North West Trip 2016

Seattle and Southward

After our visit to the Olympic National Park and Port Angeles, we took Maarten and Ineke to the ferry headed for Victoria, while we spent an evening with our friends, Tom and Dianna, in Port Townsend.

After our brief visit with Tom and Diana, we drove back to Port Angeles, picked up Maarten and Ineke and drove to Bainbridge Island to take the ferry to Seattle.

In Seattle, For the first time ever, we had poor commutation with our Airbnb hostess where we were staying. We ended up not hearing from her, resulting in no access to our house. We had to find a hotel room on the spot.

The next morning, Pikes Market in Seattle was our first stop. Touristy but fun. We lunched at Turkish Delight and walked past the original Starbucks.

Afterwards, we heard from our hostess and we were able to get into our house for the rest of our stay. 

Our favorite visit was to the Chihuly Gardens and Glass, near the Space Needle. 

Works by American artist, Dale Chihuly, are whimsical and fascinating. 

In the evening we went to the Columbia Building in downtown Seattle and took the elevator up to the 78th floor where the observation deck is to be found. The views were spectacular. 

You can see how much taller this building is in comparison to the Space Needle in the distance.

The following day, we met our old friend, Bob Riddle (from our days living and working in Iran (1977-78)). He drove us to Issaqua, where they were celebrating Salmon Days. 

Perhaps hard to see, but salmon are in the photo (below) of the river. The salmon are here to spawn. Afterwards, sadly, they decompose and die.

After having a salmon lunch, Bob took us to the Snoqualmie Falls - this is where the David Lynch television series "Twin Peaks" was filmed. It was difficult to not continually hum the theme song.

We visited a few more spots in the Seattle area including the museum of industry/history, and a cider house for a cider tasting.

        While leaving Seattle, we spotted female rowing crews getting ready to race.      

As we made our way southward from Seattle to Portland we made a brief stop in Tacoma to visit the Museum of Glass. Here, the glass works for several artists were displayed.

        This one was made by a ten year old child.

                     Glass blowers at work.

We then headed to Portland.

The Northwest - September 2016

Northwest Bound with Maarten and Ineke

We picked up Maarten and Ineke at SFO to begin our three week NW journey. The plan was to hug the coast northward on the Pacific Coast Highway and to return south on inland byways to see the Columbia Gorge, Lassen NP, Crater Lake and other national parks.

Healdsburg was our first stop. A very cute center of town with a square much like Paso Robles. In the morning we headed out for a canoeing trip.

                Burke's canoeing trips on the Russian River are a bit of work but lots of fun.

       The temperature was in the low 90's.

                                         Lunch time in a shady spot.

                The Mendocino coastline is quite spectacular, with lots of walking trails.

At the end of the day, we bedded down in Fort Bragg, where Glass Beach offers a spectacle of glass pebbles. I was pocketing some of them when Diane pointed out that there was a $500 fine if one is caught with them. Needless to say, I threw them back.

     

The best Airbnb we've stayed at was in Fort Bragg at John's place. Beautifully done. He also offered a jacuzzi, sauna and amazing gardens.

In the morning we drove through the Avenue of the Giants, stopping by the "drive thru" tree. With the rented van, it was a tight squeeze.

                      This giant is the biggest of all - about 360 feet tall.

After the Avenue of the Giants, we visited Eureka. Although an oddly quaint town, the historic architecture is quite captivating.

                                                  Downtown Eureka

                                           The pier in Crescent City.

We stayed overnight at a funky motel aptly called the Curly Redwood Motel. Just across of it were the docks of the fishing fleet and further out a pier and a quaint lighthouse.

Crescent City is the last stop before proceeding into Oregon. We stopped briefly in Brookings for some supplies and a cup of coffee. We then were treated to the spectacular rocky coastline.

 A small waterfall along one of the trails along the ocean.

In the latter part of the day, we found a small, beachside motel with little cottages in Brandon to spend the night. It wasn't fancy but the views were dramatic and beach walks, a must.

            We had to walk all of 100 feet to see this view from our cottage.

                                               It's obvious that intelligent people live here.

One of the surprising spots we stopped at was Depot Bay. The ocean was a bit wild and we happened to stop in at a shoreside building that housed a whale spotting group. They pointed out that whales were feeding right in front of us. Sure enough, we only had to wait for a few minutes to see a couple of small gray whales feeding just a hundred yards off from where we stood.

                       Not visible in the photo, but the whales were very nearby.

                     We stopped to sample the cheese in Tillamook and see how it's made.

            Ineke and Maarten joy riding.

             We tried the huge oysters here in Garibaldi but were disappointed in the taste. 

Next, was Cannon Beach. The town has grown up and was quite busy. Even finding a parking spot was not that easy. But a walk along the beach and the sight of Haystack Rock was inspiring none-the-less.

           Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, OR

                                                         Cannon Beach, OR

We spent the Warrenton, OR a neighbor town of Astoria. Along the beach, there's an old wreck from the early 1900's. Not much is left from the 200 foot schooner.

Although not convincing, I found downtown Astoria to be charming. An odd assortment of shops line the main thoroughfare through town.  

                                               Downtown Astoria, OR

   From the Astoria docks, a view of the bridge crossing the Columbia River into Washington.

Before leaving Astoria, we visited where Lewis and Clark stayed in the early 1900's - Fort Clatsop. It was named after the Indian tribe that lived there.

After crossing into Washington state, we drove to Port Angeles. We stayed in an Airbnb near the waterfront with a view of Victorial, BC. In the morning we drove into Olympic National Park to hike the Hurrincane Ridge trail. 

On our hike, we were treated to absolutely beautiful views  

After our morning hike, in the afternoon we drove to the Crescent Lake area. The trails were a stark difference from the more arid terrain we had encountered in the morning. This trail was verdant with lots of ferns, redwoods and spruces.

 

  

                         Marymere Waterfall

After a couple of days in Port Angeles, we took Maarten and Ineke to the Victoria ferry and we headed off to visit with our friends in Port Townsend - Tom and Diana. This was the most northern area we were going to travel to - the rest was southward and inland.