12-14-08 Sunday (Ice Capades)

This morning we awoke to snow on the ground. Before bed last night, it wasn't sticking to the ground. There is a sheet of ice under the snow making it more treacherous. The patio chairs are frozen to the ground. After watching the news, we've decided to carefully drive to our 10am Boeing tour. I think the scariest about the trip will be the road out of here. Remember, we're up at the top of the hill here and have to be careful not to slide into someone's RV. That would be bad.

Jim took a test drive around the campground. It didn't go so well. Traction on the ice using 4X4 wasn't the issue; it was the braking - or lack thereof. The tires just slid as if they were in some graceful Ice Capades show. With the icy roads within the campground combined with the hilly neighborhood we'd have to drive through, it would probably be a bad situation all around. Besides, once we were ready, the GPS said we'd arrive at 10:04 to our 10am appointment. Of course, that time estimate doesn't account for the road conditions. We probably could have changed it to an 11am but again, too risky.

I did 3 loads of laundry today, and I might as well finish off even small loads today. Jim is reading our blog as I'm typing this one. Of course, he's found a few spelling errors. "Stare" for "starve", that sort of thing. I've corrected the one's he's pointed out so far. Now you'll have to go back and reread the entire blog. Go on, I'll wait.

Welcome back. What? You didn't reread everything? OK.

The mobile RV repair guy is here. He tightened up the A/C up on the roof and said it also needs to be serviced (cleaning/new gaskets) once we're in warmer climates. He also adjusted the slide and now it seems to come in and out correctly.

We spoke with a neighbor who said getting out of the park and neighborhood was fairly tricky but roads are clear. It was noon and we decided we could catch a 1pm 2 hour lake cruise in Seattle. We rushed out of the house and made it with 15 minutes to spare. This lake cruise was from the same company that provided the 1 hour tour the other day. Our ship cruised from Lake Union to Lake Washington. The highlight of the cruise for me was seeing the floating homes. Years ago having a floating home was a cheap way to have a house in downtown Seattle. These are different from house boats. Floating homes (as seen in Sleepless In Seattle) aren't designed to move under their own power and look like a regular house. Decades ago, to reduce pollution in the harbor, the city put forward restrictions on floating homes and even had many removed. What was once 2,000 or more became approximately 500. Eventually the homes became popular and heavily sought after which of course raised the value. They now run about $500,000 and up. Click here to see a floating homes association with a link to it's history. Wow, the sights/view these homes have! We also floated past Bill Gate's fulltime residence. A photo is included in the slide show.

A little rant about the boat. There were only 11 of us. A man, woman and child took up the front of the boat where 2 tables surrounded by windows sat. They sprawled out at the 2 tables which I thought was rude. Sure, the boat can hold like 200 so there was plenty of room, but did they have to take up the entire best section? I wouldn't have sat next to them anyways with a toddler close at hand so I guess I'll shut up and tell you of other observations. Heat. Where was it? It was just as the first tour. Cold. 6 Asians went in and out of the doors constantly so perhaps that's why the heat sucked. I wondered if they spoke English since the entire time the tour guide spoke, they were chatting and not listening. Perhaps they didn't understand? A toddler out of their group tripped and fell at a doorway. Many boats have raised doorway saddles to prevent water from entering the inside. I had to love the bartender who told the toddler to watch their step. The toddler doesn't speak AND it's a little late to warn someone afterwards. Sure, lets let the kid touch a boiling pot and then tell him, "no, it's hot" after the scaulding. No, I'm not done. We didn't get to eat before we left since we made that mad dash out I spoke of. I went up to the bar and got coffee for me and some candy to snack on for us. He serves me the coffee, I ask for cream, he doesn't have any. Well, then I don't want it. I mean, duh! Maybe, like the last cruise bartender who asked, "cream and sugar?" would have been nice. I had hot chocolate. Last rant - they make an announcement about the bar featuring hot drinks, snacks and sandwiches. We go back to the bar (right behind us) and ask what type of sandwiches. "Oh, we don't have any." My joke of the day with Jim was sandwich related. After the cruise, we went to Subway.

Twice this week we had heard about the gorgeous view from Kerry park. Here you can see the Space Needle aligned with the city skyline along with the lake in the foreground. We ventured here and it was an awesome view.

As I was working on the video, the power in the park shut down. We spent an hour without and used our laptops until the batteries finally died. I had to resort to reading! It was terrible.