I recently took a quick trip up to Seattle for a short vacation. It is often raining and cold up there this time of year, but we were gifted with some warm, sunny weather. This was not a photo trip but I couldn't help but squeeze in a few shots while I was up there.
 

My favorite part of the trip was visiting the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. About once a month, they allow photographers to purchase an early morning pass, during which time, they bring in their tripods. I was one of a dozen people there so it was delightfully peaceful. I got 2 hours to shoot as much as I could. They do not allow any additional lights or flashes so the tripod was pretty essential. If you visit Seattle, I highly recommend a visit to this museum. You can tour it in about an hour and his work is fantastic!
 

Playing with the zoom on my lens in the first exhibit room	An ocean themed glass sculpture
Glass plate	An ocean themed glass sculpture
More zooming fun with my lens	I call this one the planets
Glass bowls	The glass ceiling room
The glass ceiling room	An ocean themed glass sculpture
Boat with the "planets"	A firey chandelier

After Chihuly, we went to the top of the Space Needle and to Pike's Place for lunch. We stopped to watch them throw fish at the fish market then headed over to the Seattle Aquarium. If you have ever been to Monterey Bay Aquarium, this one just doesn't touch it, but I enjoyed the Puffins and Otters.
 

The next morning, we went to the Woodland Park Zoo, then we headed up to the Roozengaarde Tulip fields to see all the tulips in bloom. I had not realized just how popular tulips are. We sat in traffic for almost an hour to get to the tulip farm and once we arrived, there were people everywhere. It looked like most people use it as their portrait backdrop. That didn't bother me so much as when they blatantly ignored the signs asking people to stay out of the tulip rows and just walk all over them. I'm a rule follower by nature and it really annoys me when people cant follow basic rules. Don't walk on the flowers people. It's not rocket science.
 

The next day, we drove down to Tacoma to go golfing at Chambers Bay. It was the course used for the 2015 US Open. The course does not allow carts so you must walk the 7 hilly miles for an 18 hole round which was quite a fun adventure with my gear. I spent 4 hours taking pictures of my husband golfing and of the course. At the end of the round, I treated myself to an overpriced golf shirt. I earned it. After we finished there, we ate lunch in Tacoma then headed over to Point Defiance Park where I checked out their Japanese and Rhododendron gardens. I hear there is a large glass museum there too but we didn't see that. Next time.
 

The next day was our last day but we packed in a fair amount before our flight home. We drove out to Snoqualmie to see Snoqualmie Falls, then headed over to the Seattle Japanese Garden, where we were stalked by a giant killer koi fish, then we went to the Ballard Locks to see the boats getting lifted and lowered between Lake Washington and The Sound. Finally, we went to lunch and enjoyed a little bit of crazy person throwing chairs around while we ate (Seattle wanted to give us one last dose of crazy before we left), then we checked out the Seattle Waterfall Garden before we departed to the airport.
 

All in all, it was busy and entertaining. But now, I'm ready for a real photo trip.