Tuesday we woke, went for a run along the Embacardero, checked out the sea lions for the last time (they were being naughty today, jumping up on the boat docks while the workers weren’t looking), and headed back to the hostel to get breakfast and pack our bags.
The weather had settled down apparently, while it was still sunny, the temperature was up to about 10-12 degrees, so very pleasant. We packed our stuff, and headed towards the airport, via the mission, where we stopped at El Toro Taqueria to get a burrito… so delishu! Full of all yummy things, and very huge. Enough food for a meal and a half.
We hopped on a plane (after security, who made us take off our shoes, and walk through a scanner thing) to Seattle, where it was definitely colder. We stayed at the Green Tortoise there, which was good.
In the evening we wandered down the waterfront, even though most things were closed, we rode the ferris wheel, where we had a pretty view of the city.
Wednesday morning they had pancake mix ready to go, so we ate pancakes. We wandered around the Seattle Pike Place Market for a while, which was very interesting. It was started around 1907, and has been operating since then.
It was the location of the first Starbucks, before it became on every street corner. Starbucks was named for a sailor in Moby dick. It is the location of the oldest existing Starbucks, and is only allowed in the market because it has been there since it started, and is a part of the history of the place. They are in the same location, and have kept the same logo, which is slightly different from the logo they use today.
The market is run as a trust, and they are careful about who they let in. They like people who make and sell their own crafts, and people just starting up. A section of the market is for crafters, and they turn up each morning, and decide on spots depending on who is there, and whoever has seniority gets pick of the best spots. It means the market is different every day. Pretty neat. You are only allowed a section in that part of the market if you are selling your own stuff you have made.
One of the funding things for the market was to sell tiles, and they would print your name (or any name you wrote down) on the tile, so when you walk through the market, many of the tiles have names on.
Then packed up all our things and traipsed up to the bus stop, where we caught a shuttle from Seattle up to Anacortes, and then jumped on a Ferry boat, and trundled over to Friday Harbour. It was very pretty, all calm waters dark islands and low cloud.
Arriving in Friday Harbour, we got picked up by Dale’s friend Jess; her family is letting us stay in their lovely home on San Juan Island. She drove us around the island a bit, saw a fox, an eagle, some deer, and a sunset through a cloudy looming sky. It is quite chilly, about 4 degrees C, but we have a lovely little cabin. The grass was frosted over as we went to bed.
Dale and Becca 