A fun taste of Seattle… WA

Saturday, July 7th, 2007

Yesterday was a real fun day, I mean real fun. Am I feeling more comfortable in big cities? as Seattle is definitely one of those. Hearing about the tremendous traffic we left Enumclaw at about 10am heading toward “downtown”, actually, the Pier, where the big Cruise ships moor on their stop over to… Crowded with tourists as one of those Cruise ships was in town, I could still make up the locals from the out of towners. People are different in big cities, I always feel as they are more on a narrow vision span without many sideway glances… focused into their own space as invisible four walls surrounding them on the go… go… go…

It seems that I take advantage of that fact as my own walls are down and I observe others surrounding me, as through a one way mirror. It actually does feel as walking down the streets all alone watching a moving scenery, colorful and noisy at times, finding it, at least yesterday for that matter, entertaining.

Puget Sound is the body of water between Seattle and Vancouver Island. More sailboats here per capita than anywhere else in the world… I was told. Most in the many marinas, more stored on dry docks with their masts like thousands of toothpicks sticking up in the horizon.

SAM is a little Park by the Pier, many joggers, many sun worshipers, office workers on their lunch breaks, many bicycles and the train running right in the middle of the street… and a few sculptures adding an interesting point to the surroundings. Spirit is doing great amongst the crowd now, the end of his leash in my pocket to allow me to take pictures, he stops and sits when he sees me raise the camera. Many other dogs also, with always the comment “ah! A Pit… is he mean?”. As always… I try to raise the awareness toward this breed… He is cautious with others, a quick smell and walks away… thinks… and generally comes back for more!.. Only if you are dog lover.

It was a picture perfect day… one of those… It seems that good weather follows us wherever we go as it has been tailor made for us these past few days, including a nice crisp temperature, definitely a feel good day! After hanging out for a while, it was time to head a bit north to Fremont, another neighborhood as we were to meet a friend of Woody from Denver… the master of wheels, to my knowledge the only person in this country that will straighten up a BMW spoke wheel… I know… from experience.

Fremont sits by a man made Canal, with many boats going up and down and what I call a quaint neighborhood with many restaurants, mostly of the exotic type, meaning Thai, Indian… and Coffee Shops with everyone glued to their wireless laptops! After all, Seattle is the residence for Microsoft, Adobe and many others. Meg was a true sweetheart, a resident here for the past 25 years and a world traveler opening up the topic for many interesting conversations. About 3 months per year she will visit new parts of the world… not on a motorcycle or a car… but with the total freedom of a backpack and a good pair of hiking shoes.

Over some water and coffee, including Spirit laying down by our feet as many establishment with outdoor seating are dog friendly, including water bowl, we had a chance to talk for a couple hours and watch the traffic on the Canal. End up with a stroll closer to the water marking the end of the afternoon as it was time to part. I wanted to see a sunset (what else is new!) and I was given directions to Discovery Park on the west side of town.

I love Fish and Chips… soaked with Malt Vinegar… and I could not help stopping at the Lockstop Café for a quick dinner. The Fish was great… the chips?… well, just your average french fries instead of flat and wide cut potatoes… can’t win them all and then again I know I am really picky about what I eat. On the to the beach…

A couple riders are coming the other way, looking in my rear view mirror they are now behind me. A couple ADV Riders… stickers do help recognizing each other from this huge 50,000+ member Forum (Adventure Riders). Noah and ReadytoAustin are their handle, both riding a V Strom, locals but loaded with giant Frisbee, camera, blankets… I actually thought they were on a cross country trip…

ReadytoAustin?… well… Mr. Energy himself, batteries fully charged up, did not take them long to find a couple attractive partners for a very entertaining time throwing the frisbee. Bouncing between the view of Puget Sound, the sun setting slowly on the horizon, sailboats going by, the crowd on the beach, Spirit playing with other dogs, time went by fast… Just a great time, friendly people… If I was going to live in a city, well, this might be it.

Time for goodbyes, will see you again down the road guys sometime soon I am sure. Evans Creek ORV area was a tip given for my next camping site as we are moving tomorrow. Near by, as I am waiting for my mail to follow me, regroup, decide on the next destination which is between the Olympic Peninsula and Wyoming/Montana combined… East or West? I probably will not know till the engine warms up… I am even having some thoughts about were to spend the coming winter… and then again… just enjoying the “now”, the rig which after a fine adjustment of the sway bar yesterday morning is even better than before… Health is good with both of us, sometimes I cannot help wondering through this Journey why the path is so bright always filled with incredible people as we are truly never alone.

You be well… enjoy the pictures as I do, so many memories after about 150 Blogs!

Enjoying the site? The pictures?… or simply finding it entertaining… Then why not consider supporting it with a donation. We would appreciate it. See the “donation” link above… If snail mail…

Ara Gureghian

853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245

Naples Fl 34108

Be well… as always.

Ara & Spirit

Share and Enjoy:
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • RSS
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Technorati

One Response to “A fun taste of Seattle… WA”

  1. Doug Barton (dr_bar on the TMW site) Says:

    I have been terribly busy and have not had the time to read any of this amazing blog since May/ early June, as I hit the road myself for a few weeks and did a dash across Canada to the east coast and back. I have just visited your blog and archives for the first time since then and noticed you were just a few hours away back in July and I didn’t even know it. I live in Vancouver BC and the border is no barrier to me when I have desire to travel. Damn, I wish I wasn’t so tied up to read this blog back in July…

    Well you stay safe and keep the shiny side up.

    Best wishes,

    Doug

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.