The weather while we’ve been in Seattle has been pretty much what we expected, although it was unseasonably cold when we first arrived a little over a week ago, hitting the 20s for a few days. And we’ve adapted pretty well, staying inside when it rains and enjoying the outdoors when it doesn’t. So, Thursday … Continue reading →

Over the course of the last week, we’ve been in Bellingham three times, looking at houses and getting the feel of the place. And we have discovered where they keep the oysters. Yesterday, we had a fantastic boatload of them – on the half shell, fried, and in a stew – at a great restaurant … Continue reading →

I always associated Boeing with Seattle, so I was a little surprised to learn that the company – the largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft in the world – had moved its headquarters to Chicago. Nevertheless, Boeing’s biggest factory is still in the Seattle metropolitan area near Everett, next to Paine Field Airport in Mukilteo which … Continue reading →

Like ancient Rome and Constantinople, Seattle is a romantic city of seven hills. Here in Ballard, we’re on the western slope of one of them: Crown Hill. And the house we’re staying in is worthy of any Roman or Byzantine emperor. Simply magnificent. I mentioned that we’re house-hunting on this trip, but we also hope … Continue reading →

Bellingham is a college town about 1.5 hours north of Seattle, just 17 miles south of the Canadian border. Interstate 5 makes it an easy drive, but we had heard from Susan that Chuckanut Drive – the Pacific Coast road in this area – was very scenic, so we exited I-5 at Burlington and made … Continue reading →

Wednesday, our first full day in Seattle, was the parade and celebration for the Seattle Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLVIII victory. It was reported that over 700,000 people attended, but not us. We’re not really fans of football or crowds, so we opted to stay out of downtown and drove north, instead, to see the communities … Continue reading →

One of the first things we always do on a home exchange is go to the grocery store. I never write about it, although I always find it interesting since it’s an insight into the local culture and you get to rub elbows with the natives (you rarely find tourists in grocery stores). But, I … Continue reading →

We’re off on another home exchange, this time to the Pacific Northwest, specifically, Seattle in Washington State. And though we’ve just flown the furthest distance possible between two major continental United States airports, Miami International and Seattle-Tacoma, the flight wasn’t bad, stopping midway at Dallas-Fort Worth for a plane and airline change. Our home exchange … Continue reading →