Discovery Park

I dropped D at home after our Veteran's Day excursion to Camano Island and then, to avoid spending the afternoon sanding a bunch of cabinet doors or checking my work email, I headed off to another beach. I put the bike on the car and drove to Discovery Park. You can't park at the beach without a permit and although D probably thinks I should have a handicapped permit, I don't. The ride down to the beach at West Point is easy. The ride back up counts as exercise.

Cama Beach

For the third time in as many weeks, D and I headed north to the Stanwood area to find roads less traveled and more suited to learning how that darned clutch works. I don't think he appreciates his ancient parents' reluctance to try new-fangled gadgets like automatic transmissions, but the concept is becoming clearer to him. What I didn't warn him about yesterday was that it was also a chance to go to the beach. We swung by Cama and walked down to the shore - seemed very quiet, although Jeff reported things were staying busy. After half an hour or so we headed back towards Stanwood in search of burgers.

Pike Place Market

Every October for many years now we've signed up for the Feast at the Market - an annual fundraiser for the Pike Market Medical Clinic. It's a fun romp from one restaurant to the next - most that we would never get to on our own. The servings are modest, and we waste little time, so this year we made it to 12 places before burning out. Next year I'll take pictures of the food.

This is the same sunset that I saw last April at the SBC in the Lousiville Borders.

View Ridge

The Sunday between me turning 51 and niece Leigh turning 12 and we gathered at the folks' house for brunch. I always imagined that our family would be far flung, but although we have all been flung far, we were all flung to pretty much the same place. 3000 miles west of where we started back in Maine. Admittedly, Seattle was always out there calling to us.

South Lake Union

The final episode of my urban tour was to try out the South Lake Union Trolley. I hopped on at Westlake and hopped off at the new and still evolving South Lake Union Park. Seaplanes, maritime history, wooden boats, and great views of the lake.

The SLUT is pleasant, convenient, and apparently comes in both bright orange or bright purple. Like any transit - I suppose its test will be how many people are using it in 20 years - but the way this neighborhood is growing I suspect it will work out well.

Seattle Waterfront

A little hazy - probably smoke from fires that I think have been burning in Olympics this week. And a little touristy - with several late season tour boats in town. But all in all, a beautiful day on the waterfront wandering from Pioneer Square north towards Bell Street.

South Seattle

Seattle has sort of stumbled into mass transit - delays and compromise have finally produced a trolley when what we really need is a subway. Heavy rail, not Lite. Not that it isn't a nice way to get around - it just seems like so little, so late.

Sound Transit's new Central Link, from downtown to the airport (well, almost), isn't likely to become part of my regular commute, but maybe in twenty years it will be part of the commute of many others. Right now, there are plenty of seats and everything is nice and new, including the ticket vending machine at Westlake that scanned my Visa, but locked up before giving me a ticket. A real person at the nearby booth gave me a round-trip pass.



Tukwila. The end of the line, until they finish the airport station at the end of the year.
































Rainier Beach. Next time, I'll bring my bike and ride over to Kubota Gardens or one of the parks on the lake.

































Othello. Another brief stop to wander around. Close to lots of new housing and a growing business core.



























Columbia City. A five minute walk from the center of the Columbia City business district and a pleasant lunch at the Columbia City Alehouse.





































Beacon Hill. Deep in the ground, too deep for escalators, so fast elevators instead.

























SoDo. That's SOuth of DOwntown.






































Pioneer Square. Last stop for me today.