What to do when it's raining?

First let me tell you what my daughter and I did today before it rained, we went for a hike. Now, the ground was still soaked from the last rain, last night's rain, but even though it was cloudy, it wasn't specifically raining. While we were gone her husband hid some chocolate eggs in their house for her to find. He hid them in her house because the ground was too wet outside even without the threat of rain, which looks to be even more so threatening now.

Two days ago, we went to tour Washington's State Capitol building. The docent leading the tour was not only full of knowledge, which he shared continuously, but also had some humor. He made sure that he pointed out the floral motif of the Representatives' carpet, Trillium, Washington's State Flower, a ground flower suitable for the lower house.

After the tour we went directly over to the bronze bust of George Washington, where some nice soul took our picture. We also made sure we rubbed his nose for good fortune. It was the only polished portion of the bust. With the amount of buffing it was receiving, you'd think there would be a lot more fortunes out there.

Later my daughter's husband and I went out to "dine" at Basilico Italiano Ristorante. My daughter would have joined us but she was already at work, there. The food was very good, if pricy, and in sufficient quantities that we had to pack some of the entree home in order to have room for dessert. At least we were able to feed three for the price of, well there, two.

Yesterday we got up early to hit Olympia's Farmers Market. Early didn't help us because none of the booths could start selling until the bell was rung, at 10:00 AM. Thankfully, the "restaurants," separated from the "market's" covered pavilion could sell before the market bell. They unfortunately were mostly windows in the side of buildings with limited covered dining areas, which we didn't take advantage of anyway as the cold metal picnic tables were too cold. I didn't even get hot food because I figured it wouldn't stay warm through my eating of it. Of course, it rained while we were there and even if I could have held it, my umbrella was back at their house in my truck.

Since it was another day of rain, we decided to take a road trip. A few miles outside of Olympia, while there were clouds, there was also some sun and perfectly dry roads. With no alternative hiking plans, we continued our road trip. Since the Farmers Market could be considered our first stop, our second one was several miles away in Everett, Washington. At the Aurora Astro Products, your northern light in the astronomy business, we learned quite a bit about telescopes: Dobsonian, Cassegrain reflecting telescopes, and Refracting. I believe the Cassegrain will be their choice because it is less expensive than the Refracting telescopes and is useful for more things than astronomy, which makes sense given the amount of cloud cover I've seen in the three days I've been here.

From Everett, we drove directly to Pike Place Market in Seattle. Of course, there was no parking so we drove away a couple of blocks and found "event" parking in a garage and walked back. By then it was well into the afternoon and we were hungry, even with all the healthy snacks we purchased at the Farmers' Market and ate on the way up. We stopped in at the first place that looked interesting, the Pan Africa Restaurant & Bar. I enjoyed a Veggie Groundnut, my son-in-law had the Chicken Yassa, and my daughter chose the Curry Corn. We just had to try an Injera on the side. All the food I tasted was truly excellent. What's better, it didn't feel like a chain and the food was unique, at least to my experience.

Then after watching a couple street performers, one who sang to a guitar he played and then played the Star Spangled Banner on a saw; and the second a quite accomplished prestidigitator, we went looking for the cribbage board booth that Marilyn and I liked in our 2004 visit. We never did find it but did get to see a fish thrown, one of the iconic images of Pike Place.

There is something about standing and walking on concrete that tires me out faster than walking on the more sponge surface of woodsy paths or grass. After just a little walking around Pike Place, we were more than ready to head home and veg out the rest of the day, which I'm proud to say ... we did.