Seattle

Seattle, the city we've been longing to share with our children - since our honeymoon there in 2000. A city on Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle is surrounded by water, mountains and evergreen forests, and contains thousands of acres of parkland.

We started at Pike Place Market - Seattle's original farmer's market since 1907 and probably the only touristy place the locals go.

Of course, Meatball stole the show, everyone wanted a piece of the English Bulldog in the market. Seattle is Washington State’s largest city. It is home to a large tech industry, with Microsoft and Amazon headquartered in its metropolitan area, but not everyone from Seattle works at these companies. Our cousin does, but he's from Ft. Collins, Co.- and so we were able to steal a campus tour, and it was pretty darn cool!

Where are the O'Do's?

We realize it's touristy, but we had to experience the futuristic Space Needle. The Space Needle is a 1962 World’s Fair legacy, and probably it's most iconic landmark. When the Space Needle was built it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. In 1959, Edward E. Carlson, sketched a vision of the Space Needle on a napkin as a focal point for the futuristic World’s Fair in Seattle, whose theme was the 21st Century. We loved it for the 360 views!

You can't pass beauty such created by Chihuly. The Chihuly Garden and Glass is an exhibit in the Seattle Center showcasing the studio glass of Dale Chihuly and extends to the base of the Space Needle. The exhibit was breath-taking, especially the outside exhibits! We have a great appreciation for glass art since our relative, Joel O'Dorisio, is an incredible glass artist.

Right over our shoulder was The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP. The museum is a nonprofit museum, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. While the content inside was too adult for the ages of our children, we were able to appreciate the abstract forms outside the museum and the alternative playground.

Anytime is a good time for coffee, and if you know me, you know my love affair with coffee knows no bounds. Being in the hometown of Starbucks it was expected to visit the location where the original store was built in 1971.

The city also houses a one-of-a kind coffee shrine that captures the past, present and future of Starbucks. The Starbucks Roastery. I was in HEAVEN! This place was quite literally the Temple of Starbucks.

I was grateful my family let me indulge and indulge I did.Seattle is not only 'city-scape', being forest nomads we were craving our 'woodsy-time' and so we took full advantage of the nearby falls!

Located just 25 miles outside Seattle – Snoqualmie Falls is one of the United States most stunning waterfalls. The crashing falls is a sight to behold — and also a major source of naturally generated hydro-electric power for the region. You can view the falls from a convenient park area with a platform giving 180 degree views of the waterfall.

The waterfall is a 268 foot, 82 meter wonder on the Snoqualmie River visited by over 1.5 million people per year. The Falls were featured in the popular cult television show “Twin Peaks”. Snoqualmie Falls is a sacred place for Native Americans culture and spirituality.

What would an ODO-Stopover be without an 'in-air' experience?! Conveniently, Boeing is located in Mukilteo, just 25 miles north of Seattle, so of course we found our way there.

Boeing offers public tours - YAY! The Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour is located in Mukilteo, Wash., 25 miles north of Seattle. The facility is home to the 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner production lines and is the world's largest building by volume.

While on tour we saw airplanes being assembled and built for Boeing's worldwide base of airline customers before they take to the sky.

This was the next level for us all, but especially Angelo. To be a part of the system that creates these sky-beasts was an out of this world experience.

Our trip to Seattle was very memorable, for many different reasons; it marked our turn back home, it showed us 'life on the Pugent' and most importantly, it once again, let us spent more time with our family, Tommy!