|| Seattle expeditions, Frame 26 - 50

 26. Amazon Spheres (12/28/2022)

• Walk to Wholefoods then further down the south direction, make a left turn into the 2111 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
• The building is open Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 6:00pm. Get the Amazon photo ID badge is required to gain access to The Spheres
• It is a multi-story building with a coffee drink stand, and people can also use as a dining hall with modern day work environment in the woods.  Overall the plants are sparsely located, and carefully maintained

27. Amazon Commuting Rides

• Sunset north Bellevue, 3210 139th Parking deck, use visitor designated area on level C; look for the green bus stop
• Lake Sammamish State Park, 2000 NW Sammamish Rd, designated parking area
• Sammamish Eastridge Church, 24205 Issaquah East SE fall city in designated area
• Kirkland Churchome, 9051 132th Ave, marked with white diamond in designated area

28. Red Town Trail Cougar Mountain Wilderness Park (12/31/2022, 3/26/2023, 5/14/2023)

• Cougar mountain wilderness park
• In between the overlook at Lakemont and Newcastle Commons
• Red-town trailhead free parking on rough roads, in total 20 cars; arrive before 10AM
• Short hikes are marked on the signals, but require hiking poles
• Next time
• Park at Harvey Manning Trailhead to see Sammamish Lake, relatively flat; Poo Pool trail is more steep, 1-2 hours to the top
• Follow the red-town trail back and out is about 6000 steps; going counter-clockwise loop to climb first then descend while coming back
• The coal creek trail is on the clockwise side and on the side, going further for an hour then back; check alltrail for the exact route 
• Newcastle golf club on the hill top but it is really just for the golfers
• 5/14/2023
• Arrive at the trailhead at 830AM
• Use the left hand's side of the trail and turn into a side of Coal Creek Fall direction.  Moderate incline to see the coal creek fall.  Then use the Indian trail to come back to the Red Town trail, but turn right to go through the stone statue to come back to the parking lot

29. Pike Place Market (1/1/2023, 10/14/2023)

• 20min walk from the SLU Kiara location, walk Westlake then Steward; from the contemporary downtown to old school new yok city Macy's building
• Public market is an old school open market with lots of flower stands, small food eating places, with outdoor seatings (wet) and overlook the waterfront
• The famous Starbucks 1912 and the desert places are close to watch other
• 10/14/2023 - 
• Park at the Doppler garage, long steep way down/up; tight space; free in the weekends
• Come out of the garage at the Wesklake and 7th right beside the Burger and Starbucks shops
• Continue on Westlake and turn after Westins ($320 monthly parking sign) into Steward Street; walk on to the Pike place
• At the Rotary Grocery corner (at the 2nd seafood place into the alley), use the elevator to go down/up the stairs (6 stories) into the lower end of the street to cross over to the waterfront

30. Space Needle (12/31/2022)

• From Terry, go through the north Denny Way or go through Thomas to directly access the Space Needle
• 20min walk into the less high-rise square that has multiple tourist attractions places, plus the Seattle Center (Alaska Airline stadium); has a large fountain display; heard about the Pacific Science Center being free for the stem majors and companies
• Armory is essentially foodcourt with a stage, lots of small eating places
• At 8pm, there wasn't a lot of traffic, but at midnight, the traffic was standing still
• Watched the fireworks and drone technology lightshow form the 41st floor roof top on the Kiara building; arrived at 1135pm, grabbed chairs to sit front and center.  The show started at 12am sharp and lasted 10min

31. The Great Wheel (1/2/2023)

• 20min walk from the SLU Kiara location, walk Westlake then Steward; arrive at the Pike Place Market, then walk on to the south or to the north
• To the south, there's the miner landing and the tour company, then walk on to the Washington state ferry station.  Stop walking to the south, heard Pioneer Square is the worst part of town that I need to avoid
• To the north, walk to the pier 66 roof top park with a good view of the mountain, the wheel in the remote, close to Belltown, also not a recommended place, so time to go back
• 11,000 steps in total

