Picture 1 – Pike Place Fish Market. Picture 2 – Bear and Yokoyama at Fish Market. Picture 3 – Wenatchee River along US-2 in the Cascade Mountains. Picture 4 – Leavenworth a Bavarian Village in the Cascade Mountains. Picture 5 – Svea, Zach, and Grant.
Today I left Heather’s house in Yelm, WA heading toward Seattle. My first stop for the day was going to be the world famous, Pike Place Fish Market. The fish market was one place that I could not pass up. Many of you are familiar with the Fish Philosophy training that I did at West Shore Community College. This training was based on the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, so I had to stop. In the training I dress up like Bear, one of the prominent characters in both the Fish book and Fish video. As it turns out Bear still works there and I was able to get a couple of pictures of him at the market today. Many of the employees are new since the Fish video was published, but there were two of the old guard that were still there and working today: Bear and the brother of Johnny Yokoyama. Johnny is the owner of Pike Place Fish and the person that helped to make it world famous.
One thing that surprised me about Seattle was how steep the streets are that lead to Pike Place. It reminded me of San Francisco. I felt a little uneasy riding down them and then back up as I was leaving. I think going up was worse because I hit every red light and had to keep the brake on to keep from rolling backwards while trying to feather the clutch and give it gas to get going all at the same time. I didn’t stay at the market long because parking was $5 for half an hour. Pike Place Market is actually a whole bunch of shops connected together. It was really crowded and difficult to move around. The best activity was around the Pike Place Fish market which is where I spent most of my time.
After leaving Seattle, I headed a little north to get on US-2 which would take me to Davenport, WA where my niece Leena lives with her husband Donny and their four kids: Grant, Svea, Zach, Maija. The trip there from Seattle was about 280 miles, but I had already ridden 60+ miles from Yelm to Seattle. What struck me most about the ride today were the changes in terrain and climate. For about the last two weeks, I have been riding along the coast and have always been west of the Cascade Mountains. Along the coast it has been extremely cold with temperatures mostly in the 60s for highs and the lows have been in the 50’s with a time or two in the 40s. As I headed up the Cascade Mountains I was struck by their beauty. Much like the Olympic Mountains, they looked a lot like the Swiss Alps. In Seattle I was pretty close to sea level. At the highest point in the Cascades, I was at just over 4,000 feet, but the surrounding mountains were much higher than that. The temperature was cool at that elevation but it began to warm up as I descended down the other side. For a long time US-2 followed the Wenatchee River which was a beautiful blue\green when it wasn’t boiling over in the rocky areas. US-2 was extremely beautiful through this section. With the mountains rising up on both sides of the road and the river running along my right side, it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road as I traveled along. On the eastern side of the Cascades was the town of Leavenworth. This was a delightful little town that was patterned after a Bavarian town nestled in the Alps. It looked a lot like Frankenmuth, MI except that it was surrounded by mountains. Shortly after leaving Leavenworth, the terrain and climate made an abrupt change. The lush green mountains gave way to brown un-vegetated hills that looked more like the desert southwest than the northwest. The temperature jumped significantly as well. After passing over the Columbia River the elevation began to climb again as I rode up the desert-like mountains. What really surprised me was when I got to the top of the mountain (about 2,800 feet above sea level). There the land opened up into a vast area of wheat farms as far as the eye could see in every direction. The road at this point became straight as an arrow. The only curves in the road were the up and down undulations as the road contoured itself to the rolling terrain of the farmland. This lasted for pretty much the rest of my trip today which was at least 100 miles. I don’t think I have ever seen this much wheat farming in my life.
In Davenport, where my niece lives I discovered that her house was actually 16 miles north of Davenport and US-2. As I headed north I was again seeing nothing but wheat farms in every direction. It was only in the last few miles when I turned onto Porcupine Bay road that the scenery changed to pine covered mountains that were just beautiful. When my GPS took me on the last turn on the last road to Leena’s house, it wasn’t quite sure where her house was, so it took me past her house down a gravel road and left me in the middle of no where; and I me no where. Luckily they heard me go by and sent their son Grant out on his dirt bike to retrieve me and get me back to their place. I was relieved to see Grant coming because, as I said, we were in the boonies and I discovered I had no cell phone service
Today I left Heather’s house in Yelm, WA heading toward Seattle. My first stop for the day was going to be the world famous, Pike Place Fish Market. The fish market was one place that I could not pass up. Many of you are familiar with the Fish Philosophy training that I did at West Shore Community College. This training was based on the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, so I had to stop. In the training I dress up like Bear, one of the prominent characters in both the Fish book and Fish video. As it turns out Bear still works there and I was able to get a couple of pictures of him at the market today. Many of the employees are new since the Fish video was published, but there were two of the old guard that were still there and working today: Bear and the brother of Johnny Yokoyama. Johnny is the owner of Pike Place Fish and the person that helped to make it world famous.
