Seattle, WA

The next morning, I woke up and immediately put on my backpack and rode my bike down to the Amtrak station. Since I was planning on staying in hostels that were downtown in both Seattle and Vancouver, BC, parking a car was going to be a headache, so I left my car parked for free in Portland and took the train up north, which turned out great. The train was no where near full, so I could use the empty seat next to me to stretch out, there was an abundance of power outlets so I could use my laptop for entertainment, and I was able to roll my bike right up to the baggage cart where it was put in a bike rack for the trip. Once in Seattle, I went and dumped my things at the hostel, which was just across the street from the famous Pike Place Marketplace. I went down to the waterfront and walked around the parks there, then went by the Space Needle and strolled through downtown on the way back to the hostel. The weather was exactly what you would expect from Seattle; dreary, chilly, and light rain. Walking along the Puget Sound in those conditions made it tough to keep Death Cab songs out of my head. The next morning was still cold, but surprisingly sunny. I picked up a morning coffee from the first ever Starbucks store and spent some more time strolling along the waterfront. I had plans to go to two museums that day, The Experience Music Project and The Museum of Flight. I decided to see EMP first and went there in the late morning. The museum was excellent with good exhibits about the Seattle music scene and a little about the evolution of some musical instruments. At the end of the museum, you even get a chance to play some music yourself with the interactive exhibits. When I finished there, I got on my bike and headed for a restaurant that I had in mind for lunch to grab a bite to eat before catching the bus for the Museum of Flight. Shortly after leaving EMP I stopped at a red light, and when I went to pedal away my chain came off of the gears, causing me to lose my balance and fall over the handlebars, landing on my chin. A very nice lady that was returning to work helped me to assess the damage and let me come back to her office building to find the nearest Urgent Care center. Once I knew where to go, I put my chain back on and pedaled away, only to find when I arrived that there was an hour or more wait at Urgent Care. I waited in line and when I saw the doctor, received five stitches on my chin. By this time it was late afternoon and far too late to make it to the Museum of Flight, so I called it a day and got ready to head to Canada the next morning.