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== '''Seattle''' ==
Seattle is the largest city in the State of Washingtonand one of the largest on the West Coast of North America. With a population of roughly 600,000 people and a metro population of 3 million, it is the 24th most poulated urban center in the United States. It is situation on the beautiful Puget sound, hours from the Olympic Nation Forest, and the Cascade Mountains (Plus about 7 large volcanoes). Seattle is served by many different transit agencies ([http://transit.metrokc.gov King County Metro] is the main transit agency in the city, along with [http://www.soundtransit.org Sound Transit]/[http://www.commtrans.org Snohomish County Community Transit]/[http://www.piercetransit.org Pierce County Transit]/[http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries Washington State Ferries]) oferring busses, trains, (soon) light rail, street cars, and ferries. One bonus for weary travelers is the downtown ride free area, which serves all of downtown Seattle until 7pm daily. All busses are free of charge in the ride free area.
There is plenty to do and see in Seattle if you are not just passing through.. Of course you will want to visit the world famous Pike Place Market or Seattle Center, but those are not the only attractions for travelers. Seattle is very welcoming to travelers as it is a city of transplants. Venture out of downtown and you will be very happy that you did. Take a bus out to Wallingford and see GasWorks Park on Lake Union or head on over to Fremont (the center of the known universe) and visit the Troll under the Aurora Bridge. Sample the delicious (and cheap!) foods in the International District and lounge around in one of the city's many parks.
*You can take a [http://transit.metrokc.gov bus], [http://www.soundtransit.org express bus, or train] out to a suburb (Federal Way in the South is good and Everett in the north is good as well) and try to hitchhike from there. This is the most common way out, since hitchhiking out of big cities is not popular. However, trying to hitchhike out of a low-income or high-crime suburb or city (such as Tacoma or White Center) may be even harder than hitchhiking out of Seattle city-proper.
*There are exceptional on-ramps to I-5 in the University District, from within Seattle. [[User:amylin| amylin]] got a ride from Seattle to [[Portland]] from the on-ramp to I-5 South at NE 45th St & 5th Ave. There is a busy intersection at this point, in which vehicles stop and make turns onto the on-ramp, from 3 directions. There is even a nice spot for vehicles to pull into and pick up hitchhikers! The onramp going North at this same location is also recommended, and many hikers use it to get to [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]] (There is also a Vancouver, Washington. To minimize confusion all road signs for Vancouver, British Columbia are labeled "Vancouver, B.C."). The only drawback to this location is that there are frequently homeless people, who beg for food or money, nearby, and drivers may be reluctant to pick up hitchhikers in the presence of so many "unpresentable" people.
If you're heading South on I-5: [[Oregon]] is the only state in the US where it's legal to walk on the highway.
*[http://www.seattle.gov/humanservices/emergencyservices/FoodBanksSeattleKingCounty.pdf Food Banks Serving Seattle and King County (PDF)]
*[http://www.urbanreststop.org Urban Rest Stop - A great place to clean up for free]
== '''Useful Links''' ==
*[http://www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=714 Seattle Couchsurfing Group]
*[http://www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=13881 Capitol Hill Couchsurfing Group]
[[Category:United States]]
