shadowmeboy

The Bear was very cooperative on the pictures! We were getting warm, tired, and thirsty. So we headed out to get some lunch and head to the next attraction.

Nope! No Thank you

I thought Trace was the only photobomber!

Tuesday, July 5th, 2022 - PreCruise Day 3 of 3 Today would have been the embarkation day for the Norwegian Sun cruise. Unfortunately, the switch gave us an extra day of exploration in Seattle. We grabbed breakfast at the hotel. Somehow I missed pictures. We headed into Seattle. Our first stop of the day! Woodland Park Zoo! When we had to scramble to fill two days that would have been ship days, we decided to go with a Seattle CityPass. The pass gets you 5 attractions for one discounted price. https://www.citypass.com/seattle You get admission into the Space Needle and Seattle Aquarium and then choose 3 out of the 4 other choices. Your other Choices are: Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) Woodland Park Zoo Chihuly Garden and Glass Since we had a car, Woodland Park Zoo was an easy choice. African Safari Showing off their best side.

Thanks everyone for your kind words! Sorry I wasn't able to jump on yesterday (Sunday). Life got busy and certain things had to get done and that took priority over this unfortunately.

Mt. Rainier was out and showing. We headed to the Cheesecake Factory for Dinner. How do I choose? Trace got Chicken Piccata. Susan got the Thai Coconut-Lime Chicken Maria got the Bistro Shrimp Pasta I got a Chicken Parmesan Sandwich Maria got the Cinnabon Cinnamon Swirl Cheesecake Susan got the Very Cherry Ghirardelli Chocolate Cheesecake. I got the Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake We headed back to hotel to watch fireworks on TV as it had been a very long day! --

I spy the Norwegian Sun. The Sun was getting repairs done after hitting the Iceberg. It was also taunting us. You can see me but you can't sail on me. Finally we arrived into Seattle. Here is the video from the ferry ride. If you want to see the drive from Tacoma to Bremerton and the then the ferry ride all together, then check out the video below.

Seattle just coming into view! Mt. Rainier Selfie Time! Puget Sound There I am! I got Susan! Trace and Maria with Seattle in the background. Alki Point and Beach

Max's M wanted a picture in front of the fountain. I was tracking the ferry from Seattle. It was starting to get close, so we headed back to the car. Bremerton Dock 1. The ferry arrived and the cars unloaded. Then it was our turn to load! Our boat today is the Walla Walla (named after a Native American tribe here in Washington State, and also a city and county name as well). Its a boat so nice they named it twice! Departing Bremerton WSF Sealth (named after a local Native American Chief) Sinclair Inlet Passing between the Kitsap Peninsula (right) and Bainbridge Island (left) Max's M wanted a picture on the ferry.

From University Place, We passed over the Tacoma Narrow Bridge heading to Bremerton. Bremerton is a Naval Base and Naval Shipyard. The aircraft carrier in the distance is the USS Nimitz (68) and Decommissioned ship USNS Bridge wears the 10. I believe the ship on the other side of the bridge is a sister ship the Rainier. Welcome to Bremerton! We arrived at the Washington State Ferry dock in Bremerton and had a bit of a wait till the next boat due to staffing and boat shortages. We parked the car in line and explored around the dock area. Fountains outside the gate to Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton by the ferry dock. The North gate is mainly used by workers coming from Seattle from the Ferry. Submarine Tower outside the gate and in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Memorial Plaza in front of the Puget Sound Navy Museum. The City of Bremerton has a little park squeezed in-between the ferry dock and the Naval Shipyard. This park has really cool fountains!

We made our way from Northwest Trek to University Place, WA. Chambers Bay is located on the water and was a host of the US Open a few years ago. They have a park right on the water, and we took Trace & Maria there to get some South Sound views. Bridge taking people over the train tracks to the water side. I forgot to mention that BNSF and UP run trains by this park. Unfortunately, none were running past while we were there. Trace brought his drone along. Here is the park from the air!

View of the Black Bear from above the enclosure. Nap Time! Barn Owl Snow Owl This lead us back to the Eagle enclosure We finished up at Northwest Trek and headed towards Tacoma for our next part of the Adventure.

We then headed into the smaller Forest Animals exhibits. We did the upper viewing deck first. This was Trace's favorite! @tgloersen Badger River Otter They were eating lunch when we got there. Porcupine We moved to the lower viewing deck. Beaver Badger Trace hanging by the Racoon enclosure, seeing his friends! Max's M wanted a picture with the Racoons! Another shot of the Beaver

Grizzly Bear Chipmunk! White Wolf Wolf habitat Fox habitat The Fox is hard to see, the whole lot was sun bathing. Bobcat Cougar - sun bathing near the middle of the picture. Lynx

When you do a Northwest Trek Wild Drive ($92 per car for up to 8 people), you also get admission to the zoo like part of Northwest Trek. Bald Eagles Frog Species All of Northwest Trek's animals are native to the Pacific Northwest. Black bear Max's M could not bear not getting a picture with the Bear!

