Notes from our trip to the US northwest and Canada in August/September 2017
Date
Activity
Miles
Fri Aug 18th
Fly from Malaga to Gatwick (booking ref: K34BXHRR), then Gatwick to Ealing Broadway via Victoria Station (Phoned South Ealing Taxis on 0208 840 3300 – £25 for pickup at Victoria)
It was raining heavily by the time we got to Victoria station, and we were kept waiting for more than an hour before our (pre-booked!) taxi turned up. Stay with Caro overnight.
0
Sat Aug 19th
Depart Heathrow T5 09:20 on BA0053, arrive Seattle 11:20 am. Go to level 3, and take Hertz shuttle bus to pickup hire car. Booking ref. 364960867 (Phone: 001 2062772300 in case of problems)
We’d pushed the boat out to fly BA business class to Seattle, but we were unimpressed by the seating arrangements. They were like miniature office cubicles, fairly claustrophobic, and you couldn’t see or talk to the people you were travelling with.
But those of us with windows were rewarded by stunning views of Iceland, Greenland, and later Baffin (Nunavut) Island.
After previous and horrendous experiences picking up rental cars at airports, this time we had arranged to pickup the car at the SeaTac Marriott Hotel.
It took us best part of an hour to negotiate our way to the shuttle bus and get to the hotel. During this time, I had spoken to someone at the hotel to explain that we were on our way to pickup our hire car, and confirming that this was the correct shuttle bus. When we got to the hotel, we were told that the Hertz desk was closed at the weekend, so we had to return to the Hertz desk at the airport!
(Long list of expletives deleted)
Then a leisurely drive to Timberland Inn (booking number 1190276772) at Castle Rock, Washington (I-5 southbound exit 49)
Leisurely? Ha! Spent most of the afternoon in heavy, sometimes stationary traffic on the I-5. Turns out it was just normal Saturday traffic.
We arrived at the Timberland Inn about 4pm local time, but knackered and jet-lagged, we decided to drive to Mount St Helens just to keep ourselves going. Checked-out Coldwater Lake, and ended up at the Johnson Ridge Observatory car park. It was a fine evening and the views were fantastic, so well worth the effort.
Filled up with fuel and snacks as per the ‘eclipse’ advice.
Fairly indifferent dinner at Parker’s restaurant.
107
Sun Aug 20th
Then drive to Travelodge (booking number 1240588612), in Halsey near Lebanon (I-5 southbound exit 216)
Made good progress on the I-5 so Caro, following our progress on a roadmap, suggested a detour to the Silverfalls State Park. It was an excellent idea! Had a nice walk to, and around the South Falls, and then drove to the (less impressive) Upper North Falls.
Drove to hotel via the happily named Sublimity, and then the quirky wild-west style Brownsville.
Hotel was excellent and much better than the average Travelodge, with bar and restaurant attached.
176
Mon Aug 21st
Watch eclipse at 10:18am Pacific Time.
Early breakfast in the hotel, drove north on the I-5 to checkout our (several) vantage point choices. Initial signs not good as all the I-5 rest areas were heaving with people, and cars trying to park.
Then we found that my first-choice vantage point on the frontage road at Exit 248 was good, so parked up and waited underneath gorgeous blues skies.
Met Ivan who had an 8” Newtonian telescope with sun-filter fitted. He let us watch the eclipse develop, and we enjoyed looking at the sun-spots.
We felt the temperature falling as the sun became obscured. The eclipse arrived and we were not disappointed… it was fantastic. We could see Venus and some stars. Ivan had even captured some solar prominences using his iPhone against his telescope’s eyepiece!
Then a mass migration for the day trippers to head back to the cities, so the I-5 northbound was a mess with gridlock for the first 2 hours. We decided to avoid Seattle itself, and eventually took the I-405 on the east side of Lake Washington via Bellevue.
Finally stopped at the Comfort Inn in Kirkland, and then walked to the Cafe Veloce, and had several al-fresco beers and a nice dinner.
