NW VSCyberstitchers Weekend - Friday

Friday morning I added fuel to the tank of my Expedition and set out on the interstate towards Seattle. What a beautiful sunny day here in E. Washington with huge puffy clouds chasing the light on the fruit trees and vineyards. As I approached the Cascade Mountains the clouds were piled up and darker, making a beautiful contrast between sun and shadow on the mountain peaks. As I approached Issaquah, I felt the need for a break and I knew the perfect spot - Threadneedle Street! I'd never had the opportunity to take a peek inside. My, oh my! I don't think I've ever seen a larger selection of threads, and lots of Shepherds Bush designs, and a nice selection of embroidery books.

On down the interstate towards Bellevue and the motel my DH found online. Found my exit and headed up the street admiring all the new hotels and office buildings when I spied this ancient motel that was definitely looking the worse for wear! Yes, this was indeed the Bellevue Lodge where we were to stay, lol! I went inside to check in and found the desk people to be very nice and helpful. Went down to my room and found it to be quite clean, but too dark. So I traipsed back to the office to request another lamp and a light bulb replacement. Pulled out my laptop and checked the internet connection and found it right away and retrieved my email and chatted with DH in Japan for a bit. It was so incongruent to be in this old-style motel surfing the web, lol!


Then I decided to head for downtown Seattle before the traffic got really thick and parked in the structure just a block away from the Victoria Clipper. Sauntering on down the waterfront, I finally decided to grab some fish and chips and watch the seagulls and ferries for awhile. Walked up the steep stairway next to visit Pike Place Market. I found an art gallery with bright and funky art on the back wall that drew me inside. Turned out to be paper collages of older style neighborhoods a la Queen Anne Hill. But most interesting was a wire mesh "sculpture" on the wall nearby. At first I wondered what in the world this thing was, then I really looked through it to see the shadows creating the nude backside of a male. Somehow the muscles were defined, beautifully proportioned - it was awesome - fascinating! More walking and gazing at the beautiful sunset behind the Olympic Mountains across the Sound. Finally I tired of all the walking and headed for the Clipper pier to wait for Thea to arrive.


The boat was right on time and soon I spied Thea through the window. I caught her attention with my Thea sign just before she entered the building so she would be reassured that her ride had indeed arrived. After a bit of a wait, she came through customs with her luggage and we were on our way. This was our very first meeting, but we were so quickly at ease with one another. It didn't take long to drive back to Bellevue, check Thea into her room, and found Connie had arrived only ten minutes earlier! We had a good visit in the room, then Thea mentioned that she'd like to go buy a little fruit. Just a block away was a huge organic grocery store, so we went over there for some supplies. I had never been in an organic store before, but this particular one was spectacular! The presentation of all the products was flawless, the lighting was more like Pottery Barn than Safeway, and the selection was vast. Thea purchased her fruit and peanut butter, Connie and I found some bottled water, freshly roasted coffee beans and half and half - in glass! They even had milk in glass containers! Boy did that take us back! We also found some puffed cheese popcorn - yum! Thea is an early riser, so she was soon settled in her room for the evening. Connie and I were up for quite a long time after catching up with each other and our families.