Finally, Seattle! (by Walden)

Last year Mommy bought me a book called Good Night Seattle at a garage sale because it was only 25 cents. It’s a colorful book filled with pictures of interesting places in the city. I’d never heard of Seattle before that, but it quickly became one of my favorite books. A few months later, I found out my Uncle Jojo and Aunt Kendra were going to move to Seattle (random coincidence)! I told them all about the things they could see in the city, like the Space Needle and library. Then, I found out we were going on a six-month road trip in the Burro and we were going to actually visit Seattle. I was so excited! For the past four months, I’d been asking Mom and Dad if our next stop was going to be visiting Jojo and Kendra. I especially wanted to see their cat, Arthur. Finally, after being teased by seeing them at Mt. Rainier for a camping weekend, we made it to Jojo and Kendra’s house in Seattle.

Me and Arthur in his favorite lounging spot.

Joey and Kendra live in a very cool retro house (think pink 1950s countertops and matching appliances) in an area called Montlake near the University of Washington. I was so happy to finally be able to visit their cat, Arthur, who I harassed every moment possible. A few blocks from their house is an Arboretum with a playground. Lots of the houses we’d walk by on the way to play had flowers in their yards and little gardens instead of grass. Mommy was super impressed that every house had a giant mixed recycling bin, giant compost/yard waste bin, and a tiny garbage bin. I got to ride my tricycle (perfect runway down the sidewalk), blow bubbles, throw the frisbee (I’m getting really good at throwing and catching), and kick the ball a lot in their yard, so this was a great place for us to stay a while. Seattle was having unusual weather while we were there, so it never rained and was really HOT... in the 90s. Since it rarely gets hot, no one has air conditioning, so we slept with fans blowing on us and ate outside like a picnic. It was awesome!

Blueberry season...yum!

When we first got to the city we had to get groceries and boring stuff like that. We kept getting lost and even went over a toll bridge by mistake twice. The traffic was terrible and we’d sit waiting while lights turned green then red then green and not move. Daddy kept saying “we are not city people!” After we finally learned our way around and figured out how to avoid the worst of rush hour traffic, we could go more fun places while Jojo and Kendra were at work. One of the places we found by accident is called Mercer Slough. We took a walk there and found four different kinds of berries that were ripe – raspberries, blackberries, salmonberries, and blueberries. Mommy and I love berries and cannot pass by ripe ones without picking them.

Climbing the Fremont Troll

Daddy’s cousin Jake and his girlfriend Mars (yes, like the planet – how cool) also live in Seattle. We joined them for a grill out at a place called Golden Gardens Park. On our way there we drove by the Fremont Troll, a giant cement sculpture that lives under an overpass. The troll is holding a car in his hand and only has one big glass eye. It is “scary, but not too much.” I kept saying that someone turned the troll turn into stone and now he’s stuck there forever.

Watching salmon at the Ballard Locks

We also went to see the boats going through the Ballard Locks in the Lake Washington Ship Canal. This was a must-see because it is in my Good Night Seattle book. We were excited to find a giant ship and lots of smaller boats in the locks when we arrived. We walked on a bridge over the water to see dozens of salmon migrating upstream through a window. They were going up the fish ladder but I never saw a ladder so that wasn’t very exciting to me. On our way back to the car, the lock opened and the boats went by like a parade. In my book, the people who visit the Ballard Locks are in a hot air balloon; I was disappointed that we didn’t see a hot air balloon.

Jojo, Kendra, Jim, Walden, Jake, and Mars

When we finally got to Golden Gardens Park, I was excited there were a playground and a sandy beach to play in. Even though I’d never met Jake before I instantly liked him, gave him a shovel, and insisted he come play in the sand with me. We grilled brats and steak and stayed so long the sun went down and turned the sky orange and pink over Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Some people lit paper luminaries and we watched them float high into the sky over the lake. After dark, we were amazed to watch a man and woman spin balls of fire on the end of chains while dancing in the sand to the music their friends were playing.

A perfect evening

Gum wall: fascinating and gross

Another day, we got to ride the city bus downtown which was super fun. We sat in the center of the bus where the floor moves when the bus turns corners. We went to Pike’s Place Market (in my book) and watched the men throw fish back and forth. There was an area below the market where people stick used gum on the wall. I’ve never chewed gum but I don’t think I’d waste it by putting it on a wall.

