Dec-28-2009 Seattle Walking Trip in One Day~ Part 1: The Beginning－Library Owl

Seattle, Washington State, USA is only four hours bus ride from Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is possible to do a one day road trip to Seattle from Vancouver, although what can be seen might be really limited. Nonetheless, one can get some different USA style from a trip to Seattle.

The easiest way to get to Seattle is to take Quick Shuttle, which cost around CAD$59 for a round trip for students. But the quality of the transportation is definitely not in my comfort zone. If one doesn't like the following things and have no budget limitation, take trains or other transportation instead then. The cons of Quick Shuttle include: 1) bad air-conditioning - the bus is filled with cheap perfumed scent; 2) the chairs are not very comfortable unlike those luxious buses one could find in Taiwan; 3) the bus might be filled with garbages left by their former customers, such as gum wrappings or used tissues, and of course lot of dust.

Well, actually the main reason for me to visit Seattle is just that I have already applied for US Visa before going to UBC, it's a waste if I don't seiz

e the opportunity to visit US during my stay in Vancouver. I shall thank Liz and Becky, some of Penticton 2009 members, for advising me how to get to Seattle by Quick Shuttle. As for what to do in Seattle, here is some quick references:

Madarin resources -

http://www.backpackers.com.tw/guide/index.php/%E8%A5%BF%E9%9B%85%E5%9C%96

English resources -

For holiday season -

http://www.downtownholidays.com/

Official Visitor's Guide

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/weaver/seovg209/

http://www.visitseattle.org/visitors/default.asp

Of course, there are free maps and manuals at their Visitor's Information Booth at Pike Place Market. However, one cannot rely on their volunteers since the volunteers are not well-informed and might give out wrong information depending on his own experience. For instance, during holiday season, Seattle Art Gallery has different opening hours. They would open one their closed days, such as Mondays and Tuesdays, and even have late opening hours till 9PM around that time. However, I was told by the volunteer that the museums around Seattle would be closed on Dec 28 since it's their normal colsed days. Personally, I would say check official websites of the museums one would like to visit, they would provide better information than words of mouth.

Something new:

One's cell phone service provider would change from Rogers, the largest service provider in BC area, to AT&T, the largest one in US, after crossing the borders.