Living for free in Seattle

July marked the beginning of my true homelessness. I no longer had an apartment, so I was no longer paying rent or utilities. Just me and my car and my few possessions I packed with me. It felt pretty freeing! Back in the Unites States, I planned to spend three nights sleeping in my car in Seattle before continuing on my way to Mt. Ranier National Park. Although my first couple nights sleeping in my SUV at the start of the trip were perhaps less than optimal, I now felt comfortable enough to try it again, and this time without the Walmart parking lot. I had done some research online, and found that a lot of people camped their RVs along the road at Alki beach. Sure enough, as I made my way to this beach in West Seattle, I started to see lots of campers along this stretch, parked in the shade of trees before the beach. I got out and talked to a few of these travelers. Yes, they said, I would be good to sleep along this stretch for as long as I liked. Perfect. The beach had washrooms and this awesome view of the city (above), and I cleaned myself up and went to sleep. Turns out I picked an awesome spot that stayed in the shade until late morning, and I was pretty ecstatic that I slept comfortably until past 9:00am. Now for my first true day in Seattle, I started with the regular tourist spots. I drove the car downtown and found some $10 parking for the weekend, then headed off to Pioneer Square, Miner's Landing, and Pike Place Market. I've been to Seattle before, so these sights were nothing new to me, and the crowds at Pike Place actually really turned me off. You can see from the photo below, we could barely move! Someone told me Pike Place Market gets more tourists than Disneyland; I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I could believe it. The place is huge and everywhere was stuffed full of humans. I grabbed a bagel with lox for the sake of it, but then decided to head out and walk down to the visitor's centre to get my bearings.

At the visitor's centre, I came across a pamphlet from Timbuk2 that said they would give me a free bike for the day. I asked the guides if this was accurate, and they assured me it was, although only three bikes were available this way so I should hurry over. I took off, luckily this store was only a couple blocks away, and sure enough I got my free bike! Complete with carrier, helmet and lock, I was pretty impressed with what I got, all completely free til 7:00pm. Thanks Timbuk2! You're the best! Excited to be on two wheels (anyone who knows me knows I'm an avid cyclist), I took off for the Space Needle and Olympic Sculpture Park, and took the bike for a spin to Centennial park. Fun! Next I took off to cycle around Lake Union, which took me through various Seattle neighbourhoods and over several bridges. Mid afternoon now, I decided I'd had enough sun, and dropped off the bike. Time for what Seattle is really famous for: coffee! Yum. Afternoon coffee is my favorite. I hit up Storybook Coffee, who's motto is Love Everyone (love that!) and relaxed and planned my trip. The evening was browsing bookstores, grabbing a drink at a nice outdoor patio, before heading back to my hood: Alki Beach. Night two went equally smoothly.

The next day, I got some suggestions from my friend in Seattle, and took off for the Ballard Farmer's Market. Now THIS was a market I was down with. This huge outdoor market had such a great vibe, and awesome goods and food for sale. I stocked up on some local produce (cherries $2 per pound!) and some local artwork too. Everyone was so friendly, it really was a great place, I would recommend it hands down over Pike Place. After that, stopped in at the Ballard Chittenden Locks and learned a bit about the feat of connecting the waterways in Seattle. These massive locks connecting lakes to ocean were definitely impressive and good to see.

Next stop, Golden Garden's Park. This huge park had amazing beaches, both areas that were fun and busy with people, as well as quiet areas for contemplation and enjoying the beauty. I was pretty impressed. Doubly impressed because they had beach showers, yay! I doubted Mt. Ranier National Park was going to have showers, so getting clean before heading out was pretty important. My afternoon was spent in the artsy neighbourhood of Fremont, where I toured some sights like the Fremont Troll, and of course enjoyed some relaxation at Fremont Coffee Company, who's Wifi password was KillYourComputer. I also loved that. Although I got on my computer anyways (too much to figure out while I have wifi).

The evening was spent filling up on gas, buying food, and taking care of business for my departure from the city. Living in my SUV, I find I need to take a break and reorganize myself every half week or so, if I don't want things to get out of control. A final stroll along Alki beach until it was time for bed. Thanks Seattle, it was fun!