Nov 2, 2009 - Day trip to Seattle

I hop on the bus into downtown Tacoma this morning, then transfer to the express bus headed for downtown Seattle.  My mission:  Locate Cascade Designs headquarters in the industrial area south of Seattle:  I busted the fuel line on my camp stove in Alaska, so I shipped it to the company, and, figuring I'd eventually pass through Seattle on my way south,  instructed them to hold it for me until I arrived to pick it up.

After picking up my new Whisperlite stove, I headed up 4th Street north into downtown Seattle...past Quest Field and Safeco field, passing under the tangled mass of freeway interchanges and overpasses before reaching the city...to Pioneer Square, the waterfront, Pike Street Market...a little Asian fellow there sings a hilarious version of  Elvis' "I'm all Shook Up", accompanied by a joyous drunken woman who slurs along - she is having some difficulty staying upright.
The public market is a sensory treat;  the colors, the smells, the heady buzz of commerce ....and the flying fish, of course. 

A vivid flashback while wandering through the market, recalling my visit here when I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old, summer vacation, the family taking a road trip to Seattle in our old Dodge Valiant.....