them off for the duration of one's visit) and washing one's feet in the small pool of water provided;
  • Not drinking alcohol, eating meat, or smoking cigarettes or other drugs while in the shrine
• Dressing appropriately:
  • Wearing a head covering (a sign of respect) (the gurdwara provides head scarves for visitors who have not brought a suitable covering);
  • Not wearing shoes (see above).
• How to act:
  • One must also sit on the ground while in the Darbar Sahib as a sign of deference to both the Guru Granth Sahib and God.

Ready to serve, feet bare and heads covered.

In the picture below, Ernest is hunched over in a grey t-shirt, just above the chartreuse turban towards the left.

Chopping onions.

Most of these photos thanks to leader Lori Bostick.

Our hearts go out to the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

Peach Week: Smackdown, Pie vs. Cobbler

Before I get to the pie vs. cobbler, I want to say the perfect proportions for peach iced tea are: half peach nectar, half tea. Others may have different opinions.

There was a difference of opinion on whether to make peach pie or peach cobbler. Pie won out with 3 votes, since we had already made cobbler. It's not our fault Ernest has a social life and missed out on the cobbler. So pie it was.

However, Frank was heavily involved in a video game so Ernest volunteered to make the crust. When Frank started to roll it out, he thought it was too sticky but I shushed him up right away because it was nice of Ernest to help when he didn't even vote for pie.

Sticky didn't really seem to be a problem because look at this lovely crust...

The hugest bowl of peaches seemed to shrink when I mixed them with sugar, cornstarch, and a little cinnamon and nutmeg.

Crimping, crimping.

And done!

Now in a taste-off between pie and cobbler, it would be a draw. They are both equally delicious. I promised Ernest we would do cobbler next.

After my peach honey mustard chicken glaze, of course.