Pacific Northwest Trip 2022 Day 3 July 19 Seattle, Auburn, Enumclaw, Federal Way, Burien, Tukwila, Renton

LAST UPDATED: January 2, 2026

This is the 3^rd 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. The Line 1 Sound Transit light rail now goes to Federal Way, the construction having been completed.]

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.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2022 Day 2 July 18 Seattle, Tacoma, University Place, Lakewood, Gig Harbor

LAST UPDATED: January 2, 2026

This is the 2^nd 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.

 Had insomnia for part of the night. During that period my cell fell to a hard to reach place and I thought my padlock key did too. Managed to get both, though the latter might not have been where I thought it was; got help with that one. I got a bit more sleep but still woke up pretty early. I walked to Seattle Convention Center, formerly Washington State Convention Center; maybe they changed their name due to other centres such as in Tacoma. I grabbed some bus schedules there but I suspect that Sound Transit and Pierce Transit no longer do print schedules. I exited at Freeway Park which is a park built over a freeway. It has a fountain that you can walk around that looks like surreal art. 

I passed through the centre again and then visited Rachel the Pig/gybank at Pike Place Market. I also visited another such piggyback whose name I can't recall. It's decent but it's no Rachel.

[NOW: The other piggybank is Billie.]

I returned to Green Tortoise Hostel for breakfast. I think I just missed one bus by a couple minutes but eventually I took a 594 bus (Sound Transit) to 10th and Commerce Transit Station in Tacoma. I walked to another bus stop. There was one of those hard to describe sculptures across the street (kind of like concrete boxes stacked randomly) so I did a quick look at those. A woman also waiting for the bus was complaining on phone but luckily didn't travel too far.

I took a 28 bus that became 53 at Tacoma Community College (TTC) Transit Center (until I say otherwise, next buses all Pierce Transit). The driver seemed surprised that I stayed on when it switched numbers. I took it to a stop in University Place, a municipality I hadn't been to before. To my knowledge there are no universities at or near it.

I walked to Chambers Creek Park. You can't go in too far due to golf course, but you can get some amazing views of the hilly field and sea from above. I gave myself extra time to get to the bus stop across from the previous one as it was a ways away and up and down hills. I think it was the same driver and he seemed surprised to see me. I took this 53 bus to Tacoma where I transferred to a 2 bus (after a bit of a wait) to Lakewood Transit Center in Lakewood. I asked directions to the Barnes and Noble. Would have been hard to find otherwise. I returned to the transit centre and after a wait to a 3 bus to Tacoma Transit Center. I visited fye (four your entertainment) inside the mall, but the music was loud and distracting ("Wow that's Hot" over and over I think). I left the mall and visited Atomic Comics, then bought some DVDs at Half Price Books. I cut through the mall back to Tacoma Mall Transit Center and took a 52 bus back to TCC Transit Center.

[NOW: That Barnes & Noble has moved. The song was Let it Go and it was actually “Damn that’s hot”.]

There there were technical issues with the card reader on the trolley-looking 100 bus to Gig Harbor, so the driver let everyone on free (though I had a daypass). The reason for going to Gig Harbor was that last time I tapped the ORCA time on the way back to Tacoma. The first ORCA tap didn't work but the second did, so I had to tap a third time. I lost my seat and thus couldn't get photos of the sea on the way back to Tacoma. So this time I was able to get the lost shots. I overshot my destination a number of stops but that might have helped: Only transit hubs gave timings and I accidentally left out the return time on my itinerary so I was able to get off at Kendall Transit Center and estimate it. I doubled back to my destination, a McDonald's but only the drive through was open and there were too many cars. No sandwiches at 76 or Bartell Drugs. At GameStop the guy suggested going over the nearby overpass over the highway. Giving up my previous plan to wander to the shoreline (didn't want to be stuck a full hour I grabbed lunch to go at KFC. I saw a 100 driver going the other direction. He confirmed I was at the right stop (it loops).

[NOW: Bartell Drugs is defunct. GameStop has closed.]

