Sunday, August 4, 2013, Space Needle, Pacific Science Museum, Butterfly House,EMP Museum (Experience Music Project), Seattle, WA

We decided to get an early start to maximize our sightseeing in Seattle, WA. The Space Needle was the only thing to open before 10:00, so we started there. We walked right to the elevators and up - no waiting this early in the morning!

Saw this on the way up.  We walked around this little building never noticing the painted ground.

A running track and a tennis court atop the parking garage - I love it!

500+ feet above the EMP Museum.

These stunning 3D paintings of harvestman arachnids - which are not technically spiders - are the creation of artist Marlin Peterson.

This caught our attention right away. The top floor of this parking structure was covered with gardens. 

I was very curious, so I googled to find out that it is a community garden atop a public parking garage and the Airstream is used as their tool shed.

At 10:00 we were second in line to get into the Pacific Science Museum (part of our City Pass).  

David made me do it.

We saw the IMAX movie about the Monarch Butterfly. Their life has to be one of the strangest on the planet. How can it take three generations to complete one migration cycle? Don't even get me started on metamorphosis - just plain weird.

Not fond of 3-D (hate the glasses) but the movie, "Flight of the Butterflies", was fantastic.

Of course, the next stop had to be the butterfly house. They had quite a variety and you needed to watch your step - they sometimes rested on the sidewalks.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female) Papilio glaucus

Owl Butterfly Caligo memnon

Scarlet Swallowtail (male) Papilio rumanzovia

Scarlet Swallowtail (female) papilio rumanzovia

Gray Cracker Hamadryas Februa

This was one thing I don't remember ever hearing about. We had some fun playing with this exhibit.

Maybe we have been in too many science museums lately, but these made me laugh!

A globe like this is now on David's Christmas wish list!

We spent more time in the Pacific Science Center than planned, so we walked across the street for a quick bite at McDonald's and then on to the EMP Museum (Experience Music Project). Music, Pop Culture - we were not sure what to expect but thought it would be quick. Wrong! It was unlike any place we had been before.  

Fantasy Exhibit was first.

The Princess Bride is one of our favorite movies, so it was a treat to see the original costumes worn by the actors, including the six-fingered glove, on display. It was nearly "Inconceivable!"

The next wing was my favorite (we went through it twice), Icons of Science Fiction.

How many can you identify?

Robby the Robot - Classic - from "Forbidden Planet"

We took turns entering hyperspace.

This was billed as being from the actual set for the Original Star Trek series - Captain Kirk's backside sat in this very chair!

 

Lt. Uhura's Uniform

Lt. Cmdr. Data's Uniform

Next, we saw collectibles from the movie and series "Stargate" - more of my favorites.

 Any "Stargate" fans out there?  We watched it for 10 years!

Computer animation digitally added to your shadow in real time,

as you step in front of the screen and then move around.

David had a ball.  Video upon request.

Watching an "OKGO" music video in sky church.
If you have no clue of which I speak, then you need to watch some of their many fantastic videos on youtube.
This too shall pass - Rube Goldburg is my favorite, but they have many more.

Would you like some eggs with that ham?

Favorite "Princess Bride" t-shirts

David had a tussle with an R.O.U.S. in the gift shop.

David clearly won (without the help of a flame spurt)!
Again, if you have no clue of which I speak, then you need to watch the best movie ever - "Princess Bride".

The building's architecture was just as unusual inside as it was out.

A 140,000 square foot Frank O. Gehry designed building that houses multiple innovative galleries and Sky Church, which houses a Barco C7 black package LED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world.  (Wikipedia)

We had been on our feet all day and were tired, so we went home before dark for a change.

Saturday, August 3, 2013, Woodland Park Zoo, Cruse, Space Needle, Seattle, WA

Our Seattle, WA, City Passes covered a lot of territory, so we decided we would start at the north end of the city with Woodland Park Zoo. We were lucky to find a parking space because the zoo was very crowded. I guess I should have expected that on such a beautiful summer Saturday!

Generally, they seemed to have just two of each animal but they did have quite a variety. We couldn't include all of them in the blog, but here is a sampling. 

Zebras were first - they had a big place - Maybe the zookeeper had favorites?

In one of the many aviaries, we saw some Weavers. The males split long leaves and actually weave nests. The females inspect their work and if they find it to their liking they move in, feather the nest, lay eggs and raise babies. If no female finds the nest acceptable, the male tries again until he gets it right.

