After pigging out on doughnuts (in Part 2, here), it was almost time to start heading back to our hotel in Pacific, about 30 miles south of downtown Seattle. But first, we did a bit more sightseeing. Here's the monorail that goes by right outside where we were eating at Top Pot Doughnuts. I have always loved monorails, ever since visiting Disneyworld as a little girl. Unfortunately, with our bikes, we really couldn't take a ride. We rode north a bit to get as close as we could to the Space Needle. Before leaving downtown, we wanted to make sure to check out the Public Market area, so we headed back downhill and towards the waterfront. It was certainly bustling with pedestrians on this busy Sunday afternoon. Cyclists, not so much. I fell in love with these rooftop flower gardens. How pretty! And this awesome pig marking the Pike Place Market. Even though we really couldn't go inside or buy anything (our pockets were already full of doughnuts!) it was just fun to be a part of such a vibrant local scene. As we finally hopped back on our steeds and continued south, we passed Safeco Field. Time to say goodbye to the city skyscrapers and head back.... One last look back at the Port of Seattle. We headed back on the bike path and crossed the Green River into a very different environment from where we'd just spent the last several hours. It was nice to see trees again! I was amazed at the number of butterfly bushes growing as weeds along the bike path. Back in my home state of North Carolina, people buy these at nurseries and plant them in their gardens. I used to! Here, I they are considered a noxious, invasive weed since they are non-native. But I love their honey-like aroma, beautiful flowers, and the fact that they attract and feed butterflies. By now, I'd finally gotten warm enough to remove my jacket, and the skort came off as well -- no need to be "dressy" now that we were no longer in the city! When we got back to Auburn, which sports these great dragonfly sculptures near the Interurban Trail crossing, the clouds had really darkened up again. Fortunately, we never did get wet, though it had rained in Pacific while we were in the city -- we saw puddles. The tally for the round-trip ride plus riding we did around the city amounted to 65 miles; not something even people as crazy as us would want to do every day. But for one excellent day, it was well worth the time and effort to see an amazing city for the first time.
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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