Last day of adventure here in Seattle

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We got an early start to the day as its our last full day here in Seattle. Tomorrow we will be flying out to start a new adventure in Yellowstone National Park! Looking forward to going to YNP but kind of sad to be leaving Seattle.

First up for the day we headed to Ballard to check out the Hiram M Chittenden Locks. What an amazing place this is. The Locks, built in 1911 and often nicknamed the Ballard Locks, provides a link for boats between the salt water of Puget Sound and the fresh water of the Ship Canal, which connects eastward to Lake Union and Lake Washington.

Tourists and locals enjoy watching the parade of sailboats, motorboats, tugs, barges and yachts passing through, as the locks' water levels are adjusted to allow their safe passage.Another popular spot is the fish ladder, built to allow salmon to pass between fresh and salt water, and to navigate the locks. Glass panels below the water line make it possible to watch the fish as they swim through the ladder. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year to spot any salmon though.

In the same area is a Botanical Gardens - we had a walk around - soaking up all the fresh air and green of the perfect lawns.

We were lucky enough be able to watch a tug boat and another larger boat make their way through the locks - very interesting. The sun came out this morning but the the day was still quite cold.

Next we took a drive out to Kirkland the home of Costco. We had a visitor pass to check out the store...it was extremely busy with everyone doing this xmas shopping. Such a big store - rather overwhelming for us..there was lots of food to taste test - that was fun too!

From there we drove to Bellevue to look at the Eastside Harley Davidson store. This is a large store with many bikes and a large service department. They had a fat boy with a side car that you could dress up in xmas gear and take photos and so we did!

We had lunch at the local Fred Meyer store next to HD. For $14 we got a bowl of Chili Steak Soup, summer rolls sushi, and a club wrap. We sat indoors in thevStarbucks Cafe to eat.

A typical Fred Meyer store has the following departments:
Food: groceries, meat and seafood, deli, produce, bakery, health and beauty, natural foods, and pet care;Apparel: clothing, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics;Home: housewares and home decor, bed and bath, home improvement and garden, furniture, sporting goods, automotive, toys, and seasonal merchandise;<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none;">Electronics: televisions, computers and software, video games, cameras, music and videos.Starbucks cafes



Fred Meyer can be found in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska - they are huge by AustraIlan standards..I got lost in one of the stores in Alaska!

Today we also visited Gasworks Park and the mariner which overlooks the city of Seattle.

In 1986 the old South Melbourne Gasworks was recreated as Gasworks Arts Park. On eight acres of beautiful parkland, Gasworks is now a thriving community arts centre owned by the City of Port Phillip. The heritage industrial buildings now house two theatres, art galleries and artist studios. There were also plenty of Canadian Geese wandering around who seem to have made the place their home.

This evening Geoff and I spent hours several chatting and having coffee with our inn-keeper Lunda and her Swedish friend Be-be. Linda has shared so many interesting stories of her past with us - it's so sad to be leaving here but we have promised to return again in 2016. We look forward to returning here again to our Seattle home.

Seattle is a great city and well worth a visit of at least a few days if your heading to the Pacific North West.

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