travistubbs

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Going to a Sounders FC game this weekend cus why not? Plus they’re facing my old (2nd) hometown’s team. Do I dare wear this?

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Series? Loved. Stop? Never.

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With the number of notifications I get from the Tinder app about anything not related to matches and messages, it feels like the app is more desperate than I am.

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Loving this series? Never going to stop.

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I will still never stop loving this series.

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I will never not stop loving this series.

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After making my way from Gas Works Park, it was time to visit "The Center of the Universe", Fremont.

After crossing under the Aurora Ave bridge and passing by the Adobe campus, I was met with the beauty that is the Fremont Bridge. Bridge go up! Bridge go down. Bridge go up! Bridge go down. (But just not on this day.)

The Fremont Canal is a nice little waterway along the trail. Was neat to see a boat just having a little ride down it.

I didn't expect to run into dinosaurs! This was the best pic I could get. The trail was rather busy with runners and cyclists this morning.

After making my way to the end of the canal, my feet needed a rest. So I stopped by the Fremont Coffee Company for a little breakfast. It's in an old house, so it's got charm. Sat out on the porch to people watch. And there were a lot of people! Got in line at just the right time to avoid the wait.

With breakfast out of the way, it was time to start doing tourist-y things! First was the the Center of the Universe sign itself. In case you needed to know how much further you had to go to Timbuktu.

Just down the street from that was the Fremont Rocket. Didn't realize it would be attached to a shop I had already planned on checking out. (The shop turned out to not be my kind of place.)

Finally, the Fremont Troll. When I walked up, it already had a couple families and other people in front ready to take pictures. One family had young kids, so waiting for them took a while since the kids wanted to do anything other than stand still.

Don't tell anyone, but I learned of the secret to the troll's magic. Shhh...

At this point, I'm exhausted and still didn't hit up all the places I wanted to. After a quick downhill walk under the Aurora Avenue bridge, it was time to catch the bus and head back. (Made a pit stop at the library, which too was older and had a cool feel to it!)

I've really been enjoying my time exploring the city. And there's SO much more ground to cover. I just wished I had the energy to go longer each day. Guess that just gives me a reason to keep returning to different parts of time.

Here's some other pics I took that I didn't know how to categorize.

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Good news: New cork board! More good news: New backpack! (for wandering around town) Morer gooder news: Finally found my pins! Bad news: I have so much space to fill now...

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New hats! New hats! Important question though:

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Had another Sunday of walking around new (to me) parts of town. Two places were visited this time, so let's start with Gas Works Park.

Before heading to the park, I wanted to point out the art installed at U District Station. They're made to look like windowsills on a building.

They Might Be Giants were also playing at the Neptune that night! If only I had planned ahead for that.

Gas Works Park is made up of remains of a former coal gasification plant.

The park is along Lake Union, which provides an incredible view of downtown Seattle. Just over that hill on the right is the Queen Anne neighborhood.

I was lucky enough to see a few planes taking off and landing this morning.

Of course, it wouldn't be a park without a little street art to add some additional color.

From there, it's a walk on the Burke-Gilman Trail along the Fremont Canal toward the Fremont neighborhood.

In fact, the neighborhood is just on the other side of the Aurora Bridge. But that will have to wait until the next post.

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Made enchiladas a while back. Finally remembered to take a picture before devouring them. (Cus they good.)

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Me this morning: I'm going to do so many things today! Me now: eh… I went to the store. Good enough. Zzzzzzz…

(I do plan on doing more city exploring tomorrow.)

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It’s fun scrolling on the web, see something that reminded ya of some stupid opinions ya had on a subject in your 20s, and thinking “damn… that was a really stupid opinion/take I had on that. What the hell, 20s me?”

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Texas Trip Travel Log: Travel Day 5

The fifth travel day finally brings me back to my home state of Texas.

I woke up in the middle of the night feeling really warm. When sleeping with the room’s door close, there is less air circulation, but this seemed abnormally warm. Turns out the A/C on this train was inconsistently working. This made for a rough sleep.

In addition to the A/C issue, there are MANY at-grade crossings on this part of the trip. Meaning there’s a LOT of train horn blowing to warm vehicles that a train is coming. After a wonderful trip on the Empire Builder, this felt like the opposite.

Woke up the next morning running a bit behind as we should have been in Marshall, Texas by now. Turns out we’re running a good 40 minutes behind thanks to major freight traffic. The tracks are being worked on during the week so this is prob all of them catching up.

We eventually make our way into Dallas. Dallas is a fresh air stop, but I’ve never actually stepped off the train here before.

Departing Dallas was a little bit more difficult. It appears a lady and their kid wandered off from the platform. When the All Aboard call came, they took their time getting back to the train. I could hear later from the crew that they were yelling at the lady to hurry up but that didn’t seem to motivate them. There’s a reason the conductor always says to not wander from the train. That’s just Inconsiderate to all other passengers on train.

Next stop was Ft. Worth. Since I had already hopped off the train in Dallas, I decided to use this fresh air break to take a nap. When I woke up, the train was moving. Little did I know, there was engine trouble in Ft. Worth, adding another hour delay to the trip. Why you being so troublesome, Texas?

Amazingly, we make to Austin only a little behind schedule. I’m finally back (to my 2nd) home.

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Another Sunday of exploring a new part of the city. Decided to wander around the Capitol Hill area last week.

The entrance to Volunteer Park is a bit deceptive as it looks rundown, but once ya get into the heart of it, it's actually really nice. There's a great view of downtown Seattle from there!

I didn't get to check out everything I wanted in Capitol Hill itself. Guess that just means I need to go back sometime!

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Back on this bullshit. Bets on how long until I give up again?

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Got a COVID shot since I was overdue for one. Didn’t get a superhero bandage this time. :(