“The heat is on …!” – Seattle Day 2, Mercer Island, and the Woodland Park Zoo (::record needle scratch sound::)

No joke! 90 degrees at 8:30 AM when we left our hotel! Upon walking out the front door, we saw this:

Had to text this photo to my 16-year-old nephew, who is the World’s Foremost Authority on High End Luxury Cars. Frankly, I’d rather drive my 2007 Honda Fit, but … 🙂

Before we go on, I’d like to share the free promotional shot from the Space Needle on Day 1:

Our first stop on Day 2 was just a few miles away, at church, namely St. Anthony’s in Renton, WA.

And ….. Guess what Seattle doesn’t have much of? No, there are plenty of churches. Seattle & surrounding area (Average temps in June in the 60’s) doesn’t have much ……………yeah, air conditioning (!!) So, because of the current situation, St. Anthony’s wheeled out the industrial strength FANS, which thankfully drowned out the voice of the priest, who spoke with such a garbled accent and cadence, that understanding him was next to impossible.

And after church, we traveled to the place I was MOST looking forward to visiting in all of Seattle: Mercer Island, and the home of my friend, Katy!

I met Katy in 2020, during an online Writer’s Workshop. It was my birthday, and I asked the facilitator if she had room in her workshop that day, only to be told that she was working with a group in Seattle. If I didn’t mind, they wouldn’t mind, and so I met several lovely women from the Seattle area that day. Over the next several months, I had the opportunity to write with Katy a few more times online, and really bonded with her. Her personal story is stunning: She is a survivor of an extremely severe case of Sepsis. (See her story below, if you’re interested) Long story short … despite the loss of limbs (both legs from the knee down) and 7 fingertips, she has Risen Above, and not only has resumed a full life, but is now a member of the National Sepsis Alliance Board. When I began planning the trip to Seattle, finally meeting Katy in person, face-to-face was my NUMBER ONE desire!

Here’s Katy’s Sepsis story, told by her, on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_8NN1KpMx4

Meeting Katy and her husband, Scott was BEYOND fantastic!! We spent a few hours enjoying brunch and the view from their beautiful Mercer Island home … lots of camaraderie, lots of laughs, lots of bird sightings (a Peregrine falcon whizzed by the window at one point!) and Oh. Guess what Katy & Scott _DO_ have? ::drumroll:: AIR CONDITIONING!! LOL Bless you, friends!

This photo perfectly shows what our visit was like:

Loads of laughs & love! Thank you, Katy!! So happy to have you in our lives!

Our next stop _SHOULD HAVE BEEN_ the highly touted, not-to-be-missed Woodland Park Zoo, located just north of Seattle. Tickets had been pre-purchased, but … I thought to myself: Do I really want to shlepp up to this zoo, suffer through the weather, only to (most likely) SMELL the animals, but never actually (most likely) SEE the animals?? Lemmethink NO. I agreed with Katy (who loves this Zoo, but made the same prediction: “When it gets this hot, the animals HIDE.”) And so, we bid our friends adieu, and decided to smell the dead fish instead of the live animals.

OK, after this I PROMISE that I will STFU about the heat, but there you have it.

The upshot of visiting Pike Place at 4:45 PM when the weather was so unusual is … Most Things Closed Early, including the Guy who throws the Fish. Ohhhh, well. (The air was still full of the remnants of Fish Du Jour! LOL)

We _did_ get great shots at the entrance:

And the copper pig …

And with Sasquatch … (Sasquatch?)

All in all, we hit the heights in Seattle, and visited the most important sights (and PEOPLE!) that Seattle has to offer. We headed back to our hotel to rest up for the next day: Arriving in ALASKA!!!