Seattle 1
I like Seattle, but it's extraordinarily difficult to get around. There's no rail system, apart from a tram that runs about six blocks, and the bus system is infrequent by day and skeletal by night. The freeways clog up at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and when I called the transit info line for help this evening, there was a recorded message saying they closed at 6pm for the long weekend furlough. Luckily, tavalon's partner, anansi133, was at home and near a computer so he could do their job for me. I'll still have to walk half an hour to get there from the nearest stop, though.
I've had a pretty good stay all up. I spent the first three nights in the spare room at Coe and her husband's place (the same Coe who australian_joe and I used to date) and tomorrow night at wendolen place (probably on her couch), before hopping on a boat to Victoria to see oddiofile. (Victoria the city in British Columbia, not the state. That would be a longer ride!) I'll have a bike with me for the rest of my journey; I bought one at a fantastic secondhand bike shop next to the University of Washington this week, and I plan to sell it again when I get back to San Francisco-even if I sell it at a loss, this will be cheaper than a rental. The only thing is that I was a doofus and didn't bring luggage that I could carry as a backpack as I travel. I guess I'll have to pack lightly for my travels around Canada.
Most of my Seattle friends seem to know each other, except Coe and her husband. I introduced them to kaligrrrl over dinner on Tuesday night and they really hit it off, so that gap's been closed now as well. On Wednesday night I had a lovely date with H, who I recently met online, but she'd met some of my peeps here at a Seattle poly potluck. It was the best first date I'd had in a very long time: yummy phở on Capital Hill, a nice walk in the park, engaging, heartfelt conversation and snuggles. Yay.
It's great to be on two wheels again. It's funny; when I took a few weeks off weight lifting to travel, I managed to get right back into it, but it's been less than three weeks since I rode my bike and it feels like it's been years. Seattle's got a reasonable bicycle network-not all that comprehensive and the bike lines that exist are scarily narrow, but there are plenty of quiet back streets to ride through, and some pretty impressive infrastructure for bikes around the Interstate 90 bridge, including a pretty nifty bicycle tunnel.
I was supposed to see kaligrrrl this evening, but unfortunately she had a migraine, so I went for a wander around by myself instead. I stopped by Toys in Babeland, which I'd always heard compared to Good Vibrations in San Francisco. It's smaller, but the vibe is the same. I found that most of Seattle pretty much rolls up the footpaths at 10pm, but since we're so far north and it's only a month from Solstice, there was still some light pretty close to then, and I got some nice sunset shots.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's barbecue; it's apparently going to be a great bunch of people. I'm not surprised; the poly crowd here has attracted a lot of my favourite Californians over the years. Not me, though, for reasons I've stated often enough.