I’ve been sleeping badly here, and last night was no exception, so it took me forever to get started. On the plus side, having a very late coffee allowed me to see the flood of Seahawks fans on their way to a football game. (US/Oval Ball Football)

There were a lot of hats, shirts, jerseys, and other paraphernalia of sports fandom. Then there were the people who’d gone all-out, like

• Seahawks Luchador guy
• People with dyed beards in the appropriate colours
• A guy wearing Seahawks-striped bib-front overalls and a foam hat in the shape of the emblem, but 3D

It was a fun thing to watch streaming by.

I’ve made plans for the next bit of the trip; Train tickets to Portland on Wednesday, and I’m going with a hotel for at least the first few days. This not  sleeping thing is getting less fun as time goes on, and it’s affecting how I can spend my day and what I can get done.

Once again, airport hotels have come to my rescue; For the cost of a travel pass and some time on a light rail train, I can save a hundred or so a night, which seems like a good trade to me.

I’ve also booked a tourist thing; The Boeing Factory tour.

With that done, I had an attack of the Get Out Of The Hostels, so I hopped over to Pikes Place Market,

then down to the ferry terminal, and took a trip to Bainbridge Island, mostly to get out on the water on a lovely day.

That said, it was also super loud at the hostel.
Cheering from the Football.
Fireworks from said football. Or they were shelling the field; It was hard to tell from the sound alone.
Flyovers from various aircraft.

You get the idea

 

Despite it being an unfamiliar system (rather than feeding a ticket through the machine, like various subways, you swipe the barcode past a scanner), I navigated it no worse than the locals.
Mostly because I watched them, and in particular the guy in front of me who screwed it up a few times.

The ferries are double-ended, and rather than docking & tying up, they do a “Controlled Crash”, where what holds the vessel in place is the engines. When they leave dock, the Captain walks to the other end, to the other bridge, and heads off.
There are some nice views from the bow, whichever end it happens to be at the time.

Also, it’s a good spot to re-enact that bit from Titanic, which I joined in with when another chap on the upper railing was encouraging folks to take the opportunity, because why the hell not?

From chatting with other folks standing on the uppest point of the current bow, the security present was … abnormal.
That said, it was September the 11th, which I suspect explains the Coast Guard escort.
And the armed¹ but very pleasant CG folks on board.

¹ – very armed.

It was also windy, once the ferry got up to speed.
The lady in purple here was kind enough to demonstrate while we were attempting to photograph another ferry.
also – Another photograph of a photographer!

The ferry I’m on looks like this, but, you know … closer.

And is named “Tacoma”.

Bainbridge Island loometh ‘pon yonder horizon.

Remember that sea of Seahawks gear?
Well, some of that sea washed up on the ferry.

Coming in for a controlled crash.

I’m not sure whether the game was still happening at this point, and there folks had slipped out early, or whether they were the first wave, who’d managed to make the 1640 crossing ahead of the crowd, or whether there just aren’t that many people heading for Bainbridge. The ferry wasn’t even close to full.

Back on land, I followed the signs and wander into the Downtown area.
Think “Small Town In Tourist Area” and you’ve got the idea; Lots of cafes, many places to by arts and crafts, …, Like Coromandel, or the Orewa waterfront.

Having been to Bainbridge Island & wandered around for a bit, I caught the ferry back again.

This time it’s the “Wenatchee”. I have no idea how to pronounce that.

There was a very visible moon, and Mt. Rainier was cooperating vis-à-vis visability, so I had a go at “Moon Over Mountain” as a photographic theme.

I’d be lying if I said it went well, though I did get another photographing photographers shot for the increasingly tedious collection.

Had a go from inside (which is why there are glowing panels in the sky) which came out a little better, and I’m pretty happy with “Moon over Ferry and Mountain”. (Pixel on CCD, 2016)

 

And to close out, some scenic.