Day Thirty-Four: Darn Elusive Troll

Today started off pretty early because we had a few out-of-the-way stops planned. We made breakfast and packed up (probably the best yet). The lady in the bathroom made fun of us for making coffee. She can go back to Canada. After two hours, we were ready to go. Our first stop was the Fremont Troll on the way back through Seattle towards Mt. St. Helens. We had that troll's address in our GPS and were ready to find it. We must be the only ones who can't find it. We looked up, we looked down, we looked all around. Who knew it would be so hard to find a 13,000 pound, 18 foot high concrete sculpture? Turns out, it is for us. We ended up driving above it on the Aurora Street Bridge. Arg. Maybe one day we will find that elusive troll...
After that fail, it was off to Mt. St. Helens. It was about 2 hours away from Seattle. The drive there was pretty uneventful. We were getting bored and played I-Spy. It isn't easy when things fly by you and by the time the other one is ready to guess, it's long gone. We got through that and made it to the monument. It's part of the larger Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We kept thinking we were "there" but it was about 8 miles from the first "Welcome to" sign to the observatory and visitors' center. Once we got to the top, or bottom, since you had to go up, and then way down again, it was so cool! You could see where the top of the mountain blew off in the 1980 eruption. And another cool thing is that it has a glacier right in the middle of that crater. We also saw, with the help of a friendly volunteer, a herd of elk in the distance. There really is nothing in the immediate area of the volcano except for a lone tree and rocks. Lots of rocks. Farther out, you can see some of the trees that are still left from before the eruption. They are basically stumps, but they look really neat. They have all sorts of jagged edges where the rocks and debris hit. Since there are all kinds of ridges around, on some of them, one side is empty and the other is filled with trees. Some of the areas have been replanted since with different fir trees. Hopefully there won't be another eruption so they can harvest all of those trees.
We decided earlier that we wanted to take the scenic way to Oregon, which includes the 4.1 mile bridge over the mouth of the Columbia River between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice, Washington. It was the final link in creating the Mexico-to-Canada Highway, or the Pacific Coast Highway. In order to get there, we had a small 2 hour detour through Washington. (The other way would have had us cross into Oregon earlier and drive through to the campground.) The views from the bridge were awesome! The sun was trying to peek through the clouds onto the water. All you could see on either side was water. Pretty neat. We finally got to the campground around 7:30 and set up. Of all of the places in this huge campground, we would of course be next to the loudest kids. And the dog park. Hopefully they'll go to sleep early tonight...
States Visited: Connecticut, Idaho,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming (14/50)

Day Thirty: A Little Break

Today was another little "break" for us. It was absolutely gorgeous out today! We had sunny skies and a high around 80. We spent the day planning for our trip to Vancouver this week. Thanks to Sarah, we decided to go north, instead of south to Portland. She said it was supposed to be Canada's best city. We shall see. We're staying there for a few days. We're not still quite sure of exactly where we'll go, but that's the fun of it! We have a few ideas, so we'll see.We are planing on staying at a campground in Washington, but it's only a few miles away from the border. We were able to refill our camping supplies, and so now we're all set for a few days!

Day Twenty-Nine: Oh My Gosh! That was AMAZING!

