Category: Seattle

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Saturday/ here comes the bus 🚍

King County Metro’s latest ‘rapid ride’ bus route opened today: the RapidRide G Line along Madison Street.

Its promise is to have the most frequent transit service in the region for riders in Seattle’s Capitol Hill, First Hill, Central District and Madison Valley neighborhoods.

The bus comes every 6 minutes for most of the day, except on Sunday.

The line runs along Madison Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and First Avenue, and turns on 1st Avenue to go back to Madison Street.
Here we stand on Madison and 13th, with the bus bound for downtown.
From the Seattle Times online: The New Flyer model XDE60 buses, which cost $1.3 million each, are the first in Seattle to have a left-side door, allowing passengers to board from four stations, between Eighth and 13th avenues, in a center median island that allows the bus to stop without being held up by drivers turning right or pedestrians in a crosswalk.
Inside the bus. I can see myself on the little monitor by the door on the left side. It’s tap to pay, inside the bus (Orca card readers at the doors), or outside before boarding, at the bus stop. There is still a cash pay point at the front of the bus for travelers with no Orca cards.
Android users can add their Orca cards to their Google wallets, and use their phones to pay, but we cannot yet add Orca cards to our iPhone wallets.
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Monday/ the Lynnwood Link🚆

Here are my pictures of a ride today on the new northbound extension of the  Sound Transit light rail system to downtown Lynnwood.

Here it is: the $3 billion extension from Northgate to Lynnwood with four new stations, 16 years in the making.
Voters approved it with along with Obama’s election in 2008; planning was done from 2010-2016, design from 2016-2019, and construction from 2019-2024.
The 1 Line extension hugs 8½ miles of Interstate 5 and crosses over it north of the Mountlake terrace station. A fifth station will open in 2026 at NE 130th Street.
[Map from Sound Transit website]
Northbound and approaching the existing Northgate station here. Interstate 5 traffic on the left. Much of the extension is elevated compared to Interstate 5, though, due to the uneven terrain there.
Here is the view from the elevated rail and platform at the Lynnwood City Center station. There is a large parking garage at the back (not visible here), a parking lot on the left, and the canopies and bus stops of the Lynnwood Transit Center. Buses can be taken from here to Everett in the north, or to either of the ferry terminals at Edmonds and Mukilteo.
Glass mural artwork on the boarding platform at the Lynnwood City Center station. The artist is Preston Singletary. The art was inspired by his Tlingit heritage and family, and influenced by his father’s recent death.
Here’s the train at the Lynnwood City Center station, with the parking garage at the back of it.
One of two identical sculptures called “Shift” down on the grounds below. The artist is Claudia Fitch and are a nod to the lamps from Lynnwood’s Interurban trolley system, which operated from 1910 to 1939.
Here is Claudia Fitch’s “City Hummingbird” and “Kitchen Window Curtain” at Lynnwood City Center Station, to honor the history of neon road signs that once lined Highway 99 as well as the nature Pacific Northwesterners see in their own backyards.
[Description of artwork and text from Seattle Times]
Getting ready for the 30-minute ride back to Capitol Hill train station. The overhead graphic of the 2 Line (blue) and 1 Line (green) shows that more stations will open in the near future. Stations have numeric identifiers as well, which should make it easier for foreign language speakers and visitors to find the stations that they need to use.
A peek into the future, looking at a little section of rail north of Lynnwood City Center station that has already been constructed. The next push north is scheduled for 2037 with stops at West Alderwood near the mall, Ash Way, Mariner, Highway 99 in South Everett (possibly) and Southwest Everett Industrial Center near Paine Field. Two final stations at Evergreen Way and downtown Everett are aimed for 2041, depending on funding.
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Friday/ rain ☔

Happy Friday.
There was steady rain here in the city today (about 0.5″), and there will be more this weekend.
It was all of 58°F (14°C) as I headed out for a quick walk after dinner.

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Monday/ floatplanes 🌅

Here’s a beautiful view from this morning, of the south end of Lake Union.
I took the picture from the seventh floor of a building off Fairview Avenue North.

At about 8.15 am this morning, there was a line of five float planes getting ready to take off (four are in the picture), and one that had just come in. 
Those taking off could be heading the San Juan Islands, or even to Vancouver Island or British Columbia’s Inside Passage.
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Thursday/ hazy skies 😟

Here is tonight’s sunset, seen from Capitol Hill’s 14th Avenue at Thomas Street.
That’s a layer of smoke out there, from the wildfires east of the Cascades, and also from those burning in Oregon and California.