Female Bison Filming with the GoPro as we go by! Mountain Goat Male Bison up on the hill. Here is the video from our drive!

Monday, July 4th, 2022 - PreCruise Day 2 of 3 We have a busy day planned! We head south to Puyallup and go to Tim's kitchen for Breakfast. I had never been before, but I would go back. Great decorations! Trace and Maria looked a little tired from the cross country flight the day before. I got a hamburger steak with brown gravy, loaded hashbowns, and eggs over medium. Trace got the Lumberjack Hobo Hash Susan got Breakfast Pizza - It was amazing Maria got the Nutty Pig - Pancakes topped with Peanut Butter and Bacon After breakfast we headed South towards our first activity of the day. We arrived at Northwest Trek for our Wild Drive Tour of the free range area. Max's M had to get a picture! Female Bison hiding in the tall grass. Head of a Male Bison. A slightly better view of him. Trace watching the scenery. Ferns and other native Northwest plant life

I have looked at that in the past, but it typically is at the wrong time of year for both Susan and myself. I am thinking the week long P of A will work the best, with a few days before the cruise to explore.

Susan and I both only have Hawaii left. Unfortunately a Pride of America cruise was one of our 5 cancellations. We haven’t rescheduled yet.

Susan and I went to dinner at Olive Garden after getting back to the Hotel. She got Soup for the starter. I did the Salad! Not sure why I took another picture though. Susan had make your own pasta I got the Chicken Parm! We headed back to the hotel and tracked Trace and Maria's flight. Then headed to SeaTac to pick them up! The gangs back together! Loading the car with their bags! We all headed back to the hotel and called it a night. They were especially tired coming from the east coast. We were all going to a long day tomorrow. --

Mariners Win! Julio was the Player of the Game for the Mariners! Roots Sports crew - Angie and Dave A bunch of happy people heading back on the light rail!

Mariner's Centerfielder Julio Rodriguez led off for the Mariners. Here is a video of his at bat! Rodriguez coming up again in the 3rd Max's M had to get a picture at T-Mobile as well! I think she likes the pretzel. She did share. Julio up in the 6th with a runner on 1st! Throwing over to 1st This at bat was the second at-bat in the video above. Mariners were up 2-0 in the 7th! Pitching change Look closely at the above picture. See the right field foul pole (yellow pole)? Look just to the right, and you can see a guy dropping down onto the field. He got tackled and arrested.

Getting settled in our seats for the game. Susan's cuisine de jour - a Hot Dog I went with a Seattle classic! Ivar's fish and Chips! We also had to get the garlic fries! Maybe that's why no-one was sitting close to us... Mariners were playing the Oakland A's this day. Mariner Moose with some kids! Mariner Moose wanted to do some rock, Paper, Scissors with the A's players. No takers There were 9 kids who went out to the different positions. Each got a baseball signed by the Mariner at that position. This kid got Eugenio Suarez's autograph! 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray was on the mound this afternoon. warming up! Time to play Ball! First Pitch!

Once inside the Stadium, I found the Mariners Hall of Fame! National Baseball Hall of Famer - Ken Griffey Jr. National Baseball Hall of Famer - Randy Johnson Quick fact: Did you know Randy Johnson is an awesome photographer? Check out his website sometime, he has some great shots. https://rj51photos.com/ His logo is awesome too! Seattle Icon - Dan "the man" Wilson! National Baseball Hall of Famer - Edgar Martinez National Baseball Hall of Famer - Ford C Fick Award Winner - Dave Niehaus "Grandma get out the Rye Bread and Mustard, its Grand Salami Time!" Winningest Manager in Mariners History - Lou Piniella Alvin Davis - Mr. Mariner Jay "bad to the bone" Buhner Jamie Moyer - Only pitcher to pitch so slow it looked like the ball stopped in the air. He was our crafty lefty! Home Plate entrance to T-Mobile Park

Downtown Seattle after coming out of the Beacon Hill Tunnel and crossing over I5. Well the reason for coming downtown was to attend a Seattle Mariners game! This is an optical illusion painted on the overpass. Dave Neihaus, the late, great, Seattle Mariner Broadcaster and Seattle and National Baseball Hall of Famer would say this all the time! Lumen Field - Home of the Seattle Seahawks King Street Station - Originally built by the Great Northern Railroad it still serves Amtrak passengers on the Cascade route, the Coast Starlight, and the Great Northern namesake, The Empire Builder. There she is! T-Mobile Park (still Safeco Field in my heart), the home of the Seattle Mariners!