seattle

We had never visited Seattle before, so we took 1.5 days to check it out. Not much time, so we just saw the typical tourist highlights.

We took a tour of the Boeing plant. It was really neat, seeing how/where they put together their big planes - including the popular 747s and the new 787. My one disappointment was not being able to take photos on the tour. The photo below is taken at the museum - I'm standing in front of the vertical wing of a 747. Tall, isn't it??

Underneath one of Seattle's bridges is this dude, the troll. That is a real life full size VW Beetle he's smooshing into the ground. And yeah, that's me, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Doesn't he look like he's going "awwwww"?!

The one most known and easily identifiable item in Seattle - the Space Needle. Inside there are boards explaining how they built it, why, etc. Neat!

Views from the top of the Needle...

We took a ferry ride to see the city from a different angle. And guess what?? - we saw Mt Rainier too!!

We did a tour on a double decker bus - the kind where they tell you stuff about the city, but you can get on and off the bus at numerous stops. Kind of the best of both worlds.

Anyway, I thought this water fountain was the coolest - you can walk underneath and barely get wet. See the path with the railings?

Supposedly kilts are becoming popular for dudes. But not the traditional Scottish kind - the "Utilikilt." They have pockets and are manly colors... supposedly guys like them because they can be more flexible. But of course no one we talked to knew anyone who actually has one!

Of course we had to goto the Public Market - quite famous in Seattle.

And of course we had to go watch them throw fish at Pike Place. There were tons of tourists hanging around, of course, waiting for them to throw some fish, but nobody was buying. And they only throw them when people buy. So it was kinda funny, everyone waiting, nothing really happening. I did catch them throwing something, but it is hard to see.

Starbucks originated in Seattle. This photo is from the location they now call the original, altho it really isn't - the original is closed. But this is the original logo. They don't have it anywhere else because of the bare bosom. LOL

We also did an Underground Tour. The original part of Seattle was built on flats. Meaning that when the tide came in, the water was up to the doorsteps. This meant that eliminating sewage was not easy - when the tide was low, gravity would take the sewage out to sea, but then the tide would bring it right back in - yuck! During high tide, it was highly advised to not use the commode, because there could be a backwards explosion, like a volcano. Double yuck! And another major problem in the flats were the roads. This was back when roads were dirt. Seattle's roads were dirt, rock and sawdust (it was a lumber town). So when it rained, or tide was a bit high, the roads were mucky. Horses would get stuck, get pulled out, leaving a huge hold in the street. The holes weren't fixed. So then there was a fire that destroyed that part of town. Great! - they could fix it. Well, not really. They tried, in a backwards kind of way. Anyway, long story short, they raised the grade of that part of town, but the buildings had already been rebuilt, so the bottom floor or two of the buildings were then underground. So anyway, the tour was ok, we really didn't see much, but the history and the stories and the potty jokes were pretty funny!

olympic peninsula

We decided to "do" the Olympic Peninsula in Washington Greg-style. Meaning fast. We did the entire loop in one day. This meant, of course, that we didn't have much time for stopping, looking around, hiking, etc. So most of the photos were taken on the fly. The Peninsula is really actually pretty amazing- there is a huge variety of landscapes/scenery there. There are snow-covered mountains, hills, lots of trees, meadows, rivers, lakes, an ocean, etc.

This particular picture was taken as we were driving up into the mountains, called Hurricane Ridge. We got maybe halfway up, and then... the light drizzle wasn't too bad, but the hail, well, let's just say I asked Greg to turn around and head back down. Getting pelted with ice balls while hoping we stay "shiny side up" on slippery roads just isn't my idea of fun.

Oh, oops, I forgot to mention there are rainforests in the Peninsula too! Temperate rainforests, not tropical, of course. Very neat though, lots of ferns and moss hanging all over the trees.

We saw a whole herd of animals, we think elk, but we aren't sure, as we were pretty far away.

The beach in this little alcove was black sand, very neat. And there were very few folks here, unlike at some of the other beaches.

One cool thing - Washington actually has "highways" on the ocean shore. Yep - on the sand. So we took the bike out, just to say we did it. LOL For non-bikers: you gotta understand, two wheels on a surface that shifts, such as sand, isn't easy to drive on!

everything but the mountain

Mt Rainier, that is...

We had a great route planned to see Mt Rainier. Well - it was cut short - some of the roads are still closed. So we changed our route to at least see the main sights that are open. Then, well, it seems we saw everything but the mountain.

We saw many waterfalls...

lots of trees...

many feet of snow...

fog...

and even other mountains.

But not the big one, the one locals just call "the mountain." {sigh}

It was still a pretty ride, tho, yay! And maybe we'll be lucky and catch site of Mt Rainier yet before we leave the area. They're actually forecasting partly sunny skies in Seattle for Tuesday!!!

big badda-boom

I think that accurately explains the eruption of Mt St Helens in 1980, don't you?