We were fortunate enough to be able to start our day a little later today, since we didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:30.We were going to clean the room up a little before breakfast, but decided not to. After a nice breakfast, we went back to the room to get ready to go. With our Hudak Luck, the key didn't work. We went back to the front desk to let them know, and she reprogrammed it. Went back to the room- it still didn't work. Went back to the front desk and she came to check it out. Turns our that none of her keys worked and the battery in the lock died. Of course it happened on the one day that we had something amazing plans. She called the guy to come fix it- "It'll be about 5 minutes". Luckily, we were able to pass the time chatting with Annie, who was waiting too! (I hope they all came back to get you!!) We were able to get back in the room, picked up a little, and then left for Anacortes. Anacortes is where we picked up the ferry to go to the islands. It is about an hour and a half drive from our hotel. Once you pass the Seattle vicinity, the state goes back to being farmland. Anacortes is a small little area that lies on the water. It is such a cute little town! We got to the ferry in time for our boat, with some time to look around. Not too much around the ferry, a few stores and such, but that was it.
We got on the boat and decided to sit outside since it was such a gorgeous day! It was very breezy though, so it was a good thing we over-dressed! It takes about an hour to get from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, on San Juan Islands. The ride was absolutely breathtaking! The water was so clear, the sun was out, and so were the mountains (finally!) It was fun to see all the different boats on the water. We spent a few minutes posing, obviously tourists! When we got to Friday Harbor, we went to pick up our tickets for our trip. The lady in the shop said it was excellent day to go on the tour. It's a good thing I paid for them early, because then we wouldn't have been able to go. We had three choices for which tour we went on, but we made the best choice. We had about 45 minutes until we had to load the boat, so we walked around the area. It is a very touristy area.
We stopped for a snack and then loaded the boat. The boat was called the Western Prince. It was supposed to be a full boat, but I don't think it was, which was good. There were five or six small groups on the tour. After listening to all the necessary information, we left at 2:00. Since it was such a nice day, there were a TON of boats in the water. This changed our course a little, since a lot of them were looking for the whales too. So, we took the long way around. We saw a bunch of different animals. The type we saw was a group of harbor seals. They were soo cute! They were sunbathing on the rocks with the seagulls. There were some that swam right near the boat, checking it out. There were quite a few of them around. (They're probably my new favorite sea animal!) We also saw a sea lion. This thing was ginormous!! It was sitting on the edge of the rock, all by itself, and then jumped into the water. It tried to get back on the rock, but was having a hard time (I know how he feels sometimes...) He finally made it, and we continued on. We were also able to see a handful of bald eagles in the tree tops. Apparently they eat seagulls and leave the beaks. The Captain said that his friend has a pile of them in his yard. Kind of gross, but must be kind of cool to see! There were supposedly two babies, but they were difficult to see.
The last animal we saw, and the reason we went on the tour, were the Orca whales. It was so amazing! They are called killer whales, but they won't attack people. They only eat salmon. (Everything up here eats salmon...) They are also not whales, they're dolphins. There were many other tour boats in the area with us. Anyway, we saw about 8 different whales. Most of the time, all you could see were their fins, but it was so neat to see three or four fins up in the air at the same time. A few of them actually jumped out of the water! A few did cartwheels and somersaults (or at least that's what the Naturalist on board called them). We were able to drive alongside the pods, and when they stopped, we stopped. There was one point in which we stopped and just sat there. We lost track of the whale we were following, and then all of a sudden he popped up and was about 100 yards from us. It was awesome. The Captain wasn't happy because he was too close (people are supposed to stay 200 feet away from them). There wasn't much he could do, so we started up again and followed him. A few minutes later, we stopped again, and the Captain dropped the hydrophone so we could hear what was going on under the water. you could hear all of the noises they were making, and there was one whale that sounded really close. He was. He popped back up and was only 20 feet or so from the boat! We couldn't start up again, since it was so close, so we waited it out. It was so cool to see a whale so close! He came up a few more times. After that excitement, it was time to head back to the dock. The trip back was so much quicker, but then again, it was already 5:00. The trip was about 3 hours, but they went by so fast! The whole tour was absolutely amazing and totally worth it. I would recommend it to anyone! As long as you go at the right time!
We had a few more minutes till the ferry came back, so we grabbed another snack. We were going to stay to have dinner somewhere on the island, but didn't think we'd finish in time to make it back to the ferry. We got on board for the ride back. I think this was the only time that the ride back took longer on the way back. When we finally got back to Anacortes, we got back to the car (it was still there!) and headed out. We were nervous that with all the people on board it would take a long time to get out, but it didn't. We were getting hungry, so we were looking for somewhere to stop. Apparently everything out there closes early, since nothing was open. We drove back to the hotel and were going to stop at a few places, but they were closed too. We finally stopped at McDonald's for some coffee, which was disappointing, because it wasn't what we wanted to do. We got back to the hotel at 10:30. There were a bunch of military people in the lobby. They are having the McChord Air Rodeo this weekend. I'm not sure what it is, but they were all gone this morning. With that, we went to bed and slept very well.

