Connor & Christen visit Snoqualmie August 10-21, 2011 ( Part 1)

Here they come on Jet Blue!! How exciting!

Their first flight alone and from coast to coast!
They made it!!

First order of business was to find a slug!
And salt it, of course. ( :


Then 2 days of fishing on Lake Margaret...




Casting was a breeze!

But catching a fish not so easy! However those sunfish took alot of worms so it was fun!

Next a trip to Crystal Mountain to ride the "Mt. Rainier Gondola"!

It climbs almost 2,500 ft. the base of Crystal Mt. to the top of the mountain.

You get off of the Gondola and Mt. Rainier is right in your face!

Breathtaking!

So majestic! I could sit here all day!!

(do click on these scenery pictures to enlarge and get the full beauty!)

Connor, Christen, Granny & Pa

Christen!

I think we brought Paul Bunyan to the mountain! ( :

Alpine Lake

One month ago this lake was covered with snow and in 2 weeks it will be dried up.
We did some hiking, had lunch at the Summit House and enjoyed God's beauty!

Going down!!

Breathtaking! ( :

Next to North Bend to pick blueberries in the shadow of Mt. Si. Very tasty!!

Next to the Museum of Flight...one of Connor's favorite places!

This is a new bridge that crosses the highway to the new $12 million building called the Space Gallery. The Museum of Flight did not get to display one of the retiring space shuttles, but Seattle's air and space museum got a consolation prize of a full-scale training mock-up that looks like the space shuttle without wings. It has been used by every astromaut and is the only one of its kind. Visitors will be allowed to climb aboard and try it out. People will not be allowed to climb aboard the actual shuttles so this consolation prize is a "true win" for the people of Washington.

This bridge has sounds of aircraft overhead that are really realistic!

WW II display was awesome!

This is the first Presidential Jet that retired in 1996 and is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Airforce. This plane was delivered to Lyndon B. Johnson by Borge Boeskov and he taught his crew to fly the plane. Borge is a friend of ours who worked at Boeing for many years. You can read about him online.

Up, up and away in the hot air balloon!

Great photography Christen! ( :

Next stop the Pacific Science Museum!

Last time they visited Seattle they were to short for this bike.

Now they were extremely brave! ( :

The museum had a special exhibition on the Fear Factor! It was Connor's favorite part of the museum!

The EMP Museum featured an Avatar Exhibition.

It was Connor's favorite of the day. It was a blue room and no flash was allowed so pardon the blurry photo. It was so neat!

The technology, imagination, and and science behind this ground-breaking film is explored through film props, concept art, and interactive installations! Very interesting and amazing to learn all of the research and work that goes into the making of this film. We had to head right home and watch the movie again.

You can explore some of the most significant moments in rock music, science fiction, and popular culture through EMP's impressive exhibitions and interactive installations. Its spectacular presentation of rare artifacts, multimedia, and hands-on programs offer a unique experience you'll find only at EMP.

Next door to EMP is the Space Needle. It isn't too often we get a blue sky for a background picture of the needle. We had perfect weather for 10 days. NO Seattle rain!!

We met up with cousin Lou who works in the revolving restaurant on top of the Space Needle and he took us up for a view. 43 seconds for the elevator to get to the top. What a picture perfect day for this outing!

Thanks Lou! We loved it!

Mount Rainier was out in her glory! The mountain seemed to be floating over the city!

Connor & Christen at the top of the Space Needle!

The Space Needle sways approximately 1 inch for every 10mph of wind.

Now at the bottom sitting on the bolts that hold the needle up! ( :

The Space Needle is fastened to its foundation with 72 bolts. Each are 30 feet in length.

C & C at the Snoqualmie Golf Course

Connor & Katie...

Katie is our neighbor dog who loved to see C & C coming to take her for a walk!

They were best friend immediately and took many walks around the neighborhood and hiking path.
Katie is wondering where you two went....she misses you!

Connor & Christen's visit continued....

Overnight camping at beautiful Snoqualmie Pass!

Our campsite was right across from Denny Creek so an awesome place to play!


Awesome wildflowers!



The tent was pitched and we were soon on our way to do the Denny Creek hike! This is a popular family friendly trail that leads to a series of waterfalls and to a smooth natural waterslide....a massive rock face over which the creek flows.




The trail winds 1.3 miles through the green, forested valley before coming to the rock waterslide.








The water is VERY COLD! Even in August!
We were not propperly prepared for a swim...but getting wet was great fun!


Brrrrr!!!!!!!!!!! Connor was pretty sure he had hypothermia!

Headed up to the falls!

Watch out! Crox are slippery when wet!

Connor, Christen & Pa made it!

This rock face provides a slippery summertime escape from the heat as the cold water slides over the granite slabs. Christen looked very surprised as she hit bottom. ( :

The creek is shallow enough to be safe, but stong enough to be fun! Connor shows us that crawling back up was next to impossible!

Christen is always there to pose for the photographer! ( :

Returning to camp to a warm sweatshirt and a warm fire was inviting!

Spider Dogs and S'mores made a good dinner!

PERFECT marshmallow!!

Happy Birthday Granny!

A cheese pretzel was my cake and Christen made a flame for the birthday candle!

No place I would rather be on my birthday than with my Grandkids!!!! In the woods!!! ( :
Awesome!

Back to the creek to throw stones and purify water!

SPLASH!

Awesome wildflowers around the campground!
The waterslide was so much fun that we went back the next day for another round of fun!

When we got home Connor baked me a fabulous cake!

Thanks Connor...great job!!! Very tasty!

Connor & Christen in front of our house...

On to Railroad Days in Snoqualmie to rekindle some memories!

We stayed away from the stale gummy worms this time. ( :

"Deja vu!

Next stop...Snoqualmie Falls! It is disappointing that there is construction going on and there is no hike to the base of the falls until 2013! ) : But we took in an outdoor wedding reception and rolled down the big hill until Christen got sick. They went so fast we had to stop them at the bottom. Connor said he felt like a kid again!

The falls were tumbling pretty well for August!

Unfortunately the time together came to an end and we headed to the airport at 5:30 AM on the 21st!

We get there to find out there was a 2 1/2 hour weather delay. They finally took off at 10:10 PST and arrived at JFK at 6:30 PM EST.

We don't like good-byes! ) :

They are off!!!

We spent the rest of the day at the computer informing Jodi & Larry of their status as they were enroute to pick them up. Their plane circled over Lake Erie for an hour but finally went into JFK.

They were told they could not eat their sandwich they had with them becasue it had peanut butter on it and someone was allergic. It was a long day with no lunch! But it looks like they didn't suffer too much. I am sure they were happy to see Mom, Dad and Montana (who was waiting in the car)

Thanks for coming to visit us C & C! We had a great time and MISS YOU!!!

Love, Granny & Pa