Seattle's Route 420

Although we've passed the point in our life where actually going to Hempfest is no longer the choice we'd make on this steamy summer weekend, it is just the kind of thing we love about Seattle: it's a unique event that doesn't take place anywhere else, at least not on the scale that it does here; it's in support of a cause we believe in wholeheartedly; and it offers great views of the mountains and the water. What more could we ask from this event?

Apparently to be entertained by it without actually going. This year, Hempfest has been adding joy to this Seattlest's life a few days already because we ride to work everyday on the Elliott Bay Trail and setup has been going on all week. It's given us plenty of entertainment and flashbacks.

For example, take the mini-Grateful Dead parking lot scene we rode through this morning. There's nothing like a couple of dreadlocked dudes standing outside beatup VW buses in shorts barely clinging to their hips while they drink coffee and rub their eyes to take us back to the heady (pun intended) days of our youth. We were looking (feverishly) for the man with the tank and the balloons. We have $5 for anyone willing to sell us a couple.

We also love that the "road sign" above labels the trail as State Route 420 (we will always laugh at that number) just at the point where one is about to enter the Olympic Sculpture Park, especially considering the fight between SAM and Hempfest that took place during the park's construction.

Hempfest // 11 AM-8 PM Aug. 16-17 // Myrtle Edwards Park // Free