This was my first visit to Seattle. I am typically on the other side of the map in the fall. This year I wanted to see how the west coast fall foliage compares to New England.

My friend Janet has been living for the past 20 years with her husband in a city 17 miles east of Seattle, in Sammamish.  She has encouraged me over the years to come for a visit, not only to see the trees but also the birds.

This year I took her up on her offer.  The plan included my friend Linda who lives about 4 hours north of me in San Luis Obispo with her husband and grandson.

Just a quick back story, Janet and Linda moved to my neighborhood while we were in the 5th grade.  We were 11 years old and have been friends ever since.  I was a bridesmaid in both of their weddings.  Like many friendships there were long periods of time when we were not in touch but the bond was secure and we would just pick up where we left off.

Linda and I flew up to Seattle and the silliness started before we boarded the plane. Linda is going to have a knee replacement in a couple of weeks. Since there is a lot of walking from the curb to the gate, we ordered a wheel chair…seeing was believing…I think we would have made America’s Funniest Home Video had someone caught me running up ramps pushing Linda to get to the gate!!!Once we pre-boarded, we had to start playing.First stop, Oakland. What a sight!What do you do when you land?   You eat of course!!! We had great BBQ at BBQ Pete’s in Kent on the way over to Janet’s.  http://bbqpetes.com/Pull up a bench, grab a beer and chow down!This is the lovely place we called home for the week; so different from our old neighborhood.As I reviewed my nearly 600 photos, I realize that I never took a wide angle of the backyard.  I was forever captivated by the wildlife!! Here are just a few examples:

Starting with the grey squirrel.The quick moving, stellar jay.Just one of the members of the quail family that stops by to eat.And the flicker, a type of woodpecker, just to give you a taste of what I saw in her huge backyard.Now on top of all of that, I had the great pleasure of broadcasting my radio show live right from Janet’s kitchen this past Monday.  If you missed it, here is the link: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/74878768

This show was dedicated to friendships that endure.  This photo was taken in the 9th grade and again last year.

Keeping up with the cancan style, we decided we should do this a few times. Balancing as best we could!!! This one is in front of Janet’s fireplace!We just couldn’t seem to help ourselves!  I suppose this only seems funny to us, but if you have good life long friends, perhaps you too can relate! We had no idea in 1964 we would be repeating this stance and in the same order!!! Linda, Marsha, and Janet!

Here is the last posed photo before I share some of the fall colors…and notice we mixed it up a bit. This was taken at Salmon Days; it’s big street event with tons of things to buy, eat and then view the hatchery where the salmon were running.  We had so much fun just playing!!! All that was missing were a few hula hoops and a ball and jacks!

As you might imagine we had a blast!  This is just the start of a few more blogs to come. We only had rain on the day we were “leafing.”  Shot out her window; you’ll notice the spider web is still hanging, wonder where the spider is??? See you next time, for more adventures in Seattle!