You may have read about our last trip we made to Seattle. We said we'd do
another one, and here it is! Not surprisingly, we didn't have as much of
a lucky streak as we did on the last trip, as it rained pretty much the
entire time :-(. We crossed the border, hassle free, and made our way down the I-5. After
gassing up in Bellingham, we noticed a jar of pickles camoflauged within
the shubbery surrounding the gas station. As for why somebody decided to
leave behind a full jar of pickles, we'll never know. Some questions are
better left unanswered however :-).
Traffic thickened near the Seattle metropolis although this time it was
twice as bad as the last trip we made. We inched our way southbound, and
then picked up speed near the Downtown area. As we exited the freeway....
BOOM, we were right downtown. Such a thing is unheard of in Canada. Luckily
enough, we found ourselves a parking spot and walked on over to Pioneer Square.
We had lunch at Quizno's Subs on Main and 1st, a very high-quality fast food joint. For
$4.99, you get a sub sandwich, substantial french fries, and unlimited
soda refills. Not a bad deal.
Next up on the agenda was Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, the focal point
of our second Seattle trip. This tour starts at Doc Maynards (in Pioneer
Square), and runs for approximately two hours. Guests are entertained in
the lobby of the Underground gift shop with a pun-rich history of Seattle
for about twenty minutes. The tour then goes to the streets with a history
of the totem pole outside on 1st Ave. Afterwards, the crowd is ushered
down three narrow staircases underneath the city streets, where much of the
original Underground still stands. Dark, dank passages, original "crappers",
and interesting pictures act like a time machine in bringing the crowd back
to the past. There is so much history behind this tour, that it would take
ages to write about, however I invite all those interested to buy tickets
for the tour and experience it for yourselves.
Jamie wanted to see how close we could get to multi-billionaire Bill Gates'
mansion, near Redmond. So we tried. We got on I-90, crossed the
floating bride in super-heavy traffic, and then asked at several gas stations
on the Eastside. Most of the attendants hadn't the slightest clue how to
get to Bill Gates' place (and why would they?) but we hit paydirt at one
Texaco station, where the guy gave us step-by-step directions on how to get
to the foot of Mr. Gates' mansion itself. Apparently we made a wrong turn
somewhere and asked at another gas station closer by. The guy gave us
directions to get to a road which twisted all the way down to Lake Washington.
There were about three such roads which 'twisted down' so we tried the first
one. At the very end was a big white gate, and a wall. We weren't sure if
this mansion was the billionaire's, however we did take a picture. Regardless
of whether this was Bill's place or not, it sure was a prime piece of real-estate.
After talking to several people about getting the best view of Bill Gates'
place, the consensus was that taking a boat onto Lake Washington is the
best way. The guy probably has Microsoft surveillance software which can track
down any boat which comes 100 feet within the shoreline of his mansion, so
getting close to it may not be worth the try :-).
We then headed back up the road and found our way to State Route 520. After
fighting a bit of traffic due to somebody who decided to park in the middle
of the freeway, we were on our way back to Canada for a huge dinner!
--by Steve Ruelle
![[Email Us]](../images/email.gif)
![[List Trips]](../images/list.gif)
![[Next Trip]](../images/next.gif)
![[King Dome]](kingdome.jpg)
You may have read about our ![[Pioneer Square Park]](pioneersquare.jpg)
Traffic thickened near the Seattle metropolis although this time it was
twice as bad as the last trip we made. We inched our way southbound, and
then picked up speed near the Downtown area. As we exited the freeway....
BOOM, we were right downtown. Such a thing is unheard of in Canada. Luckily
enough, we found ourselves a parking spot and walked on over to Pioneer Square.
![[Quizno's Logo]](quiznos.gif){kind=small}
We had lunch at Quizno's Subs on Main and 1st, a very high-quality fast food joint. For
$4.99, you get a sub sandwich, substantial french fries, and unlimited
soda refills. Not a bad deal.
![[Underground Crapper]](crapper.jpg)
the lobby of the Underground gift shop with a pun-rich history of Seattle
for about twenty minutes. The tour then goes to the streets with a history
of the totem pole outside on 1st Ave. Afterwards, the crowd is ushered
down three narrow staircases underneath the city streets, where much of the
original Underground still stands. Dark, dank passages, original "crappers",
and interesting pictures act like a time machine in bringing the crowd back
to the past. There is so much history behind this tour, that it would take
ages to write about, however I invite all those interested to buy tickets
for the tour and experience it for yourselves.
![[Bill Gates' Gate]](gatesgate.jpg)
Texaco station, where the guy gave us step-by-step directions on how to get
to the foot of Mr. Gates' mansion itself. Apparently we made a wrong turn
somewhere and asked at another gas station closer by. The guy gave us
directions to get to a road which twisted all the way down to Lake Washington.
There were about three such roads which 'twisted down' so we tried the first
one. At the very end was a big white gate, and a wall. We weren't sure if
this mansion was the billionaire's, however we did take a picture. Regardless
of whether this was Bill's place or not, it sure was a prime piece of real-estate.
After talking to several people about getting the best view of Bill Gates'
place, the consensus was that taking a boat onto Lake Washington is the
best way. The guy probably has Microsoft surveillance software which can track
![[Breakdown]](breakdown.jpg)
down any boat which comes 100 feet within the shoreline of his mansion, so
getting close to it may not be worth the try :-).
