SLEEPING WELL IN SEATTLE

DAYS 69 & 70

SATURDAY 11 & SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2016

I was afforded a 3-night stay in the Wedgwood district of Seattle with my Warmshowers hosts, Pia and Zach.

Wedgwood is some distance north from the downtown area and as such was the best opportunity to take care of some important logistics in favour of actual sightseeing, which I have the rest of this week to take advantage of.

Top of the list was to get to a telephone somewhere and call Delta Airlines in order to change my departure date from 15 June as it may seem quite implausible to fly from Vancouver when you're really in Seattle.

Secondly, the new trailer had collapsed once again on the way into town and was in need of another running repair for me to be able to pedal on with both functioning equipment and peace of mind.

On the former, Zach was good enough to allow me use of the phone from his workplace and take as much time as was needed to do what I needed to do.

On the latter, Zach's workplace also happens to be a bicycle shop in the U-District which was nothing short of ideal.

Recycled Cycles in Boat Street was therefore set to be something of a second home to me over the weekend as I attended to my business.

Conveniently located at the bottom of the U-District, time spent in and out of the shop also allowed me to explore the adjacent commercial precinct of the University of Washington.

The ½-mile-long strip of student-oriented eateries and retail outlets along University Way was the perfect place to get fed as well as absorb my first taste of Seattle from a slightly uptown perspective.

My phone session with Delta on Saturday afternoon was both time consuming and stressful and without going into grisly detail, I was less than satisfied with the outcome.

More positively, Sunday was the day to get the trailer into the workshop and see what Zach's capable colleagues could manage with the cantankerous little shit.

John the house mechanic was my main man and he worked some bicycle magic in a 90-minute period and I believe it has emerged in better condition than what it was is in when I purchased it in Portland 2 weeks ago.

Both quick release mechanisms have been re-installed and a missing wheel bearing replaced in addition to re-inserting a tiny pin that had relieved itself of active duty from the axle strut on the way into Seattle.

Even better was that there was no fee incurred, although there will be some beers headed in John's direction shortly.

After the cold-hearted run-in with Delta the previous day, my faith in humanity was a little less tawdry on Sunday evening.