View from atop the Space Needle

This was a most special day because it was one I waited for since we arrived in Seattle. We were going up the Space Needle! All around the Space Needle are strange things from the World’s Fair. There are crazy sculptures and crazy people. I saw Spiderman, Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper (who I was obsessed with… why isn’t Darth Vader moving? He must be out of batteries), and a guy with a giant snake wrapped around his neck. There was a huge International Fountain that played music and shot water super high into the sky. We also saw the monorail go through the Experience Music Project building (in my book). Up in the Space Needle, Daddy and I used his phone to look through portals in the floor and see what was on the ground below us. There was so much we could see from way up high – Mt. Rainier, boats, buildings, tiny cars and people. It was such a happy day for me.

Mucking for treasures at low tide

On the Fourth of July, Jojo and Kendra took us to Discovery Park where Jojo works in the Wastewater Treatment Plant. We went down to the beach by a lighthouse and walked way out into the sand while the tide was out. We found a giant crab, shells, and little silver fish. I ran over a sandy hill to get to where Daddy was taking pictures and suddenly stopped and started screaming. Mommy thought it was because the sand was too hot on my feet, so she took me back to the wet cool sand. I kept screaming so Daddy came over. Between my hysterical sobs, I told him I was scared of the crab. He said there were no crabs here, but I kept screaming “it’s getting me!” Finally Mommy asked, “Where is the crab?” I pointed to my hat. When she lifted the brim, we were all surprised to find a giant fuzzy bumble bee trapped between my hat and ear. Luckily it didn’t sting me and after we all calmed down we had quite the discussion and laughed about the whole situation.

First taste of oysters

To continue with our crab themed day, we went to a fish shop and saw the live crabs in giant tanks. I wasn’t scared of them there. We got some oysters, clams, and mussels for supper but I didn’t want to try any. Too weird for me to eat something we played with on the beach! Mommy and Daddy ate oysters for the first time with Jojo and Kendra. They didn’t even cook them. Just opened up the shells and slurped them down. Mommy liked them and thought they “tasted like the sea.” Daddy didn’t like them as much and thought they “tasted how a touch tank aquarium smells.” They both liked the cooked clams and mussels.

Love those sparklers!

I was so happy to experience my first fireworks show in Seattle because we watched them from a hill overlooking Lake Union and downtown Seattle. As the sun set, we watched the city come alive as lights came on in the buildings, boats, and hillsides. We could see the Space Needle and all the boats below. Mommy brought sparklers along all the way from Wisconsin for this special day. We asked some policemen if we could light the sparklers, and they said wouldn’t say anything (although, we learned that sparklers are like a “gateway drug” to more hardcore fireworks) and gave me a special Junior Policeman badge. I loved to play with the sparklers and as soon as one was done, I yelled “Again! Again!” The fireworks were big, bright, and amazing… and fortunately, they weren’t that loud since the highway traffic below us drowned out the biggest booms. This was the latest that Mommy and Daddy let me stay up on the trip… fireworks didn’t start until 10:30!

A perfect first fireworks experience!

On our last day in the city, we went to a Farmer’s Market in Ballard. On the way, we drove by the Lake Union houseboats (in my book) and bikers and joggers on the Burke Gilman Trail (in my book). Mommy got lots of vegetables and berries at the market for our upcoming travels. We also visited Gasworks Park (in my book) which is the site of an old coal gasification plant, but they left a lot of the old equipment like sculptures. We walked around the big old pipes and tanks across the grass to look at the seaplanes and boats on the water. What a busy place!

A perfect postcard photo

We spent a total of about 3 weeks in the Seattle area exploring the city, Mount Rainier, Olympic, and the North Cascades. It was neat to actually see the real places in my book (although, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see the dinosaur at the Pacific Science Center or the airplanes at the Museum of Flight, so we’ll have to do that next time). I had so much fun getting to hang out with Uncle Jojo, Aunt Kendra, and Arthur for all of those days, and I didn’t want to leave. But Mommy and Daddy say it’s time to start heading east, back toward Wisconsin. I’ll miss you, Jojo and Kendra! Thank you for letting us stay at your house and for all of the playing!