Around 30 miles east of Seattle is a very scenic waterfall by the name of Snoqualmie Falls. Rikti and I went there for the first time in April 2006 on what was a drizzly weekend. We had more fun than we thought we would and spent around 3 hours at the site. Seattle area as it is is very scenic and pretty with tall trees and greenery all around, but the site of Snoqualmie falls topped it all especially that day.
The official Snoqualmie Falls site says that 1.5 million people visit this natural scenic wonder every year. In my calculation that equates to around 1 person every 20 seconds! To get to Snoqualmie you just need to go I 90 east from Seattle and then follow the signs to Snoqualmie city and then the falls. You park on one side of the road, walk over an overbridge to reach the viewing deck they have constructed, and enjoy the musical sound of a lot of water falling from a height of 270 feet (a little less than half the size of the space needle). There is a hotel located at the edge of the falls and a railway track on the cliff across the river, both of which are picture perfect sites.
We did not forget our loyal digital camera behind (Nikon Coolpix 2.1 Megapixels that Raman helped me buy in Hong Kong in 2002!) so we did a lot of clicking away. One thing no one should miss at the falls is the hiking trail that takes you to the bottom of the falls. The trail itself is nothing extraordinary but when you reach the bottom, its a magnificient site altogether. We acted a little adventurous and climbed off of the wooden trail to get closer to the Snoqualmie river. We even saw a lot of cloud formation taking place in that area.
Snoqualmie would be a good picnic spot as well if you carry some food and drinks with you. Since the falls are open 24*7, a few months later we also went there during the night time but I would not recommend going there at night.
On the way back we stopped over at the Northbend factory outlet to spend some dollars on things we did not need. One of the pictures I have posted here has Mount Si in the background and Rikti in the fore. This mountain is supposed to have some history associated with it.