Outside of TV, I don't think we have ever seen a Komodo Dragon this big. We saw alligators in Florida that weren't this big. I would estimate he was 10 feet long and weighed at least 200 pounds. 

 He is not green.  There is a green light shining on him.

 Apparently, he can read and he did not like what it said.

Joani was fascinated by these bats. I figured they were so ugly they were cute, but ultimately, Joani decided there was just nothing cute about them.

Indian Flying Fox is also known as the Greater Indian fruit bat (about 12 inches long when all folded up).

His wingspan is over 3 ft, but he never opened more than one wing for us.
I think he stuck his tongue out at me.

I do prefer the pair below!

 Cockatiel

The bears appeared to be a bit neurotic or maybe just bored. They paced back and forth along the rocks in their habitat. Occasionally, they would mix it up a little and pace back and forth to the water.

Since we had just been to the Grand Tetons, we knew elk shed their antlers every year but this display showed us just how quickly they grow back - I had thought it was a much slower process.

A few of the animals we didn't include here (and we certainly don't have anything against them) were the giraffes, hippos, gazelles, lions, jaguars, snow leopards, snakes, penguins, wolves, warthogs, tapirs, flamingos, eagles, owls, red pandas, sloth bears, monkeys, gorillas, anything in the insect house and we did skip the farm animals altogether, since we were pressed for time. I'm sure there were more, but I am moving on.

After the park, we drove to the docks for a cruise. It was even more crowded than the area around the zoo! We circled for at least 30 minutes trying to find a parking spot. I think we had perfect weather for the cruise - mostly sunny and about 70 degrees. The cruise narrator pointed out a lot of interesting Seattle landmarks (like Pike Street Market and the first Starbucks) and gave us a lot of Seattle history.  

 Seattle from our Argosy Cruise on Elliott Bay and Seattle Harbor.

We thought we would take in the Seattle Aquarium after the cruise but it closed at 5:00, so we went back to City Center to watch a sunset from the Space Needle. The actual sunset was not too exciting, but the view of Seattle after dark was very nice.

 We could see into the Chihuly Garden from the Space Needle climb.

 The sun was setting and casting a shadow of the Needle on a skyscraper.

Seattle at night.

After being gone all day, Sam was happy to see us get back. We spent some quality time playing with him and gave him a few extra snacks before turning in.

Friday, August 2, 2013, Moving to Saltwater State Park in Des Moines, WA and Exploring Seattle, WA

Got up a little earlier than usual (about 6:00), so we went ahead and prepped for departure. We had a long one today to Saltwater State Park in Des Moines, WA, between Seattle and Tacoma - 267.5 miles (3,649.8 trip/63,130.9 total). We got in early enough to drive to the Seattle City Center for a look. City Center included the Space Needle, Chihuly Museum and Gardens, the Pacific Science Center, the EMP Museum (Experience Music Project) and a lot of nice gardens and outdoor sculpture.

Looking through the sculpture you can see the EMP Museum.

The Space Needle is very cool, especially considering it was built more than 50 years ago! We learned it was constructed so that it could be disassembled after the World's Fair in 1962. Of course, it would have taken a pretty big set of wrenches. It's a good thing they changed their mind.

The EMP building was a work of art in itself. The panels had different finishes giving the building some beautiful coloring but the flowing freeform walls were the defining feature.

This building (EMP Museum) is fascinating!  I can't wait to see the inside in the next few days.

David caught the monorail just as it popped out of the EMP building.

I've never seen such fluid architecture.

To be honest, I'm not sure if this is upside down or right side up!

Right next to the Space Needle is the Chihuly Museum and Garden. You could see some of the glass through and over the bushes. It was pretty and it was unusual, but not something either of us would really like to have in our yard. We will probably save this for another visit - with the City Pass we will be pressed for time!

The Pacific Science Center is on our agenda.

Space Needle is a must, twice (day visit and night).

Giant sculpture outside the Pacific Science Center.

Stumbled onto the tail end of a concert on the lawn behind the Chihuly Museum.

This Chihuly exhibit needed something for scale. The yellow glass sculpture is outside in an enclosed garden, but it is so big it sticks up above the hedge (I would estimate it is about 15-18 feet in diameter.) The sculpture behind it is in an all-glass building, so it is very visible at night.

It is Seattle.  It rained.

We read that in Seattle they don't get a lot of rain - they just get a little bit of rain a lot of the time. After the high desert, where we didn't even have humidity, it was a welcome change!