Seattle – Final Day and Home to CA

Saturday, July 26th, we needed to check out of home base by 11:00 am. At 10:30 am we were all packed with cars loaded and said our goodbyes in the driveway. John & Sue left with Joe & Margaret for the airport. Joe & Margaret had a mid-day flight back to Virginia. John & Sue would not be flying back to Boston until late that night on a red-eye flight. Frank and my flight back to California did not leave until 4:30 pm. We decided to spend the few hours before we had to leave in some low key activity like visiting model homes in the area just to get a sense of decor and prices.

On the way to one set of models, we hit a detour because of local road construction. The detour re-routed us near the locks. We changed our plans and visited the locks instead. We'd get an on-foot vantage point of what we'd passed through on the cruise at the start of our visit. As an added bonus, we learned that there were a fish ladder for salmon going up stream and botanical gardens at this location as well.

At this location we crossed the bridges at the large lock and then the small lock, and saw a fish ladder in action.
Retracing our steps, we crossed back and strolled the botanical gardens.

Our timing was perfect. We arrived just at the start of a guided tour with an introductory presentation by a park ranger. We learned how the addition of locks had changed the path of waterways in the Seattle region, some of them going away entirely. Ships gained better routes but then fish lost their access paths and had to learn new routes to fulfill their life cycles.

Fish access to the south end of Lake Washington was entirely closed off with the building of the locks.

Our ranger tour took us across the large lock, then the small lock, then the long causeway to see the fish ladder on the far side.

This aerial view shows the large lock at the center, the smaller lock down a bit,
the V-shaped walkways, and at the far bottom, the fish ladder. 

The botanical gardens and Cavanaugh House are at the top left.

Frank and I crossed a walkway spanning the large lock and then paused to watch an Argosy tour boat pass through the smaller of the two locks. Coincidentally, the boat that was passing through while we watched was the Good Times III, the same one we had been on earlier in the week.

Frank is crossing one of the V-shaped walkways. This one crosses the larger of the two locks.
Each walkway parts at its center, the base of the V, and rotates open to allow the passage of ships.

Looking along the sight line of the large lock is a raised train trestle in the distance

The trestle is counterweighted so very little force is needed to rotate it up and down

for the passage of large ships.

The Argosy cruise boat is in the smaller lock being lowered to the water level of Puget Sound.

We continued on following the signs to the fish ladder. L-shaped partitions in the spillway area give the fish a place to rest between steps. We visited an underground viewing station where we observed fish as they struggled against the current. Sockeye salmon are most likely in July and that is what we were seeing. The ranger tour ended at the underground viewing station.

There is a universal symbol for just about everything according to this sign.
My best guess... fish ladder this way?

The fish can pause at each partition to rest.

This is the underground viewing station for the fish ladder.
At least three breeds of salmon pass through here. Sockeye are the most common in July.
Large king salmon are most common in August, and coho salmon, in late September.

Above the underground viewing area was a patio region with seven stainless steel sculptures. The art display, called Salmon Waves, was created by local artist Paul Sorey to celebrate the success in the fish ladder in promoting the migration of salmon. The curling shapes and shadows they make on the concrete surface are wave-like. An angle grinder was used to create the watery looking surface of the sculptures. Stainless steel keeps them shiny and almost irridescent like fish scales. The overlapping panels are like scales, too. I really liked these sculptures. They were sleek, shiny, and tactilely inviting with a real sense of movement.  You can see more details on these sculptures at the link http://paulsorey.com/SalmonWaves.

I love the silvery color of the waves and these shapes fascinate me. I am drawn to them
whether they be in the swirls of snow in Frozen, the locks of hair of the Princess Rapunzel in Tangled
or the curlicue stitch pattern of a quilt.  

You can tell by the length of Frank's shadow that it was close to mid-day.
I imagine that the sculptures' shadows form awesome wave patterns on the concrete, too,
at the early and the late part of the day.

Frank and I headed back toward the botanical gardens. We were curious about a house we noticed on the grounds. It is the official residence of the Seattle District Engineer of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. Foxglove, poppy, and fuschia are just some of the flowers here peppered among exotic trees and shrubs from many countries. The greenery was refreshing and it was a great way to end our visit to Seattle.

This bronze plaque summarizes the history behind the house on the grounds.

Flowers, greenery, and a mixture of sun with dappled shade made this indeed a pleasant place to be.

It was time to leave and head out to the airport. We did not want to miss our flight. It had been ten fun-filled, information-packed, eclectic days of sight-seeing, but we were looking forward to enjoying the familiar comforts of home.

WE'D BE ASLEEP IN OUR OWN BEDS BY EARLY EVENING!