The Unexpected Boat Ride

 I hosted my mother and brother at Dog End for the past three days (they are now on their way home).  One thing they wanted to do was see my niece Crystal, which we did on Monday.  She is the manager for the Seattle Electric Boat Company on Lake Union, where people can rent small, easy to handle boats.  She said she'd be happy to show us where she worked -- and when I asked Mom earlier if that meant going on a boat, she said no, just going to look at the place.

However, it turned out that we were going on the water -- Crystal had checked out a boat for us for an hour, and she was going to tootle us around the lake.  She wanted it to be a surprise, and what a lovely surprise it turned out to be -- especially as it was sunny and warm.

Here are the wee boats:

And here are my mother and brother aboard our boat:

Captain Crystal:

We went past lots and lots and LOTS of houseboats.

We went past Gas Works Park.

Several seaplanes came in for landings.

This was my favorite houseboat:

There were excellent views of the Space Needle, and mom counted nine construction cranes on the downtown skyline,

Here we are going underneath the freeway bridge.  We went into Portage Bay, where I waved to my office building though I rather doubt anyone there noticed.

We passed quite a few Duck boats (the amphibious tour buses that go from land to sea).

And here we are returning to the dock, ever so slowly, so as not to upset the kayakers.

Crystal handled the boat with great proficiency, always turning it deftly to meet any wakes head on for minimal rocking (though mom and Robin did get a few splashes).  Quite a lovely adventure!