On YouTube?

Our second full day in Seattle found us back at Pike Place Market to start our walking tour with an early lunch sampler.  While Matt took the truck in for an oil change and service in the morning, the kids and I had briefly discussed a few other options including checking out the Ballard Locks at the harbor and the fish ladder that allows salmon to navigate the locks.  However, Abby quickly chimed in with, “Can't we just pull that up on YouTube?”  I don't think she was too excited about watching fish swim… oh well.  So with more culinary experiences we didn't get to the previous day, we headed back to the Market.

We split up and got a Panini from Michou, two piroshkies from Piroshky, Piroshky and a chocolate croissant from Le Panier to take down to the waterfront park to sample.  Yum!  With our bellies full, we headed out on a walking tour of the downtown area that included more practical pursuits – shopping at Columbia, Eddie Bauer, and… the original REI.  After almost a month on the road, we had a few additional items to pick up.  And Matt had been looking forward to exploring the Seattle REI store since before we left home. 

Abby was also in search of a new daypack to wear on our hiking adventures.  After trying mine on one day recently, she was won over by a few of the more practical features like the cushioned waist belt, ventilated back panel, and more room for gear.  She tried on more than I could count – loading each of them down with various weighted sandbags and walking around the store until she was completely overwhelmed.  Some were too big, some were too stiff, and some weren’t ventilated enough…  It was a bit like the story of the three bears, only she couldn’t seem to find one that was “just right.”  But time and patience paid off and she finally landed on one that we purchased for a test drive.  She wore it proudly for the rest of the afternoon as we walked through the streets of Seattle.

Past the Space Needle, a quick stop at Whole Foods for a late afternoon snack to re-fuel, and onward to the Olympic Sculpture Garden we walked.  It felt good to stretch our legs on the hilly streets in the perfectly breezy 75 degree, partly cloudy day.  As we completed our loop back at Pike Place Market, most of the food vendors were closing up shop for the day – their empty cases providing record of another successful day.  Ours was successful as well – new food sampled, daypack found, and more glorious sights and sounds of downtown Seattle taken in.  On the way back to the truck from the Market, Abby quipped, “I wish we had a market in Atlanta…”