Driving in Circles

Headed out of Olympic Park fairly early today to get to Seattle. After checking out a few things to do when we got there, we decided that Pike Market had to be our first stop. When we got there it definitely lived up to the hype. There were produce and fish stands, food and flower vendors. Along the street performers were singing, playing music, and doing magic. The best was a guy hula hooping while balancing a guitar on his chin. Pretty impressive. The whole thing was full of noise and color.

Sunrise at our campsite

Our first view of Seattle!

Had a feeling I would like this city when I saw they had specific chargers and parking spots for electric cars.

Pike Market

We walked the street for a while but were tired so we went to check into the hotel. Once we got there we promptly checked right back out. The area was sketchy and the whole thing was dingy. Not where we wanted to spend even two minutes let alone two days. This unfortunately was the start of a stressful saga. After cancelling that reservation we couldn't find any others at a reasonable price (we thought we had before we cancelled but then as soon as we tried to book them the hotels were full). Oh well, we would just have to camp another night. Mt Rainer was about two hours away, but since it was early in the day we still had plenty of time to get there. At this point Kevin and I just wanted to get there, set up camp, and call it a day. Not what actually happened...

We tried to call on the way to see if campsites were full but we never got through to a person (thank you sequestration understaffing). When we got there the first campsite was full and based on the map we got at the entrance the other two were far apart. The visitor center wasn't too far though and we thought it would be worth asking if the other sites were full. We got some amazing views on the way up. It took us a while to see Mt Rainer, but it was impressive when we did. Got to the visitor center and found out everything was full. Back down the mountain we went.

Mt Rainer National Park

Driving to the visitor center

We were both close to a breaking point by now. Some more desperate searching and we finally found a nice hotel in Pullayup, about an hour outside of Seattle. We got there and we incredibly relieved. Nice hotel, clean room, and comfortable beds. Couldn't have asked for more.

End of a long day