No, you’ll not find a morning TV show with a bunch of talking heads all talking at the same time here.  Right title, wrong Internet.  I ventured outside the hostel this morning and caught a bus to Discovery Park, a large city park in northern Seattle.  Awesome views and a nice hiking trail were promised.  And delivered.

Discovery Park was and is Fort Lawton, but much of the Army Reserve base has been turned over to the city and turned into a recreation area.  Reminded me a lot of Fort Harrison outside Indianapolis.  With steeper hills.  And a better view.  Sorry, Indy.  You ain’t got an ocean.  I walked the loop trail and down from the bluffs to the beach and lighthouse.  Fabulous.  The bluffs provided magnificent views, both from the top and when down below on the beach.  A local pointed out where there are usually eagles, but we zoomed in with the camera lens and were disappointed not to see any.

I hiked back up through a narrow trail called the “Hidden Valley Trail” and to the other entrance of the park in order to catch another bus back to town.  I’ve known for a long time that I am just not a city person.  I enjoyed this morning, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, far more than all of the moments I spent in New Orleans & LA.  All for simple $3 round-trip bus fare.  Not bad, not bad.

I still had quite a bit of time before I needed to be at the King Street Station for the Empire Builder, so I lunched at the Pike Place Market, and picked up some dried fruit to snack on while on the trails in Glacier.  I really wanted to pick up some of the fresh fruit, but didn’t.

Here I am now, sitting in the King Street Station.  This place really needs some help.  It’s a grand railroad station, but was ruined in the 1960′s with some “renovations” that added pseudo-walls and false ceilings (there are glorious 42′ ceilings about my head covered by an absolutely awful hanging ceiling.  There are plans for restoration, but the cart that is here explaining them is exactly the same as it was when we were here two years ago.  I did read recently that money may have been found to actually start the restoration.  Let’s hope so.  This place, as it is now, is really pretty disgraceful.

I’m on and off line.  The commuter “Sounder” rail has Wifi, so whenever one comes into the station, I can get online!  Just found out though that the Empire is delayed, will be sitting here for another hour.  Oh well.  Onto Glacier…eventually.  All Aboard!

I’ve enjoyed a nice night’s sleep in Seattle and am trying to figure out what to do with my luggage so that I can do some exploring around town before heading down to the train station for the 4:45 PM departure of the Empire Builder to Glacier Park.  For the first time in quite a while, I’m feeling a chill in the air (it’s been nearly 90 outside throughout my entire trip so far).  At 8:00 AM in Seattle, it’s in the mid-50′s with a high of 70 expected–a perfect day.  Compared to the south, where I’ve been for the past week, it’s so very nice to be away from the 90′s.

I think that I am off to ride the bus to Discovery Park and do some walking around.  Or perhaps simply across the street to the Pike Place Market.  There is one thing about train travel – you eat a lot and don’t move around much.  So it’s not the way to trim down.  I am excited to get out and about and get moving!

I’m posting some new photos from the Coast Starlight.  There are some shots of the coastline and many from further north in Oregon and Washington.  There are some shots of the mudslide zone in the Cascades, you can perhaps get some perspective as to how big & steep the slide zone was.