Back to Seattle

I figure that a rainy day is good day to sit in the car and catch up on the social side of this trip.  Stacy culls hundreds of photos and I write this as we listen to DK's rain mix CD.  Thanks DK.  After our soaking on the peninsula, we checked into the hostel, Hotel Hotel, in the Seattle suburb of Fremont. 

The guy checking us in informed us that the Solstice festival was happening that weekend, and it attracted an 'interesting' crowd.  Interesting crowd is a sophisticated way of explaining the 1500+ naked cyclists that parade down main street on Saturday.  I doubt those photos will be posted, but if you want to see random people's boobs and ding dongs (and sometimes both on the same person) painted and flapping in the wind as they cycled by, we do have evidence... We also visited stores of several high visibility outdoor gear stores throughout Seattle.  They were a let down as they seemed to cater to those going for the outdoor life in apparel/appearance only, very little hard goods. Oh well.

I definitely recommend Pikes Place Market though, even if it is just for the Seattle experience. Yummy foods, flowers, Seattle trinkets, and even a lil bit of hometown pride. Go Pens! Back at the hostel (which was wonderfully clean, modern, and provided interesting roommates) we made a killer lunch/dinner all with fresh ingredients that we snagged at the market.

After successfully making the entire hostel jealous with the smell of roasted garlic, we caught a bus back into town for the adult underworld tour.  FYI: using the public transportation in any city is the best way to learn the city/people watch!

The original Seattle was not very far above the sea level.  This led to several issues with exploding toilets and after a fire, they rebuilt the city upon the bones of the original streets, one story up.  The remnants of the original first story became a hidden gem of brothels and opium dens.  Stacy and I partook in both.   Seriously though, the tour was great.

Sunday was spent catching up on this silly blog, wandering the Solstice market, watching the naked dog parade, playing on the structures in Gas Works Park, and grabbing some more gear at REI.  Stacy was giddy when a very enthusiastic Seattle native approached her while at the bus stop to tell her that "She was the best example of urban chic that he as seen in a long time" (must be that buzz cut and hiking boots). Enough of the city.... as John Muir said, "The mountains are calling and I must go."

<3 S
&
-K