Road trip - Day 9
Seattle, WA
We spent Saturday in Seattle visiting one of my oldest friends, Neal, and his wife, Diana. I had not seen him in too long so it was a pretty great day. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we decided to avoid places that would be crowded with people. We met up at Neal and Diana's place and went to a local Greek restaurant for lunch, yum. After lunch we went to Discovery Park. Mae started off a great photo day for me by looking adorable in a patch of dandylion covered grass.
We picked some genuine Washington apples and found a great tree to hide under and swing from the branches.
The grass on the fields and hills were covered with dandylions.
We stopped to enjoy the views of the sound and then headed down to the beach.
After Discovery Park we decided to get some ice cream. We drove over to Fremont, which is the center of the universe (or so the sign said). I have to say the area did offer some great images.
This is the building that Coldstone Creamery is in:
A Russian rocket attached to the top of a building:
There was a 15ft statue of Lenin in the middle of town:
And last, but possibly most memorable, was the troll under the Hwy 99 bridge eating a real VW bug:
Our last stop for the day was the SAM sculpture park.
We watched the sun set and then it was time to go.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Road trip - Day 7
Mt. Baker State Park
We spent the day in the mountains on Thursday. It was absolutely beautiful. Our first views were of Mt. Shuksan from Heather Meadow.
Along the trail around the lake were wild blueberries.
After walking around the lake, we drove further up the mountain to Artist's Point to get a view of Mt. Baker. The surroundings made me feel like I should be calling out "Riccola!"
Mount Baker was hiding under clouds at first.
On our way back down the trail, the clouds moved and let us glimpse the summit.
After a fun time in the mountains, we headed back down. We stopped in a little town named Glacier for ice cream. I guess they don't like pink flamingos much there, or humping.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Road trip - Day 6
Whidbey Island, WA
When we were camping in Kings Canyon earlier in the summer I bought us a National Parks passport and this year's stamp set. The stamp for the Pacific Northwest region was of this great lighthouse in Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to go there.
Ebey's Landing is right near here on Whidbey Island so we took a day trip there on Wednesday. There are two ways to get to the island. We opted for the land route, which is the bridge at Deception Pass at the north tip of the island.
We parked just on the other side of the bridge and enjoyed the view of the water. I wish I could photograph smell. It smelled like Christmas trees.
Our next stop was the beach at Ebey's Landing.
A local guide at the Deception Pass bridge told us there were beautiful agate stones at the beach so the girls spent some time looking for some.
Mae was content to sit and just enjoy whatever rocks were nearby.
After the beach it was time for lunch. We stopped in a quaint little town called Coupeville.
The town has a beautiful view of Penn Cove and Mt. Baker in the distance.
We headed to Fort Casey State Park in search of the lighthouse. I was also hoping to find out where the passport stamp location was for Ebey's Landing since we had not yet found a ranger station or visitor center. I had no idea what Fort Casey was. The girls thought it was great. Autumn declared it to be part of the kids world wonders for great play structures.
They still have two of the 10-inch 1895 guns at the fort. They were pretty amazing to see.
We also found the Admiralty Head Lighthouse I saw in my passport book.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Road trip - Day 5
Lake Whatcom
Finally we had a day of no driving! It was great to have a car-free day. I think the girls were happy to sleep in late and have play time all day. Tom's parent's house is on Lake Whatcom.
We took a walk down to the shore and let the girls play. The water was a lot warmer than we expected. Since the ocean near us is so cold, the girls were fine with the water temperature.
Mae played on the grass near the water.
I made the mistake of putting my camera down near Tom for a bit so I could play with Mae and ended up getting my picture taken.
After that we gave my camera a well earned break for the rest of the day.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Road trip - Day 4
Eugene, OR to Bellingham, WA
Day 4 was our longest day in the car. Leaving Eugene, our next big stop was Portland to visit Tom's sister. She had classes in the morning so we decided to follow a worn roadside sign to a "historical museum" in Brownsville, OR. The museum was closed but we did get a picture of the cute bridge over the Calapooia River.
In Portland we went to Washington Park. It was a great break from the car and the kids had a great time rolling down the grassy slopes.
After Washington Park we took a little sight seeing tour of the Alphabet District of downtown Portland.
The telephone poles on 23rd Street have been so covered by flyers, they bulge out several inches in width and they are totally white with sun-bleached paper.
After our drive through town it was time for Tom's sister to head back to class and for us to head north. I got a picture of Mt. Hood while sitting in traffic on the 405 bridge.
After dinner just south of Tacoma the two little ones fell asleep so we did not stop again. Seattle was looking beautiful as we passed through and I wish I could have taken a picture or two of the lit city and full moon.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Road trip - Day 3
Ashland, OR to Eugene, OR
From the endpoints, it looks like we did not go very far on our third day on the road. We spent the day at Crater Lake National Park. Our morning had a false start when, an hour away from Ashland up highway 62, I realized I had left my camera battery charger charging a battery in our hotel room. I told Tom we *had* to go back because there is no way I could do the rest of the trip without that! So, two hours delayed, we arrived in Crater Lake at lunchtime. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather and the lake looked absolutely stunning.
The water really is that blue. There are a couple of reasons but the biggest factors are the lake's depth, nearly 2,000 ft (making it the deepest lake in the country) and the that no rivers empty in to the lake so the water is amazingly clean and free of sediment and such.
I have not been to Crater Lake in nearly 20 years. I have memories of being amazed by the views as a teenager. Sadly, the impressiveness of the place was lost on the girls.
Crater Lake NP is also known for wildflowers. It was not the right time of year to see them all in bloom but we did find a few flowers.
We took a hike to Watchman Peak, which is used during fire season to watch for forest fires. Tom and I were huffing and puffing and commenting that we sealevel adjusted people can't breathe very well at 8,000 ft. Laura made it all the way up without being carried. I was amazed. The views from the top were incredible.
We took highway 232 to 138 and then back to I-5. We decided to stop for the night in Eugene.
