Seattle Mini-break

I'm trying to remember the last time I had two days off work and didn't have plans......mmm, a while ago. Well, I had Monday AND Tuesday off this week and darn it, if we weren't going to make the best of them.

What was the plan you ask? Visiting my cousins in Seattle and then skiing fo' free at Crystal Mountain. Not too shabby for Gayle.

We stayed with my cousins Beth and David and their two kids Lauren and Scott. Possibly the nicest, cutest family that ever did walk the earth. On a recommendation from a co-worker, we headed downtown to the Seattle Public Library. (We wanted to go to the art museum, but it was closed on Mondays. So is the Portland Art Museum. Is there something I don't know about?) Anyway, the library is way cool. Here is B taking a picture of me while we pass through the hallway to the meeting rooms. It was the shiniest red on the face of the earth.This is B walking uphill past the 510s, Mathematics.The stacks are in the middle of the building and built on a spiral. You can walk around in a circle up four floors around a central lime green escalator.

Here is looking down to the third floor main lobby, called the Living Room, from the tenth floor.What is so fascinating about the building is that you can tell the designers took great care to design from every angle. So if you looked down, across, up or over any part of it, all the colors and elements fit together.

Monday night was spent at my other cousin's house-- Diane and Will. They have three girls, Emily, Annika and Elizabeth. Quite possibly the other nicest, cutest family that ever did walk the earth. Diane, Beth and I had a great time swapping stories and laughing about our family. Beth and Diane are quite a bit older than me so I hadn't heard most of the good stuff they were spilling. It was really fun to remember "way back in the day, when your dad didn't have gray hair" with them.

Tuesday was skiing at Crystal Mountain on the east side of Mt. Rainier. Let's just say the theme of the day was "Pow. Der." It started snowing about an hour after we got there and didn't quit. Here's a shot of me plowing my way through............and then taking a wee bit of a spill. It was definitely the deepest, softest, fluffiest snow on the face of the earth.We came back last night, exhausted, but also refreshed. Sometimes, I get homesick living so far from my parents. But, seeing my cousins made even Seattle feel like Nebraska if only for a weekend.