32. Alki Trail (1/15/2023, 7/30/2023)

• Set direction to Jack Block Park; drive to the Alki drive, two lane drive long along the harbor.  Parking can be along the road, or inside the park (large lot)
• The Alki drive stretches long from the scenarios of the space needle to much in the west, to the town-ish area that has the diver house and cafe places; 12000 steps to walk from the lake Washington physical therapy clinic to the diver house
• Drive inside into 56th street to have the more commercial places like banks and shops; overall upscale neighborhood, waterfront apartments are expensive at $5K per month for 2 bedroom
• 7/30/2023
• Set direction to Alki Beach a certain viewpoint, street parking only, in between site 1 and site 2; swamp area along the residential and restaurant area (Duke seafood); or set direction to Benton and Alki Beach inter-section
• Go for the corn on the cob place food truck saved on yelp, close to Burian Rd

33. Discovery Park (1/16/2023, 6/3/2023)

• Set direction to Discovery Park, the south parking.  There is a north parking spot as well.  There are probably 30 parking spots, it becomes full at 11AM
• This is a state park.  Parking along the park is very limited, needing a parking permit from the visitor center
• Large space, meadow, rugged shoreline, trails and such
• Walked the south beach trail to the westpoint lighthouse.  Lots of descent and ascent steps, wet and hard trail.  The lighthouse is not open to public, very windy, reminding me of the industrial and fishing hard labor on the coast.  Round trip is about 9000 steps on the trail
• There are many paved stony trails that can be explored, also the west.
• On the way out, drive by the Magnolia Viewpoint (10 parking spots) and the Magnolia Park, beautiful waterfront houses and long stretch of walking trails on a sunny day
• 6/23/2023
• Enter through the North Parking Lot after driving through the Ballard waterfront boat docks.  Large parking lot and free parking
• Then should follow the trail marks to the north beach (at some point, don't be enticed to go to the north bluff which has a lot of steep declines), instead follow to the south beach or the hidden valley or the lighthouse direction
• From the north beach into the trail all the way into the lighthouse. In the morning hours, it's low tide so there's much to walk on the swamp and see the seagrass
• Mt Rainier is in the not so fainted background, beautiful canvas boats along in the lake

34. Deception Pass Bridge (6/11/2023, 9/30/2023)

• 1.5 hours drive, with multiple parking lots.  Rosario Beach trailhead has some of the best views; the trail is probably easy to medium (need trekking poles), the trail goes to bowman bay; may need 1.5 hours back and out
• The Deception bridge (two legs) connects two islands together, the parking lot on the north is very small (can easily be filled up); visited the North beach, there is also the West beach and the Goose Rock area with lots of trails
• There are two seafood-eating places, the shrimp shack is right on 20W.20E; also a Skagit's own fish market, seafood place that has a to-go lunch box and some very expensive cold fresh fish for sale
• Did not go to 
• Mount Erie Summer Trail (can drive to see the top of the hill), close to Ebay's landing
• Little mountain overlook, right beside North Viewpoint, free parking
• 9/30/2023 - Drive into the second entrance of the Deception Pass State Park (use the $30 annual pass, then turn immediately to the east cranberry lake parking lot)
• The north beach (limited parking, and wit walking)
• The west beach (large area of parking and wide beach walking possible)
• Shrimp shack season will end on 10/16/2023.

35. Echo Peak Loop Trail

• Renton direction, 40min

36. Palouse, Steptoe Butte State Park

• Take a picture close to Garfield / Steptoe
• Wild horse wind farm visitor center (10AM and 2PM has live guide for wind turbo electricity)
• Drumheller Channel Basalt Columns, Unnamed Road, Othello, WA 99344
• Palouse Falls State Park, Palouse Falls Rd, LaCrosse, WA 99143
• Holiday Inn at Pullman / Tan's Chinese; Residence Inn Pullman
• Porch Light Pizza
• Next day - Kamiak Butte County Park
• https://www.google.com/maps/dir/1720+134th+Ave+SE,+Bellevue,+WA+98005,+USA/Wild+Horse+Wind+Farm+Visitor+Center,+Ellensburg,+WA+98926/Drumheller+Channel+Basalt+Columns,+Othello,+WA/Palouse+Falls+State+Park,+Palouse+Falls+Road,+LaCrosse,+WA/Steptoe+Butte+State+Park,+Colfax,+WA/Garfield,+WA/Holiday+Inn+Express+%26+Suites+Pullman,+an+IHG+Hotel,+Southeast+Bishop+Boulevard,+Pullman,+WA/Kamiak+Butte+County+Park,+Palouse,+WA/@47.0847612,-122.2586673,7z/data=!4m50!4m49!1m5!1m1!1s0x54906c16f420c501:0xcad53dd28acf6007!2m2!1d-122.1608683!2d47.5948956!1m5!1m1!1s0x549991c3aaa1d9d1:0xf686016771a3fbc5!2m2!1d-120.2018398!2d47.0124024!1m5!1m1!1s0x5499194196e58831:0x618e09dc63bc22e4!2m2!1d-119.272358!2d46.909306!1m5!1m1!1s0x549f4eab186a1b17:0xfebaa290042ee9b0!2m2!1d-118.2273398!2d46.6637635!1m5!1m1!1s0x549fbdb210e4c29b:0x6ced4517e00f2a4e!2m2!1d-117.2967815!2d47.0323446!1m5!1m1!1s0x549f950d1616b7bd:0x4997f57bfaaa692d!2m2!1d-117.1410073!2d47.0079487!1m5!1m1!1s0x549f873f555bab2f:0xa55db7dd7b42f969!2m2!1d-117.1669947!2d46.7159947!1m5!1m1!1s0x549f90264bf48361:0xe28dbbe92e00f204!2m2!1d-117.1529366!2d46.8703362!3e0?entry=ttu