Day Twenty-Eight: Super Sunny Seattle

We woke up today to no fog or clouds- just sun! Summer has come around this weekend. It is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous the next few days. Can't complain when it's 30 degrees cooler than at home. Don't worry, we are totally aware that we can't run from the heat on the rest of our trip, which would just bring us back here, hopefully! Alright, enough of the bragging....
We did the touristy thing today. We headed out to Seattle Center. Now, when you think Seattle "Center", this is not really what you would picture. There was a huge park in the middle, with a bunch of building on the outside. This is where the Space Needle is, and that is where we started today. A little history of the Needle: It was built for the 1962 World's Fair, a 1.5 horsepower motor turns the restaurant, it takes 43 seconds to get to the top (not counting the line you have to wait in!), and it was originally painted 4 colors (astronaut white, orbital olive, reentry red, galaxy gold; it was repainted because people thought it was tacky) (I learned that in school this year, too!)
Enough of that. Luckily, we were early enough that we didn't have to wait in line very long. The line looked daunting, but we decided to go earlier than later. You wait in line just to wait in another. We finally got in line for the elevator and up we went. There are a few cafes and exhibits in the inside of the top. We took a lap around there, just to look around. Nothing too exciting. We went outside on the observation deck and it was amazing. We chose to go today because we knew it would be clear and we would be able to see a lot. We looked out to Puget Sound and all of the ferries coming in and out. You could see the Seattle Skyline, which is nice because there aren't as many high-rises as other cities. If you look at most pictures in magazines of the skyline, you can see Mt. Rainier in the distance. Well, I think the giant 14,000 foot volcano is trying to hide from the two of us. We went yesterday, couldn't see it. Went today, still couldn't see it. Who knew! Pretty sure we saw the outline of it, but it was definitely not as dominant as it is supposed to be. Boo. But you could see all of Lake Union out in front of you. This is where the houseboats dock, including the one used in the filming of Sleepless in Seattle. It is a gorgeous city from above. And not too bad from ground level, either, with all of the water around the city.
After our Space Needle tour, we walked around the sculpture park that surrounds the area. Then we stopped to get lunch and eat in the sunny park. You could tell that summer's finally arriving here because everyone was out and about. After lunch, we stopped at the flower beds to get some great shots of the roses there. We continued walking around the area, to the Experience Music Project + Sci-Fi Museum. (Erik, when you come to visit, we'll have to go there. You're the only one I know that would be interested in a sci-fi museum!) The buildings are awesome. Definitely some very cool architecture. The monorail even goes through part of it!
Alright, time to figure out where we are going next week. Vancouver or Portland... hmmm... Any suggestions?

Day Twenty-Seven, Part 2: Mt. Rainier...or Mt. Rain-i-er??

