Here’s a few shots from our wondering. Pike’s Place Market was cool to see. Very crowded though on a Friday. I couldn’t believe how many people we walking around with camera’s and taking pictures. It kinda seemed like most people were there being a tourist. We also saw the first Starbucks, which didn’t look like a Starbucks at all. It was rather bland inside with tons of product boxed lining the walls. And finally, a shot of the Space Needle. We were too cheap to pay the $40 to go up, so I just grabbed a free pictures instead :)

I’m getting better at this HDR stuff. Little by little :) Enjoy

Here’s Deception Pass in the background. If you look carefuly, you can make out some cars on the bridge to get a sense of scale.

Zac got to sit in the fire truck. Needless to say he had a great time :)

This was just one of the many jems driving on Hwy 20 over the North Cascades. And no, it’s not photoshop that gives it the greenest-blue color. Its the silt from the glacier runoff.

Here’s the view from the top. I was too scared to lean over any more to get a better angle ;)

The Trees above the fall we beautiful. It seemed like another world.

Again a stream above the falls – A whole new world :)

This is the worlds smallest park – really! Mill Ends Park

Here’s my first lousy attempt at an HDR image. As with many things, practice will make perfect.

It’s nice to have a good photo with Zac and I. Normally I’m the one always behind the camera :)

I have no idea what he’s thinking, but I don’t think it’s good.

They had this really cool grill right by the beach. Just go up and order what ever you want, anytime. It was so awesome.

Would have loved to go visit one of their churches, but we just didn’t have time nor were we there on a Sunday.

All the school kids where uniforms. As one of the locals said, “Its just easier that way.”

Yes! I found my fruit stand! My pineapple was very good, btw. It servered as an awesome breakfast the next morning. I wanted to try some other stuff, namely a local fruit called “akeey,” but it required a little bit of cooking.

A typical strip mall. This was about a nice as they come in Negril.

Wow, “Rush Hour 3″ made it to Jamaica!

These guys played so fast! When they made their move, they slammed down the peices too. It was very fun to watch as they take it very seriously.

Red Stripe was the staple beer in Jamaica. Every one drank it. I’m not into beer, but I did like this one. It was a bit sweeter than the beer back home.

A view from the taxi back home.

Cuban cigars are legal in Jamaica! So we bought a few. I’ve have never tried or ever had an interest in smoking, but I figure their Cuban right? Why not try the best?

Then in the early afternoon, we hitched a taxi ride with Bryan and Cindy (Bryan was an old co-worker from UCR) and headed off to the Royal Palm Reserve. The ride over there was pretty scary. The cab driver assured us he knew exactly where it was. So we all climbed into the cab and enjoyed the ride. But the further we got from the cities and the deeper we went into the island we began to worry. He took us on this long dirt road with lots of grassy fields and away from any kind of population. I remember all the late night shows where so called taxi driver would drive unsuspecting tourist out into the middle of nowhere and rob them of all they got. But before I had a chance to worry too much, we arrived. It was truly an amazing place. I’ve never seen anything like in back home. Tons of green everywhere. There was so much water it felt like a swamp. The pictures pretty much speak for itself. Just walking around you could tell that there was so much life in this reserve. There were tons of birds flying around, lots of insects and fish many in the ponds. The wooden boardwalk weaved in and out of the grassy meadows lined with the royal palm trees. The lookout tower was truly amazing. As far as you could see was green. Not a single sign of human life was nearby.

Dexter, our awesome tour guide!

This leaf was like five feet long!

The lookout tower in the distance. The boardwalk extended through the reserver, weaving in and out of the wetland.

A view from the top.

We all got out of the bus as what seemed like a mob rushed over to our bus, each person trying their best to get our attention to come to their shack.  It was really quite terrifying.  We all looked at the other passengers, not really knowing what to do, while they looked right back at us.  Somebody made the first move away from the bus, as the rest of us followed their lead.  Monique and I began to follow some man who was trying everything under the sun to get us to following to his “store.” Not really sure what else to do we followed. He led us through a small maze of narrow alleys lined with more and more shacks. Each one’s owner assuring us they had the best deals. The closer we got, the more and more it began to smell like the famous Jamaican mary jane.  I had my camera with me, but frankly, I was too scared to take any pictures. Someone could have easily hit us over the head and taken us for all we had. We just pushed through as fast as we could. We tried our best to look interested in everyone’s stuff, but it was clearly impossible.  Then they began to bad mouth us as we walked past their “store.” “Respect, man, respect.”  It was all about respect. I remember we went into one guys store and the woman next to his got mad and started yelling at us for not showing her respect and looking at her stuff! The guy we were talking to just hurried up and tried to make his sale as quick as possible.  Looking back it was pretty scary. I don’t really know why the bus driver took us there. Maybe it’s just normal to them.  I’m glad we went though. We learned a lot.

The bus moved on and we ended up at Rick’s Café, an American style restaurant on the edge of some cliffs overlooking the western ocean.  There really wasn’t any special about Rick’s, I mean, it would tottaly blend into any mall back in the states. We were not too impressed. I guess there were two really good things about Rick’s. One, they had an awesome view of the ocean, and two: the cliff jumpers. There was a bunch of local guys who whoud stand on the cliff’s and yell at the gawking tourist, “Two dollars!” Once someone assured them of their money, they jumped.  It was really kinda cool.

Since the bus left us at Rick’s for a few hours, we became a little board and decided to check out a lighthouse about a mile away. The guards at Rick’s assured us it was a safe adventure and that we should have no problems getting there and back. Short from a few locals begging for money and  commerce, we had no issues. The lighthouse was pretty cool and gave us another awesome view of the sunset.

Rick’s Cafe cliff jumpers can jump from all sides, each having different heights.

From the top: this is where most of the tourist jumped. It looks much higher in person!

The one guy would climb to the very highest point anyone could possible get to jump into the water below. He carried around a red bucket for donations. Once he reached his goal of $20, he would put on his show.

I didn’t really want to investigate, but I’m not sure if this was the house for sale or if it was just the land and the tiny building just happened to be on it.  I really hate to think this was someone’s house.

It was the strangest thing. While we were still swimming, I heard my name being called. We turn around and see Betsy and Justin swimming over to us. It really hit me how strange it was. Not that met them, but we traveled all this way, many hours on a plane, and then a few more hours driving on the crazy streets of Jamaica and then to this resort on the side of the main road, and then in the ocean to top it all off, we see them! Very cool.

We eventually got back to our nice air conditioned room and took a very long nap. Then we grabbed some dinner with Betsy and Justin and went back to bed. We have the rest of the week to enjoy.

It was raining just enough to make everything look really cool as we drove to the Resort. Jamaican roads are pretty crazy. Their really small and have lots of sharp turns. There are no sidewalks, so everyone just walks on the side of the roads.  We about jumped out of our skins the first time the bus driver passed someone walking on the road. Could have sworn a few inches over and he would have nick’d him. I guess its just the way they drive.

We saw lots of American things there, including Mario! (We’ll I guess its an Asian thing)

One of the many relaxing  places at the Resort. Monique was getting a massage in there.

Our room. It’s pretty awesome. Mini bar, ac and an awesome balcony with a view of the ocean.