Foxfire & Freeways: Seattle Had Other Plans ⚾⛴️🦊

Remember when I said Seattle didn’t just give us a visit?

Seattle gave us a whole damn chapter. 😂

Tuesday afternoon, we left our campground and started making our way toward the city. We were about two and a half hours away, and the map gave us three different routes to choose from.

So we picked one.

Simple enough, right?

Well…

Somewhere along the way we realized the toll road we were following wasn’t exactly taking us toward the highway like we’d thought.

It was taking us to a ferry. 😂

We hadn’t planned on taking a ferry.

At all.

We checked the map again and realized our other option meant backtracking and adding roughly another two hours just to work our way around toward Tacoma.

So we looked at each other and basically said…

Well, I guess we’re taking a ferry.

And honestly?

BEST accidental decision ever. ⛴️

Neither of us had ever ridden one before, so suddenly our wrong turn had turned into another first for the trip.

We drove aboard with the truck and then discovered there was an upper passenger deck where everyone could get out of their vehicles, grab something to eat or drink, sit down and watch the shoreline go by until we reached the other side.

Obviously, I grabbed Bug and up we went.

I wanted him to experience it too—the wind blowing through his hair, the deep grumble of those huge motors beneath us, the ferry horn and the water stretching out around him.

He absolutely loved it.

And there I was thinking we’d taken the wrong road.

Sometimes the wrong road turns out to be exactly the one you were supposed to take.

The ferry eventually dropped us right into downtown Seattle, where we found the nearest parking garage, parked the truck and decided we’d explore the rest of the city on foot.

Driving through an unfamiliar busy city stresses both of us out anyway.

Walking sounded much better.

Although somebody probably should have warned my legs about Seattle’s hills. 😂

Pushing a stroller UP them?

Workout.

Going back DOWN?

WHEEEEEEE. 🤣

Then, while we were already wandering around Seattle, we made another completely last-minute decision:

Why not go to a baseball game?

The stadium was only about a 30-minute walk away.

So off we went.

Before the game, though, food was definitely required.

We stopped at Cookie’s Country Chicken, where the chicken was delicious and the nuggets were absolutely massive.

Bug managed two of them…

But naturally had absolutely no trouble putting away the fries.

Because if there’s one consistent theme throughout this child’s travels, it’s apparently:

When in doubt, order fries. 😂🍟

After eating, that walk to the stadium didn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore.

Then we arrived for another first:

Bug’s first baseball game! ⚾

And once again, he surprised us with how well he did.

He hung out through the game like he’d been doing this forever.

Although I’m not entirely convinced he cared much about baseball.

You see…

There were some ladies sitting behind us.

And Bug apparently decided they were the main attraction. 😂

He spent plenty of time flashing them his most charming smiles, giggling and generally doing what Bug does best:

Collecting more members for his fan club.

Meanwhile, the Seattle Mariners weren’t having the greatest night against the Texas Rangers, so we decided to leave a little early.

Partly because of the score.

Mostly because thousands of people were eventually going to leave that stadium at the same time, and we still had a ferry to catch. 😂

So we made our way back across Seattle, retrieved the truck and headed toward the ferry for our ride back.

By the time we finally returned to the campground that night, we’d managed to turn what started as an accidental route into one of our favorite spontaneous days of the trip.

Our first ferry ride.

Bug’s first baseball game.

A whole lot of walking.

A whole lot of hills.

Good chicken.

More fries.

And another reminder that sometimes the adventures you never planned are the ones that end up being the most fun.

The next morning, though, it was time to start heading south again.

California is calling us back. 🌴🦊

And we’ve got something pretty fun planned around San Francisco this weekend.

I’m not going to give it away just yet…

But I’ll leave you with two clues. 👀

One has collected more than a century of stories, and some of the most interesting ones are the ones people still argue about today.

The other has spent nearly 90 years standing against wind, fog and time, while millions of people have traveled past it without ever forgetting the view.

Two very different pieces of history.

Both instantly recognizable…

once you know what you’re looking for. 😉

Think you’ve figured out what we have planned?

Keep your guesses to yourself for now—let’s see who recognizes them when the pictures start appearing. 😂

California, we’re coming back for another adventure.

Until the next mile, keep the fire lit and the road calling. 🦊🔥🛣️