Meandering...: Adieu Seattle!

When planning this trip to Seattle/Vancouver we intended to plow through a list of main tourist sights and experiences in the area thinking we would never come this far northwest again...kind of like we really don't plan to visit Key West again even though we loved every minute of our stay there in May. You know, a 'been there, done that' attitude.

Not so with Seattle. Sure, we arrived here a few days later than planned but while here we have relaxed and explored with such ease, acting more like we live here and have all the time in the world than like folks on vacation. We visited with friends, shopped for stuff for our new RV, handled chores, and found suppliers for projects. We reveled in the mountains, valleys, forests, waterways, bridges, dry cool temps, sunny days, and friendly people wherever we went. There was no sense of urgency because WE WILL BE BACK!

If only for the barbecue...we will be back. After doing laundry this morning, probably the last time before we return home, we had lunch at the most amazing smoked barbecue place! And, we hold ourselves out there as smoked meat aficionados! The place is called BBQ Pete's, it's in Kent, WA, they only have the one restaurant, but they serve the best barbecue that we have ever tasted. Yes; better than anyplace we've been, and we've been everywhere man, we've been everywhere!

Rich has plotted a course for home that may not include all the sights we had originally planned which is okay...next time for sure. This afternoon we did some more shopping then, before we knew it (maybe because we were napping, like old retirees!), the day was nearly gone. Faced with the sad thought of no more BBQ Petes, and still full from lunch, we drove over there and bought some beef brisket and pulled pork for the road.

For our last evening here, Rich drove us up to a park that overlooked the city and Puget Sound from the northwest. A full moon was rising over neighborhoods built on a hill across from this park. The view was indescribable but I will share a few photos ... not that they do it justice ... not at all.

This first set shows the view when we arrived of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier over Puget Sound, and a full moon over the hillside neighborhood.