Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A reasonably leisurely day in Seattle


Twenty years, more or less, have passed since I visited my Seattle friend on a fairly regular schedule. Now I travel to San Francisco to see him, but in those days I'd bring my University assigned reading aboard the black ball ferry, and pass the 5 hour journey pouring over my studies while admiring some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet through Puget Sound.

Today I had an opportunity to retrace some of those ancient steps, to wander through Ravenna park where I had previously spent many hours wandering with my friend's doggies. The park is remarkably green and clean with a fairly intact ecosystem where it's easy to forget there's a big United Statesian city just moments away.

I found a veggie restaurant for lunch, chatted with a Real Change vendor, stopped at a bookstore coffeeshop, and then got all sweaty at a friendly yoga studio. Soon these moments of leisure will be mere memories, as the caravan adventure starts to move into high gear. Tomorrow I'm on a greyhound bus to Montana for two presentations in Missoula and Bozeman before reuniting with our blue bus in Pocatello Idaho on Saturday.

It's tough to leave the pacific northwest .... so much beauty here. But, the big adventure awaits. You can click here to view photos from my leisurely day in Seattle.

And you can click here to hear an archived radio interview with Lisa Valenti from Monday's "Wake Up With Coop" radio programme which airs from Vancouver's Coop Radio.