May brought unseasonably warm and sunny weather to the Pacific Northwest. We started the month on a cruise to Alaska, where the clear skies and moderate temperatures were notable for that time of year. We enjoyed warm weather for much of the rest of the month in Seattle, eating outside wherever possible.
Following our presentation at TrawlerFest in Anacortes in mid-May, we made our first foray back into boating with the rental of a Boston Whaler from Anacortes Yacht Charters. We had a fabulous time touring the San Juan Islands in the high-speed boat, visiting many of our old haunts.
That month we also watched the final two games of the spectacular season for the two-year-old Seattle Kraken NHL team, who battled their way to the final game of the second playoff round.
Below are highlights from May 1st through 29th, 2023. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a map with our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.
5/1/2023
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Alaska Cruise on the Norwegian Jewel
Position: 49°17.28’N, -123°6.75’W
One of the reasons we booked a cruise to Alaska from Vancouver, rather than from our home of Seattle, was to travel one-way through the Inside Passage all the way up, and to visit Hubbard Glacier and Seward. Ships departing from Seattle run mostly offshore, west of Vancouver Island, and generally only visit Southeast Alaska to allow time for the return run back to Seattle (the Jones Act prohibits one-way trips between US ports). We had cruised the Inside Passage many times in our first boat, but only in Canadian waters. We were looking forward to seeing familiar places again, and the Alaska portion for the first time.
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5/9/2023
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Game 4
Position: 47°37.33’N, -122°21.23’W
Ready to cheer on the home team as the Seattle Kraken take on the Dallas Stars in game 4 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We’d entered the game leading the series 2-1, but Dallas tied up the series with a 6-3 win tonight.
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5/10/2023
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Scenic Eclipse
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The luxury cruise ship Scenic Eclipse arriving into Seattle en route to Vancouver to start its Alaska cruise season.
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5/11/2023
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Game 5
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
After recovering from a 0-2 deficit in game 5, the Kraken couldn’t answer 3 more goals from the Stars and lost 3-5 in Dallas. The next game is a must-win for Seattle.
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5/12/2023
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Mt. Rainier
Position: 47°35.39’N, -122°16.75’W
Mt. Rainier viewed from the I-90 bridge as we cross over to Bellevue for an appointment.
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Globe Optical
Position: 47°36.88’N, -122°20.28’W
At Globe Optical being measured for variable focus lenses for some new glasses. Our last pair of new glasses, from SpecSavers in Amsterdam in early 2019, lasted well.
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AQUA
Position: 47°36.88’N, -122°21.41’W
A wonderful meal on the terrace at AQUA in unseasonably warm weather for May in Seattle.
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Seattle Waterfront
Position: 47°36.88’N, -122°21.41’W
The Seattle waterfront viewed from our table at AQUA.
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MS Roald Amundsen
Position: 47°36.88’N, -122°21.41’W
From a distance this ship looked just like a Hurtigruten, familiar to us from our time in Norway. And we were right. It was the Hurtigruten MS Roald Amundsen about to commence its Alaska cruise season.
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Corvette
Position: 47°36.96’N, -122°21.18’W
On our way back from dinner a heavily modified Corvette with an unusual paint caught our attention.
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SUV
Position: 47°36.93’N, -122°21.13’W
The paint on this SUV was less eye-catching than the Corvette we passed earlier :-).
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Parrot Tulips
Position: 47°36.93’N, -122°20.61’W
Brightly-colored Parrot Tulips blooming along Bell Street.
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5/13/2023
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Game 6
Position: 47°37.33’N, -122°21.23’W
The Kraken are up 5-2 in game 6 against the Dallas Stars in the 3rd period. We ended up winning 6-3, tying up the series again. The final game will be in Dallas to decide the winner.
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5/14/2023
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83 F
Position: 47°37.12’N, -122°20.44’W
The typical temperature for mid-May in Seattle is 50-65°F (10-18°C) and is rarely above 75°F (24°C). But today’s temperature is a near-record 83°F (28°C).
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Momiji
Position: 47°37.12’N, -122°20.44’W
Enjoying the unseasonably warm May weather with sushi for lunch on the terrace at Momiji.
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Hershel Harris
Position: 47°36.32’N, -122°20.46’W
Dinner on the terrace at Elliott’s Oyster Bar with Hershel Harris, who led the IBM Toronto DB2 team while James was lead architect. We’ve not seen Hershel for years and had a wonderful evening catching up.
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Dusk
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W
Enjoying the view to Elliott Bay from our terrace at dusk.
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5/15/2023
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Game 7
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
Sadly, the Dallas Stars beat the Kraken in Game 7 of the playoffs, and we were eliminated. But it was an amazing and unexpected run for a two-year-old team, and we’re super excited about the prospects for the next year.