We went to Mt. Rainier today. A few interesting facts, since apparently we are all about the trivia today! It is the fifth-oldest National Park, is both a volcano and has glaciers, and the youngest person to climb to the summit was only 13 (it was a girl. Just saying.). As we were driving, it was kind of cloudy, so it made it difficult to see the peak. We figured that was pretty much our luck for the parks we've visited so far. We left around 10:00. There's not really too much in between here and there, except for a few towns. There was one stretch of road in which the stoplights don't flow nicely, and it took quite a while to get through that strip. We finally did, and got to the area surrounding the park. There are signs that say that gas is unavailable in the park, and since we didn't think we would be driving around the park a lot, we decided not to stop. We kept going and got to the park at around 12:00 and spent a few minutes looking at the map. We were trying to figure out how far it was in between the points of interest. Since we didn't stop to get gas, we didn't want to get too far in the park and get stuck. We agreed on driving a little farther into the park and taking a trail or two. The first trail we took was around a mile long. It was nice and easy, with a slight uphill. A lot of the walk looked like all of the other parks we've been to, especially the ones out here. So, after deciding to take the date off my pictures, they are all going to look the same and be hard to remember which is which. We kept walking and taking pictures, and finally we came to another trail-head. This one was called Carter Falls Trail-head. Since we've seen a whole bunch of other falls, we decided to take this trail. It was so much cooler than the other one. In order to get to the other side of the trail, we had to cross a bed of rock, and a bridge made from a huge log. The rocks were strewn about because of the glaciers melting and depositing them wherever. It was amazing to see that many rocks in the same area. You can see it in the pictures. It's neat, I promise!
As Robyn said, this state is so cool because around every turn there is something else that amazes you. We trekked through the rocks and along the bridge, and up the hill to the second part of the trail. This one was a 500 ft. hill. With rocks and roots to add to the fun! The first trail took about 30 minutes to complete. This one took an hour and 30 minutes. We also stopped a ton of times for pictures, but this one was obviously a little harder to do. We also saw a ton more people on this trail. We almost got stuck behind the group of old people, but shimmied our way around them. We finally got to the top and were able to see the Falls. They weren't necessarily the best we've seen on the trip, but they were pretty cool. It was neat to see how the water affects the rocks and everything around it.
Our way back was much quicker. It seems that the way back is always quicker. Granted, this was all downhill and there were parts that we ended up running down because we couldn't slow ourselves down. There were two older ladies who snuck up behind us and were running down the trail. They had their hiking sticks and boots on, so they looked a little silly. We lost sight of them, but when we got back to the clearing, there they were, taking a break. Robyn and I had to laugh because we ended up passing them anyway. (Isn't it awkward when someone passes you and then you end up passing them back? I find it awkward when it happens to me. Just wondering...) Our walk back only took an hour or so for the entire trail.
The reason why we chose this title was because our drive out there got us thinking. As we were driving, there were signs with directions (obviously), and it spelled like rainier (weather-wise). We walked through clouds, sun, and then the much-expected rain. So, we were wondering how it was originally said. Just a side note.
We had enough gas to make it out of the park, but it was a little iffy. People here don't know how to drive the speed limit. They either go too fast or too slow. We got stuck behind the slow person. We made it to the only gas station in the area. It was the sketchiest, strangest gas station we've been to yet. It seemed to have been stuck in the 60's. It probably was. I think that's when they stopped selling gas in the park, so it would make sense! After 5 minutes of Robyn fighting with the pump to start it, all of a sudden there is this rumbling. I thought the car was going to blow up, but apparently that's just the noise the pump makes when it's on. It was also $4.09 per gallon, which is, by far, the most we've paid all trip. I would think that with their position to the park, they do pretty well for themselves.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped for a late lunch at the Time Out Ale House, across the street. After the long walk today (I find walking more-tiring, and harder sometimes, than running), we monstered through the meal, and the pitcher of beer. Even the waiter said we did a good job! It is now 8:00 here and we are going to watch a few movies before bed. We are planning on heading back into Seattle tomorrow and doing the touristy thing. Very exciting! Until later!