267
Tue Aug 22nd
Seattle to Kamloops (last time we stayed in the Chase Country Inn about 40 miles further)
Left Kirkland after breakfast, and had programmed Google Maps on the Android to take us to Chase. Just south of the US/Canada border, it took us a convoluted route off the main road and through side roads, but we found the border crossing OK. We noticed horrendous queues coming the other way!
Made it to the Country Inn at Chase, but it was under new ownership and the restaurant was closed, so as it was a pleasant evening, we walked the mile or so to the shopping mall where they had a bar that did pub grub. Drank too much beer!
Faced with walking back in the dark or waiting for a taxi, the barmaid kindly gave us a lift back to the Motel.
318
Wed Aug 23rd
Kamloops to Lake Louise (Paradise Lodge – booking 14046)
As the accommodation at Lake Louise was self-catering, Lin and Caro went supermarket shopping in Chase. We then had to then stop at a liquor store on Highway 1 as the supermarket didn’t sell alcohol.
Uneventful journey at first, but then started seeing smoke from forest fires that had been raging for weeks. At Roger’s Pass we saw several fires, and also got caught up in traffic due to extensive road works.
After a long day’s drive, we were relieved to reach Field, not far from Lake Louise. We stopped at the Visitor Centre, then drove into the village of Field and had a beer.
Remembered from our 2002 trip seeing Elk grazing on the grass verges, but this time no Elk.
Checked-in at Paradise Bungalows. Drove to have a look at Lake Louise itself, then drove to the Outpost Pub and had Pizzas and Quesadillas. And some beers. Drove back to the cabin and drank wine.
Weather forecast very poor… rain tomorrow, gloomy the next day.
280
Thur Aug 24th
Lake Louise (Paradise Lodge).
Drove to Field between showers. Checked out the Natural Bridge on the Kicking Horse River, then walked around Emerald Lake, mostly in the dry. At the top of the lake, the skies started getting dark, and we could hear thunder in the mountains. It finally started raining a few hundred yards from the end of the walk. Despite the warnings, we saw no Bears (or Elk).
Back to the cabin for snacky lunch, crisps, beer, etc. Sat around waiting for the rain to stop. Two hours later, it was still raining so we decided to go out anyway, drive to Moraine Lake and hope for the best. The heavy rain continued during the drive but the sun came out just as we arrived. Moraine Lake is very picturesque…. we took loads of photos.
Then drove to find Morant’s Curve. I didn’t recognise it so overshot by 20km! It was twilight by the time we saw it, but we were rewarded by the sight of the goods train just coming round the bend.
Then drove to the village for dinner. Ate a totally adequate and reasonably priced meal at the Mountain Restaurant above the Lake Shopping Mall.
73
Fri Aug 25th
Lake Louise (Paradise Lodge)
The predicted gloomy day certainly didn’t start out like that. I went out before breakfast to photograph Lake Louise in the early morning sunlight. Fantastic!
Then we headed up the Icefield Parkway. Stopped at Bow Lake for pics, then walked to Bow Summit for stunning views Peyto Lake. Onwards to Columbia Icefields and the Dome and Athabasca Glaciers. Had coffee in the Icefields Chalet.
Turned around after Tangle Falls. By then it was getting cloudy, but we were returning by the same route so no real problem. No Elk though.
Had our much anticipated meal at The Station Restaurant. Very strange… they couldn’t fit us in until 8:30, but when we got there, the place was virtually empty. And it turned out that it closed at 9:30 and they were taking plates away whilst some us were still eating. The food was good but given the prices of everything, we were disappointed and felt we were being hustled out. I think we were in and out in little over an hour and had to take our unfinished wine with us. All very unprofessional.
214
Sat Aug 26th
Lake Louise to Waterton Park (or perhaps a little short)
Stopped to take pics of Morant’s Curve (see photo at the top of this article), and Castle Mountain in the sunshine. Then again to do the Johnson Canyon Falls (and snacks). No Elk.
Caroline found a route that bypassed Calgary, but I was struck by the lack of petrol stations, especially as by now, I had a full bladder. Eventually left the motorway and found a petrol station where we were able to relieve ourselves, and drink crappy coffee and sugary snacks.
We decided to bypass Waterton Park and head for St Mary at the east entrance to Glacier NP back in the US of A. Tried a very ugly motel in Babb first, but it was too expensive.
