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Published: July 27th 2011
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Our visit to Seattle luckily coincided with 2 of the average 65 days a year that are sunny. Add to that the fact that it was weekend and you have a recipe for a very busy time in town! Coming in from the North, after a long wait to get through the border between the USA and Canada, the view over Puget Sound with the space needle rising in the centre of the city, was pretty special. We got one of the last spots in the camping ground and the next day headed by train into the city, about a 20 minute ride,(which took 30 because of track maintenance and because service had been cut to every 15 minutes) Still a pretty good service if you ask me. We got off at the Chinatown stop and walked the streets, headed towards the piers and through Pioneer Square, the site of the original town before it burn down in the late 1800's. Having been built in a swamp, town planners decided to raise the level of the town and built 8 metre high walls between the existing streets and filled or covered over the gaps, building new shops, or extending their existing
shops upwards. This had left an underground tunnel system of old storefronts and steps that is well worth a visit. Heading to the pier, watching the dogs head off on their day cruise and trying to decide what seafood to eat and whether or not to buy another teeshirt, is tiring work, so after an expensive for what it was but delicious nonetheless snack of fried prawns, we headed up the steep tiered steps to Pike Place Market. It was VERY busy on a sunny Sunday afternoon, with by far the busiest place being the Starbucks on Pike Place. we couldn't quite understand why, being that there is Starbucks just about around every corner, but have subsequently found out that this was the original, where it all began and because of the heritage status of the Markets, is in original condition. We should have stood in line! But we didn't as there were more things to do and see. The Pike Place Fish Market is just as entertaining as I have seen on TV. I think they are on to a winner as people buy their fish just to watch the floor show and see it get tossed around. More
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Down on the Pier sustenance was required and we opted for 'Crab Cups' this time. Cups filled with yummy crab, crisp celery and spicy seafood sauce. Delicious! We never made it to the Space Needle, by this time we were all tuckered out from walking and made our way back to Chinatown, through the 'homeless' part of town which was pretty dodgy, and back to camp, finding a great supermarket on the way, where we stocked up on essentials like beer and cheese and sat in the evening sun, tired but contented. It was a warm night and the traffic woke us early. If it hadn't been that, it would have been the thunder and rain an hour or so later, so we took that as our cue to up stakes and leave town, having experienced the city's quota of sunny days for the next week or two! We have headed South and West, past Mt St. Helen's, across the Columbia River and following the Oregon Trails of Lewis and Clark to Highway 101, down the west coast. If we follow this route down for another 1000 miles, it will take us to Los Angeles. I will bring you tales from the trails in the next installment! Keep smiling everyone. Love to all. Shelley and Dean.
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