Safeco Field Tour

~erica

For our anniversary Ryan got tickets to Mary Poppins for me then let me plan the rest of the day in Seattle. He did ask that, if we had time, could we please go tour Safeco Field.

There were only 3 of us on the 2 o'clock tour. The visiting Clubhouse was the first place we went in, we were encouraged to take pictures and ask questions, the guide had been with the club forever. It was overwhelming to even know where to start taking pictures.

We went out on the field and could sit in the dugouts and take pictures from behind home plate. Ryan standing where Eric Wedge (is that the current manager?) stands during the games.  

We watched the grounds crew replace the sod around home plate while we waited for an earlier group to clear the visitors dugout. Ryan could talk team players and stats all he wanted with the guide.

See, I was there too.

Media room being interviewed.

Press box- we're in the open window under the "Wel" of Welcome to Safeco Field in the picture of Ryan in the dugout.

We got to see the Diamond Club and a couple of the suites including the owner's suite. It was a lot of fun even if you aren't a diehard baseball nut. You can book online and set up group tours. We just bought our tickets at the Mariner's store when we arrived (Ryan had checked out the times and costs before we went). Tickets are $9 for adults and $7 for kids. Group tour discounts are available. The website said be prepared to walk 1 mile and climb stairs but its wheelchair accessible. I think we used the wheelchair route since the only stairs we climbed were at the home plate entrance.

Mt. St. Helens

This is Spiril Lake before the May 18 eruption

We went to Mt. St. Helens on September 10, 2008, to work on my Forestry Merit Badge. On May 18, 1980 Mt. St. Helens erupted, blowing away 1,300 feet of the summit. The eruption killed 57 people. Ten million trees were flattened in seconds. After almost 30 years the mountain is still recovering, however the first trees planted after the eruption are ready to be harvested.

The Toutle River above the Sediment Dam

Reforested areas of the mountain and the crater

The Burke Museum

The Burke Museum features changing exhibits for the general public to enjoy on subjects ranging from current research and recent discoveries in natural history to the finest traditional and contemporary cultural arts.

My favorite part was about all the dinosaurs, even though they say that the dinosaurs lived millions of years ago (I'm really interested about dinosaurs since I read "Jurassic Park").

When my mom was little she saw a mummy at the Burke Museum but its not on display now.

Notes from Erica: The Museum is on the University of Washington campus just off the main entrance on 45th. It is free the first Thursday of the month. You can sign up for an educator newsletter and see the classes and workshops they offer in the Natural History discipline. Last year they did some workshops for Boy Scouts to earn their Geology Merit Badge (of course we had just finished that the month before). Evolution is very prevalent but they have fabulous skeletons and exhibits. We saw special exhibits on Antarctica and gemstones as well as Native cultures of the Pacific Rim.

Aberdeen Museum of History

We've been to Aberdeen countless times and had no idea this gem of a museum even existed. It was $5 for the whole family. It's on 3rd Street close to the high school in the old Armory building.

The Aberdeen Museum of History uses period furnishings from the town's pioneer days. It has photographs, as well as antique fire-fighting equipment, an old Model-T, and an exhibit about logging in the Aberdeen area. It also tells about the fire that happened in 1903, and how they fought it. My favorite part was learning about an old telegraph machine.

Tokeland Hotel and Washaway Beach

We went out to the beach to see if we could see the ship that had been uncovered by recent storms out at Washaway Beach- on the coast just north of Tokeland and just south of Grayland. We couldn't find the ship but we drove through Tokeland and saw the Tokeland Hotel.

The present building took part of its original shape in 1885 as the home of William S. Kindred and the daughter of the homesteader, Elizabeth Brown. In 1889, the Kindreds expanded their farmhouse and opened the Kindred Inn. Two steamers, Shamrock and Reliable, made trips from South Bend to Tokeland. Mr. Kindred used to meet the boats with a big, horse-drawn tally ho. It was during this time that Tokeland gained a reputation as a fine beach resort, attracting guests from as far away as Idaho and southern California.

Museum of History and Industry

MOHAI traces the 150-year history of Seattle with compelling artifacts, images, films and oral histories. There are exhibits about the salmon industry, the maritime industry, Boeing development, and about the fire in Seattle on June 6, 1889. There are lots of hands-on exhibits for young children. My favorite part was the exhibit about the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which happened in Seattle in June-October of 1909.

Tovah and Jonah packed salmon into tins- they wouldn't have made the cannery any money at the speed they worked.

Old labels are so cool.

Figureheads off of shipwrecked vessels. They were believed to protect the boat, Hmmm...

MOHAI is free the first Thursday of each month. According to their website they are moving to Lake Union Park into the old Naval Reserve building. They will be just down the hill from the Seattle Center.

Oregon Trail Interpretive Center- Baker City, OR

The National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center offers living history demonstrations, interpretive programs, exhibits, multi-media presentations, special vents, and more than four miles of interpretive trails.

My favorite part of the museum was watching a man do a Travelling Medicine Man Show. He talked about the Medicine Men offering hope in a time of history when doctors were few and medicine couldn't offer many cures.

Picture of the wagon ruts that are still visible across the land even after 100 years. We didn't have time to go see them. Also it was very hot and the tick warning was high.

Mom accidentally erased all our pictures of the museum when she dropped her external drive, so we had to get some off the internet.

Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Seattle

On Thursday we went to the fish ladder at the locks in Seattle. This is the flood gate (from above), it allows the water from Lake Washington and Lake Union to drain into the sound. The locks are on the boating channel that links the lakes to the sound. The lakes are 6-26' higher than the level of the sound. The locks raise and lower the boats so they can move along the waterway. We got to see a boat go through the locks.

It is a brand new boat that was just unloaded off a freighter from China and being taken up to one of the lakes for outfitting and delivery.

There was a smashed penny machine at the fish ladder so we added two more to our collection.

Look closely- you'll see a fish in the viewing area of the fish ladder.

~Isaac

Fort Lewis Military Museum

Last Thursday we went to Fort Lewis to tour the Military Museum. The Fort Lewis Military Museum collects, preserves, displays and interprets artifacts relevant to the history of Fort Lewis and the units which have served there.

This is the label on the Howitzer, it is a BIG gun

Our favorite part of the museum were the tanks outside.

A model of the museum when it was the Red Shield Inn. It was built in 1918 by the Salvation Army as a hotel for the families of soldiers in WWI. It was a hotel until 1972. In 1979 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only US Army Museum on the west coast.


This is Saddam Hussein's head off a statue from Baghdad brought back by the Triple Nickel (Nate's unit)