Urban Hiking

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I took the Friday before Christmas off to have a Christmas Day with Walter and Padon, just the three of us, but then last minute Walter and his best friend Chris got he chance to go Skiing and that left just Padon and I.
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I had been very determined to take Padon to the Seattle Aquarium to watch him watch all the colorful salt water fish and so I decided with or without Walter we were going! I also had planned on seeing my friend Claudia at her new and fabulous yarn store, called A New Yarn, in Northgate, so I decided the easiest way to travel during the last second holiday hussle and bussle would be to take the bus from Everett to Northgate (estimated 2 hr ride) and then from Northgate to downtown Seattle (another estimated 40 minutes).
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I packed up Padon's backpack with emergency outfits, diapers, wipes, plenty of formula, a bottle, water, lunch for me, Maya Sling for Padon, my Wallet, camera, an umbrella, and, of course, my coffee cup.
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We arrived in Everett at about 10:00 and right off the bat Padon made friends with a homeless guy who thought he looked really cute in his red hat and white converse with red trim. With all his cuteness he also pursuaded a grumpy looking guy to let us on the bus first and later he ended up talking to us beause he thought Padon was so cute as he smiled and looked around the bus as we made our way south.
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It took two buses to get to Claudia's store and a little hiking in the wrong direction and I got my answer to my previous question to myself...(To maya sling, or not to maya sling, that is the question....MAYA SLING!!!!!) After I hoofed it up a hill with my 16-18 LB bean in the wrong direction, and then got ralphed on because I ran across the street to the wrong bus, I realized and I think Padon had already realized, that carrying him in the sling would have been easier then passing him from arm to arm, jostling him around. We made it to Claudia's store, hung out, Padon had a bottle, played on the floor, took a short nap, and Claudia and I chatted about PACCAR, and I bought a way cool book about cable knitting and intarsia. (Sweet!)
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At 2:00 I was still very determined to take Padon to the Aquarium and so we hopped on another bus (this time with Padon nicely in the sling but on my hip) and made our way through North Seattle down to Westlake Center. The bus quickly became packed however and I had trouble containing myself, our big backpack, and Padon's ever moving limbs in our little 2 foot square seatting area. The gentleman next to me swore he was fine with Padon kicking his leg again and again and again, but I looked forward to getting off.
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When we arrived at Westlake Mall, in Seattle, it dawned on me that really Padon was too tired to make it worth the $15 for me to walk through the door at the Aquarium just to live vicariously through him. It would have been better had we gone straight from Everett to the Aquarium. So I called my friend Nick and Padon and I walked a mile to Real Networks where Nick works and hung out for a little over an hour. It was cool because Nick hadn't seen Padon since he was born except in pictures. It was too bad that Padon had to have a blow out in his office (hummmm tight maya sling, diaper squished against baby butt, and very full diaper equal?) filling Nick's office with a lovely baby odor that only a mother could love. Nick was cool with it though and led us to a bathroom that we could use to change Padon's diaper and clothes.
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At 4:30 Nick went to an office party and Padon and I made our way down Alaska Way to the Pike Place Market. The mile walk from Nick's office put Padon to sleep and it was such a bummer because the Pike Place Market was totally living up to is reputation. It was beautifully lit with Christmas lights and even at 5:00 was full of vendors and people shopping and browsing. I was bummed Padon was sleeping through this because there was so much to see. It even "smelled" like the Pike Place Market full of its foods and items and I would have loved to stay longer and just soak it in but I was afraid we might miss the last bus back to Everett. I did stop, however, at the Market Spice Shop (a must do) to get a free sample of their tea. Very hot and delicious it was worth it to elbow a women out of the way who was being an inconsiderate holiday shopper to follow long with my Pike Place tradition.

We walked with the crowds and I watched the holiday shoppers and we made our way to our bus stop. Pleasently surprised I found that our bus was coming every 30 minutes until 10pm and so we went to get a latte at Starbucks.

We passed the Christmas Carousel and I took a picture of the Star of David that they always hang on the buliding across the street. It looked so pretty and I was bumbed that my Camera just wasn't picking up the great colors.

About this time Padon woke up and looked around like a little gopher popping out of a hole. It was perfect timing because I was walking past the Carousel and so I asked a "Dad" to take a picture of us.

The line at Starbucks was atrocious though and so we went into the Mall to go to the bathroom and get a hamburger at McDonalds. Padon was happy to look around and while I was waiting for my burger to come up I made him a bottle and with it balanced on my shoulder and in his mouth I carried my dinner in one hand and we made our way back to the bus.

The bus we had planned to take I found had been about an hour late every night for the last couple nights and so we took the next bus that arrived and found a spot near the middle. With a full belly Padon let everyone know he was on the bus and he squealed and jabbered almost non-stop back to Everett. He was totally enamoured with the guy across the aisle from us and he couldn't stop smiling at him. We had four people around us that kept glancing over and smiling and people who were leaving that had to stop and see who it was that was doing so much talking.

We got home at about 8:00 tired, but happy. It was hard to come home because it had been a really good day. My hips were aching from carrying all that weight and walking all over the place but I really enjoyed it. It made me start to think where we would go next. I realized that I really liked the idea of Urban Hiking and preferred it over hiking in the woods. Oh how those words would make Walter shiver.