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5/16/2023
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Geraniums
Position: 47°37.11’N, -122°20.29’W
Geraniums in full bloom spilling over the sidewalk on Bell St near our apartment complex.
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Old Stove Brewing
Position: 47°36.57’N, -122°20.59’W
Enjoying more of the unseasonably warm May weather with dinner on the terrace at Old Stove Brewing overlooking Elliott Bay.
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5/17/2023
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Spitfire
Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.54’W
Spitfire helping James exercise by giving him a little more weight to lift. He loves jumping up on James when he lies on the floor.
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King Leroy
Position: 47°36.96’N, -122°20.29’W
Chicken wings for dinner on the terrace at King Leroy near the Amazon Spheres.
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Sunset
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
Beautiful sunset over the Olympic Mountains viewed from our apartment balcony.
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5/18/2023
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Los Trompos
Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.41’W
Los Trompos (Spanish for “Spinning Tops”) temporary interactive sculpture installation at the Amazon South Lake Union campus.
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5/19/2023
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Anacortes
Position: 48°29.38’N, -122°41.72’W
With two large marinas, Anacortes, WA is a popular boating destination close to the beautiful San Juan Islands. The city also is the gateway to the islands for those without a boat, with nearly a million arriving by ferry in 2021. That is how we visited the islands last fall. And Anacortes has been the home of the Trawlerfest in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade.
This year, we stayed in Anacortes for two nights while we presented at Trawlerfest. For past presentations, we’d stayed on our own boat. But boatless this time, we stayed at the Majestic Inn in a room with great view to Guemes Channel and towards the San Juan Islands. |
5/21/2023
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Twin Bridges Marina
Position: 48°27.32’N, -122°30.54’W
Twin Bridges is a heated dry-stack marina just south of Anacortes. We stopped there on our way home to learn about pricing and availability. We’d had a great time touring the San Juan Islands yesterday in the rented Boston Whaler, and felt that purchasing a small, fast boat and keeping it here might work for us. But there was a several-year waiting list for all but the smallest open skiffs, and we really wanted a boat with a small cabin for warmth.
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Mt Vernon Brewery
Position: 48°25.15’N, -122°20.34’W
A good lunch with delicious craft beer at Mt. Vernon Brewery overlooking the Skagit River.
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Traffic
Position: 47°35.72’N, -122°19.16’W
The traffic on I-5 either en our out of Seattle always is heavy. Here we are merging onto I-5 north from I-90 after picking up Spitfire at Wagly in Bellevue on our way home from Anacortes. I-5 and I-405 traffic has been super-heavy this year.
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Happy Hour
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.59’W
Happy Hour on our balcony, with the Norwegian Encore moored at Pier 66 below. The warm May weather has ended and we’re bundled up to be outside.
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Encore Departing
Position: 47°36.92’N, -122°20.66’W
The Norwegian Encore, the ship we took on a Caribbean cruise, departing Pier 66 in Seattle for an Alaska cruise.
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5/24/2023
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Smith & Hook
Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.28’W
A wonderful bottle of Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon over dinner at one of favorite Seattle restaurants, Butcher’s Table.
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Eclectic & Interesting
Position: 47°37.03’N, -122°20.39’W
Joshua Borsman always has interesting stuff underway. He currently has a lab on the Amazon campus where he has a large CNC machine, a robotic arm, and lots of other interesting and fun-to-explore engineering artifacts. We usually drop by every few months to see what is new.
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5/26/2023
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Major League Sports Weekend
Position: 47°35.46’N, -122°19.98’W
We’d normally take advantage of a long weekend and make a trip somewhere. But having just returned from Anacortes the previous weekend and scheduled to fly to Barcelona the following Wednesday, we decided that all three of us should take a staycation for Memorial Day Weekend. As luck would have it, three of Seattle’s five major league teams were playing home games, each on different days.
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5/29/2023
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Cedar Butte Trail
Position: 47°25.99’N, -121°45.01’W
On most of our airplane trips, we prefer to pack light and bring carry-on luggage only. This saves us time at the airport and also avoids the risk of lost bags. For our upcoming trip to Barcelona, we had one hike planned, but not enough to warrant bringing our large hiking boots as we did for Switzerland. Instead, we bought some Salomon trail running shoes that have excellent tread, but on a lightweight packable shoe.
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Label Maker
Position: 47°36.99’N, -122°20.51’W
Testing out a new Brother P-Touch Cube Plus bluetooth label maker. Labels are easy to make through a phone app and we’re quite happy with the result.
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Yuck
Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.52’W
Our shower was draining poorly and this is what we fished out from it. Yuck. It wasn’t nearly as bad as working on the blocked black water hose on Dirona, but we did use the same auger to tackle the problem
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Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map. And a map of our most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps. |
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