As I think you know, we enjoy Seattle having visited it by taking a float plane, ferry and car. This time we took the passenger ferry The Clipper which runs several times a day between downtown VIctoria and downtown Seattle. Fortunately, we had calm waters in both directions. Although most of the journey is in Puget Sound, it is still a large body of water that can be choppy. Our trips to Seattle tend to revolve around culture and shopping - and this was no exception. We took in The Treasures of Kenwood House - Rembrandt, Va Dyck, & Gainsborough. While we appreciated the skills of the artists, we preferred the Picasso and Van Gogh exhibits seen on previous visits.
No trip to Seattle is complete without music - we saw and heard Chick Corea play at Jazz Alley - what a treat. He is such a talented musician -we last heard him play with Gary Burton and the West Australian symphony, this time we heard with his latest band, an eclectic group of varied ages and from varied backgrounds. We also had the opportunity to hear the Oregon Symphony plays its inaugural concert at Benaroya Hall- an excellent performance including works by Schubert and Ravel, as well as 20th century works by the Thai composer Narong Prangcharoen and German composer Kurt Weill.
No trip to Seattle today is complete without a visit to the Chihuly Gardens - it is such a feast for the eyes. His talent in glass sculpture is without peer.
We made our regular pilgrimages to Le Panier and Pikes Market.
In July we took the Coho Ferry from VIctoria to Port Angeles and then drove south along the Washington and Oregon coast. Our first stop was in Aberdeen, a destination I had long wanted to visit give we were born in the original Aberdeen. What a disappointment - it is a dump! We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre to ask what we should visit - the young people on duty couldn’t come up with anything - except we could maybe check out the stores on the main street. Aberdeen’s other claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Kurt Cobain of Mirvana. With a population of 16,000 maybe I was expecting too much.
We followed Hwy 101 as it hugs the coast - Hwy 101, also known as Camino Real runs from LA in the south all the way to Port Angeles in the north. The coastal geomorphology alternates between steep cliffs with commanding views over the Pacific to expansive estuaries such as Grays Harbour at Aberdeen and Willapa Bay. These estuaries are nesting grounds for a wide range of water birds.
We were surprised to see the number of cyclists along Hwy 101 given the significant changes in elevation and lack of a shoulder on many stretches of the highway. They have installed buttons for cyclists to activate when about to enter all of the many tunnels.
From Aberdeen, we made our way south to the mighty Columbia River. When such a mighty river reaches the coast, one expects to find a thriving port, such as New Orleans, New York or Vancouver. The mouth of the Columbia reminded me of the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia - both rivers have huge watersheds, but there is no port. However, there the similarity ends for the Columbia has a discharge of 7,500m3/sec, while the discharge for the Murray is 767m3/s
Crossing the Columbia via the 6.5km long Astoria-Megler Bridge reinforces the sheer size of the river. From there we headed on south along the Oregon coast which in these northern stretches is very similar to the Washington coastline. After an overnight stop at Rockaway Beach, we continued south stopping at Tillamook which has developed a reputation for cheese and dairy production. Needless to say we checked out the Tillamook Cheese Plant - the verdict? They make some tasty cheeses. We were surprised by the amount of pasture in such a mountainous area.
As we travelled south the nature of the coast changed to one of wide sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. Like beaches in Bunbury, Western Australia they are almost devoid of humans. However, the reasons are not the same - in Oregon, the beaches are cool to cold to freezing depending on whom you ask. They are spectacular, but you don’t go in the water, certainly not without a dry suite, nor do you lie out on the beach hoping to get a tan - rather than a tan you are likely to freeze and have your skin buffed to a gloss by the blowing sand!
Florence we discovered is a retirement destination for Oregonians - restaurants price their meals accordingly. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Waterfront Depot - they were so busy that the only seats were at the bar!
From Florence we headed inland following the Siuslaw River till we reached the I5 where we headed south before heading east to Crater Lake National Park. The drive through the National Park is magnificent - it reminded us of the forests in Western Australia - the towering, straight trees lining the road with red gravel on the shoulder. The the type of tree, the bark, the shape of the leaves and the shade of green were different, but the parallel was evident to our eyes at least. As one climbs the mountain, the dense forest gives way to stunted trees and eventually scrub.Close to the edge of Crater Lake is Crater Lake Lodge which is typical of the architecture to be found in the National Park Lodges - we had a look around inside, had a drink and listened to a ranger talk.
It may have been cool on the coast, but at Crater Lake, the temperatures were pushing 30C. There is a boat a boat cruise on the Lake, but it takes over 2 hours to walk down to the ferry, take the cruise and come back to the road. There was no shelter anywhere, so we opted out of the cruise. We were not entirely indolent - we took several walks/hikes that lead off the road that encircles the Crater. Despite the heat, there were still patches of snow around. It is an area of contrasts - along the side of the road up to Crater Lake there are poles along the edge of the road that are used as markers for the snow ploughs in winter - these poles are 6m tall.
