Oh, the other thing I should add is that Mr Tess is decidedly NOT a vegetarian-- while he doesn't mind eating veggie with me most of the time, he's bound to want meat sooner or later. Got any ideas for places that'll feed both kinds well? I think Anthony mentioned an omni Thai restaurant in Snohomish...
Snohomish would be out of the way unless you were already up in this area. There are any number of Thai, Italian, etc. restaurants in Seattle, eg. Trattoria Mitchelli downtown in Pioneer Square near the Underground Tour. I think TNS knows a good Indian place downtown. Mama's Mexican Kitchen in the Belltown area, on 2nd Ave. I think, is popular.

This place in the Wallingford neighborhood has meat stuff but 1/3 - 1/2 the menu happens to be vegan:

http://www.mandalayspice.com

Also in that area is an Afghan place:

http://www.kabulrestaurant.com

The strip in the Capitol Hill neighbord -- north of Madison along Broadway -- has a variety of places. Ethiopian restaurants generally have meat dishes as well as veggie ones, eg. Queen Sheba at Broadway x John. Cedars in the UW district, 4759 Brooklyn Ave NE, has middle-eastern and Indian food.

Tess, If you make it out to Snoqualmie Falls, maybe let me know. I live nearby and I can give you plenty of beta on hiking and such. Also, in the way of climbing, if the old man wants to just bring his shoes and harness, I could provide the rest.

Skanky - where do you climb? My daughter goes climbing with a climbing group/club and they climb somewhere around that area - I can never remember where exactly though...

Little Si and Exit 38 are the two spots close to there that I climb.

Unless there is a specific reason to be in Seattle during that time frame I would recommend waiting until after the 4 of July. Otherwise bring rain gear.
Pshaw, I'm from Houston. What Seattle folks call rain, we call humidity. :p Anyway, I'm not sure moving it back to July is an option. We seem to be set on June. We might look at late June, though.
how long did you say you were going to be here and what type of hiking do you like; anything specific on the air ballon, ie what do you want to see. Depending on the time of day will determine the time from Seattle to Tacoma, about anywhere from 40 mins to 2 hrs, give or take..... why Tacoma?I like easy hiking. I broke my leg a few years ago and it's never been quite the same, so while I can basically walk all day, I'm probably not up for anything too technical. As for Tacoma, there's a cool wildlife park out there I want to visit, and I had given some thought to just driving all the way around the Sound for the helluvit, and Tacoma would be along the way.

PS: Between The Olympic National Forest, Snoqualmie Falls, and Mt. Rainier, is there one that you would rank as the one we absolutely must not miss? Because we're thinking hitting all of these might be overkill.

FWIW, most of the last week has been warm and sunny. High today was 68 and rain isn't forecast until Sunday.

Pshaw, I'm from Houston. What Seattle folks call rain, we call humidity. :p Anyway, I'm not sure moving it back to July is an option. We seem to be set on June. We might look at late June, though.
I like easy hiking. I broke my leg a few years ago and it's never been quite the same, so while I can basically walk all day, I'm probably not up for anything too technical. As for Tacoma, there's a cool wildlife park out there I want to visit, and I had given some thought to just driving all the way around the Sound for the helluvit, and Tacoma would be along the way.

PS: Between The Olympic National Forest, Snoqualmie Falls, and Mt. Rainier, is there one that you would rank as the one we absolutely must not miss? Because we're thinking hitting all of these might be overkill.
I have been to Texas, not Houston but Corpus Christy, the rain is generally harder, but here it will drizzle all day, and June is notorious for being wet!

The drive around the sound is not that spectacular, hot air ballon or small plane ride over the sound would be better if it is sceneray your looking for. A good drive for scenery would be hgy 101 along the coast or hgy 20 up near the Canadian border.

Are you talking about Point Defience or Wolf Haven?

Snoqualmie Falls is not really a hike, these days it is parking the car, and walking down a paved trail; now back when we were kids getting a keg or 3 to the bottom and having a party at the Falls was great. It is worth going to see, and as Skanky mentioned Mt. Si is a good day hike right around the corner from the falls.

Between the rain forest and rainer...... that's a tough one, if the weather sucks (which it probably will) I think I would go with the rain forest, if it's nice out Rainer is georgous! It can be a tough climb though. There are other hiking trails in the area though, Cougar Mt isn't too bad though it can get crowded! The Alpine hikes up at Snoquolamie Summit are nice; lot depends on where you are staying and how much time you will be here, etc.... there's a lot to do in the PNW especially if the weather is nice!

I think someone mentioned the ferry ride up to Lopez or Vashon; Whidbey Island is a nice drive and it has a nice state park and Deception Pass which is kinda cool and some old forts from back in the day, with a stop in LaConner for the tulips even though the big tulip time is past.

