Wild Fire in the North State, and The Beginning of Our Cruise Vacation.

Well ~ Hi there.

We've been back from vacation 

for a week now. 

I'm slowly getting back to normal.

Came home with a cold...rats.

We have wildfires surrounding us

up in the hills nearby... not too close 

to us though.

This is the little town of Burney,

about 50 miles from us. 

This fire was just 4 miles 

away from Burney which was threatened 

with fires from two different directions

at the same time.  They were waiting 

for the confirmation to go ahead 

and evacuate if it had come to that.

Last nights rains and today's cooler

weather have helped with the fires.

Other areas with evacuation orders are

now free to go back as of just a few

minutes ago.

The first three photos about the fires

are from the Billy and Patrick page

on Facebook. 

They're our local country radio morning DJ's, 

 and they, along with their co~workers at Q~97

keep us informed about fires in a more

timely fashion than the local TV channel.  

Anyway,

we did go on our cruise...

and it was fabulous!!!!

You may get tired of all the cruise photos

I plan to post, but hey... 

If that's going to bore you,

or if you get tired of it,  please ~

please skip the next few weeks of my blog.

OK,

you have been warned.

Now for the trip.

We haven't been in Washington state

since January 5, 1990.  Holy Cow! 

  

We lived in Brier Washington for 

a year and a half during our Navy life.

Seems so long ago.

I really liked it up there,

but Rick was gone for most of that time.

View from the top of the Renaissance Hotel.

Our first stop in Seattle didn't happen to be

the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle where

we stayed pre cruise.

We headed directly to the Honda dealer

to find out why the flat tire light wouldn't go

out after the tires had been checked.

The tires were rotated 

along with an oil change

just before we left home.

While driving in Washington state,

 the low tire warning light came on...

Oh no.

We didn't want to park the car

for a week and come back to a flat tire

so we just had to get it checked out.

Anyway, no problems,

they showed us how to reset the button

and we were on our way to our hotel.  

After checking in,

we took a taxi down hill to the waterfront.

Rick had had enough 

of Seattle's traffic already.

Look, a rare mostly clear day to view 

Mt. Ranier.

You know I like boat names.

This one's the 'Happy Camper' 

moored in Seattle's Bell Harbor Marina.

Next door is Anthony's Fish Bar,

with walk up service,

and alfresco dining on the pier.

The fish taco's were delicious.

Along  the waterfront, 

a man played the piano

with the Seattle Ferry in the background.

The ferris wheel on the waterfront

was merrily going round and round.

It was way too warm and humid...

so we soon headed back to the hotel

for the night.

First thing Saturday July the 19th,

we're up as soon as possible to head 

upstairs to take in the views from the top

publicly accessible floor of the Renaissance

to get Seattle photos.

There were cranes and new construction

going on every where you looked.

From the R View  bar/dinner restaurant

at the top of the building you could

see far and near,

like right into peoples homes in the 

highrise next door.

Looks like someone was either packing

or unpacking for a trip.

Most people had their blinds pulled.

But not all.

We didn't see people inside.

 I wouldn't have taken photos

  if they had been present.

But it was interesting to see their 

front rooms.

 I was mostly excited to get our first

look at this...

The Golden Princess, 

our adventure for the coming week.