I laughed, I cried, I rode: Bus No. 25 is a riveting slice of Seattle

Editor's note: In the mood for a little April Fooling, we sent our distinguished arts critic, Michael Upchurch, out to "review" a ride on Metro's #25. Here's his expert assessment of one of the city's most scenic bus routes.

In a city blessed with so many bus routes, it's only natural that some get lost in the shuffle.

Take, for instance, the No. 25, which cuts a subtle, slantwise path from Children's Hospital to downtown Seattle. This quirky "vehicle" shuns the freeway vulgarity of the 71/72/73, serving the University District, and the 54/55/56, coming in from West Seattle. It doesn't overdo passenger load, either, choosing chamber drama over symphonic deluge.

The 25 starts out on a low-key note as a driver winds his way through the lush suburban castleland of Laurelhurst with its peekaboo glimpses of the Cascades and Lake Washington. The scene design — blooming heather, daffodils and cherry trees set on manicured lawns — — is certainly pretty. But it's also a little uptight. Still, the pirouettelike ease with which the driver takes the neighborhood's hairpin turns lends this passage of the "trip" a bracing energy.

The real action starts with the appearance of the first passenger. Last Thursday it was a knapsacked, woolly-capped, iPodded gal on the corner of Sand Point Way Northeast who brought an admirable sense of understatement to her role. More passengers joined the drama at University Village and along the fringes of the University of Washington campus, their silence rivaling Harold Pinter's famous pauses in creating a sense of mystery and tension.

The 25's passage down 15th Avenue Northeast marks one of its few lapses into bus-route conventionality. After all, the 43, 44, 48, 49, 70 and host of suburban buses play to the crowd here, too. But after the Montlake Exchange, the 25 goes its idiosyncratic way, snaking along side streets as though on a secret mission.

Surprise cameo appearances are not unheard of on the 25. Last Thursday former dancer and current Town Hall Global Rhythms curator-producer Spider Kedelsky boarded on Fuhrman Avenue East. Playing "himself," he immediately enlivened the scene with a cellphone call and some intent reading.

After Montlake, the 25 engages in a prolonged flirtation with I-5, rubbing alongside the freeway on Harvard Avenue East and crossing over it at East Roanoke Street, before ducking under it onto Lakeview Boulevard East. The highlights here come thick and fast: a retina-searing orange traffic sign ("END ROAD WORK") and magnificent views to the west of Lake Union, Queen Anne Hill, the Space Needle and the Olympic Mountains.

At the intersection of Lakeview Boulevard and Boylston Avenue East, the 25 once again crosses I-5, descending to —

But this is giving too much away. Riders need to experience it for themselves.

Quibbles: Metro might want to consider clear-cutting or defoliating the greenbelts along the Montlake playing fields and Lakeview Boulevard East, to preserve the fast-disappearing wintertime views of Portage Bay and Lake Union. The razing of certain houses — no more than several dozen — should also be considered; this much stage scenery impedes the wider panoramas.

The windows could use a little cleaning, too.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com