Dick's Report:
Seattle Redux
We both are getting a cough so we are taking Dayquil/Nyquil. It along with trip fatigue zaps us and so we sleep in (for us).
En route back to the motel in Tukwila we grabbed about three caches, maybe four, I picked up a TB that was logged into a cache on the route but I don’t remember it so we won’t claim the find. One that popped up was in Olympia, the state capitol. We decided that it might be fun to visit. It turned out that the cache was a virtual at the Washington state Veterans Memorial. We were there on Memorial Day and there was an event just getting started. The first thing we saw were a group of drummers and bag pipers in kilts crossing the street. We didn’t find out who sponsored it but it also involved a lot of Harleys. The guys who appeared to be the organizers were in typical Harley MC regalia with the vests, bandanas and tattoos. They had the Tacoma drill team which was a group of a dozen or so guys wearing red who wove their bikes back and forth, in and out in various patterns. That they did this without colliding apparently was the activity. We had a good view of one end of the activity as the street was blocked off during the procedure and we couldn’t turn around to avoid it. As far as the general public goes, it didn’t seem to be very well attended. Apart from the 50 or so bikers, the pipers, and a few other passers by like us, there didn’t seem to be anyone there.
We checked back into the motel, took a rest and got information on the shuttle to return the rental car. Next we attempted to find a place for dinner. What should have been an easy task turned out to be one of the biggest challenges of the trip. There is a Subway adjacent to the motel but we want sit down food.
Armed with a map from the motel desk and two GPS receivers, we sally forth. We are used to hunting for plastic boxes and light poles, how hard can it be to find a restaurant? First we seek out a Chinese place. It is located in a strip mall, we find it but it is either closed or so poorly regarded that no one is there. OK, how about the steak house advertised in the motel’s information book? We circle around and locate it, we could buy it but not eat there.
Next! We circle the area and determine that most of the restaurants are in the mall proper, nothing on the street. We are almost out of gas so I stop and get $5 worth and ask the attendant to recommend a place to eat. In broken, barely discernable English, he directs us back to the mall.
As our frustration is reaching its peak, Nancy finds a listing for the Golden Nugget under food on the GPS. When we get there it is a casino with a small restaurant attached. At this point we don’t care. The parking lot is packed, it must be good. What we don’t notice until after we seat ourselves in a booth is that no one else is eating. They are all at the tables in the casino playing cards. We order fish, prawns and chips. The shrimp are way over cooked; I think they deep fried some pre-cooked frozen ones. The fish were to me greasy and tasteless. On the way out I notice that of the 50–75 patrons, other than the staff, Nancy is one of 4 females. We should have gotten Subway.
After dropping Nancy at the motel to use their computer/printer to get our boarding passes, I talk to the shuttle driver about pick up procedure and then run the car back to Avis at Sea-Tac. Based upon her explanation and directions, I had planned on a 1 – 2 hour excursion. Check in went smoothly, I found the elevator and after limited confusion arrived at the proper level. Following the crowd I found the courtesy phones, called the motel desk and told them where I was. I then began to wait. After less than ten minutes I looked up and saw that my driver was just going past with a group of passengers to drop off. The front seat was empty so I ran out into traffic and hopped on board. I was back at the motel in 20 min round trip.
