Even though yesterday was the hottest day of the year, (mid 90's) it was the last day we would be close to downtown Seattle, and Pikes Market has been on Patty's radar screen for quite awhile. We got an early start, and drove from the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, to the Seattle Waterfront in about 40 minutes. Driving in the middle of a big city, where you don't know your way around, can be a little intimidating in a car, but in a large motor home, it would be downright stressful, not to mention the impossible task of trying to find a parking place. Not knowing how long we would be gone, we took Sami in the jeep, and when we arrived at Pike's Market, I found what I thought was the perfect parking place. Less than a block away, no parking meter, under a big shade tree, it was better than perfect.
So, knowing that Sami was OK, we walked a short distance to the world famous Pike Place Marketplace, and spent the next hour checking out all of the vendors, and watched some of the fish being thrown at one of the several fish markets. There were several street musicians, and lots of people, including one large tour group of Chinese that we followed through part of the several level shopping area. Pike's Market is a unique, very vibrant place, that is a people watchers paradise. However, after about an hour, my tolerance for dodging masses of people, was about at it's limit, so we headed back to the jeep, and the perfect parking place.
It's now about noon, and we were both glad we made the time to drive into Seattle. It was fun returning to Pike's Market, after about a 20 year absence. As we approached the jeep, still in the perfect parking place under the big shade tree, I noticed a white piece of paper under one of the windshield wipers. My first thought was that it was some sort of advertisement, but when I pulled it off the glass, I discovered it was the dreaded parking ticket! How did this happen? This was the perfect parking spot, with no parking meters. When I looked around a little closer, I learned that Seattle has these parking kiosk's, that accept your money, or credit card, then spit out a receipt that you stick on your window. I guess I should have known, that the perfect parking spot was too good to be true, that there had to be a catch. Well, the catch in this case, is a $39 lesson in the advancement of parking revenue technology.
We made one more quick stop at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, before leaving downtown Seattle, and driving back to the motor home. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Since it was only about 1:30, and we were facing mid 90 degree temps, rather than run the generator & the air conditioners for the next 8 hours, I decided to hook up the jeep, and drive south about 75 miles to the Chehalis Thousand Trails. We checked in a day earlier than our reservation, but they had lots of empty spaces, so we got parked in space H23, which will be our home for just about 2 weeks.
Even though yesterday was the hottest day of the year, (mid 90's) it was the last day we would be close to downtown Seattle, and Pikes Market has been on Patty's radar screen for quite awhile. We got an early start, and drove from the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, to the Seattle Waterfront in about 40 minutes. Driving in the middle of a big city, where you don't know your way around, can be a little intimidating in a car, but in a large motor home, it would be downright stressful, not to mention the impossible task of trying to find a parking place. Not knowing how long we would be gone, we took Sami in the jeep, and when we arrived at Pike's Market, I found what I thought was the perfect parking place. Less than a block away, no parking meter, under a big shade tree, it was better than perfect.
So, knowing that Sami was OK, we walked a short distance to the world famous Pike Place Marketplace, and spent the next hour checking out all of the vendors, and watched some of the fish being thrown at one of the several fish markets. There were several street musicians, and lots of people, including one large tour group of Chinese that we followed through part of the several level shopping area. Pike's Market is a unique, very vibrant place, that is a people watchers paradise. However, after about an hour, my tolerance for dodging masses of people, was about at it's limit, so we headed back to the jeep, and the perfect parking place.
It's now about noon, and we were both glad we made the time to drive into Seattle. It was fun returning to Pike's Market, after about a 20 year absence. As we approached the jeep, still in the perfect parking place under the big shade tree, I noticed a white piece of paper under one of the windshield wipers. My first thought was that it was some sort of advertisement, but when I pulled it off the glass, I discovered it was the dreaded parking ticket! How did this happen? This was the perfect parking spot, with no parking meters. When I looked around a little closer, I learned that Seattle has these parking kiosk's, that accept your money, or credit card, then spit out a receipt that you stick on your window. I guess I should have known, that the perfect parking spot was too good to be true, that there had to be a catch. Well, the catch in this case, is a $39 lesson in the advancement of parking revenue technology.
We made one more quick stop at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, before leaving downtown Seattle, and driving back to the motor home. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Since it was only about 1:30, and we were facing mid 90 degree temps, rather than run the generator & the air conditioners for the next 8 hours, I decided to hook up the jeep, and drive south about 75 miles to the Chehalis Thousand Trails. We checked in a day earlier than our reservation, but they had lots of empty spaces, so we got parked in space H23, which will be our home for just about 2 weeks.
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