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Seattle 2023
I thought it best to take a break from work/caregiving and get some traveling in for the year. A colleague friend of mine moved to the Seattle region in early 2022 and promptly invited me up to stay and cruise around the northwest. Who am I to refuse such an offer?
In October 2023, I flew to Seattle and spent a week galavanting around the area which happened to be nearing its peak fall color scheme. I was last here on my first (48-state) trip in 2005 but only blew through town, going up/down the Space Needle and quickly moving on. With the company of my hosts I would need to temper my pace for this round.
Oct 17 - Travel Day, fly to Seattle/Tacoma (SEATAC), stay in Monroe, WA
Oct 18 - Downtown Seattle Area
Oct 19 - Work Day (no travel)
Oct 20 - Whidbey Island, Deception Pass, Coupeville, Langley
Oct 21 - Casual Day (no specific destinations)
Oct 22 - Leavenworth, WA
Oct 23 - Snohomish, Snoqualmie Falls
Oct 24 - Travel Day, fly home (SNA)
Tuesday, October 17th
For the first time, I decided to treat myself and fly First Class on Delta. The fare wasn't bad, especially flying out of John Wayne Airport (SNA) which tends to be higher priced. Wheels were up around 3:30pm PDT, with a decent speedy flight, arriving about 6:15pm at SEATAC. Prior to landing I could spot all the islands surrounded by the Puget Sound.
Delta DL2373 - The islands of Puget Sound come into view on the approach to SeaTac airport.
The Lyft fares out of the airport were rather high, so I thought to be efficient and take the 1 Line light rail all the way to Northgate station (for US$3.50), arriving at 8:00pm. (Confession: The train nerd in me really wanted to take the light rail since there isn't one in Orange County.) That brought the Lyft fare down under $100, so off I went to my destination just south of Monroe, WA, arriving minutes before 9:00pm. My host lives in a semi-remote wooded area on 5 acres, so it was a lovely home base to set up shop.
Wednesday, October 18th
As my host would be busy working today, she graciously let me borrow her Jeep Wrangler. Since this would be my only solo day, I was free to let speed-run tendencies go wild (of course). The first stop was going down to Kent, WA to see a friend from high school that had been living in the area for a while. I arrived at her complex around 11:15am and then headed up to Make Me a Sandwich Restaurant in Burien, WA which wasn't too shabby, and caught up on life. After lunch, I asked if she wanted to see one of the six NorthWestern trolls recently erected around the region. We headed another 10 miles northwest to Lincoln Park and did a 1/2-mile walk to the tip of the park, discovering the West Seattle Troll around 12:45pm. (Apparently since I’m the only one still toting around an SLR camera, everyone else looking for it assumed I already knew where it was lol). After pics we returned to the parking lot and drove my friend back to her place.
Lincoln Park - This 15-foot tall Northwestern Troll was by a Danish artist which
is made completely of recycled wood. There are six to find in the Seattle region.
Next stop was visiting an old church pastor from back in the day. His new setup wasn’t too far from my final destination which worked out perfect. I arrived at in the Queen Anne district just before 2:30pm and caught up with the pastor, who gave me the grand tour of his new digs and met some of his church staff. He then said it was a requirement to go check out Pike Place Market (which I had never heard of) so he gave me directions and off I went.
Of course it was downtown and driving/parking is a little nutty. It took a few U-Turns to find the parking structure that didn’t cost an arm and a leg (only $4/hour!). Walked across the street and up the elevator to the top floor of the market, where I met with a fresh stench of seafood. But aside from the huge carp and salmon staring at me, there were all kinds of goodies to buy at the street level. There were also other ramps to the lower floors where even more shops were abound. It’s not exactly organized in a neat and laid out fashion, but I guess that’s what gives it its charm. I ended up buying some pepperoni sticks and candy but not much else. Got in and out just under an hour.
Pike Place Market - When reaching the street level, this is one of the first vendors
you smell when coming out of the elevator. There are floors of other shops you'll likely find amusing.
The final destination is a place I first visited on the massive 48-state road trip back in 2005. Last time my friends and I just blew through the town, only stopping at this very same place to go up-down-and-out. I arrived near the Space Needle just after 5:00pm and ponied up $20 for 2 hour parking. I had reserved admission tickets earlier for the 5:30-5:45 time slot, making sure to be present during sunset hours. Last time it was overcast with not much of a view, but today’s clear weather allowed for unobstructed 360° views of the harbor, coastline, cityscape, and even Mt. Rainier which I missed last time. Many other people joined for the daily sun-moving-below-horizon routine. All cameras besides mine were getting quite the workout. There was even a new revolving glass floor on the level below the observation deck. But I get too queasy with heights and wasn’t brave enough to step out and look directly down. (Nope, nope, nope!) Others had no problem with it. Yep I’m a big chicken. :)
Seattle, WA - Atop the Space Needle, downtown Seattle
continues to expand amongst the backdrop of Mount Rainier.
I left near 7:00pm and headed back to homebase, not only stopping at a Costco gasoline to fill up the jeep, but also Walmart in Monroe to pick up a few extra things for myself. Great day, got to do everything I wanted and then some!
Thursday, October 19th
Had to work remotely today along with everyone else. No travel. No fun!
Friday, October 20th
This is where the fun begins. My host and I decided to tackle Whidbey Island and some of the coastal towns dotted throughout. We left after 7:30am and made north on US 2. I had been in this general area when taking the ferry from Anacortes on my 2011 road trip, but instead of turning right to the ferry, we turned left and headed south on Hwy 20 to the first stop, Deception Pass, which is the large bridge that connects the island to the mainland. We parked and went on foot along the bridge (being sure not to look down, more height heebly-jeeblies) and to the other side where there were stairs under the bridge leading to both sides for spectacular views. Although the fog was ever present, I was still able to grab some picturesque moments.
