BAC Seattle to San Francisco

20100705 - Seattle

Because it takes so much time out of my traveling days, I am going to try a more condensed version on this tour.

Ann dropped my at OAK. I checked my bag at curbside. It was quick and efficient and my bag was one of the first at baggage claim in Seattle.

Light Rail to the University St Station was easy and cheap ($1.25).  Walked three blocks to 5th and checked in to the Vintage Park Hotel. My room on the top floor is very nice – nice decor, comfortable queen-size bed, flat-screen TV, free internet, etc.

Had a sandwich and cookies at Specialties down the street. Walked over to Pikes Place Market and watched the hoards of people shopping, eating and being tourists. It has expanded a lot since I was there last.

The hotel had wine tasting at 5:00. I sampled and then went to our group’s first Happy Hour. We chatted, ate, drank and introduced ourselves in a round-table.

Dinner was in the hotel’s dining room. Tulio has an Italian theme. My food wasn’t worth the price it asked for - lamb with old string beans and a chocolate pudding cake. The toasted macaroon on the pudding cake turned out to be marshmallow.

When I got back to my room, the hotel left presents – a small bag of chips and two small bottles of water.

I got to bed at 10:00.

Weather was cloudy when I got to Seattle but it cleared in late afternoon.

20100706 – Seattle to Shelton

We woke to clear blue skies. I went down to Specialties and got a quick take-out breakfast which I ate in my room. I got my bags loaded before 8:00 and rode with several others to the ferry terminal. We caught the 8:30 boat to Bremerton. The views of the Olympics, Mt Rainer and the Seattle skyline were exceptional.

We got off of the ferry and rode through Bremerton up some very steep walls. We had to retrace some of our route because of road closures. We got through it, though, and had a very scenic and tranquil ride to Shelton. I stopped with some others in Belfair and bought a sandwich at a market. After that I rode solo all the way to http://www.little-creek-casino.com/.

Here is today’s route.

My room is big and a bit run-down, but it is clean, has hot water and offers free internet, the important things.

I walked through the casino on my way to the convenience store to get some snacks. I had to air out my cloths because of the cigerette smoke. The casino is very large and it was very full. There were a lot of old folks gambling away their pension checks on the slot machines.

Happy Hour was at 5:30. I had dinner with Ron Guidotti. I took the opportunity to have a large mixed shellfish Louis.

It looks like bed time will be early tonight.