Sound's Good

Seattle Ferry to Bainbridge Island. Right across the Puget Sound.

Except for one five minute interval of hail, yes hail, I experienced
no rain in the Emerald City. A period of 24 hours.

Crap

Want to learn about plumbing in the late 19th century? Go to Seattle's underground. I'm there...now.

This photo was taken below the sidewalks of Pioneer Square. You can see the skylights which were installed to shed light on the subterranial rabble rousing.

Looking Skyward

Photo from last night looking straight up at the Space Needle. It was
built for the World's Fair back in the day.

A Quiz

For the readers:

Which one did I have for lunch today?

This meat stand is right outside Safeco.

Athenian Inn

I'm overdue for a post like this.

Let's talk some eats. Great eats to be exact. This delightful dish is
brought to you by the Athenian Inn inside the renown Pike Place Fish
Market.

Now I want to get this right, it's called Halibut Sinigang with
mussels and clams. Poached in clear fish broth and served with rice,
vegetable, and sourdough bread.

This meal was excellent and continues my streak of ordering the best
thing on the menu. You can't see the rice, but dont fret, it's
there. As you may or may not know, I have a thing for rice. And here
it becomes imperative that you combine a vegetable, a chunk of fish,
and some of that hidden rice all in one bite. Just perfect. Of
course, you can't lose with most shellfish and so I liked that too.
Towards the end it turns into a nice soup and the bread becomes useful for dipping in the broth and the remaining rices.

I also reccommend doucing some vinegar on that Halibut for a little
extra flava.

The beer that you see on the canvas is called Pike Place Scottish
Kiltlifter Ale. Out of respect to beer afficianados I won't pretend
to be an expert on hops and give you some detailed rundown full of
nonsense and hogwash. I'll just say that it was very good.

The view from my booth of Elliot Bay (Puget Sound) wasn't too bad
either.

Food always makes for a good photo.

Pike Place Market

Token Seattle shot.

Fly Me To The Moon

DC TO SEATTLE!

I blog to you tonight from over 500 feet up in Seattle's Space
Needle! Technology at it's finest.

Folks, this is a BIG time city. Huge modern buildings, loads of
history, eclectic neighborhoods, tasty seafood (see future post), 2
pro teams (sorry Sonics) and what appears to be awesome public
transportation. Not that I'm an expert after only one day here,
but Seattle is definitely on par or better than any of its east coast rivals sans NYC.

In the photo you can see Qwest Field where the Seahawks play. It's
the bright light towards the right of the photo at the end of the
skyline.

Things on the docket for tomorrow: Klondike gold rush site, Boeing
factory tour, coffee, monrail, underground tour.

We'll see if I get to all that.

Beautiful Mount Rainier

Just look at it!

Ok, now you have seen as much as I have.

I got in uncharacteristically late to the park last night and so I
went over the Chinook Pass in the dark. I don't advise. 

I found a camp site in Ohanapecosh and nestled in amongst the tall Douglas Firs. When I woke up I saw how tall these trees really were. Very tall! it was also 

pouring rain and the ranger told me it would be impossible to see
Rainier with the cloud cover. Kind of a bummer. Also, the snow level
is getting low so it may be time to get off the "scenic" route if you
know what I mean.

Note: I did not sleep as well after listening to the Red Sox recent
triumphs. Why do they have to have a champagne celebration after
winning every series? Is that necessary? And Papelbon is the worst.
I'm betting as soon as next year Wieters takes him yard on multiple
occasions. And that's what I'm talkin bout!

Washington Apples!

A quick [Dave's] Detour led me to this apple orchard in Wakima called
Washington's Fruit Place and Visitor Center. Expecting a grand
production display and a tour of it's facilities, I was disappointed
to find it was just a gucci gift shop, some trees, and a pumpkin
patch. The two polite ladies womening the operation pointed me in the direction of a hay maze!

After expending valuable energies figuring out this brainbuster I
conceded that this place was not so much fun. So I bought some apples and some nectarines and went on with the show.

Note: this was not the visitor center I was looking for, but I
couldn't find that either. Even upon further instruction.

Logging

Intermingled with the foul odors coming from farms all over Eastern
Washington was the smell of recently cut timber at this yard in
Wakima. The yard went on for yards...lots of them. I admit, the aroma from the fresh cut timber was a pleasant change.

Seriosuly, if you think Iowa has a lot of farms you haven't seen
Washington. Specifically route 12 going from Lewiston to Kennewick.