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Monday/ a little bit of rain ☔

This is the driest day on the calendar for our region*— but there was a little bit of steady rain around the city this morning.

*When looking at daily averages for 79 years of records at the Seattle-Tacoma airport weather station.

The tennis courts/ pickleball courts at Mount Baker Park this morning.
And hey! look at the neon-powder blue paint lines that the city put on for pickleball.
[Thanks for Steve K. for the photo]
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Wednesday/ a ransomware attack 👾

Seattle Public Library suffered a ransomware attack on its network just before Memorial Day weekend.  (Libraries in Toronto and London also suffered cybersecurity breaches recently. The disruptions to their services lasted several months).

Services at the 27 branches of the library are slowly returning, but have still not been fully restored.

Workstations at the Capitol Hill branch of Seattle Public Library were still offline as of today.
From the magazine rack: the latest issue of Analog magazine.
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is a renowned magazine that combines captivating science fiction stories with scientific exploration. ‘Established in 1930, it has become a premier publication for enthusiasts of imaginative storytelling and cutting-edge science’. -magzster.com.
After the ransomware attack, Seattle Public Library issued books and items in analog mode for awhile, using pen and paper to record what was lent out.
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Friday/ cheers 🍻

Happy Friday.
The amigos met at Chuck’s Hop Shop in Central District for a beer and a bite.
The streak of warmer-than-usual-but-not-unbearable weather here in the city will continue through the weekend— 83°F (28°C) today and up to 88°F (31°C) tomorrow.

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Tuesday/ at the supermarket 🛒

Tuesday has become my grocery shopping day.
(Part of the reason: most weeks I have an Amazon Fresh coupon that expires on Tuesday).
I’m doing my part to keep food inflation down by shopping around for the items that I buy lots of: coffee, eggs, breakfast cereal, dairy products.

A floor display here at my local Safeway grocery store on Capitol Hill.
Cool: the shark floatie. (Careful: You will scare the living daylights out of bathers if you use that thing in the surf at the beach! 😱).
Not So Cool: the stacks of bottled water. It’s 200% better for the planet to use a stainless steel water bottle and fill it up with water straight out of the faucet.
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Monday/ sunny and dry ☀️

There was cloud cover this morning, but it was gone by late morning.
Today was the 12th day in a row with a high 80°+ (27°C+) recorded at Sea-Tac.
(The record is 15 days in a row, and it will be broken).
There has also been no rain in July, and we have a real shot at reaching the end of July with no rain at all.
Normally, July ends with about 0.67″ of recorded rain.

What has been the driest July on record? I wondered.
Here is what the Office of the Washington State Climatologist says about July 1960:
‘All of the climate divisions of the state were exceedingly dry in July 1960 (ranging from 0.01” in the Puget Sound Lowlands to 0.05” in the East Slopes Cascades region).
Some stunningly low amounts of precipitation occurred in spots that normally get a fair amount of rain.
For example, in the coastal region of WA, Forks checked in with only 0.04” and Hoquiam got completely shut out with 0.00”.
The 1981-2010 climate normal for Forks and Hoquiam in July is 2.47 and 1.14”, respectively’.

These daisies here on Capitol Hill are looking good, in spite of the warm weather and lack of rain.
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Friday/ a lot of work, a lot of waste 🍃🍃

Happy Friday.

‘Are we too old (for doing) this sh–?’ inquired the old-timer next to us,
while also unloading lots of yard waste from his truck into the bay at the North Transfer Station.
‘Yes— we are!’ said I.

North Transfer Station (aka ‘The Dump’) in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood is a facility open to the public, designed to handle many kinds of waste efficiently and safely, while providing many opportunities to bring in materials and items for recycling, as well.

Thanks to Bryan for all his help today 🤗
This is the 240 lbs (108 kg) of yard waste that we had just dumped at the Transfer Station. There are leaves and shoots clipped from my laurel hedge, as well as a few branches and twigs, from two trees.
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Tuesday/ a crescent moon🌙

We had 97°F  (36°C) here in the city of Seattle today, record for this day on the calendar.
The sunny weather and clear skies will persist, but the high should come down by some 10°F (5.5°C) tomorrow.

