Christmas Trip To North Carolina, 2005

  

 

 

Wednesday, December 21

 

Pre-dawn crossing of Lake Washington on the 520 Floating Bridge, from Redmond and Bellevue on the eastside, into Seattle...

 

 

I dropped Bigfoot off at the dealer, Carl North Country at Lake City, for some routine maintenance work to be carried out whilst I traveled then I took the bus to downtown Seattle and on to Sea-Tac...

 

       

 

 

 

Sea-Tac...

       

 

 

 

As fate would have it, my old Microsoft colleague Mike Dan was taking the same flight to Charlotte. Mike had been scheduled to depart Seattle the day before but maintenance issues kept the jet grounded and his flight was rescheduled for the next day. As fate would further have it, those same maintenance issues that kept the flight grounded the day before produced an 8 hour delay on this day... but this time was passed most pleasantly with the shapely Mr. Dan...

 

 

 

Thursday, December 22

 

Flight delays finally overcome I arrived in Charlotte around 4:00am, 20 hours after starting out from Redmond...

 

At Strawberry Hill... Sister Jan and nephews Will and Ryan were on hand...

 

 

Hamilton Manor at Mountain Island Lake... Smithers the greeter...

 

It did not take Ryan long to launch the first underwear attack...

 

 

Engineer Matt, Sister Jan, Beloved Mother, Will and Ryan...

 

     

 

 

 

Saturday, December 24

 

Christmas Eve at Mother's Strawberry Hill apartment... notice that handsome layered salad on the table...

 

       

 

   

 

 

Mother presented me with DVD documentaries of Alone In The Wilderness and Alaska - Silence & Solitude...

 

More on Dick Proenneke:

 

www.dickproenneke.com

 

www.campingsurvival.com/alinwivhsvis.html

 

 

Christmas Eve cake...

 

 

 

Sunday, December 25

 

Leaving Strawberry Hill with Mother, bound for Christmas Day observance with the Hamiltonians at Mountain Island Lake...

 

 

Christmas with Sister Jan and her family at Charlotte's Mountain Island Lake...

 

       

 

       

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, December 26

 

Around the table at Strawberry Hill with Mother, Brother Brian, Sister Jan, and our friend Jill...

 

 

 

Brother Brian, Mother, Sister Jan, and Engineer Matt... Brother Brian on his scooter...

 

 

 

Tuesday, December 27

 

Return to Seattle... early morning frosty departure from Strawberry Hill...

 

Ascending from the Charlotte airport...

 

West of the Rockies... snowy ranges and frozen lakes...

 

 

Into Seattle...

 

Looking south over Redmond and Lake Sammamish...

 

Looking south over the 405 in Kirkland...

 

The Juanita Beach nook of Lake Washington... a stretch of shoreline where I oft find myself parked...

 

Over Seattle, facing east toward Kirkland and Bellevue, the 520 Floating Bridge...

 

Over Seattle, facing east toward Mercer Island and Bellevue, the I-5 Floating Bridge...

 

Over Boeing Field and the Boeing Museum Of Flight...

 

Sea-Tac...

 

 

Downtown Seattle... Seattle winter expressions...