Seattle, Washington

Karen and I had not seen our friends Rob and Jennifer Smith since the mid-90's when I was in college. Rob had been calling us to get us to visit him, so with the week off, there was no time like the present. Karen is right about me looking at the mountains while driving. I find them mesmerizing. And, it isn't just Mt. Hood. Mt. St. Helens is visible many days as well, and it looks almost moon-like at the top. You can tell it's an active volcano. Who knows, maybe it'll blow again while we are here! So, as we made our trek up to Seattle (about 3 hours), we could see 4 beautiful mountains (Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and last but not least Mt. Rainier). Mt. Rainier is simply put the most awe-inspiring, beautiful mountain my eyes have seen. It is imposing from just about anywhere in the Seattle/Tacoma area. You can see it from Rob's back deck across the sound from Seattle. It looks so much like a postcard that it doesn't seem real, but there it is. All of these mountains are volcanoes. Some are dormant, some semi-active, and some active.

Look at those nice pictures of me while we were climbing Multnomah Falls. I look like I'm dying. I'm so out of shape it makes me sick. Once the fall semester starts, I'll be playing basketball again. I did get to go play some golf with a couple of my professors this week. I almost had a hole in one (1 foot). Even I couldn't miss that putt.

Steve, Karen didn't want to put the Starbucks sign on the blog, but I'm gonna make her do it, even though its pornography! :) Plus we do have a picture of Mt. St. Helens to show. It's not real detailed because it was hazy coming back. I'll try to get a better one next time we head up that way.

Signing off for now. Love to you all from the great northwest!

Scott