Pew, Pew, Pew! I do what I want.

Here I am! Less than 2 weeks later. WAT IS THIS. I'm working dilligently on exploring, experiencing and crossing shit off of the PNW TO DO list. I start off a good portion of my days right now feeling like Bilbo Baggins. Here are my adventures from the past week and a half. Brace yourself, pictures are coming.

A big part of my to do list involves outside activites, like some of the more interesting Seattle City Parks. Did you know that there are over 400? I originally thought what about going to them all? That was until I read how many there were and I was like eeeffff that noise! So, I narrowed it down to a mere 12. I've already been to quite a few, but last week was my first time at Carkeek Park. I was highly impressed!



Super nice sunset over the Olympics. There was a guy praying at the top of the trail, and I stopped and listened for awhile. Then we had a heart to heart. I don't know his name, but it was a good talk.









This tree was so big I could climb all around inside of it's stump. Neat-o! 



Taking a break from forests and nature, concerts and live music are always on my to do list. Unlike when I went to Imagine Dragons, the two concerts I went to last week I did not have a seat for. Therefore, I put away my phone and just dug in, standing in the always-too-tall crowd, knowing full well that someone else would have taken better pictures than I ever could that would be quite representative of the joy and excitement I experienced during each show. I love being a know-it-all, because the pictures are pretty brilliant.    



Young the Giant





My delicious Indian Minstrel.



Dan from Bastille, rocking a grey hoodie...

And a nearly perfect Flock of Seagulls.

He disappeared from the stage and ended up in the crowd walking around signing. Luckily Zach pointed it out and I seemed to notice before too many folks in our area, because I squeed my way right up next to him. Twice! Thanks, internet stranger, for capturing a smidge of my face in this picture. Can you see me??

Then, some more nature. I went to Kubota Gardens, which is one of the public parks in South Seattle. It is a super nice Japanese garden. I went on a Friday night and had the place pretty much to myself.



Magnolia trees are some of my favorites in the PNW!



This is François the Blue Heron. A fancy bird with a fancy name!



François en flight



François, a still life.

Gahhh so pretttty!

Then came the weekend. Before I get to some of the bigger weekend trips, I'm going to do some of the smaller stuff on my list. Pinball Museum time! It's a combo museum/arcade, where you pay a certain price and you can get in and play any of the pinball machines (and a variety of other older arcade games, like Tetris and Asteroids). Steve and I went on Saturday and it was pretty rad.

 

WakkaWakka

Hey! That's me!!

This one goes out to Justin.

Oldest working machine in the place.

And now for a series of pictures entitled "I'm way better at taking pictures of Steve than he is at taking pictures of me"





Boobies!

  



You can't beat me at asteroids. Wait wat are you doing?



"I can't play and look at you at the same time." "Well, just do it, you look lame if I take a picture and you're not playing."

"Hey! Take a picture of me owning at Tetris" "You own nothing and this is the worst. Click"

-_-

Overall I'd love to go back and just sit and play Asteroids and Tetris all day. I probably will go back again before I leave.
The last activity I decided I would cram into this manic must-do-new-things-fest it was a good time of year to go up to the Tulip festival. I had heard about this, and then Lori posted some sort of "Best of America" list and this spot made cut. And who else to bring along on hours of sitting in a car stuck in traffic than Miss Mo!  It was delightful despite the traffic. All the mountains were out and we got some sweet shots!

The two prettiest tulips in the fields!

Mt Baker was a lovely backdrop

And the fields were so very vibrant!

Now for the winner of this month's Super Random Award: this old school bus overflowing with rubber bands.

The runners up for the SRA include this mini donkey farm. I want one!

And these Ice Cream Cones that didn't know the meaning of modesty.

That's it for the past two weeks. I imagine my exploits will wind down slightly, seeing as many of my ideas involve long weekends and vacations days, which happen to be in short supply during the healthcare summer. Love you all in the deep places of your soul.