Skip to main content

Seattle Day 9 Summer Road Trip 2016

Yesterday I braved the cold, chilly Pacific Northwest weather and road south about 20 miles to the Harley Davidson dealership in Lacey. I couldn't leave the area without the obligatory 'destination' shirt! After buying shirts and a warm hooded sweatshirt, I plugged the address of the shipping company into my phone, connected my wireless headset (one of the best purchases I made for this trip) and eased back onto I5, which is Ten times more congested and frantic than I4 at rush hour! Gritted my teeth, gripped the handlebars until I'm sure my knuckles were white under my heavy gloves, and listening to Siri as she coached me towards the Port of Tacoma.

The folks at Air Van Moving were very nice; taking me on a tour of the facility after I expressed my anxiety over leaving Bessie behind. She looked to be in good hands; lots of other bikes waiting to be shipped out as well. I said goodbye as my Lincoln Towncar pulled up to whisk me away to the Seattle airport. A traditional cab was only $10 less than the chauffeur driven Towncar, so I said, 'what the hell?' After 9 days of traveling on two wheels, I sank into the plush leather of the Towncar, sipped the bottle of water that was offered, and paid no attention to the hectic traffic my driver expertly negotiated. I gave Thanks for safe travel and patted myself on the back for being so good to ME.

Checked into the hotel, stood way too long in the hot shower, then decided to eat in the hotel restaurant...something I don't do usually. My Garden Burger was tasty, which well it should be for $17 and the Starbucks Sweet Green Tea quenched my thirst. I've come to the conclusion that you just can't get a decent sweet tea west of Mississippi. Returned to my room, and promptly fell asleep for the next fourteen hours! I guess my body was telling me it was tired.

I awoke Saturday morning feeling refreshed and relieved that I would not have to travel on two wheels today! Paul arrived before noon; as usual I was 'sittin on 'g' waiting on 'o'' when he arrived, map of Seattle in my hand. We headed downtown on the train to walk around Pike Place Market. Being a holiday weekend, it was shoulder to shoulder people...worse than Main Street Daytona during Bike Week! Had lunch in a funky waterfront restaurant, the Athenean, that has been there since the early 1900's. Excellent cod sandwich made with a slaw topping. Sat at the waterfront park and watched people for awhile then went in search of the famous 'Gum Wall.' Located in Post Alley, under Pike Place Market, it started in the early 1990's. Theater goers who resented standing in line for tickets started sticking their chewing gum on the brick walls...it is now a certified tourist attraction, and the second germiest place on earth...the first is the Blarny Stone. We trekked up several flights of stairs in search of the Mt. Rainier Harley Davidson store...gotta have a tshirt!

After our quick tour of Seattle, we headed back to the hotel and a 3am wake up call for our early flight to Anchorage. Ugh!

Comments

  1. Cool!!! I have eaten at Athenean and played with the gum wall too. There is a really good sandwich shop right off that alley.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Waning Light

  There are times I dread the waning light of day, That golden hour which precedes the night. The night brings sad memories. The night brings old terrors. The night brings lonely hours, Sleepless hours, Blackness filled with sorrow. The darkness carries the quiet, the quiet commands the truth. The night accentuates my aloneness; it echoes my fears. The darkness makes me yearn for my children and for my loved ones long gone. The night plays a melancholy tune in my head. The night makes me yearn for the light of day when everything is new once again.                                                                                                     ~ Author: Debi Tolbert Duggar   As a...

#Scattered_TheBox

     Bree sat silent in the passenger seat of Della’s Range Rover as they drove away from the city towards Bree’s farmhouse. Della respected her friends silence, glancing furtively towards Bree, checking for what? Della didn’t know; was there a protocol for ‘how to act when your friend is told she has a few months to live?’ Della wasn’t sure and at this moment her heart hurt as if it were being squeezed by a giant hand intent on crushing the organ in her chest.       Della met Bree Maxwell at the registrar’s office in 1974 at the University of Chicago. Just two long-haired hippie chicks in bell bottom denims and crop tops among thousands, struggling to look cool while simultaneously overwhelmed by the process of registering for classes. The two became fast friends and shortly thereafter they met Tish and Ann, also freshman. The foursome became inseparable and forged a bond that has endured four decades.         Bree is the...

Summer Road Trip_The Warehousians

June 16, 2012 In the summer of 1969, when everyone old enough and hip enough was flocking to Yasgar's Farm in upstate New York for a music festival called Woodstock, I and most of my friends were looking forward to starting high school. The tidal wave of rock n roll, free love, tye-dye, psychedelics, and peace was just beginning to roll across the country from the west coast; it would find willing participants in the sleepy little mid-western town I grew up in. It was music that brought us together in the early '70's at a seemingly abandoned building in downtown Marion Indiana (righteously name The 7th Street Warehouse), and it was music that brought us together Saturday night in a building once occupied by Freel and Mason drugstore in downtown Marion some 40 years later for a first attempt at a 'reunion' of sorts. Our 'Prophet,' Duke, started a Facebook Page about a year ago, called the '7th Street Warehouse People,' which mushroomed (no pun intend...