Tried another motel in St Mary, but also expensive except for the option of a dungeon… well two rooms with no windows. Checked some other places and decided to go for the dungeons, but they’d just been let… bugger!
We then decided calmly and rationally(!), to drive another 43 miles to East Glacier (the nice lady with the dungeons told us they had availability there). I’d been driving all day so Caro took a stint and drove on some scary roads to get us there.
We arrived at the Circle ‘R’ Motel, and then spent a very pleasant evening at Serrano’s Mexican restaurant drinking Corona, IPA, cocktails, etc., chatting with an American couple, and having a very superior Mexican meal.
357
Sun Aug 27th
Waterton Park to West Glacier.
Actually, East Glacier to Big Fork…
And just when we’d been thinking that the eclipse was probably the most exciting part of the trip, as we were leaving East Glacier, we spotted the World’s Largest Purple Spoon.
Drove back up to St Mary to enter Glacier NP. Strong evidence of forest fires to the west. Sadly, this was beginning to spoil the big panoramas.
Stopped at various places for photos. Stopped again at Sun Point and walked to Baring Falls. I walked back to Sun Point for more pics.
Continued through the park, but the seeing was getting bad due to the smoke.
Stopped for snacks high up on the ‘Going To The Sun Road’. Stopped at McDonald Lake before leaving the park.
Had beers in the tourist shop in West Glacier. Watched humming birds.
Decided to carry on driving, and finally fetched up at the Timbers Motel in Big Fork. Couldn’t find a decent restaurant so we had a pretty awful burger meal with fizzy drinks. Ugh!
155
Mon Aug 28th
West Glacier to Deer Lodge (or thereabouts)
Actually, Big Fork to McAllister…
Headed south towards the I-90 freeway. Lots of smoke around Missoula; drove large parts of the journey with car on recycle.
We stopped at the McAllister Motel (part of the McAllister Bar and Grill). Had a free beer while we waited for the motel manager to show up. Surprisingly nice rooms… modern with lots of conveniences (USB charging points for example), and a pleasant sitting area out the back. No Elk though.
Then had a very nice dinner in the surprisingly up-market restaurant.
273
Tue Aug 29th
Deer Lodge to Lake Lodge in Yellowstone (Lake Lodge – booking # 5G56Z)
OK, McAllister to Lake Lodge. Not so much evidence of smoke, but quite overcast.
Stopped at Earthquake Lake for pics of trees sticking out of the water. It turns out that the lake was created by a rockfall following the 1959 Hebden Lake Earthquake, and the trees were inundated.
Then stopped at Campfire Lodge Resort for enormous breakfast with views of the river (after waiting 30 minutes or so for a table). Then entered Yellowstone NP via the West Entrance.
Took photos of hot, bubbling pools. Proper stops at Gibbon Falls, Beryl Spring and Artist’s Paintpots. Then totally failed to get into the Norris Geyser Basin, as the car parks were choc-a-bloc.
Did the Yellowstone Canyon North Rim Drive (along with about 750,000 other people). The weather had brightened quite a bit, so I got some fantastic shots of the Lower Falls and the canyon itself.
Saw herd of Bison in Hayden Valley, but no Elk.
Arrived at Lake Lodge and checked into our rudimentary cabins with Bison-proof devices on the doors.
Had beers sitting on rocking chairs on the Lodge’s veranda. Caro and I walked to lakeside. Saw lone Bison on the way back.
Ate reasonable meal in the Lake Lodge Cafeteria. Sat in the lounge in huge comfy chairs, Lin on wine, Caro and I on beer, trying to last until 9:00pm. WiFi was $4.95 an hour so we resisted the temptation to catchup with the outside world.
Weather forecast very poor… gloomy with rain tomorrow and the next day. A pattern is emerging – nice weather for travelling, rubbish when we arrive somewhere!
144
Wed Aug 30th
Yellowstone (Lake Lodge)
Overcast, but not actually raining.
After breakfast at the cafeteria, headed towards Canyon Village. Stopped for Bison in the road… males, females and youngsters. Lin took her only photo of the holiday!
