Anya in Minneapolis this weekend

Just an FYI...Anya will be in Minneapolis this weekend. We're going to be pretty busy with packing stuff & preparing to move, but if you're around give us a call.

Weekend in Seattle

I just got back from spending the weekend with Anya in Seattle. We saw some really cool stuff, and it's definately worth checking out the pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/sets/72157600081212311/

There are admittedly a lot of pictures, but there's basically 3 different places pictured:

The bulk of the pictures (starting at the beginning) are from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. The Skagit Valley is a super-fertile valley about 60 miles north of Seattle on I-5. They grow a ton of flowers (primarily tulips & daffodils) there, and have a big celebration every spring. I'm not usually a big flower person, but this was a really interesting place to spend a few hours. The pictures, however impressive, don't really do it justice. The effect of having tens of thousands of bright flowers carpeting a field is unlike anything I've seen before. On a clear day we would have seen some really cool views of the Cascades and Mt. Baker (one of the volcanoes and also the snowiest place on Earth), but even this time of the year they're usually shrouded in clouds.

After the many pics of the tulip festival are some additional pics of the Japanese Garden in Seattle. As the pictures show, it is also a very beautiful place that we will happily take any visitors. Unlike the tulips, though, I'm pretty sure it will stay impressive year-round. It's perhaps 10 minutes from downtown Seattle but feels like you're out in the country. Those goldfish are about a foot long.

The last few pics are of Snoqualmie Falls, a very impressive 300-foot waterfall about 30 minutes' drive east of Seattle on I-90 (and only maybe 10 minutes from Issaquah, were Anya works) at the edge of the Cascade Mountains. If they get heavy rain or snow, there can be water flowing across the entire ridge.

-Erik

Pike Market, Belltown,...

I spent most of the day on Saturday walking by Pike Market (famous for fish), Belltown and Downtown. Pike Market is a fun place, there are many little shops and cafes. I was expecting a very big area with fish but the area with flowers was bigger. I didn't see such a variety of tulips before - very pretty! I wanted to buy a bouquet but since I was going to walk for another couple of hours I thought that my bouquet wouldn't survive. Although, I bought some bread and roasted hazel nuts. I also walked down to the bay area were I was greeted by local homeless people. The views of the bay area were very nice but I wouldn't recommend it as a romantic spot.

Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/450124968/in/set-72157600041671394/

Japanese Garden

I had a nice trip to Japanese garden. It is beautiful; everything is blooming. If you come to visit us in May it might still be in bloom.
Japanese Garden pictures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/sets/72157600056977741/

Walk on the Mercer Island

I (Anya) went for a walk from my apartment to the downtown Mercer Island; it took me about 20 minutes one-way. There were a lot of people biking. Just as in Minnesota, many bikers, for some reason, like to bike on the road rather than on a bike path... I was talking to Erik on the phone most of the way, he, probably wanted to make sure that I didn't get lost. The weather was great today, sunny and blue sky! Always rainy Seattle???
There are some new pictures taken during my walk
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/

We found an apartment

After an exhaustive apartment search all day Saturday, we found a really great apartment to live in. It's a very nice, new, never-been-lived-in condo within walking distance to most of the cool stuff in Downtown Seattle (restaurants & bars, the fish market, shopping, and cultural things like the art museum and symphony hall, etc.). It's on the 9th floor and has fantastic views of downtown; from the balcony you can also see the Space Needle and (on a clear day) the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. It's only a 1-bedroom, but the living room is spacious so we're going to arrange something so guests can sleep there.

Of course you're all invited to visit us anytime after we get settled, and now we'll have a nice place for you to stay.

New Pictures

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79366206@N00/
Seattle, Parties before going to Seattle, Skiing in Colorado, and etc.

Weekend in Seattle & Mercer Island

We arrived to Seattle this Friday night and drove to Mercer Island to find our temporary housing. We thought it would be very easy to find the apartment building. Well... there are, probably, about hundred buildings that look the same as our building, so we drove in the dark for a while.
Mercer Island is very green and a lot of trees are blooming. There are many pretty houses facing the lake, I would definitely not mind to live in one of them. Another nice thing at Mercer Island is the air; it smells very nice - fresh pine tree smell.
I made a little trip today to Issaquah (my office is there) to buy some groceries at QFC and stop by at Target. Surprisingly, the whole Washington state decided to go to Target, I have never seen it so busy in Minnesota. While my little trip, the weather was changing from rain to sunny. Yes, there is sun here! The most outstanding fact about my little trip is that even being "directionally challenged" (as Erik says) I didn't get lost. I am thinking to explore something tomorrow too.
Well, I am ready to sleep now since I didn't adjust to new time zone yet. Erik will tell you more about our apartment search.