Monday, August 22, 2011

8.14.11 Day 53 Happy Birthday!


I left the campsite bright and early today so I could make it to Seattle at a decent hour. I wasn’t feeling too well this morning. The past few nights and mornings have been really chilly so I was beginning to get a bit of a cold. My head hurt and my body was feeling sore. After leaving Spokane, I was surprised by the landscape of eastern Washington. It was almost desert like and extremely windy. I always assumed the whole state of Washington was full of evergreen trees and scenic mountains. I passed several wind farms and at one in particular, I stopped to get a picture and just happened to see Mount Rainier in the distance. Its crazy how much snow there is still on it. After a few quick pictures, I continued on towards the Cascades. Going through Snoqualmie pass was pretty cool. Quite scenic for an interstate.







Eastern Washington wind farm with Mt. Rainier in the background.















Columbia River gorge




























Snoqualmie Pass













Starting to see signs of civilization again.












Welcome to Seattle. Portal to the Pacific







It felt strange arriving into the city. I’ve been in such desolate areas for so long now that Im not used to being in traffic and seeing buildings. Downtown Seattle is pretty impressive. Ive always been told it’s a small city but it certainly has a big city feel. Im excited to be here and to see my brother on his birthday but I kind of feel like crap today. I get through downtown seattle and get to my brother’s apartment just outside of downtown. He is outside waiting for me.

“that’s a lot of stuff! Welcome to Seattle!”

Haha, good to see William again. Last time I saw my brother was at my grandfathers funeral so it was nice to see him on good terms. I hadn’t been really letting him know exactly what time I would be there so he was tracking me on my spot so he knew when I was close. Haha. He helped me carry my stuff upstairs, showed me to my room then I got a shower. All cleaned up, we hopped in his car for a quick tour of Seattle.

First stop was the Pikes Market. Its basically a big flea/farmers market and also has the famous Pike Fish Market where the employees throw and catch fish. The market was pretty cool and jam packed since it was a weekend. At a seafood market, we got a tuna ceviche and some shrimp cocktail. So good. Fresh too. It was great to have something other than burgers or generic bar and grill food. At the Pikes fish market, we hung around for a while waiting for some flying fish. A girl and what looked like her date walked by us and we heard her say that they no longer throw the fish because of PETA. Not a few minutes later, a couple of fish went through the air, haha. I hope her date saw it.




Nom nom nom nom













It all looks so fresh and massive. so hungry....
















Er hu. I love this instrument.











Flying Fish!






























LOL







After Pikes, we walked around parts of downtown, went to Nordstrom so my brother could buy a pillow and went to get some more food. We stopped at Pikes Place Chowder and got some seafood bisque which was amazing. We left downtown after a while then headed to the locks where the boats were raised and lowered from Puget Sound and Lake Washington. There we also saw the Fish Ladder which was really cool. The locks is a really cool area and there are not many places that have viewable fish ladders. Once I got bored of fish, we went to see the “Troll.” Its basically a huge troll statue underneath an interstate overpass. Apparently there used to be a lot of bums and vagrants here so the city decided to build this troll to keep people out and now it’s a big attraction. It’s actually a pretty cool statue.






Steel drums. they sound so cool.

















Seafood Bisque. incredible.




















I’ve heard some good things about Seattle, but Im really seeing for myself how cool this city really is. Almost everywhere you go there is a scenic view, a cool neighborhood or some kind of attraction. I can see why people deal with the cold and constant rain. For dinner, we went to Chinatown and ate at a small Taiwanese restaurant. Its impossible to find good Taiwanese food in Atlanta. This place was really good and authentic. Although the stinky tofu wasn’t the best, the beef tendon was the best Ive ever had. The beef noodle soup with the hand sliced noodles were good and the pork chops were great too. It was great food and I will be back one day. After dinner, we got some bubble tea then called it a night.





The locks.













Fish ladder





































Now they are down.
































This is the postcard view of Seattle and its only a few blocks from my brothers apartment. How cool is that?














The troll. and yes thats a VW bug under his hand.










Google














China Town















Beef Tendons. its much better than it sounds.















Beef noodle soup and porkchops.
















My bro. We are a family of foodies, its amazing how we are not all extremely overweight.












Stinky Tofu. another one that tastes better than it sounds.










My trip thus far. south to north then coast to coast.







Back at the apartment, we hung out and talked for a bit then put on a movie with my Netflix account. We watched Kung Fu Dunk with Jay Chou. Totally cheesy movie but it was something to watch. Its been a pretty good day. It was strange being around so many people and in a big city again. I felt odd and out of place for a while. Im just so used to being in the middle of nowhere now among massive mountains and animals so hearing the city noises, seeing the mass amounts of people and feeling crowded was such a bit change. I felt strange all day, it wasn’t until dinner that I started to feel comfortable and used to my surroundings. But all in all, Im happy to finally be on the West Coast with my brother and get to see the place he has been living the past few years. Im actually quite impressed with Seattle and could see myself living here. I would have to spend some time here in the winter before I made a move here though. Im not a fan of cold weather. Ive been to a decent amount of places now and I think this is the first time Ive actually felt like I could stay in one place for a while. Not sure if its because Im with family, or if its because I really do like the city. It is a great city…..

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