Washington State Trip

24-31 July - We planned a trip out to Washington State - why?  Well, never been there and it is so different than the rest of the US and have heard alot about it from others.  it was a great trip.  We flew out late on 24 July and crashed at a hotel near the airport.

25 July - After a good breakfast at a local place - (Tina had french toast) We toured Seattle - Pikes Place Market, Crittendom Locks and Fish Ladders. This is a popular place with a beautiful botanical garden. They have fish ladders built in the early 1900s that were the first to worry about the salmon getting back to spawning grounds.  We saw a few fish - maybe we were too early in the day but it was really interesting.  The girls decided that was enough education for the day so we went shopping the rest of the day.......this was 10am!!  We headed to Pikes Place Market that was very interesting.  Long market with fruits, veggies, seafood, meats, candy, crafts, etc.  Really nice with a Pacific Northwest influence.  We checked into the hotel on the waterfront and then went to the Seattle Aquarium which was nice but alot of educational stuff for the girls.  Tina would NOT touch the starfish - Jamie was all over it.  We had lunch at Ivars (I had the seafood stew, Kim - Fried Haddock, Jamie chowder and shrimp cocktail, Tina - Dungenous Crabcakes)  on the waterfront and did more shopping.  That was our deal - we do something educational ... they get to do some shopping!!  We then travelled by watertaxi to an island with a Native American Indian Village for dinner (smoked salmon, rice, berry cobbler, salad) and a show.  The girls enjoyed it and yes, went thru the gift shop!
I was quite impressed with the craft beer out in the Washington State area.  I tried many beers and all but one were to my liking.

At the fish locks - look really hard and you can see one in the back of the window.

Tina HAD to get a coffee at the Original Starbucks

Jamie  "Ooooh Starfish Cool"....Tina "Oh Hell No.  Get me some wine!"



The girls with the Spirits after the show

 On Tue 26 July - we drove to Anacortes up close to Canada to do some Orca (Killer Whale) watching in PUget Sound.  We rode the ferry to the San Juan Islands and the town of Friday Harbor.  It was a sunny day, about 72 degrees and perfect 1 hr ride on Puget Sounds.  Friday Harbor is a cute little harbor town.  We then hopped on a boat for a 1 hr ride out to one of the orca whale pods and watched them for about 2 hours.  We also say harbor seals basking in the sun.  The company was very good and we took ALOT of photos.  While we were only 300 yards from the whales, it was really interesting.  We returned and had dinner at a microbrewery in Anacortes - Rockfish Grill and tried several beers.  I had teh fried oyserts that were great.  Tina had fried Halibut, Jamie and Kim - Hawaiian Pizza.  Kim drove the two hours to our hotel in Dupont, WA for the night.



Friday Harbor - taken from the bar where we had a beer




Part of the family of Orca's we watched



Harbor Seals

Wed - 27 July - We visited the Quinault Rain Forest and did a short hike.  We had lunch at one of the hotels in the national park.  Tina had a shrimp roll, James Chicken Chipolte, Kim - Fried haddock and sweet potato fries, and Jamie - burger..really burger...Who are her parents!!  We did not see any Elk but they had some really big spruce pine trees.  From there, we drove to Ruby Beach.  It is really a pretty area and the skies were clear.  Teh temp was 63F with a cool breeze flowing off the water.  Only 3 kids were playing in the water - it was freezing!!  Alot of people were there walking or playing on the huge seastacks in the ocean.

We drove to our hotel in Moclips which was right on the beach.  We ate dinner at a Irish Restaurant.  Kim had chowder, I had shepherd's Pie and two oyster shooters, Tina had soup and Jamie something we don't remember.  Tina and I had a serving of Vitamin G - Guinness.  After dinner, we drove onto the beach for sunset.

In the rainforest

Ruby Beach - notice the sweaters and jacket - in JULY!!!!!!

