The idea is that flowing water never goes stale, so just keep on flowing.
Portland –> Seattle (283 Miles)
My ride to Seattle was almost as miserable as the one to Portland. I wanted to avoid any blue shield highways because the point of this trip is to make it as scenic as possible. Instead of taking I5 to Seattle, I crossed through Clatsop State Forest and rode up along the coast. It was cool early in the trip but as soon as I hit the forest it started to rain. It would’ve been a perfect time to test my rain gear, but I thought I could ride it out. By the time I put on my rain pants, my jeans were already soaked.
Most the ride I was cold and wet, but I hit a beautiful patch around Wilapa Bay. I had planned to ride around the Olympic Peninsula in search of Mick Dodge, but it would’ve added another four hours to my ride.
In Seattle, I stayed with my roommate’s friend Li-Shuan and his girlfriend Jenny. They had a furnished two bedroom Airbnb in Wallingford that they were renting so I got my own bed. The first night, we headed to University Way, near University of Washington’s campus, and grabbed dinner at Thai Tom. While waiting to get seated we went next door to a vintage record and gaming shop and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I have a soft spot for retro games and this store had all of them.
I had decided to spend two days in Seattle since it was supposed to rain in Whistler and I didn’t feel like having a miserable ride. As a result, I didn’t feel the pressure to see everything in one day. I started the day off getting a burger from Dick’s. It was alright, but for $2 I couldn’t complain. It didn’t really satisfy my hunger so I went and got an awesome breakfast biscuit sandwich with gravy at Morsels.
I was stuffed after breakfast and felt the need to burn some calories so I headed down to UW to check out the campus. Most of it is okay, but then I got to the fountain and saw Mt. Rainier in the background. The view was breathtaking. It must be pretty cool to walk past that view every day. Unfortunately, it was too hazy to get a good picture.
By the time I got to the bottom of UW’s campus I realized I wasn’t too far from Bruce Lee’s grave site at Lake View Cemetary. I had planned to go back to the apartment after breakfast but just decided to keep walking around. It wasn’t as easy of a walk as I had thought considering the grave sits on a hill. Nonethless, I was pretty amazed when I got to the site. After sitting there for 15 minutes I saw 20 or so people come up to view his grave. I started talking to one guy and asked why he came to see the site. His response was “I came to see the main, the legend, the dragon.”
Bruce Lee’s grave at Lake View Cemetery.
At this point, I was south of the river and it wasn’t too much farther to get to the Seattle Center so I just decided to keep walking. Remember though, I had planned to go back to the apartment to relax after getting breakfast so I wasn’t well equipped to be walking around for a few miles (read: I was wearing sandals).
Space Needle at the Seattle Center.
It was a hot day so by the time I got to the Seattle Center I was ready to get inside for some A/C. Some old co-workers had recommended I visit the EMP Museum. It has music, sci-fi, and pop culture exhibits. I spent a few hours learning about the indie game revolution, Kurk Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, the evolution of guitars, Looney Tunes, and the costumes in the Star Wars films.
Indie Games exhibit.
For dinner, I met up with Li-Shaun and Jenny at Local 360. I got their fried chicken which was a boneless breast with collard greens, cheesy grits, and a fried egg. I don’t even like collard greens but I had no trouble woofing these down.
To end the day we headed up to Kerry Park for a picture of the Seattle skyline. If you’re ever in Seattle this is by far the best place to get a photo.
The next morning I headed out for Pike’s Place Market. This time I wasn’t planning on walking 5 miles and took the bus instead. I got to the Pike Place Fish Co. just in time to watch them throw the fish from one another. The market had some cool and quirky stores and a great atmosphere. In my opinion, it’s a way cooler version of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
After grabbing some pulled pork and brisket with Li-Shaun at Hole in the Wall BBQ I headed for Chinatown. While eating breakfast at Morsels I had seen a poster advertising a Bruce Lee exhibit at the Wing Luke Museum and knew I had to stop by. The exhibit wasn’t very big, but it had some awesome memorabilia, like hand written notes about Jeet Kune Do and Green Hornet merchandise. It also highlighted his time in Seattle working at Ruby Chow and teaching Jun Fan Gung Fu. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures.
I also took a tour of the building where the Wing Luke Museum was located. It was a historic old hotel and we went next door to look at an old convenience store. The convenience store had actually been relocated board by board from it’s a original location down the road so that it be preserved.
My last stop of the day was a stop at the Fremont Troll.
Fremont Troll
Once I got back to Li-Shaun’s place I spent the rest of the night getting my paper maps ready for my ride through Canada. There’s a long stretch where I won’t have any cell service so I need to be prepared.
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