TUESDAY, SEPT 23

TUESDAY, SEPT 23:

     Left around 9:30 this morning and drove north on I-5 til the junction of Hwy 20, heading east.  This took us through North Cascades National Park.  We stopped at a Visitors Center right off the highway.  Was a lovely, spacious building without frills, which kind of echoes the nature of this National Park.  It’s largely wilderness . . . no lodging, other than campgrounds, no restaurants, only one road, no crowds.

                                                           

     The exhibits in the Visitors Center focused  on the 7 or 8 different eco-zones found in the Park, depending on elevation, rainfall, latitude, & other factors.  So, as we drove through the Park from west to east and ascended in elevation, we experienced a moisture-loving Douglas Fir/red cedar/western  hemlock forest,  lovely subalpine meadows (showy with wildflowers in the summertime, now given over to splashes of fall colors) surrounded by large stands of lacey Hemlocks, and then a second temperate forest of Ponderosa and Lodgepole pines and spruce trees as we descended again on the considerably drier eastern slope. Scenes of alpine ecosystems, where the major features are rock, snow, and ice, can only be seen in the distance from the road, or from a strenuous hike.   

     We made a couple of stops at overlooks.  However, the day was cloudy, and it even started to rain lightly, so we only had glimpses of this mountain wilderness, which is considered by some to be the most beautiful in the U.S., with its high jagged peaks, abundant glaciers, sheer-walled cliffs, spires, and ridges, glacier-fed turquoise lakes, and cascading waterfalls.  Glad we were privileged to have a taste of this pristine Park.

                                                                     

                                                            

 

     Even if the weather had been better, I’m not sure that we would have spent much more time here, as the climb was hard on the engine, and coming down the east slope was a killer on the brakes. When we pulled over to stop, smoke poured from them.  Bill was really stressed and concerned, and said that it was better for us to keep going and let the cool temperature and rain help cool the brakes.  Between my fear of heights and brake issues with the truck pulling the RV, our next trip might be to Kansas!

     A few miles later, at 5:00, we were in the quaint Western town of Winthrop, where we stayed for the night.  This little town promotes its western pioneer & mining heritage with wooden sidewalks, an old-style saloon (actually the oldest legal saloon in the state),  re-enactments of Old West shoot-outs, etc.  But for us, all we wanted was a place to spend a restorative evening & night.  The RV park we found offered just that!  Called the Pine Near (it took me a long time to figure out that it’s a corny pun for “Pioneer”, it’s a real gem - all grass, including the sites, set  against the high desert bluffs.  And fantastic WiFi - almost as fast as home!

                                                                 

  

      Made spaghetti for dinner, and went to bed pretty early. We only drove about 150 miles today, but it was enough!

     We’ve made a full transition to fall now.  The air is definitely chilled & crisp, fall colors, though subtle here, are dominant now, and it’s pitch black by 7:30.  What a change from 3 months ago!       

 

MONDAY, SEPT 22

MONDAY, SEPT 22:

     A much more laid back day today, our last day here.  Did a little laundry in the morning – our last until we get home.   As predicted, the weekend’s fantastic weather is eroding as a trend towards cloudiness and light rain begins.

    In the early afternoon we drove about 10 miles southeast to the town of Woodinville, one of Washington state’s largest winery areas.  There are about 100 wineries in this town of  12,000.  We went to one of the largest and one that I’d heard of – Chateau St. Michelle.  They were open for tours and tastings.    

     This is a lovely place.  The grounds are beautiful, as is the “chateau,” or main building.   The entire estate used to be a dairy farm, although, as Bill says, “I’ve known some dairy farmers, and their farms sure didn’t look like this!” 

                                                        

      The tour was very nicely done – half devoted to educational and technical aspects of how they produce their wines,

                                                     

                    
                                                Fermentation tanks:

                                            Being aged in barrels:

 

and the other half to a free tasting of 3 of their wines. 

 

 

 

 

 

      Their signature wines are Rieslings, although they’re beginning to produce more and more reds.  All of their grapes are grown down in the Columbia River valley, and are harvested and juiced there, and then brought here in tankers.  One question I thought of later that I would have liked to have asked is, “Since there are no local vineyards in this immediate area, why is there such a concentration of wineries here in this particular town?”

