The past six days I have been visiting with some friends in Seattle. I have only shared one post from this time about my drive to Mount Rainier. In many ways, the past week has not been the regular tourist thing in Seattle and a little more relaxed. There were a couple of first for me this week, but no pictures, so you will just have to take my word.
Arriving In Seattle
I returned to Seattle from Victoria the same way I left via the Victoria Clipper Ferry. The return to Seattle was on Monday 29th August. The ferry trip took around 2.5 – 3 hours and was scheduled to arrive around 2.05 pm. There was a small delay in arrival plus some time to collect baggage and pass through customs. However, it all worked out ok as my friend arrived almost spot on when I walked out of the terminal.
Trying Bikram Yoga
My friend that I am staying with is a frequent attendee of Bikram Yoga Classes. So one afternoon I decided to join her for a session. I was rather unsure what to expect as I have never been to a yoga class, let along a Bikram Yoga class before.
Bikram Yoga is a little different to some other types of yoga, in that it is a performed in particular conditions. The session runs for around 90 minutes in a room kept at 105F (40.5C) with 40% humidity.
To be honest, I do think that I did better than I thought I would. However, I was not able to complete all the poses or even attempt some of them. But in saying that it was a good start and feel like it is something I would like to try again. The most interesting aspect is that even coming from a hot climate at home, the heat gets to you.
Driving In America
Another first for me while in Seattle was to rent a car and give driving on the right side of the road. I had been looking at giving this a try on both of my previous visits, but never truly found the need. While it was not a cheap exercise to rent the car for two days, it was a good option to, fill in two days my friend had to work.
One day I went for the day and drove down to Mount Rainier. A rather substantial drive and an excellent way to get into the act of driving on the opposite side. In the end, I found it quite easy to transition to the other side of the road. I will not hesitate to rent a car again in the future when in America.
Chateau Ste. Michelle
I took another short drive the day after I visited Mount Rainier. I stayed more local and visited a winery not far from where my friend lives. It is her favourite winery so seemed like a good idea for a birthday present. A nice area to drive around and a very nice winery to visit as well.
Snoqualmie Falls
There are extensive areas around Issaquah where I am staying that are bush. If I had more time, I think I would have very much enjoyed heading out for some hikes. However, not much time for this. I did get to visit a waterfall that was quite spectacular. Snoqualmie Falls are quite amazing, and this picture is a low flow in flood times it can be considerably more water.
Thrive Seattle
For the last evening with my friend, we visited a restaurant in Seattle named Thrive. The restaurant is a raw food restaurant, and I was not too sure about visiting here. However, I found the food to be quite good and even though it looks like coleslaw, had some interesting flavours. Not my favourite meal of the trip, but still an enjoyable meal.
I do want to apologise for a rather short, disjointed post for the past six days. However, wanted to fill in what has been happening on my trip for you. I could have shared a post each day, but it would have been rather sparse. I felt it better to give one decent post of the highlights than four or five half-hearted posts.