37. Seward Park (2/19/2023)

• At the east of Seattle's downtown place, go past an area of the Vietnam/Asian town (Mekong Asian market), around the lake of Washington 
• Seward Park sits on several parking places but is popular with parents with kids.  Go around the island for 6000 steps
• Can drive along Lake Washington Avenue, there are waterfront houses and several regional parking spaces to walk along the Lake Washington area

38. Madina beach park (3/4/2023)

• At the west side of Bellevue overlooking the lake of Washington.  The public parking lot is small and tight, is at the location of the Madina city hall with the police station
• Two pier locations stretch into the water, which is good and a close place to see the sunset

39. Kelsey Creek Farm (3/4/2023)

• Just along the Lake Hill Connector road, a quiet neighborhood tucked in
• Sheep, cow, pig, rabbit, large land, and simple walking routes
• Meadows, and wetlands, belonging to the city of Bellevue community park https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/community-centers/kelsey-creek-farm/tours

40. Heritage Park at Kirkland (3/4/2023, 7/3/2023)

• Set directions to Kirkland Library, it's free parking on Sundays (check the website to confirm), or park at the 206 house at State Street where street parking is available and free
• Walk to the pavilion and the small pier market, walk on into the Lakeview big house area to see the closer of the Kirkland water
• Can also set directions to Heritage park, there are 30 total parking spots, on top of the Lakeview living space with a few benches overlooking the lake, it's quiet and slow.  There is Yifang bubble tea

41. Weowna Trail Park (3/11/2023)

• Set google direction to Lake to Lake trailhead along the W Lake Sammamish Parkway.  It's street parking for probably 5 cars; on the other end, can set google direction to Weowna trail on 168th Ave for street parking
• Need trekking poles and walk on wet dirt road for max two hours and max 10,000 steps with lots of inclines and declines, but overall manageable
• All neighborhood walkers or hikers, heavily forested hill areas, very quiet

42. Luther Burbank Park (3/12/2023, 6/17/2023)

• On Mercer Island, two parking lots in the north and in the south, plenty of parking and straightforward, right off of the 90 highway from exit 7
• Short walks, max 6000 steps along the bank and on the lawn with just a few brick hours and boat docks; like a community bank just a bit larger
• I-90 Trail (7/9/2023)
• The trail begins just south of downtown Seattle in Rainier Valley at 12th Avenue S near Sturgus Park. A new link runs through Dr. José Rizal Park on Beacon Hill, with views of downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay. and continues east to Lake Washington, where it crosses the lake on the I-90 bridge to Mercer Island. At Mercer Island, the trail passes through the I-90 "Lid" Park, (now the Aubrey Davis Park) and continues through the landscaped freeway corridor to Bellevue and Mercer Slough Nature Park.
• Connecting trails and on-road routes provide access through Bellevue and to points north and south along Lake Washington. The trail ends in Factoria. An segment further east also provides connections from Eastgate. The trail is managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation.
• https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/i-90-trail
• July 9th - set google directions to 1) Enatai Park - about 20 parking slots, lots of bikers (from Bellevue to Mercer); 2) Lid Park, about 20 parking slots, lots of bikers (from Mercer to Seattle)

