Washington Octobers

Fall in Seattle means rain and fog.  According to my twitter feed, this October has been one of the rainiest Octobers on record in Seattle.  The fact that I live in the clouds means I can't see those awesome mountains I'm used to.  Instead, I look at fog. 

But we did have a few fabulous fall days squeezed in between the raindrops, and even a "rainy day" usually consists of a few cloud breaks here and there.  On a lovely Sunday a few weeks ago, the sun came out and the weather was delightful, so I called up a friend and asked to do something totally Seattle-ish.

We hit up the Fremont neighborhood for some delicious subs at Royal Grinders.  We found a seat in the sunshine outside where the patio has all kinds of embellishments embedded in the cement.  I found a watch stuck in there (it's not in this picture, though, so don't search too hard).

We ate our sandwiches right next to the somewhat controversial statue of Lenin that everyone talks about when I mention Fremont (that, and the troll).  So here he is.  I don't know why his hand was red when we visited this time, I don't think it usually is, but what do I know.

Parking was ridiculous (or, normal) because it was a beautiful Sunday and also because the Fremont Sunday market was going on.  We wandered through (it's more of a craft/hipster market so no fruits or veggies this time around....also nothing I needed) and then meandered through the streets of Fremont back to the car.

We set off for the Ballard Locks, because even though I've been there before, I was hoping to catch the fish in action this time around.

We did luck out because the boats were coming and going and the locks were in complete working condition (last time I visited it was February and cold and rainy so there weren't any boats out and about...and no fish).

The locks are quite the tourist attraction, although it's not super exciting to watch boats sit around and wait to be taken to higher water.  We did it anyway, because as a local I think I should know how these things work.

So we did hang out for awhile and admired the lovely view and enjoyed the sunshine.

Then we took a short walk in the garden, which was decked out in it's fall colors.

The great thing about Seattle, is because of the rain and temperate weather, there are some flowers out all the time!

Lots of people out enjoying each others company or a good book.  Unfortunately, we were a few days or weeks too late to see many fish in the observatory so it was mostly just watching water rush by our faces.  We do think we spotted the tail end of a seal playing in the water, though, so that was the extent of our wildlife viewing excitement!  

Now I've officially lived here for just over 3 months.  Wild!