From Seattle - Wednesday March 3rd

Seattle has been exactly the break we needed from working in Whistler. Our break kicked off with a party at camp on Monday night in which hot dogs and hamburgers were grilled for dinner. The four of us going to Seattle, Dolton, Sarah, Christine and I had planned to take a greyhound bus from Whistler Village to Seattle and back, but found out that one of the Clean Event drivers was actually taking a bus back to Portland, Oregon on Tuesday and was going through Seattle on the way. This saved each of us going around fifty dollars because we were able to purchase a one way ticket instead of a roundtrip one. The drive taking a bus including stops would have been between eight and nine hours but by riding with the Clean Event driver we made it to Seattle in just over five hours. Prior to making the trip we had asked a few of the people in camp from Seattle about what we should do in our days there as well as done some research on tourist attractions. The Space Needle was our first priority followed by seeing the Mariners and Seahawks stadium. Personally I was really looking forward to the good food awaiting me in Seattle and getting a break from the expensive food in Whistler and the routine dinners at camp. I even looked for Qdoba in Seattle before we left because I had not gotten good mexican food in over two months. On Tuesday we got into Seattle around 430pm and checked into our hotel. It was nothing fancy but was much more spacious than the trailers we had been living in and we had a bathroom and shower IN THE ROOM. This is something we all took for granted before making the trip to Whistler earlier this semester. Our hotel offered a breakfast buffet each morning for just five dollars, had free wifi and a workout room downstairs. We were temporarily in heaven. On Tuesday night after getting in we did a little research on local seafood and walked to a place called The Fisherman, on Seattle's waterfront. The place was empty and we were seated and waited on immediately. I had delicious fettuccine alfredo with smoked salmon on top with a caesar salad. In addition to this we all ordered a crap dip as an appetizer. This was easily the best meal I had received since leaving the United States on January 9th. After enjoying this feast we walked around a little and explored on our way back to our hotel. It was dark and we were tired so we decided to make it an early night. Today (Wednesday) I got up early to workout before breakfast and later we all headed into downtown. The famous "Pike Place Market" in Seattle was the center of most of the shops and was where we headed this morning. It was cool to see all the different tables set up in the market selling all different kinds of trade good and at one end there were several fisherman selling their array of catches. One of the tables/corners featured a group of men singing songs. telling jokes and poking fun at customers with their fish tied to a string. The atmosphere was a fun, exciting one. From here Dolton and I decided to find the first Starbucks in the world, which ended up only being two blocks away from the market. After grabbing a coffee and taking a few pictures we began our adventure around Seattle's downtown venturing in many of its shops and stores. Many of our conversations at camp in Whistler have been debating the best Mexican restaurant, Qdoba or Chipotle. In Seattle they sit opposite corners from each other and one was lunch today, while the other will be lunch tomorrow. This will settle any controversy in my mind. Tonight Dolton and I are looking to go to dinner and possibly a movie as one of the many things to do in Seattle.