A lot to do in this state, just depends on what the individual finds exciting.

FWIW, most of the last week has been warm and sunny. High today was 68 and rain isn't forecast until Sunday.
yeah but this is pretty normal weather right now, June is rarly nice weather and it usually doesnt start getting nice until after the 4th of July.

FWIW, most of the last week has been warm and sunny. High today was 68 and rain isn't forecast until Sunday.
yeah but this is pretty normal weather right now, June is rarly nice weather and it usually doesnt start getting nice until after the 4th of July.

Tess, If you make it out to Snoqualmie Falls, maybe let me know. I live nearby and I can give you plenty of beta on hiking and such. Also, in the way of climbing, if the old man wants to just bring his shoes and harness, I could provide the rest.
Are you in Snoqualmie or North Bend?

Are you talking about Point Defience or Wolf Haven?
Neither, actually. I was talking about Northwest Trek (http://www.nwtrek.org/), which someone else mentioned. Oh, but I just realized it's not actually that close to Tacoma-- it's about halfway to Mt. Rainier. But do tell!

Neither, actually. I was talking about Northwest Trek (http://www.nwtrek.org/), which someone else mentioned. Oh, but I just realized it's not actually that close to Tacoma-- it's about halfway to Mt. Rainier. But do tell!
NW Trek

http://www.nwtrek.org/

Wolf Haven is in Tenino:

http://www.wolfhaven.org/

Pt Defiance:

http://pdza.org/

I took a field trip to NW Trek when I was in high school granted that was about 25 yrs ago and I am sure it has changed, but I found the Sand Diego zoo to be a much better place. I have heard it's gottne better, but I don't have kids and have been to enough zoos and animal habitats and seen enough in the wild that those settings have little appeal to me. Except for a Tasmanina Devil; when we were in Perth we went to the zoo there with the purpose of seeing a Tasmanian Devil, and the little buggers were asleep and they wouldn't let us wake them up. :(

I've been to NW Trek once. They take you around on a train/tram sort of thing IIRC. TNS could tell you more about that area. The elk & deer have lots of space. When I was there, the wolf hybrids, fishers, etc. were in typical fenced and/or spray-concrete zoo-type habitats.

Wolf Haven is a ways south of Tacoma, and I've never been there.

I'm not a fan of PDZ. It kills me to see belugas in a swimming pool and their miserable elephant habitat http://www.freebamboo.org

If you like aquaria, the Seattle Aquarium on the waterfront has a hemispherical room that's kinda cool in that it's basically inside an aquarium.

Northwest Trek is cool, you ol' spoilsports... :brood:. Yes!! It's changed in 25 years (ya think??) and yes, it's very nice... :think: Besides, I have a Teacher's Pass, so free is always good...

Tess if you manage to make a decent itenerary from all the varied opinions here, I'll be amazed...

I have to agree with whoever said that if it rains, (which, yeah, it probably will) the Rainforest is a better trip, if it's sunny, then Mt. Rainier is beautiful - at any of the places you've listed though, you don't "have" to hike much if you don't want - there's easy and difficult choices everywhere...

I think a ferry ride around the islands would be pretty, rain or shine (pack your own veggie snacks though - slim pickings with the Ferry food service) though LOTS of yummy and quaint places ON the various islands where you can eat...

Personally, I think a drive around the sound is a great idea... you could go over to Bremerton and ride a ferry back to Seattle even... (yeah, Bremerton's nothing too exciting, but Hood Canal, the Peninsula and the drive and ferry ride are all nice...).

for cocktails

tiny bigs
zig zag cafe
mona's bistro and lounge

mr tess can have water

Are you in Snoqualmie or North Bend?

I live in NB

any get-togethers planned for anytime soon? I'm moving back home to Florida in a few months (yay! done with the navy!!!!), and it would be nice to get together with you guys before I head south!

Yes, this Saturday 5/13, 12:30pm vegan Thai buffet at Araya's, 1121 NE 45th St in Seattle's so-called University District.

The NARN meeting precedes this at the same location, so I'll be there early.

I'll see if I can weasel my way out of work. No promises though.

These 7 day work weeks are wearing me down :/

Awwww... come on... start "weaseling"...

We'd love to meet you before you head out!!

(and a 7 day work-week? aaaggghhh... you need a break!!)

I'll ask and see. Are there any other get-togethers (not during the middle of the day) planned?

Anyone interested in hitting the DBT show at the Showbox with me tomorrow night?

Anyone interested in hitting the DBT show at the Showbox with me tomorrow night?I'd go with you, but I have to go visit some relatives tonight. Sorry :( Next time there's a show in town that you're going to, let me know! I'd totally go with ya! :D

Dbt?

Drive By Truckers

http://www.nwsource.com/entertainment/