Seattle - Cherry Trees and Parks

On my final trip to Seattle (in May) I finally got to do a little bit of sightseeing over the weekend I was there. Some co-workers and I drove into Seattle on a pretty day. Our first stop was at the University of Washington campus. We walked around the campus and enjoyed the sunshine, the architecture and the cherry trees. A few of the cherry trees were still in blossom when we were there though most had reached their peak a few weeks earlier. (click pictures to see larger images)




The coolest sight was probably a view of Mt. Ranier from the campus (from 61 miles away). It wasn't the clearest day to see the mountain but it was still cool. I really wish that I had brought a real camera on my trip but I had to settle for pictures from my phone. The mountain isn't very easy to see in this picture but it is at the bottom of the path. I assume that the path was built in this direction to point toward this view.




After walking around the campus we drove to a park (Gas Works Park) on the northern side of the lake which is just north of Seattle. The park was once a gas manufacturing site for the city but is now a city park with a large hill for flying kites. The old factory equipment is now a very popular subject for photographers (at least it was the day we were there). The park had a nice view of Seattle across the lake and we were able to watch some planes take off and land on the Seattle side of the lake. If you look close in this picture you can see the plane that is about to land on the water.



Our final stop was at Discovery Park which is on the northwest side of Seattle. The park has a large number of hiking trails and beaches on Puget Sound. We did some walking and made it to the north beach. It was all very nice though by the time we made it back to the car we had had enough walking for the day.

It was one of the prettiest days that I spent in Seattle and definitely a great day to be out enjoying the natural beauty.