Life is a Highway (Even More Washington Pictures)

Day Twenty-Seven: Part 1 (Update from Yesterday)

*Update!*
We left the hotel rather early (or so we thought) because we knew that there would be rush-hour traffic, game traffic, and Katy Perry had a concert in the city last night, too. Put it all together, and it sounds like it would be a mess Fortunately, getting there wasn't nearly as bad as we thought. However, we ended up taking a wrong turn and drove farther into the city than we wanted. Luckily, we were able to find a parking garage and were able to walk. There were so many people in the streets, and I don't know if I've ever seen that many soccer fans just walking down the street! It was kind of far, but we figured if we followed the crowd, we'd be OK. And we were. I picked up the tickets, and the guy was like, "Oh, you're far from home." Yes, yes we are! We ended up walking around the entire stadium, but found our seats. Apparently our tickets we "All-Inclusive", according to the usher. We ended up sitting with all of the season ticket holders. Pretty sure they weren't the same tickets I bought on-line (according to that, we were supposed to be in row N, we were in A...oh well, not complaining, and no one kicked us out!)
As for the game, it was very exciting. They did two presentations at the beginning of the game, and then rolled out the red carpet for the players (no lie!) We also found a devil mascot that might be worse than the Central Blue Devil. We were a little disappointed when Manchester United wasn't wearing their red uniforms, but we got over it. At least they weren't the bright yellow the Seattle Sounders were wearing! You would think that with uniforms that bright, it would be impossible to pass the ball to the wrong team! The first half of the game was pretty good. Michael Owen and Man U scored once, but it was an even game. During half-time, they had the "necessary" challenges. The people who were out there weren't very good. Then they brought out the Champions Cup and paraded that around for a few minutes. The second half was a different story. Wayne Rooney came in for Man U and Seattle took Kasey Keller out of goal and that was pretty much the end of the game. Seattle left Rooney open too much and he scored three goals and assisted another. We told ourselves that we would leave either at 8 goals or 85 minutes. We left at 7 goals and 88 minutes. We didn't miss anything! Luckily, after realizing that we weren't really sure where we parked, and the ticket didn't have an address on it, we were able to retrace our steps and made it back to the car. We drove around the city, to avoid the nasty hills, and were back on the highway, back to the hotel. We got back around 10:00, which was definitely earlier than I would have thought.
Now, it's time to head out for the day. We are planning on heading out to Mt. Rainier and taking a look at that. Pretty exciting! Hope everyone at home is staying cool and hydrated. Hate to brag, but it's about 60 here and cloudy.

Day Twenty-Six: Hello Seattle!

We started early today, after a group of people went yelling up and down the hallways at 2:00 this morning. We spent the day in Seattle today. It has become one of our favorite cities, and we didn't even see it all yet! Our first stop was Pike Place Market. It is an amazing market. Everything you can possibly need, or want, is sold there. It is huge! We walked up and down a few times because we got confused as to where we had been/where we were going. Luckily, there were quite a few other tourists too! We stopped at the World's First Starbucks. It was crazy in there. We also passed at least five others on our walking tour today, including the one right across the street from the market. We didn't see any fish-throwing, though. They don't like doing it because "they wipe customers out"! But the seafood there looked very good. I wish we had some place to cook some. I guess it'll have to be dinner one night.
After about an hour-and-a-half of walking in circles, we decided to cross the street and walk along the waterfront. When you look directly across the Puget Sound, it is really pretty. When you look to the sides, you can tell it's a working port. There were oil rigs (I think. They were talking about oil rigs being in the way on the news) and a lot of buildings. You can't really see the buildings until you're on I-5 though. The other side looked to be more residential, or at least, a little "quieter". We passed the Seattle Fire Department, which has two boats in it's fleet, and the Seattle Aquarium.
We spent a few more hours in the city and then decided to head back to the hotel for a break. We are going to the Seattle Sounders game versus Manchester United tonight! We're very excited about it! Luckily we have the camera to take pictures from the Jumbotron because our seats are so far away! Good thing it falls just under the "professional" lens length! As we were walking around, there were quite a few Manchester fans walking around, and surprisingly, not as many Seattle fans! We'll update after the game!