Then we did Yellowstone Canyon South Rim Drive. Still very impressive (and the sun did come out briefly). Then continued anti-clockwise to Mammoth Springs via Tower Fall, Petrified Tree and a snacky lunch with beer at Roosevelt Lodge.
Arrived at Mammoth Springs. Perhaps because of the lack of sunshine, but we all felt that Minerva Terrace was not as good as we remembered it (and we do have photos!). In 1979, it was mostly white with blue pools; now it seems that yellow algae has taken over.
But somehow, I still managed to take 28 photos of Minerva Terrace.
Got caught in a huge contra-flow on the way back and couldn’t get to see Obsidian Cliff. We did see the very underwhelming Roaring Mountain, and then the much better Mud Volcano and the Dragon’s Mouth.
Back to the Lodge for drinks, dinner, comfy chairs, etc. and made it to 10:00pm this time. However, we’d walked to the Lodge without thinking how we’d find our way back in the dark. Fortunately, the lady in the gift shop loaned us a (one candlepower) torch, and we managed not to walk into any wildlife.
105
Thur Aug 31st
Yellowstone (Lake Lodge)
Overcast, but dry.
Breakfast, then headed straight to Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin. Waited 40 mins for OF to erupt, then walked around the Upper Geyser Basin. Well worth it for the variety of hot transparent pools and spluttering geysers. And we also caught Castle Geyser going off. Much better than OF, and we were lucky to catch it because it has an approximate period of 14 hours between eruptions.
We also caught the Grotto Geyser just finishing. Lin and Caro sat and watched it while I walked to the Morning Glory Pool. Not at it’s best because junk, coins, etc. thrown by (brain dead) tourists keep blocking the pool’s flow, so it’s become somewhat ruined by yellow algae.
Snacky, beery lunch outside Hamilton’s Store.
Then did the Biscuit Basin with the gorgeous Sapphire Pool. Followed this with Firehole Lake Drive (Great Fountain Geyser, White Dome Geyser, Hot Lake), and then the Lower Geyser Basin (Fountain Paintpots, spluttering lakes and someones red coat, and the turquoise Silex Spring).
Finally, stopped to photograph the Kepler Cascades.
Back to the Lodge for drinks, dinner, comfy chairs, etc. And this time, we remembered to bring the car!
96
Fri Sept 1st
Yellowstone to Missoula
Again, did the route anti-clockwide to Tower-Roosevelt, and Mammoth Springs. Then north to leave the park, pausing to buy some gifts and photograph the ‘Roosevelt Arch’.
On our journey up to Tower-Roosevelt, we shared the road with a fairly large Bison. Probably about 3 feet away from Caro’s elbow. But not one Elk, all the time we were in Yellowstone! At the north entrance (exit!), we stopped and spent some money in the visitor centre.
Out of the park and north towards Bozeman, then west on the I-90.
Kept going after Missoula and eventually pulled off the I-90 following signs for Alberton and ‘lodgings’. Found the delightful River Edge Motel (and Steakhouse) on the Clark Fork River. The rooms had river frontage and outside seating. Had several beers, and a good meal in the bar/restaurant (although Lin’s first steak was cremated and had to be changed).
Met Julie and Mike McCuiston in the bar and established a rapport, so agreed to exchange emails
351
Sat Sept 2nd
Missoula to Coulee City (for Dry Falls)
Left Alberton after breakfast, and a routine drive to Spokane where we left the I-90. Headed through mile after mile of farms and scrub land with lots of ‘dust devils’ (well the temperature was approaching 100°F).
Got to Coulee City mid-afternoon. I bought a spline-wheel in a hardware shop (when we left Spain, I had a shopping list with one item on it – a spline wheel for repairing mosquito screens). When I got back to the car, Lin and Caro said “we’re not staying here!”. Well I had to agree… Coulee City was a bit of a dump.