Deception Pass - This bridge takes you over to Whidbey Island
from the mainland, where I'd be spending most of the day.
We continued on Hwy 20, blowing through the largest town of Oak Harbor, WA and over to the smaller coastal town of Coupeville, WA. Here is where we met my host’s aunt, who was a hoot and super fun! We ate at the Sunshine Drip, which has snacks, smoothies and other goodies. We soon walked around the town, first out to the pier with a few shops, harbor views, and a fresh stench of seagull droppings. After that was spending perhaps an hour meandering along the front street with the quaint shops. After that it was time to depart so we headed on to the next town of Langley, WA. Here it was more gawking through the same quaint shops as well as a few art galleries, but we did grab a late lunch at the Braeburn Restaurant as well.
Last on the list was the Spoiled Dog Winery just outside of Langley, arriving shortly after 4:00pm. My host and I each got ourselves a sampling of white wines, and sat outside (next to a heater) for the lush scenery and backdrops. Great place for wine tasting (and my first to boot!).
Langley, WA - My very first wine-tasting experience takes place here on
Whidbey Island, with a great outdoor setting and super nice folk.
That was all for today. As 5:00pm approached we headed for the ferry terminal in Clinton, WA and luckily didn’t have to wait at all. 30 minutes later we’re back on the main land and continued back to home base.
Saturday, October 21st
Didn’t have to get up early today. After catching up with administrative affairs, my hosts and I headed over to Bucatini’s in Edmonds, WA to meet up with another former colleague, whom I haven’t seen since my first road-trip in 2005. After spending a bit catching up with life, we head to a few places around that area, including the Delille Winery where more wine tasting was involved. Overall pretty easy day with no specific destinations, but there’s more in store.
Sunday, October 22nd
Today was reserved for a single destination, one that all the locals tend to rave about. I’m off to Leavenworth, WA (or as some Californians may call it, North Solvang). We ascended over the Cascade Range through Steven's Pass (mostly shrouded in fog) and finally arrived at the German-esque town around 10:00am. Oktoberfest just ended and everyone was beginning to display their holiday lighting. First on the docket was Louie’s for breakfast while waiting for the rest of the town to open up shop. There was no shortage of stores, a number of them being German origin, to peruse (and finding my wallet taking a beating). I rather enjoyed the Cider House with a flight of ciders for tasting and a ginormous pretzel.
Leavenworth, WA - This town is nestled within a valley surrounded by towering
mountains, making for a unique experience. Oktoberfest is over but they were beginning
to put up lights for the holiday season. I can only imagine the craziness then.
Although a cute town, it was rather touristy so we cleaned up early and left around 2:30pm to head back over the range. One day left!
Monday, October 23rd
Wrapping up the last full day, we first head to a fun little bikini barista in Monroe called XO Espresso where I ordered a delicious apple cider Frappuccino (and the "view" wasn’t too bad either). From there we continued to another northwestern troll that resided in Issaquah, WA along the Rainier Trail. This one posed differently and was a tad bigger compared to the troll at Lincoln Park.
Snohomish, WA - Another troll discovered, this one guarding the trees along the park trail.
Following pics of that we then maneuvered over to Snoqualmie Falls, which looked impressive despite not being at full capacity due to the time of year. Next was perusing the town of Snohomish, but many of the places were closed on Mondays so we made do with lunch at Oxford Saloon, followed by a few shops (but I’m done with my share of buying stuff for this trip.)
Snoqualmie, WA - The final destination would be Snoqualmie Falls, although not as full
as during the spring snowmelt, it still makes for a satisfying conclusion of this trip.
We took a scenic backroad on the return trip to Monroe. My host thought it would be nice to check out the local Skykomish river, but upon parking, the closer we got to the river the more mysteriously foul it smelled. We discover the source of the stench to be a massive salmon die-off. Hundreds of fish corpses were littered along the banks. Yuck! OK two quick pictures of the bridge and we hustled right back out of there. We finished up with meeting one of my host's neighbor at the top of the hill and then hitting a local Mexican joint in town (Mi Tierra) for the last meal. Doozy of a trip! Time to pack it up.
Tuesday, October 24th
Of course I wanted to ride the light rail again, so I convinced my host she'd be saving time and gas taking me back to Northgate (all while ignoring the suspicious look I was receiving). We left just after 8:30am but traffic wasn't the greatest. I bade my host goodbye as she dropped me off at Northgate station at 9:40am so I could ride straight back to the airport. But I have to admit cutting it a little close as it was an hour to the airport, barely enough time for the 11:45am flight. However having First Class Priority saved my bacon with skipping all the bag check/security lines and simply walking (a long long way) to the gate. However, through the gate doors was a commuter bus where it took the straggling passengers to a different part of the airport where we boarded the flight via ramp. Never experienced that before, but hey at least I enjoyed my First Class seat all the way back to SNA, wheels down just after 2:00pm. It's over!
Conclusion
I can see why many folks decide to make the northwest their home. It really is peaceful if you camp away from the main city. Forests and woods, although if you're used to a grid layout community, all the winding roads and cascading forks can throw you off. And except for one day I wasn't really rushing here and there like a mad man. I have to say it's nice to catch your breath and enjoy the scenery (who woulda thunk it?)
As far as highlights, I enjoyed my first day marking off all the stretch goals, as well as the day in Leavenworth. No real detractors save for the decaying salmon by the river, but that was all of a 5-minute experience.
Photos
Not as many photos this time, surprisingly, but there was always something to find. Although a few photos exist within the reports, the full set of 24 large photos is on Facebook and Google Photos.
Thanks for reading!
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