Day 52: Seattle to Maytown, WA

Wake up! Wake up! It’s 4am! Time to go fishing!

Our charter left early this morning from Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle. We were targeting coho salmon and ending up catching four cohos, a few king salmon (which had to be thrown back because they are not in season), and lots of flounder as bi-catch. It was a beautifully sunny day to be out on the water. The ocean was calm and we got to watch tankers cross our path with Mount Rainer overseeing everything from a distance. Not only did we see wild jellyfish in the water, we caught a few sharks! No kidding. We were also lucky to see seals in the harbour both on the way out and in to the marina. One harbour seal even waited by the boat after we pulled in hoping for a fishy snack. His eyes were so black it almost looked like his eye sockets were empty; a bit creepy but he was still cute.

Lazy dudes lounging in the sun.

Waiting for a fishy treat.

In the ocean!

We passed the afternoon at the Seattle Aquarium in the company of an extremely cool octopus. He was out and about exploring his tank and greeting all his visitors. The touch tank was really excellent at this aquarium - it was filled with urchins and anemones with very spiky or sticky arms, respectively.

Octopus 

Moray eel

Ray

Shark

Next up was the very, very busy Pike’s Place Market. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, so this was to be expected, and added lots of atmosphere to the market. The flower bouquets on offer were beyond gorgeous and we saw the famous fish throwing by the fish mongers. We sampled BBQ pork and smoked salmon pies from Piroshky Bakery. Yum!

After heading out of the very busy (and very hot at 25 degrees Celsius) downtown, we made it part of the way to Mount St. Helen’s - tomorrow’s destination. Our dinner and sleeping spot tonight is a roadside rest stop. It is a bit noisy but has picnic tables, water, trash bins and bathrooms. We were careful to park as far from the transport trucks as possible. We learned from our mistake last time. Dinner was fresh caught, vibrant red salmon with salad. Oh boy - what a treat! We are all going to sleep well tonight.

The kids passed out in the Uber back to the marina from downtown.

Like totally asleep with snoring.

The salmon is SO red!