Walking Seattle Again

  Back in the Haller Lake neighborhood again, I got another view of the lake from the dead-end street at 128th and Meridian. This viewpoint with its public access is smaller than yesterday's. The area I walked today included quite a bit of property owned by institutions or public entities. I spotted Ingraham High School, the Haller Lake United Methodist Church, Little People's World, Lakeside School, Helene Madison Pool, Haller Lake Market, the Haller Lake Community Club, and ... ... the Chinese-Vietnamese Buddhist Association. I also noted a large painted rock. This path connects two ends of Ashworth Avenue between 125th and 128th and it looks as if the sidewalk along 130th has been extended across Ashworth to make 128th and Ashworth a dead-end street. Along this 4 mile walk, I passed four Little Free Libraries. They contained children's books (a few in Korean), cookbooks, novels, and some Christmas decorations.

  On today's walk in the Haller Lake neighborhood, I was rewarded with a view of the lake. After walking down a dead-end street at Densmore and 125th, I came to a lovely spot with a picnic table, a bench and lake access. There are many private lanes and single family homes surrounding the lake. There are some quiet streets surrounding the lake but the neighborhood has a little bit of everything. I passed Northwest Hospital (noting a land use action sign proposing a rezone to height limit), a trailer park (probably the last in the north end), apartments, businesses along Aurora, a household hazardous waste site, North Seattle Church, and lots of cemeteries. Walking along the northwest end of Evergreen Washeli Cemetery, I spotted Pacific Lutheran Cemetery, ... ... the Orthodox Brotherly Cemetery of Saint Nicholas, ... ... Seattle Historic Sephardic Cemetery, ... ... and Bikup Cholum Cemetery. There are more cemeteries here too, but that's for another walk when I go looking for a

  Today's walk was with my husband in Volunteer Park. In the last 13 years, the SAAM has been remodeled, the Conservatory has been refurbished, a new amphitheater has been built, the plaque explaining that the park was named for the volunteers in the Spanish American War is no longer there, and an art installation of fourteen stone benches has been added. However, it was the majestic trees that awed us. I think we found nine of the benches - all of them were shaped more like stools than benches. A short distance from the park, we spotted St. Mark's Cathedral, Gage Academy and Trinity Lutheran Church. Returning to the park, we noted the Water Tower, ... ... the Black Sun sculpture, and ... ... more spectacular trees near the duck pond. Not quite two miles but it was a nice walk in a beautiful park.

  An appointment took me to Fremont today; I arrived early so a short walk was possible. The Troll, which is on ... ... Troll Avenue, was one of my stops ... ... as was the Center of the Universe sign which I noticed was ... ... at the intersection of Fremont Avenue and Fremont Place. I passed by a number of murals, the rocket ship, the J. P. Patches statue, the statue of Lenin, the Fremont Branch of the Seattle Public Library, and under the approach to the Fremont Bridge. After climbing these steps near the Troll, I came to ... ... a P Patch. I didn't notice any Little Free Libraries but I did see a miniature car and truck trade box. This walk was under 2 miles but it included a walk through Adobe and Google territory.

  Today's walk in the Haller Lake neighborhood was dominated by two things - Northacres Park and the noise from I-5. It had been a long time since I was in the park and I had forgotten how forested it is. There were trails through the trees but also picnic tables, ... ... soccer fields with a view of I-5, ... ... a playground, a wading pool, and ... ... an off-leash area with a long dog run. The park is surrounded by quite a few dead-end streets that I would have considered quiet if it were not for the constant noise from I-5. There were a few private lanes leading to homes on Haller Lake. If I remember correctly, I will be able to get to the lake when I walk on the north and west sides of the lake another day. A light rail stop is planned for 130th Street and changes are being proposed for the streets leading to the station. I wonder if the estimations are correct that 3,000 - 3,700 people a day will use this station and that 90% of them will arrive at the station by walking, biki