!!!First snowfall experience!!!

Today was a great day. First time in my life I witnessed snow. It was really amazing and I am really very thrilled and excited. I have never seen such a beautiful day.

Group of friends and me planned yesterday evening that we would go to snoqualmie pass. We heard that this season’s first snow fall has started and the skiing season also has begun. So we decided that we will get ready by 9 AM and go to the pass which is 2 hrs drive from the place we stayed. I got up at around 7 AM even though I slept at 1 AM. I guess the only thing that was running in my mind the whole night was the snow fall. After getting up I check the weather condition and driving conditions at the pass. It was very favorable. But I also noticed that the snow fall was going on and it was mild. Since they had mentioned that the snow fall is mild I woke up others and told everyone to get ready. At around 8:30 AM I just rechecked the site to see if we were still good to go, to my disappointment the traction wheels indicator was advised on the vehicle and the snow fall was getting heavier. I was very disappointed and informed others that we will have to wait and see before we go. Since the car in which we were planning to go was not having traction wheels.

At around 9 AM I rechecked the weather condition and it was getting very worse. Not only the traction wheel indicator was on but also the chain in the wheels was required as the snow fall was getting very heavy. The visibility was also very low. So we all decided that we will wait for some time and if things get better we would try going. I got back to my room and thought of taking some rest.

When I was at my room one of my friend called me and told that snow fall is starting. I was thinking that he is talking about the pass where the snow is falling. I told him well I know that I did check the weather site. He said not in the pass but outside the hotel. I did not think twice jumped from my seat went to the window to take a quick peek. He was right, it just started. Small feather weight drops of snow were falling. I did not think twice quickly grabbed my camera and ran out of the hotel to get the initial shots of the falling snow. My camera was not able to get any of the pictures since the drop of snow was very small and tiny. I was little disappointed. After taking couple of snaps I was feeling chill and cold. Then I realized that I was not wearing any warm clothes so went back to my room to get some warm clothes and hoped that by the time I get back the snow increases. I was not disappointed, to my luck the intensity of the snow was getting bigger.
Now my camera was also able to get very good shot of the snow. The pieces of snow were getting little bigger. Quickly took some shots of the snow fall. I went to all my friends’ room and woke all of them. Let them too enjoy the first snow fall. I was very sure that most of them have not seen snow in their life. So everyone quickly grabbed their cameras and came out. Since I got some initial snaps of the falling snow I wanted to get video of that. The video would give the real picture on the intensity of the snow fall.

For over an hour we all were out in the snow fall and I could see the smile on everyone’s face. Some of them took photographs of them standing in various pose. Who know when we will see a snow fall like today. We all returned back to our rooms. I was still not satisfied with seeing the snow fall. I opened all my windows and took a seat just opposite to the window watching the snow fall. It’s really a beautiful day. I was worried that I would return back to India without seeing the snow fall. Well now I am very happy I have seen snow fall in my life :-)

Locked in a Dreamy Cruise

It was a very sunny morning. This was something very rare to see in Seattle during this part of the year. We left our hotel and went for an outing. Who knows when we will get sunshine like this again? We decided that we will go to the downtown Seattle. Well what to do after going there. This was a major question running around everyone’s mind. Everyone suggested different things. Starting from the space needle to the pike place market to a cruise. But then as usual we had to take a majority vote.

The main factor of weather came into picture. If we are sure that we are going to get another sunny day we could take the outdoor events later but then its Seattle no one know when the weather will change. So we decided and convinced each other that the cruise was the right options to go at this time. So we all went to the water front to check out the cruise and its timings. The cruise was operated by Argosy. They are the pioneers in conducting the luxury day trips. There were many options available from the 1 hours harbor cruise to the two and a half hour locks cruise. There were many other options also like the Bainbridge Island or Tillicum village. Later all decided that we will take the Locks cruise since it was really interesting when we heard about it. The Bainbridge & Tillicum village requires a lot of time and we did not have the time for that. So we thought we will take the locks cruise.

So we went ahead and checked out the Locks cruise details and paid for the trip. The time when we booked the tickets was 1 PM and it cost us $31. This was a tour for two and a half hours. But then the cruise was at 3 PM and we were not sure how to spend time till 3. Anyway it was lunch time and we went looking for a good place to have lunch. Since there was one person who was vegetarian in our group we had to find something for him too. For Non-Vegetarians there are plenty of options. Somehow we found a subway for him where he could get vegetarian food. Rest all of us headed toward a restaurant called Ivars.

Seattle is very famous for Seafood especially the Salmon fish. And Ivars was one of the most famous and oldest shops in Seattle. We went and took Salmon fish and chips. This was the specialty dish at Ivars. I really enjoyed every bit of the fish. Well needless to say the French fries were just awesome. As I write this my mouth waters thinking about it. So after enjoying a wonderful lunch we just walked around the waterfront trying to spend the next hour. There was a nice shop near Ivars. They had many mementos of Seattle which I wanted to buy, but then I dropped the plan because I did not want to carry all this and walk around. I thought I will come back and buy some before heading back to the hotel.

Then the time came for the cruise. It was 3:15PM and we were all assembling near the cruise. We were told to line up and wait in the queue. As we were going to board the ship the cruise operators took group photographs. All 5 of us took a snap in front of the cruise. Then we boarded the boat and waited till 3:30 PM. At 3:30 we left and as we were going there was a guide who was explaining all the buildings & houses on the shore. To be frank none of us knew how the cruise would be and it was a first time experience for all of us. As the boat started cursing we all were very busy taking pictures. At that moment we thought of the person who made the digital camera. If he would not have made this marvelous device we would have been spending more money on the camera rolls and taking limited pictures.

All of us had our camera and everyone would have taken unlimited pictures in different pose and different angles. For the first one hour we were just going around and the guide was explaining all the areas. After an hour we reached the main attraction of the cruise. It’s the Locks Bridge. The specialty of this place was that there was a bridge which divides the sea water and the fresh water. The barricade was preventing the fresh water and sea water to mix. So since we were coming in the sea water we were on the lower side and the fresh water was on the higher side. When I say higher side the level of water was almost to the height of the boat. There were many people outside the boat who were waiting to watch the boat float. We were first made to fit between two wooden wall structures and front was a gate again made of wood. So we were now covered by three sides. Once we entered this enclosure a gate from behind was closed and we were fully covered from all side.

Then the gate from front was slowing opened and the water gushed towards us. The water was only opened at the bottom so that the water would make the boat to float. As the water flowed in the boat began to float and we reach the height of the fresh water. After we reached the required height the gate at the front was opened and we sailed ahead. After we went a little distance the gate was again closed and the fresh water was pushed back in. This way all the boats were moved from the sea water to the fresh water. There was always priority for the boats that come. The fire service & emergency boats were giving the highest priority followed by the daily cruise like the one we were on followed by the private leisure boat followed by private owned boats.

As we moved forward we went through places were the boats and ships are repaired. It was good to see real costly yachts parked and waiting to be serviced. As we were approaching the end of the cruise we came across a place where we could see the seaplanes take off and land. The takeoff and landing at sea must be a real good experience. This is something that I am planning to do next.
So next time you are in Seattle don’t miss the locks cruise. It’s an engineering marvel to watch.