Excursion: Fourth of July

The planning: What to do on the Fourth?

A bus excursion to West Seattle sounded like fun to RantMom. No ferries. No parades. No picnics. Home before traffic gets terrible and people get rowdy.

Selfies? Not so much. Definitely not without a lot of coaxing for RantMom and RantWoman's cellphone battery is just getting really feeble. So no selfies, and not even visuals for a gorgeous sunny day with trees and Sound.

Okay!

And RantMom basically entrusted RantWoman with responsibility for the itinerary. RantWoman was thinking lots of trees, foliage, maybe some garden abundance somewhere to tramp through. RantWoman was thinking frequent bus options so the RantWomen could get off the bus, see what there is to see, get back on....

Frequent bus options. Check.

Enough sense of how buses connect to feel comfortable winging it without either maps or apps. Check!

Reasonably level walking options so RantMom would not have to walk very far.Check, though RantMom in the presence of retail is sometimes more enthusiastic than when out on the mean streets and bumpy sidewalks of Seattle. Check and Check.

Tips from the West Seattle Blog about a few things in West Seattle for the 4th
http://westseattleblog.com/4th-of-july/

Search string: West Seattle garden
The West Seattle Garden Tour ? https://www.westseattlegardentour.org/ This sounded like a LOT of fun. Unfortunately the RantWomen missed it for this year, and it's the sort of event where the host gardeners leave gorgeous pictures on the internet but do not leave their addresses out for any random member of the public to drop by. RantWoman gets enough email;  RantWoman hopes RantMOM will sign up  for announcements about next year. RantWoman is ethically indisposed just to signing RantMom up without asking her.

Other Walking tours? RantWoman found a great map on the Feet First site.
http://www.feetfirst.org/

 http://www.feetfirst.org/walk-and-maps/download-maps

The West Seattle maps are available at several West Seattle library branches. There is also an option to print oneself. No matter what, the map was not going to be any help for today's excursion. Instead, RantWoman insisted on riding the C line around out toward Fauntleroy and along routes with serious Puget Sound Views. RantMom was appropriately appreciative.

Parks or P-patches? Should have been an option, but the RantWoman research division was a little hurried and didn't get there, even electronically for directions.

The bus Routing
7, leaving "early enough," not as early as Farm Girl RantMom is awake but compatible with RantWoman's body clock and early enough to go and come back by early afternoon.

C Line to SW Avalon and Bradford SW and a walk in the morning sun to:


How to remember a bus st
op

Seconds Sale at Avalon Glassworks
The RantWomen had a lot of fun looking. Both were tempted about purchases: Christmas ornaments, blown glass cupcakes, bases, bowls, various fruits, vegetables, sea creatures, necklace charms...  Then conversation turned toward RantWoman needing to remove other things before new things come to the apartment and RantMom already having things she would like to put out. But the RantWomen were glad to have gone and might come back.

21 rattling to Westwood Village: RantMom was happy just to ride and see trees and something other than what she sees all the time.

Target? Yep! Target. No mail order for the RantWomen today. Actual in-person shopping, and shopping preferable to other Target locations! With shopping carts and kid randomness and a certain amount of just fogging around remembering things to look for as we came upon them. RantWoman found an item she usually just orders by mail order to get the needed size. RantMom tried on a denim shirt in the women's section and it was not to her taste. In fact it was the kind of fabric that is so thin one can practically read the brand name on the wearer's underwear through the fabric. RantWoman gets grumpy to receive such items by mail order; RantMom was pleased to find a much better option in the men's department.

By this time, RantWoman was getting hungry, hungry enough that all the sugary granola bars and vitamin C infused Fruit snacks were starting to look nutritionally responsible. RantMom wanted to check for one item at Barnes and Noble and found more things to gaze at. Finally, LUNCH and a latte and then HOME.

C Line

7

The RantWomen safely in our nests by mid afternoon, with neighbors generously providing fireworks without even being asked.