Seattle, Washington

I woke up Wednesday, whenever I woke up. I packed my bags and jumped on the bike. I am trying to travel super-minimal. I have one tail bag full of clothes and one backpack full of credentials, toiletries, and electronics.

I only packed one pair of jeans, two t-shirts, a fleece sweater, and three pairs of socks and underwear. I was a bit concerned that would be a little too light, but it hasn’t been a problem yet. I figure I can hit up the Visa if I need to.

I packed the 17″ MacBook Pro, cellphone, and iPod. The MBP is pretty heavy, but it doesn’t matter too much when I’m actually on the bike. The backpack sits nicely on the saddle even when I have it strapped to my back.

The cellphone has been turned off for the most part. I’ve been texting friends and family with short, quick updates. It’s mostly for the benefit of my mom who is probably freaking out.

Wednesday was an absolutely gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. I reached the border at about noon. The border guard asked a few questions and let me through without too much fuss.

I’ve been riding the I-5 mostly. I’m putting so many kilometers on the bike each day that it isn’t really practical to take the back-country roads.

The ride to Seattle was mostly uneventful except for one patch of grooved pavement. When you are on two wheels, grooved pavement sucks harsh.

I got into Seattle and got the absolute last bed at the Green Tortoise. I could probably spend my entire time in hotels but I’ve never done the hostel thing before. I figure I should do it now before I turn into that old, creepy guy that hangs out at hostels. I also have rough budget of 20 days X $100 = $2000. I probably won’t be gone for 20 days, but the numbers are nice and round and work out well enough for rough budgeting purposes. I figure most hostels will cost about $30 each night. I can spend about $70 each day on gas, food, and entertainment.

The Green Tortoise is located on Pike Street. Pike Street is very much like Gastown in Vancouver. It is full of restaurants and souvenir shops that are geared towards tourists.

The Pike Place Market is very much like the Granville Island Public Market. It is located near the water. There are a number of places that sell seafood and more souvenir shops.

Seattle itself is fairly motorbike friendly. I don’t remember the last time I paid for parking in Vancouver. I usually park on the sidewalk, between parking meters, and in back alleys. With the exception of a couple parking tickets, it has been mostly fine. I parked my bike in Post Alley for the night next to half a dozen other motorbikes.

One of the first things I did when I got to Seattle was to head to the closest Borders Bookstore. I go to the Chapters and Yaletown Book Warehouse a couple times a weeks, so it seemed like the most natural thing to do.

I’m flipping through the Guide Books in the tourism section when I overhear a conversation. One of the employees at Borders is not happy that her boyfriend is out of town on a work trip. And he happens to be a game developer that happens to be out of town to record gunfire sounds. It’s the “gunfire sounds” part that is concerning.

Now, game developers have enough problems with girlfriend. Firstly, a lot of developers are not very social to begin with. Secondly, they work way too much to make relationships work. So I decide to jump in and defend this guy.

It turns out this guy works at Zipper Interactive. Zipper happens to be the last developer of the SOCOM series. Small world.

So, if you work at Zipper and happen to be away on a lot of trips, you may want to talk to your girlfriend about it. It’s better that you hear about it from me on a random blog than not hear about it at all.