Seattle

October 22

I woke up refreshed. To be a bit redundant, I have to say that it is definitely easier to sleep in a bed in a quiet hotel than on a train. I looked out the window at a grey and cloudy sky. The forecast suggested worse, putting some doubt into my sightseeing day in Seattle.

As I left the hotel, I crossed the road and looked back to see how I had missed it the night before. It was obvious; the entrance was fully covered by trees. I headed towards the water and found a café for breakfast, where they had lattes but no croissants. I settled for a bagel. From there it was only a few minutes to the main road along the water. I took many photos at the waterfront including the giant Ferris wheel called the Seattle Great Wheel. I did not consider going for a ride. Even if I had, with the clouds it was not going to be a great day for photographing what are supposed to be fantastic views of Seattle.

I saw that there is a sculpture garden, the Olympic Sculpture Park. I knew I needed to go there.

I looked down the track that I would be on the next morning.

Then it started to rain. I had just passed a small café with covered outdoor tables, so I hurried back there and took shelter. I chatted with a couple from Portland who had come up for the weekend. They told me that Portland and Seattle had been exchanging the dubious distinction of having the worst air quality in the world, thanks to the many wildfires, such as what we went through the day before.

The rain came down quite hard for several minutes. Once it let up a little, I headed back down the road. This time I noted the terminal for the Victoria Clipper Ferry. I had mentioned my trip on the ferry in 1988 in my post “Night on the Ocean” when I described my “landing” in Canada. I thought about taking a photograph of the terminal, but it was raining again, and I had my camera under my coat to keep it dry.

I had to visit Pike Place Market. I took a few photos along the way.

The seafood vendors are famous for throwing fish, but I did not see any flying objects.

I made a beeline for a fruit and vegetable vendor who was giving out mango samples. He asked me where I was from. His reply to Newfoundland was, “Where is that?” He then said that he could ship to me in Newfoundland. I was a bit skeptical since seconds earlier he did not even know where it was. The mango was good. He gave me his card.

There was a big line going into a place with heavenly smells. I asked a man what everyone was lining up for and how long it took to get to the front. “Russian pastries”, he said. It will take you about 10 or 15 minutes, but get in line, it is worth it.” So, I did. I bought a ham, cheese, and spinach one for lunch and a Russian for dessert. It was fun waiting and listening to a woman who kept everyone in line and moving forward. The place is called Piroshky Piroshky. If you are ever in Seattle, be sure to get in the line.

I passed the original Starbucks coffee outlet. There was a big line there as well. I was willing to line up for the pastries, but not for a Starbucks coffee.

I needed a place to eat my pastries. Although there were lots of outdoor tables, everything was quite wet. I ended up back in my room. I had to be careful to avoid leaving flakes everywhere since these pastries were definitely flakey. I quite enjoyed the savoury pastry but was not so fond of the sweet one.

The rain kept falling, so I decided to stay in the room and watch my Penn State football team on television. I called Po and found out there was a dinner party at my house. Po has organized the Pouch Cove Public Sculpture committee. The artist and his assistant were in town installing the garden’s latest piece. They and the committee all shouted hello to me. I felt a bit sad to be missing that, but not too much, since I had a couple more trains to catch.

This is the sculpture, "An Opening in the Canopy". it is a sundial, consistent with Pouch Cove's town motto, "First to See the Sun".

After the game, I checked Google Maps for a place to buy some fruit and identified a 7-11 convenience store. It seemed like it should be easy to find, but I walked towards the water, past where I thought it should be and then back around the block. I did see an interesting looking Peruvian restaurant. Instead of a menu I had to use their QR code, which used a lot of my precious U.S. data, but it came up with some interesting things. I went inside, where they gave me a real menu. I had salmon and a Peruvian beer. It was very good. There was a big group at the table next to me. I wished that I could try some of their dishes.

When I left, I noted a sign for what was once the location of the store. It was now covered up. Google Maps was a bit out of date.

Back at my room I downloaded my videos and went through my notes. I may write up the final version many days or weeks later, but I do try to have notes on the bigger things that happened during each day.

I had been receiving emails from Amtrak about my booking on the Cascades to Vancouver, requesting me to bid on an upgrade from economy to business class. I put in amounts of $20 to $25 without committing and was told that my bid was weak. My original ticket was $40 and business class was about twice that. I could not see a compelling reason to upgrade. On Via Rail you get a meal and free drinks, but Amtrak was only giving $3 off menu items and priority boarding. They also mentioned more leg room, but train seats are already quite spacious, and the trip was only four hours. Seats are assigned in business class, but I thought that might not be a good thing if I was not assigned to a window seat on the left side which I had read was the best for the water views. My seat in economy was not assigned. I just needed to be quick enough to get a window seat on the left side.

I set my alarm for 5:45 since I needed to pack in the morning since I was giving my things another few hours to dry.

When I planned this trip, I had wondered how I would feel about getting on one train after another. I had now been on four different trains for over 100 hours and been in almost constant motion, having spent only one or two nights at each stop. So how was I feeling at that moment? Was I ready for another train? You bet I was. I was super excited and ready to grab my bag, roll it to the station, and get on board my next train.