This is the second of a
series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult,
this time also covering Portland. I’ve made minor corrections to these
reports. What few updates there are
indicated by NOW in brackets.
Minor editing to
remove a personal detail plus to fix the usual typos, as well as correcting a
few names.
Not sure if I got any
sleep last night. Very muggy, plus the stress of needing to not sleep in for my
6:30 bus plus the Border nerves.
When I arrived at the
hostel yesterday, the only other person in the room was an Asian guy doing
homework. He was still doing homework when I got back from my friend Sheila. He
was still doing homework when I got back from my friend Luca. He eventually
went outside the room to continue doing homework so he could turn off the
light, but rather than getting his key and closing the door entirely, he left
it slightly ajar so there was a little light coming in. Not much though. When I
got up at 5 am he was still outside the room sitting at the table doing
homework.
[NOW: Sheila has passed away.]
I wandered to the
bus/train station (Central Station) I noticed the McDonald’s was closed down.
There was another one nearby but I didn’t have the energy to wander over there.
So I just had a tea at the station, hoping to grab breakfast along the way.
I got on the BoltBus
(express service). After Customs the bus continued to Cordata Station in
Bellingham, near the large Belfair Mall. I crossed the street to a coffee shop called Cruisin
Coffee and grabbed breakfast to go there.
At Burlington we
detoured due to that recent I-5 accident, getting back on the I-5 after passing
through downtown Mt. Vernon. We stopped breakfast in Seattle by the entrance to
International District/Chinatown Station. Money fell out of my pocket but the
driver was honest enough to return it.
We main good time
getting to Portland, though upon arrival it took a bit to get my bearings and I
got help at a nearby 7-11. I bought a TriMet daypass just before that, a
mistake because my TriMet use of the day could probably have worked on a single
fair. I took a Blue MAX train to near my hostel. Ironically, it needed to stop
for maintenance where I’d intended to get off at anyway. I headed north to the Northwest
Portland Hostel, grabbing lunch at a McDonald’s along the way.
[NOW: The stop in
question was JELD-WEN Field MAX Station, now Providence Park MAX Station.]
After checking in at
the hostel, I went to a nearby 77 bus stop but didn’t know how often it ran,
and walked along my route, finally grabbing an 8 to the same destination, a
transfer spot to a C-TRAN bus. At first no one seemed to know which side I
needed to get on and I got the sense that TriMet drivers didn’t even know that
C-TRAN buses stopped there. I finally found people who could answer. As it
turns out, either side was okay, but because it loops around, the side I got
off the 8 was best for getting a decent seat.
[NOW: The 77 bus was TriMet.]
I got on the 157
C-TRAN bus (all remaining buses taken this day were C-TRAN) and got a daypass,
taking the bus to 99th Avenue Transfer Center in Hazel Dell North, part of
Vancouver WA. I liked the symmetry of visiting Vancouver BC and WA on the same
day. I transferred to a 32 bus and visited Science Fiction Books and after a
bit of a wall, Video Connections, where I bought some DVDs. I changed my mind
about a third Hazel Dell store because it looked harder to get to than at first
glance. I bought some Gatorade near Video Connection then took a 37 south to
Vancouver WA proper. There was a large art piece made of recycled goods. I
visited Esther Short Park (more lawn then trees; also has fountain and clock
tower). I took a 105 bus back to Portland.
[NOW: Science Fiction
Books is in Hazel Dell South, right across the street from the south end of
Hazel Dell North. Video Connections is now closed]
The driver was early
so the driver decided to have a four minute layover away from any stop. A woman
asked to get off and when he agreed, I got off too. I just wanted to take
photos at that point so any stop was fine for that. I wandered to Salmon Street Springs, where I
started to drink what I thought was a lemon variant of Gatorade but proved to
be lime cucumber flavour. Yes, tastes as horrible as it sounds.
I walked to the nearby
Mill Ends Park, the world’s smallest park, located inside a crosswalk. This
time there was a pretty green small tree inside the park. I walked to Pioneer Place
and had dinner at an Italian place in the Food Court (Sbarro). I walked to Powell’s Books and bought and old
Daredevil index from the 1970s or 1980s, the bought some DVDs at Everyday Music
before heading back to the hostel. Hope to get some sleep tonight; I’m pretty sure I
will.
[NOW: That Sbarro is now closed.]
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