One thing that surprised me about Seattle was how steep the streets are that lead to Pike Place. It reminded me of San Francisco. I felt a little uneasy riding down them and then back up as I was leaving. I think going up was worse because I hit every red light and had to keep the brake on to keep from rolling backwards while trying to feather the clutch and give it gas to get going all at the same time. I didn’t stay at the market long because parking was $5 for half an hour. Pike Place Market is actually a whole bunch of shops connected together. It was really crowded and difficult to move around. The best activity was around the Pike Place Fish market which is where I spent most of my time.
After leaving Seattle, I headed a little north to get on US-2 which would take me to Davenport, WA where my niece Leena lives with her husband Donny and their four kids: Grant, Svea, Zach, Maija. The trip there from Seattle was about 280 miles, but I had already ridden 60+ miles from Yelm to Seattle. What struck me most about the ride today were the changes in terrain and climate. For about the last two weeks, I have been riding along the coast and have always been west of the Cascade Mountains. Along the coast it has been extremely cold with temperatures mostly in the 60s for highs and the lows have been in the 50’s with a time or two in the 40s. As I headed up the Cascade Mountains I was struck by their beauty. Much like the Olympic Mountains, they looked a lot like the Swiss Alps. In Seattle I was pretty close to sea level. At the highest point in the Cascades, I was at just over 4,000 feet, but the surrounding mountains were much higher than that. The temperature was cool at that elevation but it began to warm up as I descended down the other side. For a long time US-2 followed the Wenatchee River which was a beautiful blue\green when it wasn’t boiling over in the rocky areas. US-2 was extremely beautiful through this section. With the mountains rising up on both sides of the road and the river running along my right side, it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road as I traveled along. On the eastern side of the Cascades was the town of Leavenworth. This was a delightful little town that was patterned after a Bavarian town nestled in the Alps. It looked a lot like Frankenmuth, MI except that it was surrounded by mountains. Shortly after leaving Leavenworth, the terrain and climate made an abrupt change. The lush green mountains gave way to brown un-vegetated hills that looked more like the desert southwest than the northwest. The temperature jumped significantly as well. After passing over the Columbia River the elevation began to climb again as I rode up the desert-like mountains. What really surprised me was when I got to the top of the mountain (about 2,800 feet above sea level). There the land opened up into a vast area of wheat farms as far as the eye could see in every direction. The road at this point became straight as an arrow. The only curves in the road were the up and down undulations as the road contoured itself to the rolling terrain of the farmland. This lasted for pretty much the rest of my trip today which was at least 100 miles. I don’t think I have ever seen this much wheat farming in my life.
In Davenport, where my niece lives I discovered that her house was actually 16 miles north of Davenport and US-2. As I headed north I was again seeing nothing but wheat farms in every direction. It was only in the last few miles when I turned onto Porcupine Bay road that the scenery changed to pine covered mountains that were just beautiful. When my GPS took me on the last turn on the last road to Leena’s house, it wasn’t quite sure where her house was, so it took me past her house down a gravel road and left me in the middle of no where; and I me no where. Luckily they heard me go by and sent their son Grant out on his dirt bike to retrieve me and get me back to their place. I was relieved to see Grant coming because, as I said, we were in the boonies and I discovered I had no cell phone service
1 comment:
Hi Jerry,
I sure can relate to your story about the diaper situation. I have a new grandson Hayden Matthew born August 2 and he fills his pants many times daily. I love your stories and pictures. You have made me dream and wish through this. I haven't been anyway to speak of. It has been very warm and some humid days here in Ludington. I think mother nature turned the seasons around again. Decent in June and July and hot in August. I await this evenings story/adventures.
Take care.
Love to you and prays,
Connie Wright
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