Alki Walk

To get ready for some serious hiking in August, I have been trying to get out and walk more often. Ryan always takes a long walk (7 miles or so) every day. So last night when I got home from working from Philadelphia to Seattle, I told Ryan I wanted to go on his Alki Walk with him. He was pretty surprised. I am usually too tired to do much of anything when I get home from flying. But I felt pretty good last night and it was a lovely night. Warm and clear. You could see lots of stars.

We didn't realize how late it was until we were walking along Alki Beach and a police car drove up, shining his spot light on us and some other folks sitting on benches by the beach. "The Park is Closed, Move Along" blared over the loudspeaker. The Park is closed! What Park? The Beach? So we walked up to the "regular" sidewalk. About 12 yards away from where we had been walking. Arrgh. Seems as though the beach closed at 11pm.

We continued our walk around Alki Point and saw great views of downtown Seattle. I also enjoy watching the ferry boats go back and forth when they are all lit up like miniature floating cities. Ryan likened them to miniature floating prisons. Because of all the lights that were on the boats! I didn't realize that prisons had lots of lights, but I guess they do.

I was starting to get tired of walking, and we still had a long way to go to get back to my house. Ryan kept telling me that there was a 7-11 where I could get a cold drink somewhere on Harbor Drive. I did not believe him and he kept telling me it was just around the next bend. "where the Water Taxi pier is...no, well, where Salty's Restaurant is....no, well it's the next bend!!"

At Alki Point the cops were back. This time with a tow truck and they were threatening to tow away cars. "No Parking after 11pm" blared over the loudspeaker. There were several couples walking like Ryan and me. There were also a few guys fishing along the breakwater. They scurried to move their cars.

Ryan and I were walking and talking as we made our way past Salty's Restaurant and several cars passed us on their way to the Beach. Suddenly, as a car was going by, I heard some popping noises like firecrackers. Then pop, pop something hit in the bushes to our left. Ryan felt the breeze of something as it sailed past his nose! WE WERE SHOT AT! Well, it was probably a BB Gun, but WE WERE SHOT AT! It really freaked me out. If Ryan had been walking a little faster, they could have hit him in the eye. All my Nancy Drew training totally left my head. I can't tell you what the car looked like, I don't know the license plate number. I was totally in shock.
Should we call the police? Where are the cops when you need them? They had been swarming Alki all night bugging the hell out of us. And now when we needed them, they were no where in sight.

I started walking along with renewed vigor! I just wanted to get home. We finally did reach the 7-11. But I didn't want to stop anymore. We didn't call the police either. We didn't know what the car looked like. There wasn't much we could tell the cops about the hooligans. We just hoped that the police were still hanging around Alki and would deter the people in the car from any more mischief. This is what I get for going walking at 11 0'clock at night!

We made it home safe and sound. Just another layover in Seattle for me!