September 11th -

We left the hotel in Seattle, Washington and had breakfast at the Pancake Chef. Wonderful food in an established (read "older") restaurant. I overheard two men in the behind us talking about retirement things, which sounded a lot like my retirement plan. I turned around and it was a Port of Seattle policeman and his friend. They were having breakfast before heading to the 9/11 events downtown. We talked with them for quite a while. Had our picture taken with the officer. And he said we picked the best place in Seattle for breakfast...

Then we headed for Pike Place Market and the Space Needle to do some sightseeing. We spent a couple of hours at the Market, and did some wine tasting there. I like the Oregon wines, they seem much hardier than the Ohio wines. I bought a bottle for my brother and his wife.

Diane couldn't believe how big the flowers were at the market and how inexpensive the arrangements were; $10-$15 for huge bouquets. Had some super delicious Mac n Cheese on the street. We decided not to go up in the Space Needle as it was getting a little hazy; I had already been up in it anyway.

Then, off on the road to Portland, Oregon on a stunningly gorgeous day!

On the way out of Seattle we stopped at Touratech HQ to say hello to the guys I ordered my BMW motorcycle parts from, and they gave us some "swag"... key chains, coffee cups, and a Touratech banner.

Arrived in Portland in the last afternoon under beautiful skies. My brother picked us up at the hotel and we went to dinner at a very small, very good seafood restaurant. Then, back to the hotel to turn-in since we are getting up early tomorrow (0545 hours) to get on the road to Yachats, Oregon to meet my cousin Karen for brunch. Haven't seen her in 40 years!

Nice drive, especially the parts by the ocean!