 It took awhile so I started to worry but finally the 100 driver from before returned. I had finished the lunch except the mashed potatoes, which I decided to wait on. I took the bus back to Tacoma and ate the potatoes. I waited for a 1 bus but checking my maps noticed it might be going the opposite way so I switched at the last minute. Driver confirmed I had it right; good thing because other bus came at the same time. I got off downtown. Destiny Comics is closed on Mondays. Didn't see any sign of the cat at King's Books. I walked to the Bridge of Glass, which has some glass displays to entice people to the Museum of Glass. Most of it is concrete though. I crossed it both ways faster than usual but got the shots I needed. I crossed the street to Tacoma branch of University of Washington where I visited University Book Store and walked up the stairs to the next block and back.

[NOW: Destiny City Comics has closed.] 

I took the T Line (formerly TacomaLink) light rail (Sound Transit) to Tacoma Dome Station. I visited Tacoma Book Center but didn't linger because I have a touch sensitivity and masks are mandatory. Returning to Tacoma Dome Station I took a 594 Sound Transit bus back to Seattle.

People who read past trip reports know I have long refused to ride the Seattle Center Monorail so might be surprised that I did take it this time for the first time, from Westlake Station to its only other stop, Seattle Center. The difference it before it seemed a but much for a very short ride but now it finally accepts ORCA cards so the ride didn't cost me any extra, thus clearing the main hurdle for me taking it. I had planned to get dinner at the Subway at Seattle Center Armory but it wasn't open. Sio I briefly left Seattle Center and grabbed dinner at the nearby 7-11. I ate at the International Fountain, Seattle Center. The food (chicken) was spicier than expected so I downed some water. I walked to where Silver Platters used to be before it moved south then to where Queen Anne's Easy Street Records used to be. The free newspapers don't seem to be around anymore. Some bins now have notices of the Jesus Saves variety. I visited Mercer Street Books and then returned to the fountain. I got some shots facing the sun because I was trying to keep kids out of the shots or at least hard to see and also because I like feeling the sun , but it was affecting my eyes, so I moved to the shade and shot around the kids as much as I could given some were circling the fountain.

[NOW: The former Queen Anne location of Easy Street Records became a Chase Bank before that closed as well.]

I took the Monorail back to Westlake Center. I visited Pacific Place but it's not the same without the scrap metal penguin or Barnes & Noble (this closed branch had two floors). I visited Rachel at Pike Place Market before returning to the hostel.

[NOW: The penguin is now at University Village.] 

The transportation timings beyond minor fluctuations pretty much kept to the itinerary this day, which is unusual.

Pacific Northwest Trip 2022 Day 1 July 17 Victoria to Seattle

LAST UPDATED: January 2, 2026 

This is the 1^st 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 cars 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. The 123 bus has minimal stops between Port Angeles and Bainbridge. In fact, only in Sequim and Poulsbo does it briefly leave the main highway.]

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.

[NOW: Google has removed the "temporarily closed" banner but there's no clear sign that it's reopened.]

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.

[NOW: While the Locks are officially in the Ballard district of Seattle, parts of it including the Fish Ladder are in the Magnolia district.] 

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. 

[NOW: That 7-11/Jack in the Box has closed.] 

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.

 

The Story of a Canadian Woman Trapped in Saudi Arabia

This is Melissa Wozney’s story. She is a friend of mine. This is her story in her words, with some editing for clarity by me.

I am a Canadian citizen who first flew to Saudi Arabia on January 1 2014 to teach ESL at the University of Hail. I met my future husband online on May 28, at a dating site called muslima.com. I now believe he was an Internet predator, but I didn’t see it at the time. We talked lots of times over audio and video calls, until we got comfortable with each other.  He proposed to me and I accepted. We hadn’t yet met in person, but he was charming enough to convince me he was a good and honest guy who would make a good husband.

 

I had to send him personal information for him to do this. He was completely able to fool me over everything. I had to visit him in October to get blood tests as part of the marriage permission process. I did so, and met him, his sister, and his sister’s kids for the first time that month.

 

I got moved from the University of Hail in December 2014 when some students, their parents, and university staff found out i was going to marry a Saudi guy. I was transferred Riyadh for a few weeks then in late January 2015 I was moved to Rowdah Jeddah where I taught at a small English school. Upon arriving in Jeddah, I saw a few strange things happen. I stayed with him a few weeks at his resort home. He soon kicked me out to a hotel then drove away then disappeared on me. During that time, I think secret police picked him up then would interrogate him, I heard this in one voice message he left me saying it’s better we are not together. We only met a few times then; he didn’t get marriage permission yet.