Picture posted by Ted S. Warren @tedswarren on X. (I reduced the pixel size of the picture).
He says: ‘Thanks to a great heads-up from @NWSSeattle Sunday, I was able to get the crescent moon and Mercury in a frame looking west in Idaho’.
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Sunday ☀️

The weather forecast now says the heat here in the city will top out on Tuesday at 95°F (35°C).
I like to take a picture or two of my hydrangea’s bloom every summer before the hot weather scorches the little flowers.

My hydrangea is almost in full bloom.
In South Africa, hydrangeas are typically in full bloom in December.
That’s why we call them ‘Krismisrose’ in Afrikaans, which translates to ‘Christmas roses’.
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Friday/ hot in the city 🔥

I don’t have an installed sprinkler system for my new lawn, so it’s the oscillating sprinkler or moi with a watering wand in hand that will keep the lawn watered.

 

It is hot – Seattle ‘hot’ – here in the city this weekend, with 87°F (30°C) today.

The highs are forecast to climb to 94°F (34°C) by Monday.

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Wednesday/ here’s the beer 🍻

Happy Wednesday.
Four amigos played a little pickleball late this morning, and afterwards we went for a beer and a bite in Columbia City.

This beer truck was parked across the street.
Some office workers are making it a long weekend, with the Fourth of July holiday falling on a Thursday this year.

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Sunday/ back to the city 🛳

Our weekend on Kitsap Peninsula was over, and we took the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry to get back to the city late this morning.

The Agate Pass Bridge (steel truss bridge built in the 1950s) on Highway 305 connects Kitsap Peninsula with Bainbridge Island.
Here is our departure from the Bainbridge Island Ferry Terminal. The new overhead pedestrian walkway for walk-on passengers (on the right, middle of picture) opened in February. The seismically safe steel-fortified walkway set on concrete and steel columns replaced a 50-year-old wood-supported walkway.
We could see this seagull’s nest from the ferry (in one of the terminal pillars) but it was hard to see all of the spotted chick/s in the nest.
Approaching the Emerald City and there is the rainbow flag on the Space Needle.
The annual Pride Parade was underway in downtown as we arrived at the Seattle ferry terminal.
This year is the 50th anniversary of the first Pride parade in Seattle in 1974.
🌈 Happy Pride!
A view of the city skyline from the lower car-deck on the ferry.
We sailed on Marine Vessel Tacoma. She is a Jumbo Mark II class ferry, constructed in 1997, and can accommodate 2,500 walk-on passengers and 202 vehicles.
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Wednesday/ curbside charging ⚡️

The City of Seattle has set a goal to reduce transportation emissions by a whopping 83% by 2030.
Providing more public charging options for EVs is part of a comprehensive portfolio of transportation electrification investments.

This wood pole charger on 15th Ave East on Capitol Hill is one of the first batch of 24 such chargers that had been installed around the city. These chargers are open to the public, available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved. 
A Tesla supercharger* it is NOT: these are Level 2 EV chargers that can charge at rates up to 9.6 kilowatts (kW). Fast chargers in off-street locations such as parking lots can charge up to 50 or 60 kW. 
*Most V3 Tesla superchargers can charge at rates up to 250 kW.
The charging rate is $0.21/kWh.
Let’s do the math:
For an Electric Vehicle (EV)
To ADD 30 mi of range to a small EV, it takes about 1 hr of charging at 9.6 kWh.
Therefore $0.21/kWh x 9.6 kW x 1hr comes to $2.02.
For an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)
In Seattle, gas is close to $5/gal.
Let’s say a compact ICE car gets 30 mpg.
To ADD 30 mi of range to the ICE car, it would need 1 gallon.
Therefore 1 gallon x $5/ gal comes to  $5.00.
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Tuesday/ mild weather ☀️

There were more scenes of devastation from flooding, and from damaging winds, in the Midwest, on the news tonight.
We are counting our blessings here in the Pacific Northwest, thankful for the mild summer weather we have had so far.
There was a high of 79 °F (26 °C) today, and temperatures will only reach 70°F (21 °C) tomorrow.

Here’s 7.42 pm today with 15th Ave East up ahead, on Capitol Hill.
Look at the blue sky reflected from the parked cars.
Sunset is still some 90 minutes away, now at 9.11 pm.