Upon leaving Crater Lake, we drove to Salem, the state capital which is a pleasant town dominated by the State Legislature. After an overnight stop it was on to the Willamette Valley and the Yamhill wine growing area. The area, best known for its Pinot Noir vintages has place names that are reminiscent of Scotland [Dundee] or Australia [Carlton]. Like the Niagara Peninsula, the area was once known for its fruit production, but that has largely disappeared and now the area has been planted with wall to wall vines. We stayed at a B & B which is also an active vineyard. He took the time to show us some of the finer points of grape growing - we learned how pinot noir grapes need more pruning to expose them to the sunlight, hence the higher cost of a bottle of pinot noir. We spent well over an hour bombarding him with questions which he answered very patiently and in great detail. Our favourite winery was Lange’s - there were several reasons - first and foremost the wine, the tasting experience, the tables provided for lunch with spectacular views over the valley, and last but not least there was a very friendly Golden Retriever winery dog!
Portland was a short drive from the Yamhill wine country - indeed, it is a popular day trip for Portland residents. This was our first visit to the city about which we have heard many positive comments. It is reputed to be a very “liveable” city with good public transit, lots of bike trails, viable neighbourhoods. From our experience it was all true. We stayed in a hotel just south of the CBD and took the tram into and out of town. As per usual, we did a lot of walking around the downtown and adjacent suburbs. The Oregon Beer Festival happened to be while we were in town. We couldn’t believe the scale of the Festival occupying a huge riverfront park. Although not a beer connoisseur, it was fun to attend for a brief time.
There is no sales tax in Oregon - even although only in the State for a little over a week, it didn’t take long to acclimatise to not paying a sales tax! We visited the Apple store to find it extremely busy; indeed we were told it is one of the busiest, and most profitable, in the States - in large measure by attracting Washingtonians from as far as Seattle, to access the tax free shopping.
Leaving Portland we headed for the mighty Columbia. The river is currently in the news since the treaty signed back in XXXX is up for re-negotiation with both Canada and the US approaching the talks with very different demands. Following the right bank of the river upstream takes one to the YYYY. It is worth taking the time to follow the winding road to the lookout affording panoramic views up and down the river. It was all the more surprising to find that the road was popular with cyclists who enjoy the hill work!! Further upriver is the Bonneville Dam, the last of 14 dams on the Columbia itself, but there are a further 33 dams if the tributary Snake and Kootenay rivers are included.
Behind the Bonneville Dam is Lake Bonneville which is some 75 km long. The lake is a massive recreational area very popular with wind surfers. One of the features of the Columbia River Valley is the persistent wind much appreciated by the wind surfers and put to good use further upstream by an extensive array of wind farms on the plateau at the top of the Columbia River Gorge.
We planned on taking Hwy 97 to Yakima, but a forest fire near Toppenish had closed the road, so instead we had to take 4 hour detour. While we were upset at having to take the detour, it was better than driving all the way to Toppenish, only to be turned back - that would have made it a 7 hour detour!!
This south eastern corner of Washington is extremely dry - indeed almost semi-desert. Without massive amounts of water from the Columbia and local aquifers, this area would not be producing wines, fruits and vegetables on the scale that it does. The boundary between farmland and semi-desert scrub could be seen from space!
Needless to say we checked out the wineries in the Yakima Valley the major producing area of the State. Our favourite? Hyatt’s wines - the cellar door experience was particularly good. A number of varieties both red and white are produced in the area which extends over the floodplain of the Yakima River.
Visible from the Yakima Valley is Mt. Hood another element of the majestic Cascade Ranges. This mountain range consists of a series of magnificent volcanic mountains formed as the Pacific Plate has subducted under the North American Plate. The volcanic cones of Mt Shasta, Crater Lake, Mt Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Ranier, Mt. St Helens and Mt Baker are all part of the Cascade Range.
From Yakima it was a short drive to Mount Ranier - at least on paper. While the distance as the crow flies was not great, it still took us the better part of a day reach our destination. Accommodation was hard to come by in the area - we stayed at Mineral Lake on the west side of the National Park - it meant driving back into the Park to do our hiking, but again just as at Crater Lake, we enjoyed being out in the great outdoors doing part day hikes.
After Mount Ranier, it was pedal to the metal to catch the Coho Ferry back to Victoria, passing right through Tacoma and on to the Bremerton Peninsula where we anticipated a rewarding coffee stop at Gig Harbour. Regretfully, Gig Harbour did not live up to its reputation. We motored on up the peninsula choosing to stop at Poulsbo which proved to be a very good choice. It is the centre of Norwegian culture in the region with lots of galleries and good coffee shops!
One of the advantages of coming into Victoria Harbour is that we pass our condo, and it is a very short distance from the Coho Ferry terminal to home!
We only had a couple of days turnaround before making our first trip to Whistler which one tends to think of as a winter destination. The daughter and family of friends in Victoria have a townhouse in the village. We were invited to Whistler for a 3 day visit. We discovered that Whistler is a year round resort with lots of summer “action” we did some walking on the summits, after taking the chair lift to the alpine meadows, as well as accessing the many kilometers of biking trails in and around the village. We enjoyed fabulous weather which afforded us limitless vistas from the mountain peaks, as well as necessitating the application of sunscreen. We weren’t sure what to expect in Whistler; having spent a few days there, we can recommend it as a destination - there are lots of places to check out, and you will never have to worry about where you might find a restaurant or pub! The drive on the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver to Whistler is a challenging experience but scenic delight.