So onwards to Dry Falls and we were not disappointed. It was the site of a series of cataclysms at the end of the last Ice Age some 15,000 years ago. Lake Missoula was a lake with a surface area of 3,000 square miles, formed by receding glaciers. Unfortunately it’s outlet on the Clark Fork River in Idaho, kept getting blocked by a 2,000 ft high ice dam. When the dam finally broke, it released some 500 cubic miles of water in 48 hours! Dry Falls would have been a wall of water 250 ft high and five times the width of Niagara Falls, roaring over the escarpment at around 65 mph. The Columbia River at it’s estuary near Portland would have been 400 ft deep.
The sudden inundation would have scoured the land of flora and fauna, as well as top soil, and put parts of Idaho, Washington and Oregon under hundreds of feet of water for several days.
Note that the filling, and the catastrophic emptying of Lake Missoula occurred possibly 40 times during the last few thousand years of the ice age.
What can be seen now at Dry Falls is the starkest evidence of these cataclysms. There are no waterfalls any more, but the scalloped precipice that remains is 5 times wider than Niagara Falls.
No Elk.
From Dry Falls we drove to the busy leisure community of Soap Lake looking for accommodation…. And failed! However, one of the Motels we tried did some phoning around and found us somewhere in Ephrata.
We located the ‘Sunland Motel’ fairly easily, but had to drive up and down the ‘strip’ to find a restaurant. Our first choice (Mexican) restaurant didn’t have a liquor license, so we ended up having an average meal at our second choice (also Mexican) restaurant.
On our way back to the motel, we noticed that the (full) moon was bright red, and assumed (rightly) this was smoke pollution.
I phoned Crystal Mountain on Mt Rainier to book the next night, but told that it was full. Ended up arranging to stay at Squaw Rock Lodging (where we stayed in 2002).
Ephrata to Squaw Rock is 133 miles, so we were looking forwards to a nice short drive in the morning, and spending the afternoon sitting by the riverside at Squaw Rock, drinking beer and watching the rabbits on the grassy banks.
It didn’t quite turn out like that...
290
Sun Sept 3rd
Coulee City to Crystal Mountain Lodging (Mt Rainier) Ephrata to The Dalles
Assuming we were going to Squaw Rock, we headed back to the I90. Stopped to take photos of the Columbia River Gorge just before the I-90 crossed it. Already very poor visibility.
Changed from the I-90 to Highway 97 down to Yakima, then took Highway 410 NW towards Naches. Then suddenly (about 20 miles short of Squaw Rock) we saw… “Highway 410 closed ahead due to fires”. Phoned Squaw Rock Lodging who admitted that the smoke was “pretty bad”, so we cancelled the reservation.
We decided to turn back and head south, vaguely towards the main Columbia Gorge, and look for somewhere to have a coffee and consider our options. Over coffee, we agreed that since Columbia Gorge was on the itinerary, we’d head there and if the smoke was bad, we’d head west towards the Oregon coast.
Drove some way along the north rim looking for accommodation, before we gave up. I phoned Motel 6 in The Dalles and found that they had rooms. Crossed the Gorge at the Dalles Bridge and checked into the Motel.
Grey skies and a spooky red sun. No Elk though.
Nice evening of cocktails, wine and dining at Cousins Restaurant. Lin bought some jewellery at the gift shop.
246
Mon Sept 4th
Mt Rainier to Vancouver, Washington. The Dalles to Seaside
Had good breakfast (at Cousins again). Verrrrry overcast, so we decided to give up on Columbia Gorge, and head towards the coast.
Took I-84 westbound, driving in poor visibility. Then it got extremely poor and we could see the sources of some of the fires. Lin saw people hosing down the wooden shingles on their roofs.
It turned out that this was the Eagle Creek Fire on it’s way to briefly becoming the biggest forest fire in America in 2017. It was started by a 15 year old boy setting off fireworks. The fire torched 48.000 of national forest, and wiped out 121 miles of trails. Afterwards, the kid was taken to court and sentenced him to 1,920 hours of community service and demanded that he pay $37 million in restitution, although no-one expects this to be fulfilled.
Shortly after we passed through, they closed the I84. Here’s a photo of the fire from KATU news.
On our way past Multnomah Falls, Caro and I decided we had to take some pics, so a fairly quick stop and a worthwhile walk to the falls. Then continued westwards, through the worst of the smoke, and onwards through Portland towards the coast. Traffic very bad. No Elk, but probably too smoky.