I had to go see Mt St Helens, to see an active volcano, to see the sight of so much destruction, etc. As we were getting closer, we saw the valley where the mud flow destroyed just about everything in its path. What you're seeing in the picture below is NOT water, it's the mud/ash left from the eruption.

This sign struck home with me. Nothing to do with Weyerhaeuser or trees or anything - it's all about the title of the sign. Wow, omg - we were driving into the blast zone area. Freaky!

There are actually three sections of the blast zone:
the direct blast zone - virtually everything was obliterated or carried away
channelized blast zone - the flow flattened everything in its path; the direction of the blast seen in the parallel alignment of the toppled trees
seared zone - trees remained standing but were singed by the hot gases

For more info on the eruption, see Mt St Helens website.

Weyerhaeuser has replanted thousands of acres of trees, but some areas the government has set aside to not be touched. It was interesting seeing how life slowly (or quickly) comes back to a ravaged land.

And here's the bad girl herself. The spot where the rim is lower is where all the action was... first a landslide, the largest in recorded history, and then the lateral explosion of rock, ash and hot gases. Now you can see kind of tucked away in the back of the crater where it is rebuilding - a new dome is being created. And the still mostly desolate landscape, not recovered yet from the devastation.

Not too far away in a different direction, little to no effects of the explosion are noticeable. Weird, huh?!

solo again?

I wanted to stay at camp and relax one day, so Greg did another solo run. He did some of the Washington and Oregon coastlines. I think we're becoming a bit jaded, as he was not enthused with his ride. Hmm.... if these pictures are any indication, I think the scenery was really pretty!

Columbia River and Mt Hood

wow - another great day bike-touring. We rode along both the Washington and the Oregon sides of the Columbia River Gorge. Sometimes it was hard to get a peek through all the trees to the river and the gorge, but it was really pretty! It was really cool going from very wet land to very dry land so quickly - watching the vegetation change over the miles was quite interesting.

Frequently while you're driving in this area, you suddenly see one of the peaks, such as Mt Hood or Mt St Helens or even Mt Rainier. As part of our Columbia River Gorge loop, we also did the Mt Hood loop. It got a tad bit chilly, but again... those heated jackets ROCK!

Back to the River Gorge, we saw Multnomah Falls. At 620 feet high, it is the second highest continuously flowing waterfall in the U.S. See how tiny those people look on the bridge?

ok... and again... we had to stop for another wine tasting! This was in Oregon, but there were wines from both OR and WA. Num!

more cousins

Although I made sure to take pictures of everyone who showed up at the big get together Sunday, I'll only post the ones of my first cousins. I already posted a pic of Russ and Janeane. Below are Rodna and Pat.

And here is Bill and Ginger (holding a grandbaby).

Love all these guys - they're great!!

aviation museum

A friend had emailed us a link about a museum that has the "Spruce Goose." We thought it was many miles from where we were. But for some reason Greg mentioned it while we were touring with Janeane and Russ. And lo and behold, the museum wasn't really that far away. So on Monday, we drove there on our way onward. And Russ and Janeane joined us. The museum is quite amazing actually, with many many planes, plus other odds and ends.

fyi - The Spruce Goose is a flying boat, built almost entirely of wood (about 95%). It was built by Howard Hughes in the 40s, during WWII. It is absolutely huge! Each wing is longer than a football field. Many innovations that Hughes used on this plane are now commonplace in aircraft and other uses. There is much more info on the plane here.

This is a replica of a plane that is the same type as Snoopy's!!

If you look closely, you can see Greg just itching to take off in this fighter jet. ps - just look at how little the jet looks in comparison to the Spruce Goose.

This was a cool kind of interactive game they had. You stand on a platform, and by changing your balance (lean forward, back, sideways, etc) you move a guy on the screen. One of the guides came over and told me I did really good. It was fun - I could have kept going, but there were some kids waiting. {sigh}

tourin' off bike

While we visited relatives in Oregon, we parked the rig at my cousins' place. Janeane and Russ were great hosts!! This picture was taken from a somewhat familiar position (behind Greg) on an unfamiliar vehicle (a four wheeler).

They also took us out sightseeing in their truck - trying to fit all of us on the bike wouldn't have worked so well. LOL They live maybe 5-10 minutes from the Oregon coastline - nice!

It was kind of weird walking to this lighthouse. You literally walk downhill towards it, right towards the light part. Then you walk down even further and you see how short it is!! I believe it's the shortest lighthouse in Oregon. Good thing it's up high on land.

This tree is kind of interesting, the way the branches all went out first, then up.