This is the 3rd 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.
I slept a lot better. I visited Rachel the Pig at Pike Place Market, passed the second location of the first Starbucks (the hair doesn't cover the chest in the logo), walked to Victor Steinbrueck Park next door to the market and back, and then briefly walked to the waterfront. Lots of construction due to all the work that had to be done due to the demolition of the Alaskan Viaduct.
After breakfast at the Green Tortoise Hostel, I took the 578 bus (Sound Transit) to Auburn Station in Auburn. I wandered around and then took a 915 bus (King County Metro Transit) to Enumclaw. En route I passed by a Micronesian and Pacific Islanders grocery store. Which is a nice thought but it's also a 76 gas station. I got off the bus at Veteran's Memorial Park; the park is small but the war memorial is nice. Enumclaw gained a certain notoriety over a decade ago after a guy died, um, receiving forbidden love from a horse. The police soon learned that he was part of a group of guys who actually believed they were in romantic relationships with horses with the forbidden act being just one component to the romance. This made me curious enough to visit in 2018 and I liked it well enough to return. I wandered around; by the washrooms downtown, there is in fact a horse statue. The Visitor Info Center opened early so I got a nice foldout map of the town.
[NOW: I believe the sculpture is called Pony.]
I took the same 915 bus (a Dart bus, kind of like the handyDART with all regular seats) but to Auburn. En route a mother and daughter delayed us trying to find a church. It turns out they were probably already at the nearest stop to it. Back at Auburn Station I transferred back to a 578 bus and took it to Federal Way Transit Center in Federal Way. Work on the 1 Line light rail extension to there is well underway so I took a bunch of photos. About a block's worth of stores were gone. I walked to Barnes & Noble and Action City Comics; I think the latter moved due to the construction.
[NOW: I lost a few photos after action city due to lens cap.]
I took an A Rapidride bus (all Rapidride buses King County Metro Transit) to near Angle Lake Park in SeaTac. I got off too soon because I didn't realize the park was a little ways away from the station. At the park I was reluctant to swim because I hadn't brought my swimsuit (the park was a last minute decision) and didn't want my shorts to be wet as I travelled). But I did walk in the lake to the point of letting the bottom of the legs of the shorts get a bit wet.
I walked to Angle Lake Station and took a 1 Line light rail (Sound Transit) to Tukwila International Blvd Station in Tukwila, then transferred to an F Rapidride bus to Burien. I visited Page 2 Books before taking another F bus to Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila. I didn't go into the mall, the fye having closed, but I did visit some places not far from the mall: Barnes & Noble, McDonald's for lunch (due to the pandemic it was takeout only), Half Price Books (got a book on Superman as cultural phenomenon) and Tukwila Pond Park. In the latter a guy said that turtles like to sun on a log but they weren't out. I walked back to where I got off the bus and took another F Rapidride bus to Renton.
There I walked around and visited a new bookstore (I'm blanking on the name) and Liberty Park. At Renton Transit the lid was open on a dispenser for a newspaper I wanted that was 25c. I paid the 25c anyway then took a 101 bus (King County Metro Transit) back to Seattle. I waited for a train to pass during my walk to Silver Platters, where I bought some weird looking movies (a Lego documentary was the only non-"cult" movie I bought. I took the 21 bus (King County Metro Transit) to near the hostel.
[NOW: The bookstore was Apparition Books. I also saw a bit Renton Farmers Market at Piazza Park.]
Now for the not fun part. I walked along 2nd Ave taking photos of buildings across the street. A guy loudly falsely accused me of taking photos of women's butts on my side of the street and alternated between threatening to beat me up and calling the police. After the lights changed I tried to get to the hostel but he blocked the entrance and demanded I show him the photos. Since he wasn't rational and most likely on drugs I refused. A second attempt to get in was more successful. He followed me upstairs, briefly grabbing my backpack. He made a commotion in front of everyone while I denied his claims. One of the workers asked if we were staying there. I said I was and showed them the keycard. The other worker took him and I aside in the stairwell. He also wanted to see the photos. Since I was now dealing with a rational person I happily complied and didn't care at this point that the other guy was also looking at them. When the worker agreed that there was nothing inappropriate in the photos I had just taken, the guy, still being accusing but realizing I now had an ally reluctantly left.
I did what I had originally come to the hostel to do and dropped off my parcels and started charging some of the batteries. Calmer but still shaky, I left and visited Golden Age Collectables in Pike Place market. I was going to go to the downtown McDonald's but the line was too long. Wanting to get out of downtown just in case, I took the Seattle Center Monorail to Seattle Center. I was still a bit dazed so I wandered around, checking where my bus will stop at tomorrow and going to the 7-11 I went to yesterday for sandwiches, after checking a couple of other places such as the Subway in the Seattle Center Armory and another one nearby.
At the International Fountain the fountain was in its dormant state and there was fake grass and possibly real plants at the base. Since I wasn't likely to see a water show tonight, I walked to Olympic Sculpture Park and Esther Short Park and back (there's also a mini-beach). Among the sculptures: Love and Loss is a rotating ampersand on a pole. A statue named Father and Son at the entrance I've long suspected represents something more illicit: the "father and son" face each other naked. Sometimes fountain water obscures one or both. As I was leaving just the "father" was obscured.
I walked along the waterfront back to Pike Place Market; along the way, a sheet of paper where there used to be free magazines had a notice saying "God is God". Not sure how saying that something is what it is is useful info; like saying a horse is a horse (of course). I then visited the Target near the hostel before returning here. The second worker checked to make sure I was doing okay now. He seemed to feel bad about his initial reaction but I assured him I understood that until he checked the photos the other guy could have been a Good Samaritan for all he knew. I did note that, again no fault of his, Seattle seems noticeably sketchier than before.
On another note, just as Victoria has bikes you can scan to use, Seattle has scooters (imagine skateboards extending upward at the front with handle and scanner). You do have to watch for them, though I'd rather they be there than paranoid drug users. I don't mind mellow drug users, but that guy's a danger to others.
No comments:
Post a Comment