Fun and Games

COMING THROUGH!:  A Facebook post by the Hiram Chittenden Locks a couple of days ago let us know the estuary would have an unlikely vessel coming though this morning. Specifically, it was the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) ferry Sealth.

When it's in service, the 328-foot ferry can carry up to 1,200 passengers and 90 cars. Named after the Chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes who befriended early settlers in the 1850-60's and signed the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855, the ferry dates back to 1982, and it was heading through the Locks to a dry dock, for some maintenance and repair.

Thinking it would be cool to see it heading through the channel by our house, first thing today, we hopped in the car, dogs in tow, and headed for the Locks, about 1.5 miles to our northwest. 

We parked on the south side of the Locks and walked to the channels where the locks are lowered and lifted. It was a bit after 8, and we'd read the ferry was expected at 8:15. We heard a Locks worker tell a co-worker the vessel was expected "in about an hour," and we thought we were going to miss out. (We couldn't stick around that long due to an appointment a bit later). And so, we started the walk back to the car. As we approached the parking lot, the railroad bridge lifted. 

At first, we couldn't see why the bridge was lifting. There wasn't a boat in sight. However, as we rounded the corner, we spied ferry Sealth in the distance.  

 Tugs were on both sides of it, and they were starting to push it toward the Locks!

 It wasn't super fast, but soon enough, the ferry made its way under the railroad bridge.

 First time we've seen a ferry there, for sure!

 The blue sky and clouds helped make the scene even more striking. 

 And here, the ferry is being carefully piloted into the Locks for its trip to a dry dock in Lake Union or Lake Washington.

We're so happy to have been able to see the ferry's passing!

Another local with a camera took a video of the ferry passing under the Fremont Bridge (it's further east than the Ballard Locks.

https://youtu.be/g2EqfDTvgtM

WEEKEND REWIND: Saturday and Sunday, we had the pleasure of attending the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo. 

Conveniently located at Seattle Center (less than two miles from our home), we were able to attend for awhile both days. 

I'll let the kids tell you more about it. CJ's review is up first. ... 

For a couple years by this point, my family has gone to the Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, a geeky convention hosted in various places in Seattle. According to their website, The Seattle Retro Gaming Expo is an organization dedicated to creating a network of gamers in the Seattle area, and providing outlets for us to express our passion for all facets of the geek culture in general, and classic videogames in particular. At SRGE, there are usually several stations, often selling video-game themed art and other memorabilia. Sometimes, a particular station will be selling "reproduction carts", or a game that was never originally released or localized being put on a cartridge, usually having been translated beforehand. One station that stood out to me was a station actually advertising a new game for the NES, known as "Mystic Searches". Mystic Searches is going to be an action-adventure game set in a fantasy world. More can be read about Mystic Searches (and the documentary being made about it) at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1316851183/the-new-8-bit-heroes-new-nes-game-and-creation-doc/posts/1622766.

On our second day at SRGE 2016, Annabelle and I checked out a copy of Battletoads, the next-to-impossible-to-beat beat 'em up game for the NES. As with most playthroughs of the game, we did not make it past the 2nd stage, the "Wookie Hole", where we descended down a mile-long pit with everything and its brother trying to kill us. Sometimes, when trying to attack an enemy, we could end up hitting each other and wasting a life. But that is part of what makes Battletoads, well, Battletoads.

Here's Annabelle's take on the event. ...

Seattle Retro Gaming Expo, or SRGE, is a convention based around- you guessed it- retro video games. The convention this year was held in Seattle Center’s exhibition hall. The main focus of the expo was the merchandise. You could buy games, plushies, Perler Bead artwork, and many more geeky things. We bought a few Ken Griffey Jr. Games, and on the second day, Pokémon Stadium. There was also a large selection of games to play. The expo had quite a few arcade games, but the main part of the gaming section was the consoles they had. You could rent games at a table and play them on the available consoles. We played games such as Katamari Damacy, Ecco the Dolphin, Battletoads, and many more. It was a fun experience and I think the weekend passes we bought were worth it, even if we only played Battletoads on the second day.

THE KID IS IN: Sunday morning, we blanked our calendar to make room for a very special occasion, the induction of Ken Griffey Jr. into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Junior is the first player to go into the hallowed hall as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Regardless of the uniform he wore, he's arguably the best to have ever played the game. He was elected on the first possible eligibility ballot for him, with, by far, the highest percentage of 'yes' votes of any player, ever.

Of course, we had to have a little party for the occasion. We made some baseball cake pops (pictured below). 

We also had a number of Griffey video games to play pre-ceremony.

The induction ceremony was wonderful and moving. We're so lucky to have had front-row seats to Ken Griffey Jr.'s career.