My Mom left, and hanging out in Seattle and at the Baker River

My Mom left to go back to Germany.  After not seeing her for six years, and then spending a month with her on her recent visit to the US, my heart is sad but very grateful for all the good times we had.  
We spent our last two days together in Seattle, where the airport is and where my dear friends live.  They invited us to crash at their place, and they wined and dined us the whole time.  They have lived in Seattle for decades and know it very well, so they were excellent tour guides.
We shopped for Copper River Salmon at the fish market at Pike Place where the fishermen literally throw fish through the air.  We walked along Lake Washington and along Puget Sound in gorgeous weather, with majestic Mount Rainier in the distance.  We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island, and we stuffed ourselves with lots of awesome food.

No trip to Seattle is complete without visiting Pike Place Market.

If you look really, really closely, you can see Mount Rainier in the background.

On the drive home after saying a tearful goodbye to my mother, I received news that one of my friends has cancer.  I usually listen to nice, soft music when driving, but on the two hours back home, I cranked a hard rock station.  Loud.  
Sometimes, if life throws too much pain one's way, head banging music is the only solution.

I won't write much more today, but let me show you pictures of my birthday when my Mom was still here.  We hiked along the beautiful Baker River and had a picnic on sandy beaches.  Steve had to carry my Mom over the river to get to the sand, a feat that she resisted, but we forced her anyway.  We knew she would love it once she was sitting on the warm sand.  She did.