43. Bellingham, Whatcom County, Chuckanut Drive (3/18/2023)

• Drive north to I5 231 exit, and turn to 11 north on Chuckanut Drive, this is the equivalent of the CA1 that leads to the coast or waterline driveway.  Sammish overlook has a lot of cars parked along the road, this is a very steep hike
• Taylor Shell and Oyster Farm have a unique one-lane driveway into the wharf.  10AM open with a retail and sit-down restaurant, expensive oysters
• Whatcom county is tribal and agricultural.  The Whatcom fall park has 3 levels of gorges.  The middle one (the larger one) is very close to the level of the parking lot, btw the big lot.  The lower gorge is also close by while the upper one requires some hikes
• Bellingham farmers market has a dedicated warehouse with lots of souvenir stands and just two vegetable vendors
• The highlight of the trip is the last stand, the boardwalk, it has a unique shape and arc, with benches facing the sun for people to soak up the sunlight in the cold.  Parking is all street level parking along the residential areas.

44. Tulip Town Festival at Skagit County (4/82023)

• Set direction to RoozeGaade Farm, after 5-7 miles on Mclean, turn after the colorful minimart
• $15 per person ticket, worth it on a sunny day with pictures, u-pick (cost extra), and country store
• Mount Vernon Farmers Market is not open on Apr 8, 2023
• Can go to deception pass, little mountain lookout further west; also the shrimp shack when they have fresh shrimp
• On the way back, stop at Edmonds for Seattle Deli, Kuzma Fish Market and 99 ranch store (the most expensive)

45. North Cascades and the Diablo Vista Point (7/2/2023)

• 2.1 hours to the visitor center, then another 1 hr to the Washington pass observation deck (all uphill) then drive back 20W to Diablo Lake
• Drive to the rainy lake, and park along the road as the parking inside requires a fee pass
• Maple Pass and Rainy Lake (2 miles of flat roads)
• Drive to Ross Dam (the trail is moderate, and rough)
• Drive to Diablo Lake vista point (beautiful emerald jewel of the cascades); set the direction to the Diablo Lake trail, and find parking; cruise boats, dam, and just walk around is very nice
• Drive to Newhaylem near town has a couple trails and a general store (next time)
• Park for Gorge Overlook Trail, Gorge Powerhouse, overlook has 2 parking spaces, and is not impressive
• Drive to Thunder knob trail (first major trail post), a moderate hike, and a small lake
• https://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/stehekin-things-to-know.htm
• 130 miles in the mountain and then even more driving inside the national park
• Start from 645AM and back at 415PM

46. Lake Chelan

• 4.5 hours drive
• Slidewaters, Bee Bridge Park, Tsillan Cellars Winery, Lady of the Day
• On the road, can also visit Wintrop, a village that has Methow Valley, Methow River, Pearinggain Lake Park

47. Olympic National Park (6/24-25/2023, 7/22/2023)

• Edmond ferry station arriving at 640AM, got in lane 4 (of 5) towards the end; the shift was 7:10AM; arriving at Kingston 8AM to Sol Duc Falls (1030AM)
• Passing Lake Cresent, Sol Duc Falls (large volume of water, a good hike, need trekking poles)
• Park at the stormy ranger's station, back to Lake Cresent, Marymere Falls (the trail entrance was beside the visitor center ranger station house), flat ground until the very end, then it's a very steep climb; the water is like a bridal veil, it has height but it doesn't have the volume
• Drive 20min to Devil's Punchbowl, my favorite place, 1.1 miles on flat ground until the very end, and climb to the cliff hill, to see the teenagers' cliff dive. The lake water was bluish-green, the most beautiful of the lake
• These three stops would amount to 26000 steps
• Wharf and Welly's ice cream, the New Zealand style is so delicious with the mixed berries
• Edie's hook was the tip of the island, passing the industrial paper mill, very windy, but beautiful coast guard site in the very end; very close to Canada (hear the radio)

• Riviera Motor Inn - it's very clean, the Saturday guests would arrive at 5PM, then leave at 8AM, all middle-class looking people, nothing fancy, very small bathroom

