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For the third full day in the Seattle, Washington, area we planned to explore south of downtown, roughly around Tacoma. After experiencing mostly good weather on the trip, this day saw lots of rain, which is typical weather for the time of year. After breakfast and coffee we got in the car and headed south.

We drove around for awhile, seeing the different suburbs and such. It was wet outside so we didn’t stop much. We found ourselves in the town of Bonney Lake, which is a community situated in the trees with great views of Mount Rainier. The rain briefly stopped, so we got out of the car and relaxed outdoors, just taking it all in. We found a little park for the kids to play and sat by a fire to keep warm, which was very nice. We made our way down a trail through the woods. It really reminded me of the things about the Pacific Northwest that I loved as a kid.

After awhile it was time to leave Bonney Lake and so we made our way to downtown Tacoma for lunch. As a kid I remember Tacoma being a bit of a rundown dump. We discovered that it’s not, but a delightful little city on the coast. I’m not sure if my memory was incorrect, or if they’ve really cleaned the place up. Whatever the case, Tacoma was a pleasant surprise.

We found a tasty restaurant in downtown Tacoma. We wanted to explore downtown, but the weather kept us from doing much. We did manage to walk around a little and see a few local stores.

We got back in the car and explored the area more. We motored across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (and back) and through the Point Defiance Park, but didn’t get out. It was just raining too much, and so we saw the sights by looking out the car’s windows.

We hopped on a ferry boat and floated onto Vashon Island. I’d always heard great things about Vashon, that it was a beautiful place and a must-see for a visit to Seattle, and I’d never been. It was high on my agenda for this trip.

Unfortunately, the rain came down even harder and we didn’t get to see much. We found a country store and picked up some local jelly. We drove to the Point Robinson Lighthouse on Maury Island (which is connected to Vashon Island). Everyone kept dry in the car while I trudged down a muddy trail to get a picture.

It was beginning to get dark and dinnertime was approaching, so we floated on another ferry to Seattle. We had dinner at a restaurant that I ate at as a kid and remember liking. It tasted exactly as I remembered.

In retrospect, this day included too much driving and not enough fun. We should have explored less and maybe visited a museum. My wife and I agreed that this was the least enjoyable day of the three full days that we were there. Still, we did see some interesting things and there were some great moments. I came away with a few decent pictures.

All of these photographs are camera-made JPEGs from my Fujifilm X100F, using my Acros Push Process Film Simulation recipe, my Velvia Film Simulation recipe and my Classic Chrome Film Simulation recipe. One fully-charged battery lasted the whole day no problem. I left my wide-angle conversion lens at the hotel. Even though the X100F isn’t weather sealed, it got wet a number of times and survived just fine.

Part 6