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Sunday Funday
Nov. 21st, 2021 11:59 pmDrove to Northgate Station to catch the train downtown. I had to stop for gas on Ballinger Road and it was $4.29 a gallon. Yikes! When I got to the station the park and ride lot was full, and only the bottom level of the garage had any free space. Hopefully they aren't enforcing permits yet. There were many Seahawks fans in line for the ticket machines. A couple of Asian ladies were trying to figure out how to tap their new ORCA cards so I pointed out the logo below the screen.
The plan was to take the train to Westlake Station, check out the remodeled monorail to Seattle Center, scare up some lunch, then make my way to Capitol Hill. The new station was built without regard for the exit stairs and the elevator, which meant the fare gates at that end had to be roped off so folks could enter the fare-paid zone from there. The red train was in service; it has been wrapped in advertising while the blue train has not. I headed for the Armory and after taking some pictures of the Winterfest decorations, made a beeline for the men's room. That settled, I picked up a steak-and-Guinness pie, an order of poutine made with Tater Tots, and a sweet tea for lunch. Once I finished eating, I headed outside and called Colleen from a bench outside the Armory. A little girl with long red hair played Christmas carols on a violin. She did well on most everything but struggled with Carol of the Bells, which isn't a surprise at her apparent age. When I finished the call I gave her a tip and walked around to take pictures.
About ten after two I returned to the Armory for a pit stop and got back on the monorail, where I spotted a bunch of people in fur suits leaving the incoming train, and connected to the train to Capitol Hill. The farmer's market on Denny Way was just wrapping up. I watched a small crowd of dogs and their people playing on the lawn. Just after three I stopped by Starbucks for a latte and was surprised to find they were carryout only, so I took my coffee back to the park. A cute little redheaded otter-pup in a Cal Poly T-shirt and shorts was walking a large dog (easily half the dude's body weight) and having to drag the dog away at intervals from the wall I was sitting on, because it smelled so *interesting*. I finished my coffee and watched the people walking by, the dogs leaving and checking their p-mail on a nearby lamppost, and the market folks packing everything up. An older dude pushing a rolling walker stopped to tell jokes to the two young dudes behind me as well as myself. Walker dude: "I thought you were a statue for a minute." Dude behind me: "How can you tell I'm not?!" Walker dude: "Watch out or I'll climb on you." About ten to four the sun dipped very low in the sky as I took my last pictures in the park.
Games night began with Love Letters Batman Edition with Jonathan, Dan, and Steven (Steven won), then Machi Koro 2 with Rob, Dan, and Justin (Justin won). During the latter game, the other half of the group played Mysterium: Jonathan, Steven, Joshua, Kenneth, Thomas, and Anthony. Also, the Seahawks lost to Arizona, 23-13. After Mysterium ended, we played Everdell which we had to wrap up early so people could make their dinner reservation at 8. After they left, Dan, Jonathan, Kenneth, Steven, Thomas, and I played Dark Gothic. There are so many rules that I despaired of finishing before the store closed. But we got two of the three villains dispatched by the time the store closed. The five of us - Thomas, Kenneth, Steven, Jonathan, and I - ducked around the corner to a little gyros shop in the building with Annapurna Cafe. I had a gyros plate with rice, salad, hummus, and a pita; dolmas; and a root beer to wash it all down. We had a nice chat over dinner about what we've been doing since we saw each other last.
After dinner we parted ways on the corner with hugs all around. I didn't have far to walk to reach the south entrance of Capitol Hill Station, and sat on the platform level journaling while waiting for the next northbound train. There were a few Kraken fans on board. At U District Station the public address system on the train apparently got cranked up to 11, and at that stop and the next the announcements came out highly distorted, in a really creepy sort of way, and the couple sitting across from me just freaked out until it was reset.
I returned to the car at Northgate and arrived home without incident.
The plan was to take the train to Westlake Station, check out the remodeled monorail to Seattle Center, scare up some lunch, then make my way to Capitol Hill. The new station was built without regard for the exit stairs and the elevator, which meant the fare gates at that end had to be roped off so folks could enter the fare-paid zone from there. The red train was in service; it has been wrapped in advertising while the blue train has not. I headed for the Armory and after taking some pictures of the Winterfest decorations, made a beeline for the men's room. That settled, I picked up a steak-and-Guinness pie, an order of poutine made with Tater Tots, and a sweet tea for lunch. Once I finished eating, I headed outside and called Colleen from a bench outside the Armory. A little girl with long red hair played Christmas carols on a violin. She did well on most everything but struggled with Carol of the Bells, which isn't a surprise at her apparent age. When I finished the call I gave her a tip and walked around to take pictures.
About ten after two I returned to the Armory for a pit stop and got back on the monorail, where I spotted a bunch of people in fur suits leaving the incoming train, and connected to the train to Capitol Hill. The farmer's market on Denny Way was just wrapping up. I watched a small crowd of dogs and their people playing on the lawn. Just after three I stopped by Starbucks for a latte and was surprised to find they were carryout only, so I took my coffee back to the park. A cute little redheaded otter-pup in a Cal Poly T-shirt and shorts was walking a large dog (easily half the dude's body weight) and having to drag the dog away at intervals from the wall I was sitting on, because it smelled so *interesting*. I finished my coffee and watched the people walking by, the dogs leaving and checking their p-mail on a nearby lamppost, and the market folks packing everything up. An older dude pushing a rolling walker stopped to tell jokes to the two young dudes behind me as well as myself. Walker dude: "I thought you were a statue for a minute." Dude behind me: "How can you tell I'm not?!" Walker dude: "Watch out or I'll climb on you." About ten to four the sun dipped very low in the sky as I took my last pictures in the park.
Games night began with Love Letters Batman Edition with Jonathan, Dan, and Steven (Steven won), then Machi Koro 2 with Rob, Dan, and Justin (Justin won). During the latter game, the other half of the group played Mysterium: Jonathan, Steven, Joshua, Kenneth, Thomas, and Anthony. Also, the Seahawks lost to Arizona, 23-13. After Mysterium ended, we played Everdell which we had to wrap up early so people could make their dinner reservation at 8. After they left, Dan, Jonathan, Kenneth, Steven, Thomas, and I played Dark Gothic. There are so many rules that I despaired of finishing before the store closed. But we got two of the three villains dispatched by the time the store closed. The five of us - Thomas, Kenneth, Steven, Jonathan, and I - ducked around the corner to a little gyros shop in the building with Annapurna Cafe. I had a gyros plate with rice, salad, hummus, and a pita; dolmas; and a root beer to wash it all down. We had a nice chat over dinner about what we've been doing since we saw each other last.
After dinner we parted ways on the corner with hugs all around. I didn't have far to walk to reach the south entrance of Capitol Hill Station, and sat on the platform level journaling while waiting for the next northbound train. There were a few Kraken fans on board. At U District Station the public address system on the train apparently got cranked up to 11, and at that stop and the next the announcements came out highly distorted, in a really creepy sort of way, and the couple sitting across from me just freaked out until it was reset.
I returned to the car at Northgate and arrived home without incident.