Took a friend out for a birthday lunch to Alki on Tuesday. Alki is a strip of beach/boardwalk/condos/headland three miles SW of downtown Seattle across Elliot Bay. It was a great day to go to Alki. There was light rain in the morning that kept the tourists and sunbathers away from the beach so we were able to find a parking spot, eat lunch and go for a walk without the usual summer beach crowd.
There was not a lot of boating activity. I think there may have been a problem with some of the Washington State Ferry boats that run from Seattle to Vashon, Bremerton and Bainbridge. We did get to watch a big giant cruise ship leave the dock and steam off to Alaska.
Web research determined it to the Carnival Spirit with a max capacity of 3400 people heading up the inside passage to Alaska. It is almost the end of the season for Alaska cruises. There are two more trips scheduled for Alaska. Then the Spirit does trips from Seattle, LA and San Diego to Hawaii for 6 weeks. After that, it goes from San Diego to Miami in November via the Panama Canal. (The boat's scheduling was a topic of discussion at lunch.) The trips to Hawaii are a bit of a holding pattern killing time between the Alaska season ending and waiting for Hurricane season to be over in the Caribbean in November.
My friend's car needed a muffler and she could not afford to buy one. We left her car at my mechanics hoping it would be done today. The shop wanted to check prices before doing the work. They will call me tomorrow and we will go from there.
I am grateful my car runs great, for delicious pizza at Alki, sunny warm days, the beauty of snow-covered Olympic mountains, companionship, and to be able to help a friend with a useful birthday present.
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