This is the 1st in a series of posts covering my trip to the US Pacific Northwest in 2022, adapting emails originally sent to friends. I use NOW to refer to any updates since I did the trip.
Hi everyone. First off usual caveat: will be using small keyboard and will often be sleep deprived, thus apologies that typos will arise.
As I always say, I'm middle aged so if I can do all this during my trip, those of you in your 20s and 30s should be able to do all this and more.
Passed Deuce Days vintage cards en route to Black Ball Ferry Terminal. Coho ferry emptier than usual, probably a combo of Sun morning, Deuce Days impacting traffic, and overcast weather. First on the ferry and second off after wheelchair. No problem clearing Customs. Because ferry arrived in Port Angeles earlier than usual, I walked up the stairs from 1st St to 2nd St (steep hill) for photos and then walked to Gateway Transit Center. I took the 123 The Strait Shot bus (Clallam Transit). Someone wanted a daypass but no passes that route and it's the only Clallam Transit route on Sunday. People were allowed to use the restrooms at Sequim Transit Center In Sequim.I opted to do so mainly because it was my last chance to walk around for 90 minutes. I got a few Lavender Festival photos as the bus left Sequim . The bus arrived at Bainbridge Island where I took a Washington State Ferries ferry to Seattle.
[NOW: Deuce Days was a vintage car show].
Likely a result of the demolition of the Alaskan Viaduct, there was construction that meant exiting the Seattle Ferry Terminal in a roundabout way. It was too early to check into the Green Tortoise Hostel but I was able to leave my suitcase there. The nearby McDonald's was take out only and a meal cost $12. I ate it at Westlake Park. I have an ORCA card which allows transfers and daypasses in Seattle area buses and light rail. I loaded a couple of daypasses, thus confirming the card still worked. I walked past my preferred hostel, City Hostel Seattle, which is listed as temporarily closed. I saw people inside so don't know what's happening there. I walked to Seattle Center where I sat at the International Fountain a few minutes before wanderlust got the best of me. The former Key Arena is now called Climate Pledge Arena, which sounds like an older person trying too hard to sound cool to youth.
I took the D Rapidride bus (King County Metro Transit) to Ballard. I paid cash; if you're just doing a few trips locally in Seattle, a paper transfer gives you more time than an e-transfer, I visited Twice Sold Tales, where I petted Beau, a disinterested cat. Ballard was having its Seafoodfest which only rarely coincides with my trip. At or near the far end of the Seafoodfest market was Bergen Place, which has plant sculptures that one guide book describes as being like something out of Dr. Seuss books. I visited Sonic Boom Records, I walked past a lobster sculpture that was being used as a bike rack.
I visited the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, which connect ships from the sea (Puget Sound) to freshwater (Salmon Bay) by raising and lowering water levels. I visited the Fish Ladder, where you can see fish, minly salmon trying to return to Lake Union to spawn. So these are the fish that survived to near the end of their natural lives.
Passing the Seafoodfest and usual Ballard Sunday Market, I walked to a 7-11/Jack in the Box combo and got a Slurpee. I mostly walked (briefly used the transfer on a 40 King County Metro Transit) bus to Fremont.
I visited the plant dinosaurs, Fremont Rocket (keeping away from the Fremont Sunday market crowds en route; still a bit skittish re the virus), Outsider Comics (a sign said to wear masks but most people weren't), the larger than life size VI Lenin statue (hands still painted red but the body was also splashed with yellow paint, Jive Time Records, and Ophelia Books; no sign of the cat or even a cat bed this time. I visited the apparently recently repainted Center of the Universe signpost (shows various distances). I zoomed in to get shots of Rapunzel on the Fremont Bridge; the painted yellow hair appeared to be gone. I visited the Waiting for the Interurban statue (people waiting for non-existent transportation), then JP Patches & Gertrude: Late for the Interurban statue, based on popular children show characters/clowns. Chris Wedes (JP) died just before a previous visit and Bob Newman (Gertrude) died after my last trip to Seattle. I walked to the Fremont Troll on Troll Ave under Aurora Bridge, a statue created by pouring concrete over a Volkswagen.
I walked to Wallingford (Ballard, Fremont, and Wallingford are neighborhoods in Seattle) where I visited the store Archie McPhee. There is a free Rubber Chicken Museum (small enough to fit in a photo but it's a rubber chicken museum; not a lot of material to work with) and the World's Largest Rubber Chicken. They were selling Emotional Support Chickens but wanted $13. After Archie McPhee I saw a sculpture of a seal's head beside a manhole. I walked down the Wallingford Steps (one part has a zodiac circle) to Gas Works Park, an industrial complex turned family park at the north end of Lake Union.
[NOW: Aurora Bridge is a.k.a. George Washington Memorial Bridge.]
I briefly returned to the troll so I could walk across Aurora Bridge, which is higher up than the nearby Fremont Bridge.I walked further along Aurora, and then walked along the hilly Highland Ave. I passed a cat that didn't seem to want to interact with me or likely anyone. I got some nice photos at Kerry Park Viewpoint, which is a good place to get photos of Seattle Center and downtown. I wanted to return to Seattle Center, but decided I'd better check in at the hostel first. Happily I got a lower bunk, my preference. I returned to Seattle Center and ate at Mod Pizza at Seattle Center Armory (same price regardless of number of toppings). I relaxed at the International Fountain awhile. I walked to Pike Place Market and got photos of Rachel the Pig (a piggybank), then returned to the hostel.
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