Seattle, With Great Expectations

Woke up early and started for Seattle. The terrain looks like eastern Montana, not what we would have expected. Except for the bodies of water dotting the view between dry, rolling prairie, it seemed familiar.. We hit 3000 miles at Moses Lake in Washington state, 12:501 pm. That's more than half way, but still half again as many to go or more. Camille is doing an excellent job of driving.

Passed over the Columbia River at 4:24 mst. Had an interesting fountain I was unable to capture so quickly, then saw a glimpse of the did farm off in the distance and found that is is just one of many. 

Coming from a state whose highways are heavily patrolled, having a 70 mph speed limit and having people drive under it is hard to comprehend, sometimes. Why wouldn't you go faster if you could????

We ended up getting into Seattle in late afternoon. Fabulously sunny day, so we had plenty of time to check into The Green Tortoise Hostel before heading for dinner.

The Green Tortoise is located across the street from Pike's Place Market, very convenient and central to going other places. We had one roomy, from Australia, on her way by ferry to Alaska. It had not occurred to either of us how easy it would be to do from Seattle, until Allyson mentioned it.

The very cool thing about the bed set up was the privacy curtains that surrounded each bed. Inside each little fabric cave were 4 outlets, a light and a fan very handy with ope windows and no a/c. The open window let in street noise that was easily drowned out by the fan. Of course, one would have to like unnatural wind to use the fan. There were also under bunk lockers for storing our things while we were away. The bathrooms were located across the hall, so convenient. One just had to remember to bring the room key wherever you went or you would be locked out of your room and have to wake someone up to get back to bed. The idea of being stranded in the hallway in pajamas, very motivating to remember. They even had a wheel chair accessible bathroom. Not sure how you would get into the hostel considering it is on the second floor with no elevator... ????

After settling in we headed out to Agua Verde Cafe and Paddle Club, near Univ of Wash, (which my smart phone gps pronounced phonetically Uni-i-v of Wa-a-sh, very funny). Being real foodies, it was Camille's mission to find places to eat food that would tickle our gastronomic crazy bones. And what better place to go than one situated on Portage Bay AND presented the opportunity to paddle before or after imbibing in margaritas? We got great advice to NEVER try those standing paddle boats, basically a surf board and a long canoe paddle. They are, according to our adviser, an extreme ab workout, requiring great balance to remain dry, something our tipster was not able to do. We didn't check out his abs or the boats. But still, if we were there longer, possibly. That is the one thing about this kind of trip, not enough time in each place.

Our food, for the most part, was a nice balance between heat and flavor, very fresh, too. The vegetable empanadas were light, with al dente vegetables and a perfectly done corn layer wrapped around them. BUT, the chicken torta was soooo spicy, we had to wait to take a next bite, to be able to finally taste it. Though I understand many people like that kind of heat, I liken it to eating fire, voluntarily. Not my kind of torture.

The evening was young so we headed back to the hostel and walked around the harbor area, stopping in at the Alibi Room.  We had interesting conversations with two young service men on leave recently reassigned to the Seattle area. They were in the intelligence unit of the US army so lots of topics were taboo. Jeff had gradated from Ohio State and enlisted to pay off his school loans as well as offer something back for all our country does. One thing came through very clearly, to do what they do requires much sacrifice, something they feel is overshadowed by the image of servicemen as uneducated or worse. By New Years, they will be in Afghanistan, and as a mother, it is frightening to think about what our young service men and women will experience, and also more than impressive that they're willing to be there. Bless them and keep them safe for their real mothers as well.

Next stop was a place called The Bookstore. Felt like we were having dessert in an old family library. It is part of the Alexis Hotel. We shared a Pot de Creme, which is basically a very dense, chocolate mousse.

Walking around Seattle is full of surprises. Like the wall in Post Alley full of bubble gum. It reminded both of us of the path on Stone Mountain with some of the same plastered on opposing rocks the path squeezes through. You can hear about it, but you have to be there, see it and smell the melange all puttied together in globs and strings.

The other thought that occurred to us is WHO started it and how did it catch on? Obviously the answer lies on the internet, right? Everyone knows that where to look for the real story. Turns out it is the wall of outside Market Theatre and patrons have been putting  it on there since 1993. Supposedly, it has been cleaned off numerous times to finally be left to grow and has it ever. Parts of it have to be inches thick. If we believe everything on the internet, then it has also been voted as one of the worlds germiest attractions. Would you believe there is also one in San Luis Obispo????? Google that and read about it.