Wandering West Day 17 - Why Would You Want to Do That?

(No you didn't miss anything, spent Day 16 crashing from all the travelling)


FEDERAL WAY, WA – Today I forced myself to go into the city once rush hour had passed. It was recommended that I check out the waterfront and the Pike Street Market among other things. Notice I said “forced”. I don't like cities that much though I have been known to enjoy Washington, DC, San Diego or San Francisco on occasion. But my experience here in Seattle can best be described by the following stream of consciousness i.e., rambling:



Traffic, traffic, guess the exit, wander through one way streets, pedestrians, look for parking, parking, parking meters not working, parking meter working, graffiti, panhandlers, litter, litter, grafitti, panhandlers, tourists, wandering, wandering, glimpses of the space needle. shops, crowds, crowds, noise, car fumes, litter, interesting people, street people, traffic, traffic, etc, etc. GET ME OUT OF HERE!


After the unspeakable beauty of national parks, I'm not getting anything out of this city thing. No, I didn't go to the top of the Space Needle even though I was near by. I switched to Plan B, which was developed back in the car as I locked myself securely away from the poison of the city.


And I remembered what was said to me in Glacier. I met some hikers from the Seattle area and asked them what I should check out. They highly recommended Mt Rainier among other things. When I asked what sites I should check out in the city when I visited Seattle, they replied, “Why would you want to do that?”

Seattle from Alki Beach