• The next day, made the split decision to go to Hoh Rain Forest, 2 hours drive; arriving at 930AM
• Single lane at the fee station and a long wait; then the parking lot was full, and had to follow the black car to park on the gravel roads (can't do it at the vertical site then gravel), need to do it at the roundabout gravel roads
• Two trails, Hall of the Mosses (0.8 miles) and spruce nature trail (1.6 miles); the Hoh River trail is hard and leads to the glacier meadow
• Drive back starting at 11:43AM, from 101 South to 12 to 8 then it's 5 hours including traffic on I5 
• 7/22/2023
• Left home at 4AM, arrived home at 6PM
• Hurricane Ridge, 7AM gate open, 60% full in the main parking lot; Hurricane Hill parking plus overflow became full afterward; can stay for 2.5 hours
• Tongue Point View, mostly a campsite (to the far end of port angeles); cliffside Waterview, not sure what is there to be of the exist (need to research)
• E Elwhq River Recreational Area (see above)
• Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge ($3 fee area, 0.5 miles to the beach, then 5.5 miles to the lighthouse in low tide hours)
• Pho New Saigon (Singaporean noodle); Downriggers on the Water (fish and chip); Jasmine Bistro; Real Burger at the Wharf
• Kingston Edmond Ferry 30min https://wsdot.com/ferries/schedule/scheduledetailbyroute.aspx?route=ed-king
• 1105AM; 1155AM Sunday morning
• From Port Angeles / Olympic Peninsula Points: Drive EAST on U.S. 101 to State Route (SR) 104, crossing the Hood Canal Floating Bridge. Continue EAST on SR 104 for 8 more miles (through Port Gamble) to the Kingston Ferry Terminal. 
• 7/22/2023, wait on 104E to get a colored ticket (ie. boarding pass), then get food, then wait in line to get inside the terminal (pay online to expedite the processing time); one ferry can take roughly 8-10 lanes of cars

• Restaurant - Red Lion Hotel and New Day Eatery and Kokopelle Grille (not very good); Pho New Saigon; Thai food (not good, three-star, see Yelp review

48. Mount Ranier (7/1/2023, 7/29/2023, 8/12/2023)

• https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm
• Hikes
• https://www.earthtrekkers.com/best-hikes-in-mount-rainier-national-park/
• If you want a short, easy hike, we recommend Myrtle Falls, the Silver Falls Loop, the Naches Peak Loop, and the Sourdough Ridge Trail.
• Silver Lake via Laughingwater trail
• Frozen Lake via the sourdough ridge
• https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/upload/2019-Paradise-Area-Trails_508.pdf
• Nisqually Vista Trail, 1.2 miles loop
• Loop with beautiful views close up
• Difficulty: Easy
• Trailhead: Lower Paradise parking lot
• Myrtle Falls Trail, 1.0 loop
• Easy but uphill so requires a physique
• Trailhead: Upper Paradise Parking Lot
• Naches Loop Peak Trailhead (from Wenatchee National Forest bridge, clockwise loop, 3.4 miles and 500 ft elevation) and Tipsoo Lake Loop (easy, 7/29/2023 on 410); 
• Google to directions naches loop trail parking or tipsoo lake comfort station parking; arrived at 830AM and took the almost last official parking spot. The official entrance is at the comfort station whereas the lake parking spot has a ramp. Walked clockwise.
• Moderate hike for the two of us; 3 hours; lots of ants
• Griffin Rd has the cheaper gas at Safeway Express and Arco
• 8/12/2023 - Go to Sunrise, very early in the morning, arrive at gate 7:45AM, wait for the one-line ticketing system for 40min, then drove 15miles to Sunrise, got the last parking slot
• Next trip - Sheep Lake Trail (easy, did not go); Frozen Lake via Sourdough (easy, 1.2 miles + 1.5 miles back) close to the Sunrise parking lot. Go up the stairs, take the left to Frozen lake. At the lake, there are additional cross roads for 4 directions, very windy at the frozen lake. Mt Fremont is another 1.3 mils away one way, moderate hike with moderate incline (did not go).
• Reflection Lake is closer to the Paradise Inn (next time)

49. Sequalitchew Creek Trailhead (10/7/2023)

• One hour from Bellevue in between Tacoma and Olympia; set direction to Dupont civic center parking lot by the fire/police station
• Sequalitchew Creek Trailhead; 3 miles loop; boring, in all shades, not much to see until the very end to the abandoned rails
• Hmart Federal way, pacific grill (hawaiian), underground chicken (Korean), Yi's (Korean), bogul bogul (Korean)

50. Lincoln Park, west of Seattle (5/20/2023, 9/30/2023)

• 30min drive to the two parking lots, plenty of parking space, medium-sized community park
• Park then walk through either the stairs of the beach trail or the ramp on the exit side of the parking lot to get to the shoreline
• The beach trail was a stretch of stone-piled walkways along the shoreline between the two neighborhood areas
• There is a ferry station close by