From Seattle to San Jose and beyond - the Weird and the Wonderful!

Jurjen's first trip to the U.S., as I show him my various stomping grounds.

Seattle from below! A look up through the skylights as we tour the Seattle Underground, in Pioneer Square. This part of Seattle was a tidal flat, so the street level was raised, and you can still walk around underneath the sidewalks.

And Seattle from above! On the Space Needle, of course. Lovely day for it. Ah, I miss this town.

The Pacific County Courthouse, built circa 1910, in South Bend, Washington. I just think it's so pretty. It's out on the ocean coast by Willapa Bay. I had meandered out here once when I lived in Lacey, and I wanted to visit the area again. For some reason I just like it and want to visit some more, and Jurjen liked it too. You can read up about Pacific County here.

And another one of my silly favorites. Tenino, Washington is home to a major sandstone quarry, which supplied stone for a lot of important buildings in the area. But here at the Tenino Thriftway grocery store, Our Customers Come First, and it's set in stone. And look at that celery hanging out of the top! I shudder to think of the effect this has on the locals.

Visiting my ferret, Ysabella. I'm so happy to see her and she just looks like she's thinking, Oh, brother.

And all the rubber duck stories you've heard are TRUE. First it was Ferdinand, and Ysabella took over when he died. Thanks again to Valerie for keeping her for the past couple of years, and to Gail and Kevin who are keeping her now.

Eek! The Fremont Troll, underneath the Aurora Bridge. Fremont, a district of Seattle, also has a statue of Lenin, a sculpture of people waiting for a bus that never comes, topiary dinosaurs, and now a lot of yuppie crap comin' in and displacing the wacky charm. We also swung by Archie McPhee's in Ballard - Jurjen's wearing a devil-duckie hat. Note the actual VW bug being crushed by the Troll.

We visited my (sparklingly wonderful) pals (The Amazing) Janet and (The Fabulous) Tanya at their (groovy) workplace, Wizards of the Coast. This was like a pilgrimage for Jurjen, who is fond of role-playing games. Thanks again, so much, you lovely women. (And look how happy this guy is.)

The Museum of Flight, in the Boeing Lands of South Seattle. Down on the floor is the Blackbird.

"My God! It's full of stars!" Jurjen hurtling through space. Go to the Museum of Flight and you can be a two-dimensional astronaut, too.

A lovely meal with some of my Seattle-area friends. This was an evening to be remembered, probably by all of Dave and Greg's neighbors for about seven blocks.

Another view of us around the table. Ah, a quiet, social dinner in West Seattle. Except for the quiet part! All the shrieking! And later on - the SINGING!! Oh, the humanity!

Jurjen by the Golden Gate. Hair by Monica of Viridis in Kirkland, Jacket by Sir Plus in Woodinville, shades by XOOR, and the rest of the ensemble by Eddie Bauer. Styling by House of Carolyn.

Here we're creeping up a hill overlooking San Francisco to catch the incredible view. Now, look closely. You can see the city behind me, right?

And now...we're up to the lookout point and...Eek! San Francisco has vanished! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

That's my brother Larry and my Dad, in Pacific Grove, California near Monterey. We went to the fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium and I got to see some California sea otters, although right now there aren't that many of them. I don't know what's up with that face Larry's making.

Jurjen driving my brother Stuart's boat. He looks like he wants to hunt down the loud Spice-Girls-playing, speeding-in-the-slow-buoy-area boat of annoying people. Go get 'em!

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	Seattle from below! A look up through the skylights as we tour the Seattle Underground, in Pioneer Square. This part of Seattle was a tidal flat, so the street level was raised, and you can still walk around underneath the sidewalks.
And Seattle from above! On the Space Needle, of course. Lovely day for it. Ah, I miss this town.
	The Pacific County Courthouse, built circa 1910, in South Bend, Washington. I just think it's so pretty. It's out on the ocean coast by Willapa Bay. I had meandered out here once when I lived in Lacey, and I wanted to visit the area again. For some reason I just like it and want to visit some more, and Jurjen liked it too. You can read up about Pacific County here.
And another one of my silly favorites. Tenino, Washington is home to a major sandstone quarry, which supplied stone for a lot of important buildings in the area. But here at the Tenino Thriftway grocery store, Our Customers Come First, and it's set in stone. And look at that celery hanging out of the top! I shudder to think of the effect this has on the locals.
	Visiting my ferret, Ysabella. I'm so happy to see her and she just looks like she's thinking, Oh, brother.
And all the rubber duck stories you've heard are TRUE. First it was Ferdinand, and Ysabella took over when he died. Thanks again to Valerie for keeping her for the past couple of years, and to Gail and Kevin who are keeping her now.
	Eek! The Fremont Troll, underneath the Aurora Bridge. Fremont, a district of Seattle, also has a statue of Lenin, a sculpture of people waiting for a bus that never comes, topiary dinosaurs, and now a lot of yuppie crap comin' in and displacing the wacky charm. We also swung by Archie McPhee's in Ballard - Jurjen's wearing a devil-duckie hat. Note the actual VW bug being crushed by the Troll.
We visited my (sparklingly wonderful) pals (The Amazing) Janet and (The Fabulous) Tanya at their (groovy) workplace, Wizards of the Coast. This was like a pilgrimage for Jurjen, who is fond of role-playing games. Thanks again, so much, you lovely women. (And look how happy this guy is.)
	The Museum of Flight, in the Boeing Lands of South Seattle. Down on the floor is the Blackbird.
"My God! It's full of stars!" Jurjen hurtling through space. Go to the Museum of Flight and you can be a two-dimensional astronaut, too.
	A lovely meal with some of my Seattle-area friends. This was an evening to be remembered, probably by all of Dave and Greg's neighbors for about seven blocks.
Another view of us around the table. Ah, a quiet, social dinner in West Seattle. Except for the quiet part! All the shrieking! And later on - the SINGING!! Oh, the humanity!
	Jurjen by the Golden Gate. Hair by Monica of Viridis in Kirkland, Jacket by Sir Plus in Woodinville, shades by XOOR, and the rest of the ensemble by Eddie Bauer. Styling by House of Carolyn.
Here we're creeping up a hill overlooking San Francisco to catch the incredible view. Now, look closely. You can see the city behind me, right?
	And now...we're up to the lookout point and...Eek! San Francisco has vanished! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
That's my brother Larry and my Dad, in Pacific Grove, California near Monterey. We went to the fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium and I got to see some California sea otters, although right now there aren't that many of them. I don't know what's up with that face Larry's making.
	Jurjen driving my brother Stuart's boat. He looks like he wants to hunt down the loud Spice-Girls-playing, speeding-in-the-slow-buoy-area boat of annoying people. Go get 'em!