Day Twenty-Five: A Day Off

Today was a laid-back kind of day. After camping for a week or so, it was time for a hotel. A bed and clean laundry are always nice! Their free 24-hour coffee also helps! We are staying in Federal Way, which is about 35 minutes south of Seattle. The hotel is across the street from the fanciest Wal-Mart we've seen. It has a drive-through pharmacy! It's a pretty good position for Seattle, Olympia, and Mt. Rainier, all of which we plan on doing this week. We didn't do too much today. We did figure out how we are going to spend most of our time here, though. We planned some exciting tours, too! (Don't want to give too much away!) Other than that, not too much for today. We are going to Seattle tomorrow and spending the day there. Until later.

Day Twenty-Four: I Think I'll Move Here...

We packed up our campsite (it's getting so much easier!) and were off around 8 this morning. We HAD to stop at the Olympic Bagel place one more time before we left, since they were so good the first time. After breakfast, we headed out to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic. I'm telling you, this park is absolutely amazing! After spending a few days in Yellowstone, I didn't think national parks could get any cooler, but they can! I think Olympic NP has been my favorite stop so far. It is spectacular. Yesterday we were in the rain forest, the day before in the old-growth forests and beaches, and today, in the sub-alpine meadows and snow! How cool is that? Hurricane Ridge is about 15 miles from Port Angeles. The road to the visitor's center takes you past some breathtaking views. The first 5 miles or so today were clear and kind of just tree-covered. The next 7 miles were covered in a deep fog. It was kind of scary only being able to see about a car's length in front, but luckily there weren't too many other cars on the road yet (or that I could see!). We stopped on the way up at a few pull-offs to try to look out, but the fog was so thick that you could only really see just the tops of the trees below you. The rest of the way up the road was clearer. You can see where the winter snows are still melting and the awesome waterfalls that it has created. It's pretty cool that you can stand in snow up to your shins in the middle of July, wearing shorts! Once we got up to the top, we stopped at the visitor's center. They have all your normal touristy things there (better than the one at Hoh yesterday, though) and a bunch of Native American art. I love looking at their art and seeing the intricate beadwork and basket weaving that they do. (Definitely not "Basket Weaving 101 for Jocks!) From the top, you can see out to Mount Olympus. It is the 3rd largest glacial area in the continental US. We were going to hike the trails around the center but they were covered in some pretty deep snow. So we decided to forgo the trails and just walk were there wasn't any snow. It's too bad that it was a foggy morning, though. The top wasn't as bad as the middle, but it was still pretty heavy. On clear days, you can see out to Canada!
The animals at the top must know that they rule the area and that people aren't allowed to bother them (even though there were some very amusing signs posted telling you not to feed them). There were at least 10 deer hanging out in the meadows. Some of them were grazing and some of them were laying down. We saw 2 fawns under a tree and one of the deer came about 4 feet from us. Didn't flinch or run or anything, which was pretty cool. They would never get that close at home.
After a few hours at the top, we decided that we should get going to head out to the Seattle/Olympia area. We had to follow 101 back to the other side of the peninsula. At one point, we were stopped for road work. We had a great time making fun of/feeling bad for the guy with the slow/stop sign. He had some great stretching moves and facial expressions! We were going to offer him a snack, but he was kind of far away and he had his lunch box next to him. I think he was all set. The rest of the trip to Olympia wasn't bad, but man, driving on I-5 was a little nerve-wracking. They drive kind of crazy out here. Will definitely have to get used to that! We are staying about half way between Seattle and Olympia in a city called Federal Way. (It is definitely a city in Washington standards- 89,000. Forks is a "city" with 3,000 and Port Angeles with 19,000. So I guess we can call this one a city too.) Apparently Apolo Ohno is from here. Who knew??
We expect to explore Seattle tomorrow. Maybe catch some flying fish at Pike's Place? Or at least some good coffee.
(And we saw our final license plate today. Wouldn't have thought that it would take all this time to see a Delaware one!)

Life is a Highway (Washington Pictures)


States Visited: Connecticut, Idaho,Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming (13/50)
Provinces Visited: Ontario (1/10)
License Plates Seen: All 50 States!
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan (8/10)