Last week I took another Spokane-Seattle round trip and as the title says was able to get some items crossed off my bucket list. It has been my habit over the years to track the train I'm departing Spokane from, in this case #7, and leave from my home for the station when the train is at Whitefish. That gives me several hours to drive at a leisurely pace, taking longer and more indirect routes, and have a nice long dinner in Spokane before boarding the train. This time it didn't go as planned as #7 was in Whitefish a minute or two late--then sat there for nearly an hour. And lost another half an hour between Libby and Sandpoint. That gave me all the more time to wait. For some reason it was hotter than Hades in the Spokane station which made for a less than pleasant wait. Due to padding, however, #7 rolled into Spokane just 40 minutes down. Unfortunately we had another long wait ahead of us as we were adding three private cars to the mix at Spokane, and as a result needed to add another engine to get us over Stevens Pass. For some reason it took a very long time to attach all the cables, and when we finally departed we were an hour and a half late. Not that it mattered to me. I had breakfast with a man from Virginia and a mom and her 9 year old son from West Virginia. I had the old standby of the omelet, croissant, pork sausage, potatoes, and diet Pepsi. It and the service was very good.
At Wenatchee, the sun had risen over the Columbia and made for a pretty setting.
The morning was a nice one, weatherwise, until we got over Stevens Pass and were going down hill to Puget Sound. From then on it was gray and drizzly, nothing new for Seattle area residents.
We eventually got into Seattle about 1:15 late. I walked over to the light rail station and rode it to Westlake, which is just a couple of blocks from the hotel I stay at in Seattle, the Moore. The Moore is just a couple of blocks from Pike Place Market also, and it's location is perfect for me. Despite getting there well before check in time I was able to get into a room right away, and headed up to the room and freshen up a bit. I hadn't been to Seattle since the Link light rail's route had been expanded from Westlake to the U of W to the north and from Sea-Tac airport to Angle Lake to the south, so, being the incurable rail junkie I am I went to Westlake to ride the light rail. I first went north, to the U of W, then south to Angle Lake, then back to Westlake. The entire journey took about 2 hours. Back at Westlake, I had a gourmet dinner at McDonald's :lol: and headed back to my room to retire for the night. Next up: bucket list item #1: Bus tour of Mount Rainier.
At Wenatchee, the sun had risen over the Columbia and made for a pretty setting.
The morning was a nice one, weatherwise, until we got over Stevens Pass and were going down hill to Puget Sound. From then on it was gray and drizzly, nothing new for Seattle area residents.
We eventually got into Seattle about 1:15 late. I walked over to the light rail station and rode it to Westlake, which is just a couple of blocks from the hotel I stay at in Seattle, the Moore. The Moore is just a couple of blocks from Pike Place Market also, and it's location is perfect for me. Despite getting there well before check in time I was able to get into a room right away, and headed up to the room and freshen up a bit. I hadn't been to Seattle since the Link light rail's route had been expanded from Westlake to the U of W to the north and from Sea-Tac airport to Angle Lake to the south, so, being the incurable rail junkie I am I went to Westlake to ride the light rail. I first went north, to the U of W, then south to Angle Lake, then back to Westlake. The entire journey took about 2 hours. Back at Westlake, I had a gourmet dinner at McDonald's :lol: and headed back to my room to retire for the night. Next up: bucket list item #1: Bus tour of Mount Rainier.
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