Seattle, WA

There is something special about exploring a new city with someone who really knows their way around. After leaving the Cascades, we contacted Martin and Lee Goodness, the son and daughter-in-law of our good neighbors. They live in Federal Way, just outside of Seattle. On short notice, they not only welcomed us into their home, but Martin took a day off from work to act as tour guide. Mr. Pickles provided us with our "dog fix" while we were there, as well.

We spent our first evening with them exploring the local waterfront, and walked around one of the numerous parks in the area. Seattle has more than 400 of them! We walked the garden area, which had more varieties of dahlias than we had ever seen in our lives!

The next day we went into Seattle, stopping at the Ballard locks on our way in. Ballard Locks allows boats to travel between Puget Sound and Washington Lake. They are managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, who have designed the area around the locks with grassy terraces, allowing onlookers to sit, picnic, or whatever while watching the activity. The locks are very active, especially on the weekends. The day we were there, there was a beautiful old cruiser built in 1924, about 60 feet long with its original 4 cylinder engine (think "African Queen" and the sound that engine made...) They had recently returned from a 3 month South Pacific cruise. We were all envious (especially Martin, who was drooling over all the boats). The locks also have an active fish ladder for salmon migration. The day we were there, there were very few fish running. We listened to a talk by one of the naturalist regarding the important role salmon play in the Northwest, highlighting a theme we have heard in various forms in our visits to the National Parks- we are all in this together, living on one earth, what happens to one species eventually effects us all. If we don't take care of what we have, the following generations will miss out on what we have taken for granted.

The city of Seattle is beautiful. Its beauty comes not only from all of its parks, but from the vibrant feeling of activity. People live in Seattle, not just commute. Those who don't live in the city have many reasons to visit in addition to working. There are many festivals, art shows, music, and shopping. We took the monorail from near the Space Needle, site of the 1964 World's Fair, into the downtown area, where we walked around Pikes Place Market. The market was started as a farmers market in the late 1800's as a way to eliminate the middleman between the farmers and the consumer. It has remained active since, continuing to offer local fruits and vegetables, as well as lots of other vendors for crafts. If any of you have seen the training movie featuring a fish market that has a whole routine of throwing fish, this is where it is located. They do look like they are having fun!

Our final activity for the day was a duck tour. Ducks are amphibious vehicles that provide both a land and water tour. Our driver was quite a character (Greg Garious- get it?), who provided lots of local information. The water portion of the tour was on Lake Washington, which was the location of the houseboat (actually a floating house) in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. There are a lot of quite fancy floating houses on the lake- not a bad way to live!

After a long day touring (sorry Mr. Pickles) we returned to Federal Way, with plans to return to Vancouver the next morning in preparation for the Alaska Cruise. Thanks again to Martin and Lee for a great time in Seattle!