Stopped on the coast at Ecola State Park, in a queue of traffic that took us 20 mins to get to the entrance. Pleasant place with some blue skies, so clearly we’d driven out of the worst of the smoke.
Took some pics, had our usual lunch of beer and crisps, and headed north towards the ambiguously named ‘Seaside’. Bad traffic and suddenly the car’s ‘Distance to empty’ gauge gave up and just showed ‘—’!
Anyway, we made it to a garage, filled up, and then checked ourselves into ‘The Tides Motel’. Local restaurants all closed, so we had beers and dinner at the local golf course’s club house.
175
Tue Sept 5th
Columbia Gorge Seaside to Forks
Weather overcast, but hopefully this was cloud and not smoke.
The local diner was also closed, so breakfast at the golf course’s club house, and then we headed north towards the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River estuary.
At this point, and referring back to the Dry Falls cataclysm mentioned above, imagine what 400 ft wall of flood waters would look like here.
Stopped for coffee at the Elixir Espresso and Tea at South Bend.
Carried on up the coast and found a picnic table near Quinault Lake for usual lunch.
Entered the Olympic National Park just north of Queets(!)… took pictures at Beach 1 and 3, missed 4 and 5; stopped again at Ruby Beach for more pics.
Still no Elk.
We eventually fetched up at the aptly named, and well appointed Forks Motel in Forks. Had dinner at the ‘In-Place’… mine was adequate, Caro’s OK, but luke-warm and Lin’s Seafood Platter was totally overdone. It was dark brown and not the ‘golden brown’ it should have been. When we complained, the waitress just said “It’s deep fried” (like that’s supposed to help). She said if Lin wanted to change it, she (Lin) would essentially go to the back of the queue and it could be 30 minutes. So Lin kept it and ate what she could.
At the checkout, we were just given the total. Lin asked for an itemised bill and spotted that Caro’s fish (one of the day’s ‘specials’) was $19.99 instead of $16.99 (as advertised on the chalk board). The waitress’s excuse was that “manager had written it down wrong”. And then she said “I’ve already knocked off a $21 meal”, rang-up $44 (ie. without Caro’s meal), thrust the change at Lin, and then stormed off in total meltdown!
We only left a 19% tip in protest – just kidding, we left nothing. They should be grateful that we didn’t leave a bad review on TripAdvisor!
198
Wed Sept 6th
Zig-Zag to Port Gamble (along the Hood Canal) Forks to Shelton
Overcast again.
Decided not to go back to the ‘In-Place’, so went to the Forks Coffee Shop and had a good breakfast.
We happened to mention that we’d been travelling for more than two weeks and hadn’t seen a single Elk, and the lady (owner?) told us where there was a herd. And she was spot-on… Elk at last!!
Although both Lin and Caro made enthusiastic noises about the herd of elk, I could tell they were more impressed by the Shay steam locomotive just a couple of miles further on.
They obviously spotted it’s unusual 4-0-4 wheel arrangement and it’s side mounted cylinders connected to a lateral drive shaft, rather than the much more conventional Walschaerts gear seen on most European locomotives. Elk indeed…
Anyway, we then drove to Crescent Lake and took more pics, then via Port Angeles to the Hood Canal. Some quirky places like a series of rail cars called ‘Discovery Bay Cannabis’. Stopped at the Halfway House, Brinnon for a coffee and a delicious fruit pie and ice cream (well Caro and I at least).
The only motels we saw on the Hood Canal were pretty disreputable looking, so we carried on down to Shelton where we found the Shelton Inn.
Walked 4 blocks to Sister‘s Restaurant (where we had a discount coupon from the Motel). Found that a glass of wine was $5, but we could buy a 1.5 litre bottle for $15. Guess what we did?
The waitress was friendly enough, but she said that they closed at 7:30pm. At which point she started vacuuming, so we took the hint, paid and departed with our wine.
157
Thur Sept 7th
Ferry back to Seattle via the Bremerton ferry. Make our way to the Residence Inn by Marriott at Lake Union
Went to Blondie’s restaurant for breakfast (another discount coupon).