     At any rate, after our free tasting, we plunked down $10 for an extended tasting.  We didn’t pretend to be conversant in wine culture and knowledge – we just had fun and discovered what we liked there.  Came home with 4 bottles of their white blend which they produce exclusively every year for their summer concert series, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.  They were running a promotion on that wine – 25% off  if you purchase 4.  It was one of the wines we really liked – very light and refreshing.  So as we open a new bottle, it’ll be like opening a bottle of summer in Puget Sound. 

     We totally enjoyed our time here!  The city was so stimulating, and the things we chose to do really enhanced our enjoyment and appreciation of its unique beauty and character. We found nearly all the people to be very friendly, open, and helpful.  As we stood looking over our city map and brochures, obviously out-of-town tourists, more than one person came up and asked if they could help us find something.  Same thing for navigating the bus system – people would see us scrutinizing the bus schedule, and ask if they could help. And while there is a significant homeless/transient/indigent population in the heart of downtown, including where we got off and on the bus each day, they were never aggressive nor seemed out of control.  We never felt unsafe, even on Sunday night while we were waiting for our bus in the dark (there were lots of streetlights and a dozen or so other “regular” people at the bus stop).  What happens to those poor souls when the warm weather disappears and it’s continuously soggy and wet, I don’t know.  Will they seek a sanctioned shelter?  Will they move on to a more hospitable climate?

     As far as Seattle’s (and for that matter, Portland’s) ultra liberal, anything-goes reputation, we observed very little that was off the spectrum.  A good number of eccentric looking people, yes.  But, again, nothing at all menacing.  Much more of a true liberal, “Live and let live” approach.  And, interestingly, never once did we smell pot (recently legal here in Washington state for personal use).  We did see what certainly appeared to be a couple of  (illegal) drug deals taking place, more overtly than we’d expect to see in St. Louis.  But no signs whatsoever of an entire exuberant counter-culture heady with its recent marijuana legal victory.

     We of course saw Seattle (actually the whole Northwest) at its best.  The Puget Sound summers are legendary.  But they pay a high price the rest of the year.  Interestingly, they have no more average annual rainfall than St. Louis does.  In fact, they’re way down at  55th in terms of annual rainfall in U.S. cities.  So in a sense, they get a bad rap as far as rain is concerned.  But the thing is, they’re totally encased in cloud cover anywhere from 200-220 days a year.  And a fine mist or drizzle often accompanies the clouds.  So for much of 9 months of the year, it’s soggy and grey.  That’s what I couldn’t deal with.  I prefer my rain coming down as real rain, even in torrents, as long as there are long periods of dry and sunshine in between.   And I love hearing the rain come down on the roof!  Can you hear a mist??  So, if we return, and we hope we do, it will again be during a Northwest unbeatable summer!   

                     

 

 

SUNDAY, SEPT 21

SUNDAY, SEPT 21:

     Another gorgeous day, although not quite as clear as yesterday – the Mountain wasn’t out.  So we’re thrilled that we took the trips/tours we did yesterday, when we had optimum visibility of Her Majesty.

     Got into the city a little earlier this morning than the previous two.  A BIG football game was being played down in the stadium today – Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos, in a re-match of last  year’s Super Bowl.  We didn’t know what the parking situation in the bus Park & Ride lots would be, so wanted to give ourselves an early start.  We’ve taken the bus in every day.  We’ve pretty much figured out how to read the schedules now, and if we’re unsure, we just ask.  Like other large cities, it seems that a car is more a liability than an asset here.  Seattle is known for its terrible traffic, and parking is always an issue.  There’s no way we would try and navigate that big truck downtown, let alone try and park it!  The area has a marvelous public transportation system stretching way out to the far suburbs . . . it’s just a matter of having confidence that you can eventually figure it out.  

