A day in Seattle

I was given a great agenda yesterday of things to do and places to go around the city.  Most of them were outside of downtown, which was really nice - I was in less touristy places.

I followed the canal that runs through the city and saw the locks and salmon ladder, with aquarium-style viewing area so you could see the fish swimming against the current.

Saw Ballard and Fremont, two nice neighborhoods north of downtown.

Saw two very different views, from Gasworks Park and Kerry Park.  Gasworks is on the northern shore of Union Lake and looks south across the lake to downtown.  Kerry is where the postcard pictures come from - up on a hill, overlooking the water, Space Needle,  and downtown, with Mt Rainier looming in the distance.

Went to the EMP museum, a very cool museum with exhibits about Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, video game design, the art of Chuck Jones, and the allure of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy movies.

Spent the night in Seattle and now I'm on the bus heading north to Everett.  That will get me to the edge of the metro area, so I'll quickly be on quieter roads and heading for the mountains!

The goal tonight is Darrington, maybe Rockport if I'm feeling good.  There is a road through the mountains, the Mountain Loop Highway, that I could possibly take.  It adds some distance and some climbing, and given the late-ish start today I fear it might be best to stick to the shorter path, especially for the first day.  I think there will be plenty of mountains and valleys and rivers to see on this trip, no need to stress about it on day one, right?