Ruby Beach - beautiful

View of beach from our room - too cold and windy to walk out on the beach

Jamie and me watching sunset on the Pacific Ocean

Thur 28 July - We stopped and had breakfast in Aberdeen. We had the HUGE cinnamon roll - SOO good.  Tina had French toast, I had the razor clam and eggs - a speciality in the coast.  It was a pleasant surprise.  We then drove to Mount Saint Helens for a helicopter tour of the crater and the blast zone.  It was a 45 minute helicopter ride and a very clear day.  We were able to see all 4 mountains - Hood, Ranier, Adams and St Helens.  It was the first time in a chopper for the girls. The crater was steaming and grows abou 5-11 inches a day. The mountain is HUGE! and 1/4 of it blew away in 1980.  it is an amazing site and story to hear.  We visited the observatory and education center.  The trees are blown down trees are still there - but wildflowers are growing everywhere.  The US Govt and companies have planted 5 million trees in some parts.  Elk are in the area and the scars are healing.  Alot of the area is still offlimits to visitors.  Spirit lake is still covered in dead trees blown into the lake from the explosion - 31 years ago!!  The ash and rock filled the valley up by 600ft.  Temperatures were as high as 575 degrees 15 miles away.  The mountain was 400 ft taller before the explosion.  The explosion removed 3/4 of a cubic MILE!! of rock and dirt.  Really amazing what mother nature can do when she wants to.  We had dinner at one of the restaurants and Jamie and I shared a 22oz steak.  She could have eaten it herself!  We also had Mountain berry pie and Marionberry Pie.  Marionberry is a berry that was developed in Oregon that combines Raspberry, Blueberry and Blackberry.  It is very unique and good.  We drove to Packwood near Mr Rainier for the night at a quaint hotel.  There were elk all over in Packwood.

Ready for the ride

Mt Ranier in the background.  SPirit Lake - the white you see on the lake in the back - is dead trees from 1980 - the wind blows them around the lake.  The lake was raised 200 ft by the explosion.

Lava Dome in the middle of the crater.

Mt St Helens and the girls.  We are 3 miles from the volcano so you can see how BIG it is.

Trees downed by the explosion - new trees and grass have grown since 1980.

Fri - 29 July - Central Washington - Not So Evergreen!!!!  We spent the night at a nice little hotel in Packwood where Theodore Roosevelt stayed.  We crossed the Cascades and WOW - what happened to the trees and green grass!  The rain shadow of the Cascades results in a semi-arid desert - very few trees, grasslands - it is very similiar to what North Texas or Oklahoma look like.  The temperature rose by 20 degrees F.  We went to Yakima to a the wineyard - Hyatt.  It was beautiful looking back at Mr Hood and Mt Ranier over the grasslands and grape vines.  Tina and James tried wines :)  We then drove 3 hours up to Grand Coulee.  On the way, we stopped at a Petrified Forest exhibit.  Once, the area was a wetlands much like the western part.  Then the Cascades rose up preventing the clouds from bring rain to this part of the state.  Trees were washed away and collected in valleys by the floods discussed later.  these were covere dby dirt and over the thousands of years, turned to stone.  We then drove to the Dry Falls.  These were the largest waterfalls in the world 10,000 years ago.  They are 3 miles wide.  When the water broke through the glacier dam located approximately in Montana, Lake Missoula emptied the billions of gallons of water in approximately 48 hours.  Imagine Lake Michigan emptied in over a weekend.  The water rushed down with such force, it cut through the layers of volcanic rock cutting hundreds of feet deep - there are called Coulees - French for riverbed.  This was really impressing.  We watched a laser light show shown on the Grand Coulee Dam.  This is the 3rd largest hydroelectric dam in the world and the largest producer of electricity in the US.  It was build during the depression by the Army Corps of Engineers and the CCC.  It produces electricity to 6 states.

Tina and Jamie at Dry Falls

The riverbed cut by the rushing water of the floods - 10,000 years ago.

Desert of Central Washington North of Yakima.  Very different but Evergreen State - Really nice work on that State Nickname.

At the Grand Coulee Dam



Petrified Spruce Tree



30 July - We ate breakfast and went to the Dam to take a tour.  We were misinformed and missed the tour.  We did not have time to wait the hour before the next tour.  We then drove to Wenatchee and had lunch and a beer at the McGlinns Pub.  Tina had the chicken and cranberry sandwich, Jamie and Kim had - wait for it..... Hawaiian Pizza.  I had the steak and blue cheese sandwich...yummy.  I had a stour and Tina had a Apricot beer.  We drove back to Seattle and went to do some final shopping at Pikes Place.  We had dinner at Anthony's Pier 66.  It was very good.  Kim and Tina split the fried Halibut Fish and Chips, I had the broiled Halibut and a wonderful berries and cream dessert.  We arrived at the airport, tuned in the car and waited on the flight.  We got back to Balitomore at 6am on Sunday.

It was a wonderful, cultural and educational trip!!