Olympic Peninsula and Seattle, 2018
2018 passed swiftly, and I turned 30. What happened in my 2018? I visited China three times this year. For the first time in seven years, I had a chance to celebrate the Lunar new year with my family in China! I also went to Tibet, for the first time. I went to Canada, for the first time, too. First Goldschmidt keynote talk and first GSA meeting. Lots of things happened.
I flied to California to spend the end of the year with Xin. We then visited Seattle and did a road trip in the Olympic Peninsula. Winter is somewhat an awkward time to visit Washington because it rains a lot, but we have visited so many places in their not-so-good time of the year. Worse still, both the Olympic and Rainier national parks were closed because Mr.Trump shut down the government…In the end, we visited some other places in the area. Still fun.
A seagull standing on the fence, Seattle. It was Christmas Eve, and the weather was surprisingly good! No rain and not cold.
Xin standing in front of the famous Market Theater Gum Wall.
A guy playing guitar and singing by the door of the very first Starbucks coffee shop.
Another singing guy. Why is his guitar so small…
View of Seattle and the distant mountains from the Space Needle.
Seattle at dusk and Mt.Rainier in distance. It turned out to be the only chance we could see Mt.Rainier in this trip.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery!
A barista explaining how they make coffee.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery.
In the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, you can see how they roast beans and make coffee from them.
Coffee beans.
Barista making coffee.
Tubes on the ceiling transporting roasted coffee beans?
What are they doing with the beans?
A great breakfast in the Starbucks Reserve Roastery.
Ediz Hook Reservation for Native Birds.
Xin walking on tree logs with a bird behind.
Xin holding some seaweed whose roots grabbed a stone. Feel the power of seaweed!
Dungeness County Park. The left side is the Pacific Ocean and right side is the Dungeness Bay. This exposed seashore extends 5 miles and at the end is a lighthouse. We arrived late and could only finish 3 miles before heading back. It was a great walk!
Dead wood.
Xin and dead wood.
People heading back.
Dusk.
Xin playing with seaweed…
A seal!
Driving around the Olympic Peninsula in rain.
Lake Sutherland.
Lake Crescent.
A male deer! The Olympic national park has one of the very few temperate rainforests in the world.
Hiking on the Marymere Falls Trail.
Ruby Beach in winter rain, like the end of the world…
Ruby Beach.
Back to Seattle. Discovery Park.
A homeless guy feeding and then swatting away pigeons by the street.