Headed the 37 miles to the Bremerton-Seattle Ferry. Enjoyed watching the Seattle Skyline develop, even though it was very overcast.
Caro navigated us through Seattle to the Hotel.
The hotel (actually an apart-hotel) was quite up-market. We had a large, well-appointed suite with balconies overlooking Lake Union. The only down-side was some traffic noise, and finding a seat in the DIY breakfast area.
Went for a walk along the lake shore; had a look at the Center for Wooden Boats and spent an interesting hour in the Seattle Museum of History and Industry.
Then went for cocktails and a nice al-fresco dinner at Duke’s Chowder House. More wine back in our suite.
Crap weather forecast for the next two days… gloomy with the possibility of rain (see earlier comments about Lake Louise and Yellowstone!). Much cooler on Saturday.
43
Fri Sept 8th
Seattle
Big buffet breakfast at the hotel… for me it was coffee and orange juice, granola with banana, scrambled eggs and sausages, and then a sticky bun.
We took the tram to the Westlake Center, and immediately took the monorail to the Seattle Center. Weather cloudy with sunny periods.
Wandered around wondering whether to pay individual entry charges (at say, the Space Needle), which varied from $15 to $43, or buy CityPasses at $79 (no concessions for over 60s). We decided it was worth getting CityPasses.
Started at MoPOP (which used to be the Experience Music Project). Some excellent displays like ‘History of Science Fiction’, ‘History of the guitar’, etc. Not so impressive was the display on ‘David Bowie’ and (surprisingly) ‘Hendrix Abroad’.
Tried to get into the Space Needle, but had to be scheduled to go in at 4pm. So we decided to use the time to see the Chihuly Garden and Glass. It was excellent, with some very innovative and colourful glass sculptures, both indoor (with very good lighting), and outdoors as part of garden landscapes.
The Space Needle was pretty good, if somewhat predictable. And very busy.
After all this activity, we cooled our heels in a sports bar across the road and had several beers. We then decided to get a cab to Pioneer Square and find somewhere to eat. All the guidebooks recommended a visit, but we found that in early evening, it’s a little squalid. We were pan-handled twice in 2 minutes, and there were homeless people in the bus shelters.
But we got lucky and found a nice Italian Restaurant called Luigi’s Italian Eatery, and had a great (although bloody expensive) meal (and $32 for a bottle of house white).
The guy running it had a strong Brooklyn accent (and typical New York personality), and when he asked us where we were from, he said “Oh, I’m originally from the UK too… my Mum and Dad were stationed there. I grew up in a little place called Derby”. Unbelievable!
0
Sat Sept 9th
Seattle
Another big breakfast, and again the tram into the centre.
We still had to get our money’s worth from the CityPasses, so braving Pike Place Market (bloody well heaving), we headed for Pier 59 and the Argosy boat trip around the harbour. Very gloomy weather, but a fun trip. A couple of pints of IPA and a Corona on board did help.
A fish and chip lunch for Lin and Caro, a Mexican Wrap for me, and then we hit the Aquarium. It was good but too many fish too many kids, and people with pushchairs (OK, strollers). In truth, it wasn’t in the same league as the Monterey Bay Aquarium that Lin and I did in 1997.
Went back to the hotel to chill (and a doze), and then we decided that we’d have a beer at the White Swan bar and restaurant before another visit to Duke’s Chowder House for dinner… it was a cool and gloomy evening, so this time sitting inside.
0
Sun Sept 10th
Take the car back to the Airport by 11:00.
Bright sunshine… bloody typical!
British Airways Club Class Lounge at SeaTac was very good. Good coffee, quality snacks and a bottomless Champagne bottle (and an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon for me). We could see Mt Rainier in the distance.
Leave Seattle 13:30 for flight back to London
The first hour or two of the flight was interesting… first we flew over the Cascade Range including Mt Rainier. Then as we approached the Canadian Border, we were looking down on some serious forest fires.
Then we flew across British Columbia, over Slocan Lake, Panorama Ski Resort, and Lake Windemere, before seeing more extensive forest fires.
Arrived in time to take some (shakey) pics of Central London at dawn.
43
Total mileage in the hire car
4289
