Ozricosis wrote:Indeed, it is a nice place to live.
Living in the Pacific Northwest/Seattle.
My 55km commute to Seattle involves rolling out of the driveway on either one of my two roadworthy bikes, in a quiet, residential neighbourhood, ubiquitous pine trees to one side, very green grass to the other, and if it's a sunny morning the immense sight of Mt Rainier, all 14,410 feet of it (4392 metres), covered in glaciers and snow down to the foothills. As I roll onto the 'Interstate' heading North I see acres of farmland, old truck farms where once the local vegetables were grown and harvested, but now new warehouses are springing up, more pine trees, as far as the eye can see, and a rolling highway full of cars and trucks, five lanes wide - in either direction - with mostly well-mannered drivers, in that polite, Seattle way. Off in the distance to the East the green foothills of the Cascade Range give way to the mountains behind them, at this time of the year all snow-covered. The gentle rolling hills give way to the valley just South of the city, where miles of shopping centres and office parks stand. Then Boeing Field comes into view, where the famous aircraft manufacturer got its start a 100 years ago. At that point one can make out the cranes in Sodo, the two sport stadiums where the "World Champs" of American football play, and home to the Mariners of baseball fame. Massive ships load and unload their cargo from Asia and beyond right at the water's edge. The Emerald City's tall towers stand majestically against the backdrop of Elliot Bay - the inland salty ocean at the end of the Strait of Juan De Fuca - the mighty Olympic Ranges further West are aglow in orange fire as the morning sun glints off their snow-flanked peaks. Under the city's convention centre, through the gridlock of traffic, bursting out the other side, glancing right we have Capitol Hill, and to the left where Lake Union washes up against the shores of Westlake, the famous Space Needle in the background, up the hill further is Queen Anne, the bridge known locally (and cryptically due to number of suicide jumps) as Fremont Falls, the locks, Ballard and Green Lake. Now we are crossing the high Ship Canal Bridge and catch a glimpse of Lake Washington's expanse, the floating bridges which carry two hundred thousand people a day across the lake at water level, as the Cascades reappear in the East, below us lies the sprawl of the University of Washington, the stadiums, and the neighbourhoods around the shores of Lake Washington. Soon we will be lost in the quagmire of Seattle's residential neighbourhoods, Craftsman homes from the turn of the last century, more pines, parks and gardens, playgrounds and schools. Off a busy road lies work. Surrounded by cafes, coffee shops and hip restaurants, serving ethnic food, fast food, donuts, theatres where we watch a good film from another country, and bars where we drink, watch sport on the tele or just sit and think or talk with our friends after a long day on the job.
It is a good city to live in. Heaps to do. Lots to look at. The roads an hour away from the Big Smoke are fantastic on a weekday when everyone's at work. The weather's not bad, really. It's a fairly constant temp with few extremes except in the middle of the respective seasons. A workmate of mine says it's 50 (10C) and raining in Winter and 50 and raining in Summer... In reality it rises to 90F (32C) for a week or more in Summer and we get a bit of black ice (or worse) in January.
I need to mention that there's a thriving motorbike scene, for all types and all riders. Yep, I like it all right.
New To forums. Washington State Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:15 pm