 

After getting kicked out, I was in a hotel a few weeks until I moved in with a Pakistan girl roommate. During this time, the school never paid me or gave me housing at all. I hired a lawyer and sued the school I was working for. I won in this instance, in part due to a newspaper article.

 

I didn’t break up with him after getting kicked out because I understood that an unmarried couple couldn’t live together. We didn’t talk for a few months. Finally he called me one day in June, while I was staying with that friend, to say he got marriage permission. He paid contacts 50,000 sr under the table to get it, telling me he would marry me under the condition that he kept his first wife. I agreed to marry him because It was blind love. I met a much nicer guy too. The easy way out is at times the wrong way out. If i had married the nicer guy i think i would be happy and have a kid now too. I regret all this.

 

I thought the guy I married loved me, but over time it’s clear he only wanted a misyar or simple sex marriage. I was open minded about being a second wife as long as I had my rights as a Saudi wife.Life could have been decent and okay.  But he made it into misyar after the fact.

 

I then learned that he married me in court then registered me under one if his companies to be able to control me. I was never registered under his family card and didn’t get any rights at all. If I angered him he could list me as a harub or runaway.  He never gave me money or any support.

 

He was also having marital troubles with his first wife, to the point where he kicked her out of the villa he owned in Jeddah. The two of them have nine kids. It became apparent to me that she only wanted to use him for money and a home, and did whatever she could to ruin things for me, and try to drive a wedge between my husband and I, even though having multiple wives is normal for me in the region. On weekends we would go and visit his mom. I could feel she and the rest of the family hated me.

 

He was unstable, nervous too, easy to shake up. I think he was angry that I kept asking for simple rights and there wasn’t much food in the home at the time. He got angry and stormed off. I tried to find him but couldn’t. He came back later. He punched me in the arm and pushed me. It was very scary.

 

Then one day under false pretenses he moved me to his mom’s villa without my consent and left me there.  One of his sons from the first wife told me he bought the place for the other wife to have.

 

This is where all the problems and worse violence began. I think his stress and and his mental illness made me worse. He would start getting more unstable and would flip out over anything easily. Like if I asked for food or a small home or go to school. He only made only sex visits only a day or so he would never stay a long time. He started hitting me with the power cord that charges the old laptop he gave me. Also, hitting with fists, a pillow and pushing. Days i got no food and left alone at his mom’s home, no driver, no one to talk to. I think he enjoyed the power over me.

 

The first time I was raped was the day he moved me into his mom’s villa. We had left his resort and went to his moms villa and i was tired and he wasn’t at all. He would take what he wanted by force and guilt. Another time it was before he left for his home In Jeddah.

 

He would only make sex visits. Instead of getting me a small place of my own, he decided to fix his driver’s home instead. He left me there alone all week with no money and little food. His other wife got money, a huge villa of her own, a maid, and her own driver, which showed me I was secondary to who he considered to be his real wife.

 

I just got badly mistreated and left abandoned in two dingy rooms, a bedroom and a small sitting room in the first floor where his sons from his first wife were living. It had no private door or entrance of its own. I was basically kidnapped. I wanted to leave him but I was stuck, no place to go or help. With no Saudi passport I couldn’t leave without his permission and most people were afraid of him. I was afraid for my life with him. There are guardianship loophole and laws where women are concerned.

 

I didn’t so much escape from him as he kicked me out. I started a divorce. He then threatened and begged me to drop it. I stayed with an older Canada couple in Riyadh until they moved back to Canada.

 

I have tried to get him from the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh as well as contacting Ottawa, but I have been unsuccessful. I have been jailed twice trying to get home, once in an actual jail, once in the detention centre at the airport. I have been unable to gain all the necessary documents needed to fly  out of Saudi Arabia. I have been staying at a dirty hotel in Riyadh with limited funds. I realize now what a mistake it was to marry him, but I don’t have the resources to fix my mistake on my own.

 

[Andy again. Here is a recent photo of Melissa after enduring all this, followed by a couple photos of the hotel she's been staying at.]