Mike's space

Today I took a ride up to the Stuart, FL airport to look into picking up flight lessons again. I actually used to work for a repair station/flight school at the airport in 2001, back when I was first getting into recreational flight. I went back to the same place today and it hasn't changed at all. It was kind of weird to take that step 5 years into the past, back when I was about to start senior year of high school.

I'm excited to get back flying again. I used the fly the smaller C-150 aircraft...but now I'll be flying the newer Cessna 172 SkyHawk SP. Check out the pic below. First flight is this Saturday.

After our trip to the Space Needle, I went with the family to a place called Snoqualmie Falls Park. It's a hiking trail along a narrow waterfall thats 100 feet higher than Niagra. We took some cool pictures from the top and then decided to hike down to the bottom to check it out. The hike down was a piece of cake...coming back up, however, was not so easy...especially since I was pushing my 25lb nephew in his Jeep stroller back up the trail. After reaching the top and leaving the park, we drove along an old railroad town up here in the valleys of the Cascades. We actually saw some wild Elk grazing in an open field. Check out the pictures below. For someone thats used to the city or the beach, this was definitely a whole new experience.

The view from the top

At the bottom

You can barely see the Elk in the distance

On my fourth day of the vacation, my brother and I went down to check out the Space Needle. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the landmark, it is a roughly 600 foot tower in the northern part of Seattle's downtown area. Originally build in 1962 for the World's Fair, it is a celebrated icon for the city and makes the Seattle skyline unmistakable. The 360 degree view from the top is unbelievable...it may even be cooler than the view from the Empire State Building.

Oh yeah, another cool thing about the needle...there's a Starbucks at the top of it. Just one more reason for a coffee addict like me to love it here.

On Labor Day we decided to head down to Mount Rainier National Park...it was an amazing experience, especially for me since I have never seen a mountain range let alone an active volcano. From the city of Seattle, Rainier sits rougly 100 miles south. It is actually somewhat difficult to make out from Seattle but on a clear day it sits on the horizon with a presence that is hard to mistake.

Rainier's highest peak is at about 14,200 feet, and I believe it is actually one of the highest peaks in North America...Mt. McKinley in Alaska holding the first place award for altitude. The mountain itself, once you get close to it, is absolultely gorgeous. We drove into the park in my brother's SUV and came down roads that sat at the edge of cliffs looking down at hundred foot, and in some place thousand foot drops (with no guardrails). It was somewhat nerve racking at times but at the same time really exciting. It's very wild to have your ears pop on a road instead of in an airplane.

At any rate, we finally reached a high point of about 5,400 feet or so where we parked and took pictures of the mountain. We saw some amazing cliffs, lakes and glaciers. Definitely cool.

On my first day in Seattle, my family and I headed in to downtown Seattle to check out some sights. I was looking forward to seeing the skyline, the space needle, Pike's Place market, and of course finding a good cup of coffee. It's funny...the locals here want you to go home and tell your friends about your trip: "it rained the entire time, the people are rude, and i couldn't get a decent cup of coffee!"

The truth is, at least for my trip, the weather was perfect...75 during the day and 65 at night, the people were all extremely friendly (everyone here seems to have a sense of humor), and of course...at any given place at any given moment you can get the best cup of coffee you've ever had...and coming from a real fiend like me, that's saying a lot.

While I'm on the coffee kick, I should mention that while Starbucks is prevalent out here, there are several other companies that offer great coffee. There's a company called Tully's which is fantastic, and another called Seattle's Best. The interesting part about Seattle is that coffee is a real staple to the local diet. I was on a few backroads yesterday and saw espresso stands in the middle of nowhere. And I don't mean like nice little stores to stop into for a quick jolt...I'm talking about shacks on dirt roads. It's different but I think it's awesome.      The Original Starbucks

But back to the cool elements of Seattle other than the great cafe, the city itself is gorgeous. It's called the emerald city, and the name makes perfect sense once you see how it is surrounded by the green and often snowpeaked cascade mountains. Rainier is on the horizon and adds a very cool presence to the city. What's interesting is that there are 13 active volcanoes in the cascade range, that's right...active.

Getting back to the city itself, I went down to Pike's Place market and went to the original starbucks store. This one is a little different in that all the original logos and signs are still posted, and they're not very much like the starbucks logo you see today. Also, the baristas stand on opposite sides of the store...one will take your order and write your name on a cup and then throw it across the store to another barista that makes your drink. Pretty cool. After that we walked around the downtown area, I saw the port of Seattle where the cruise ships dock, Qwest field, and of course the Market.      The Market

At one point I did the touristy thing and went to buy a few postcards. The vendor told me "that'll be 75 cents." I said to him, "you mind if I give you a twenty?" He responded, "not a problem at all...do you mind if I only give you 5 dollars in change back?" Gotta love the sense of humor people have out here.