Where did we leave off… Jessie & Adrienne had hit Multnomah Falls, Hood River and Portland on Thurs/Friday~ then they were off to Mt. Saint Helens on Saturday! Next, the sisters cruise into Seattle for an ethnic eating adventure! Due to the kindness of Friends (Becca P!) we have a place to crash in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.

And Jessie is craving food that she can't get in the Vail Valley- so the first night we find a Vietnamese restaurant and feast on a huge bowl of Pho (soup) and spring rolls! Yum! We're off to a good start!

Sunday we make ourselves breakfast (and discover that the eggs left in the fridge were hard boiled. Oops!)

Then we head off for our tour of the Theo Chocolate factory! It was $7 and is HIGHLY recommended! They source their beans personally and then ship them to their factory- so they are a Bean-to-Bar facility! So cool to see the whole process PLUS we got to eat a LOT of chocolate. 🙂 My personal favorite was the Vanilla Cacao Nib and Jessie loved the Chai tea bar. None of it was bad. So we bought all of it.

We headed out the door and wandered into the Sunday market! It was a optical extravaganza of amazing booths! We spent oodles of time staring at the amazing ($15) flower arrangements grown on a local farm, checking out rocks & amber and chatting to a guy who was bending wire into animals as he spoke to us.

If we had an extra $70 we would have bought Jessie a wire picture entitled, “Mermaid Bubbles” that depicted an adorable, farting mermaid. Perfect. We picked through tables of Russian pins, embroidered name badges and vintage costume jewelry, then took a break for some garlic Naan. Yum. We could have stayed all day! It was one of the most interesting markets we'd ever seen but we eventually had to leave – and go see Ballard Locks!

The boats have been coming in and out of these locks since 1917- and people still stand there and watch it happen. If you walk past the locks you can go under the surface and watch the salmon on their migration through the ladder.

That night we found SHAWARMA KING! We had lamb shawarma with saffron rice, hummus and falafel. Heavenly! Plus the owner was cooking in an open kitchen and we looked over and he was experimenting with an olive calzone-ish appetizer and he gave it to us because he couldn't eat until sundown!

Monday Jessie + I drove up to Anacortes to go on a whale watching trip… the Sipkovsky family has a bad luck with whale watching. And that streak continues! We had perfect weather and a lovely crew but we just couldn't find a whale anywhere! Not even in Canadian waters! 😦 I hope you enjoyed these nice pictures of water. Because water is what we saw.

There were 3 tourist-filled Duck Boats (buses that drive into water) tooling around, being sprayed by water cannon on the front of a police boat full of kids in ponchos. Then they had to open the drawbridge to let a giant scientific vessel through…I think it was name Melvin. It was definitely a nerdy name that started with an M, anyway. Lastly, there were SEA PLANES taking off & landing against the backdrop of the Seattle skyline! All of this action wouldn't distract Jessie from her houseboats! She loves them & as she was checking out other people's plants, she was divising ways to keep people from looking in the windows of Her future houseboat.

After nap time, it was dinner time! Off to eat @ an El Salvadorean restaurant- Tiko Riko! Super yummy tamales, pupusas & plantain fries! Plus there were 3 sauces! “Oooh sauces”, says Jessie. We head home to watch 'Wanderlust' and snuggle with the Saber-tooth kitty-cat. Ferocious!!!

Wednesday Jessie has to fly home 😦

We wash the sheets & clean up like good little house guests and then head out to Shawarma King to grab Jessie some airport lunch. So good! Those things that Jessie says look like fried intestines with chocolate drizzles are spectacularly sweet walnut baklava! Yuuum. I give Jessie a big hug & head off for my next adventure, Orcas Island! Love you, Sista!