Yesterday I finished up researching around Seattle. When there was one stop left to go, I lingered in Pioneer Square with a panino and a gelato. I've been reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, and it was quite relaxing to open it while I half-people-watched and enjoyed my lunch. The only thing not relaxing about the situation was that I only had 11 minutes left on my Park-and-Pay ticket. Seattle doesn't have meters - you have to put money in at a little station, print a ticket with a time of return on it, and stick in on your window. That way it's more of a pain to add extra minutes, since you can't just refill a meter. I wished I didn't have that persistent sense of time ticking away as I took a break before my last stop.
But my stracciatella gelato was enough to make me forget. Stracciatella is translated to "chocolate chip" at most places, but it's so much more than chocolate chip. The chocolate is drizzled over the vanilla icecream and freezes on top, so when it is scooped out it breaks into bits. It has been my favorite flavor ever since the summer of 2006, which I spent kicking back in Venice and singing in Siena. Pioneer Square wasn't exactly San Marco, but I had my stracciatella so I could pretend.
The last place I checked out was called Mae Phim's, a little Thai restaurant tucked in below an on-ramp to I-5. The hostess answered my questions about hours and prices with a bored look, finally shrugging and handing me a to-go menu so I could investigate things for myself. It was an anti-climactic end, but as I crossed Coloumbia St. and climbed into the Focus, I felt a definite sense of accomplishment. Now I just had to type all that research up!
I have been staying with my parents' friend from Germany, when they lived there the first time before any of us kids were born. She is an outgoing, welcoming woman and has been absolutely wonderful to me. It is such a nice feeling to stay in a home after all those motels. Two nights ago we went to dinner in Alki, a beach peninsula in West Seattle. The view is of Seattle, and since it was a clear day we could see everything:
See the Space Needle, just off center? It was a nice juxtoposition to have the beach, with volleyball nets and umbrellas, with the city in the distance. We ate on the upper deck of a restaurant right on the water, enjoying our salmon as the sun set:
Last night we went out to dinner again, this time in Renton, the suburb in which she lives. It's right on Lake Washington, so we had a nice waterfront walk after dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant, there was a band playing rocked out Irish music and people dancing just outside. The scene was the epitome of a small-town summer evening, and I was glad to be a part of it for that time. Here are some shots of Lake Washington:
So that's it! I am catching a plane at 2pm back to Los Angeles for my next (albeit, far less avidly documented) adventure. I am not looking forward to returning my little red Focus - it seems only yesterday I put its meter over 300 miles. I've added over 3000 pacific coast miles in the past month. I bet that Focus had never seen anything as lovely as the views from the ridges I parked it along when I hopped out to take pictures. It's going to be strange driving another car (when this blog went to print, the exact car was yet to be determined) and not having my whole life stashed in the trunk.
Thanks, West Coast - it's been a ride!
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