Day 3 - Snoqualmie to Seattle

Woke up early and was on the move as I need to get a ferry to get to my next group of casinos. Today I am travelling to Bainbridge Island and then up to the Kitsap Peninsula to visit 3 casinos. Getting the ferry is a lot quicker than driving around the bottom of the bay. So I started by driving into Seattle to get a ferry across to the casinos. It cost me $18.50 for the ferry trip which was well worth it as there is a lot of great views on the water. It was good to sit and enjoy the scenery.

The ferry crosses from Seattle to Bainbridge. It is a large commuter ferry that has vehicle parking in the base of the ferry. Quite a few large transport trucks drove on as well. The ferry has plenty of seating both inside and out on the decks. It is another fine summers day so you definitely need sunscreen.

Once on Bainbridge Island I went to the Suquamish Casino but had to wait 35 minutes before they opened up the table games for the day at 11am. Made a small profit and got the chip for my collection. From there I drove quite a while to get to the next casino on my list at the 7 Cedars Casino at Dungeness. 

The drive was well worth it though as the scenery along the bays and lake edges is wonderful. The weather today was a perfect, sunshine and approximately 80f.

Unfortunately with all the driving to do I did not stop to take better photos.

The casino was good to me, wins on both the tables and the slots before I sat down in the restaurant for lunch and a chance to catch up on Facebook posts.

I then had to back track to get to the final casino of the day, the Point Casino in Kingston. I left this casino for last as it is in the town where I will get a ferry back across to Seattle. They took my money on both the tables and the slots unfortunately but I got my chip so all is good. 

Leaving the casino I drove the short distance to the ferry and joined a long line of cars waiting to cross. The line stretched  way back from the terminal in to the middle of the town. I actually saw signs before the town limit saying no parking on the side of the roads unless you are queuing for the ferry, so I imagine on summer weekends the queue can be quite long.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the pay point at the entry to the terminal, then we were put into rows to wait for the next ferry. I followed other vehicles to a line of cars but the row ended as I got there so was sent back to the entry to get on another row which I ended up being the first car in that row. The next ferry came in but it filled before my turn came to drive on. I was 3 cars short of making it, which I would have made if not sent back earlier.

When you drive onto the ferry you are sent on in two lines of cars and when the next ferry arrived my row was first to drive on. As I was at the front I was first to board and got some good photos from that spot as I parked the car but some how they have gone missing on my phone which is disappointing.

This ferry returns to a different terminal at where I boarded the other ferry at. This trip ended in Edmonds which is a suburb in north Seattle. Once again it was a scenic journey on the ferry.

Once back on land I drove to my accommodation for the night at the Airport Hilton. It was dark by the time I arrived after getting caught in the Friday evening peak hour. I had booked accommodation here for a few reasons. Firstly it is difficult to free camp in a big city with so much activity and the Fall back Walmart parking is not permitted in major cities as the car parks would fill with RV and campers. Secondly I knew I would need to rearrange all my bags to what was needed now and what I can store separately for later on the trip. Thirdly it was right near where I wanted to visit tomorrow.

When I went to reception they had no record of my booking even though I had a booking reference number. The lady at reception was quite apologetic but the hotel was sold out and had no rooms to put me in. She asked me to ring the booking hotline and try to find out what happened as I  would need to get a refund of my money. As I  was doing this the reception lady rang another Hilton affiliate hotel  and confirmed a room there at approximately the same rate for me. I thanked her for the help and had to drive about 15 minutes to the other hotel.

I checked in and was surprised when entering the room to find it was a suite with separate bedroom and a huge lounge area. Seems that the first receptionist looked after me with the booking! I quickly rearranged my bags and sat and watched some of the Olympics before heading to bed for the night.

Todays casino chips