     So after another leisurely walk through the ever-fascinating and stimulating downtown streets, made even more colorful this morning because of all of the pre-game hoopla going on, we headed down once again to the docks.  We’d decided that we would indulge in a second boat tour – this one was 2 ½ hours and would take us over part of Lake Union and through the locks there.   This was another fantastic tour.  Tours like this are one of the most enjoyable and fun things we do on our trips – expanding our learning and knowledge about a place while experiencing amazing natural beauty, out in glorious weather.

     On this tour, we floated by a marvelous diversity of working waterfront and luxurious, recreational shoreline.  We saw several communities of house boats and floating homes (we learned that the former have motors, the latter don’t),

                                                                   

 

  including the one which was Tom Hanks’ character’s and his son’s home in Sleepless in Seattle.

                                                   the houseboat to the left, with the brown trim:

 We saw modern bridges,
                                                            

                                                    
              old drawbridges open for tall boats (in Seattle, boats have the right of way when it comes to bridges),                                                             

          

a fleet of one of the most renowned tugboat companies in the world,

                                                             

  a couple of the boats featured in the TV series Deadliest Catch,

                                              

 

 

             and an unexpected front yard display of patriotism.   

 

     We learned a lot about the locks – how they worked, why they were built here in the early 20^th century . . . as part of a new shipping channel & canal created by expanding Lake Union to connect freshwater Lake Washington to the saltwater Puget Sound, thus providing a way for local boats carrying lumber and other products to sail continuously from land locked Lake Washington to the ocean thru Puget Sound. The locks solved two problems in accomplishing this goal: the two bodies of water were at different levels (as much as 20 feet, depending on the ocean tides), and they couldn’t have the salt water contaminating the fresh water in the lake, since the lake provided a large part of Seattle’s drinking water.  It was really cool getting to actually experience being in the lock and seeing the water level lower right beneath our eyes. 

                                                                 

       Since every single vessel heading either to or from Puget Sound from the inland must pass thru this shipping channel and locks, it’s said that standing on the footbridges alongside the canal offers perhaps the liveliest continuous boat parade in all of the West – everything from Alaska-bound barges to luxury yachts to kayaks.  If we return, we’d love to return on foot here to see this!

     As we passed over into the Puget Sound side of the locks, we immediately felt the difference between the protected, stable water of the lake and the cooler, choppier water of the open Sound. 

 

 

                                                       

 

We enjoyed seeing other pleasure boaters out, taking advantage of perfect sailing weather so unexpectedly late in the season.   

                                                  

 

                                                       
                                                          

And as a small lighthouse indicated where the protected waters were,

                                                          

  we once again cruised along Seattle’s beautiful waterfront and skyline. 

                                                             

 

 

 Even though the cruise ship season is ending,  all of the city’s cruise ship berths were filled today, adding their share to Seattle’s economy.

                                                  

     We found a great place to eat right next door to where we docked   – a perfect compromise between splurging on an expensive dinner or just having take-out or the equivalent again.  I treated myself to a delicious crab leg, served with corn-on-the-cob and a scrumptious cole slaw.  Bill just wanted their fish ‘n’ chips, which he said were even better than Ivar’s.  We  had a shaded outdoor spot all to ourselves.  A perfect and satisfying last meal here.

 

               Then we granted ourselves one last tourist indulgence:  the Space Needle.  After all, how can you be in Seattle and not??    We hopped on the monorail, which whisked us over to Seattle Center, just a few miles away.  This is an area of maybe a couple of square miles which I’m assuming housed all of the buildings and structures of the World’s Fair in 1962 and which now contains 2 or 3 museums,

                                                 

a repertory theatre, a new Chihuly Glass Garden (enclosed; you have to pay), and of course the Space Needle.  

 

           It’s all surrounded by wonderful landscaping and park-like open spaces.  An absolutely lovely, very serene oasis within the city.                                               

     It was such a pleasure to stroll all around in the perfect evening air, listening to a very good South American ensemble with pan pipes, guitars, & mandolin as we waited for our designated time for our elevator ride up the Space Needle.  We ended up buying one of their CD’s

    And then the thrilling ride up to the top of Seattle’s iconic symbol.  And the nighttime views!  They were spectacular!!  Worth every dollar for this rare treat – an experience we’ll always remember.