July 3
I discovered it is hard leaving on a trip from someplace not home- worrying about whether all the right things are packed, and then figuring out how to get to the airport and back to the start and then home from there.
We left from the Beach via Lyft with Joseph to the airport. Joseph was so pleasant he made my first Lyft ride a winner.
The Seattle airport was crowded with people coming this way for the 4th and leaving too. Once we figured out how to take Uber, all was ok on our way to the Pineapple Hotel Maxwell. This is on Gordon’s recommendation since he stayed here a few months ago.
After getting settled we took a walk with a knitting store in Pike Place being the goal. The hotel is very near the Space Needle, Chihuly garden, Seattle Center and the arts area including the ballet, opera and Rep. The Pike Place was extremely crowded, and a little cheesy. A lot of people were standing at the fish market watching the guys throw big salmon around- must be a Pike Place thing. It seems like the area can’t decide whether it is tattoo parlor and sailor bar oriented or upscale. It seems like a combination Farmers’ Market and flea market. The knitting store was a success and I found a great map store near it. We never found any other stores worth looking into. We had dinner at Steelheads, walked some more and came on back to the hotel. On the way back we passed the very first Starbucks, where people stand in line to get in and I guess say they went there.
One last initial observation from our first day here- Seattle must be where the boxy, what I call hipster, architecture that seems to be creeping into Richmond comes from, both commercially and in homes.
And one more, this is the most diverse city population wise I have ever seen. Lots of varied looks and languages.
July 4
Coffee and a cookie from the hotel bistro this morning at 6:30- $7.98!!!! Yikes. Tomorrow I’ll make my own.
I went thru 3 room keys this morning before figuring out that the battery in the room lock was low.
We walked over to the Space Needle (for future crossword puzzles it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair (as was the Monorail) early in the morning when there wasn’t much of a crowd and got 360 views of Seattle on a somewhat overcast 55 degree day. I really enjoyed the moving floor level. We found our hotel, the ferry, the houseboats area where one of the firefighters on Station 19 lives (on TV anyway), and a few other landmarks. I am shocked that there really isn’t a Seattle Grace Sloan Hospital.
The next amazing stop was the Chihuly Garden and Exhibit which is right at the foot of the needle. Somehow he has gotten something like 360 colors out of glass and made all these shapes that look so organic and extraterrestrial at the same time. I think I took about 30 photos.
We had lunch at the Collections Cafe at Chihuly where each table has an inset of some object Chihuly has collected- for example fishing lures, Mexican hats as ashtrays, and others. The ceiling was a collection of accordions.
At noon we walked over to some green space where Seattle had a naturalization ceremony for 500 new citizens from 80 countries. It was not as moving as Tonya’s. The Philippines was number one with forty some. The count was in the 20s for Ukraine, Russia, and at least one African country. There was also a good sized group of Iranians and Iraqis. There were cheers for the Mexicans and Venezuelans. The speaker recognized the oldest new citizen in the group which was a 79 year old woman from Phillipines. I was amazed to hear that 30 people in the various armed services were getting citizenship with the rest.
We came back to the room for a few minutes just in time to watch the championship round of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest from Coney Island.
We took the Monorail and then Sound Transit (pretty confusing because there were very poor maps to help an out of towner) to Pioneer Square and then walked back, stopping along the way to visit a Swedish trekking clothes store named after the Swedish word for Arctic Fox- Fjallraven and to go the Seattle Art Museum which had a few very strange pieces but some famous ones too. Most interesting were an excellent Farny of some Indians and a whole area where they said 3 “empathics” have settled in. In the empathic area there was a very practical exhibit of Nigerian costumed men and the pot of foolishness where you confess all your dumb moves.
It was difficult finding someplace for dinner on 3rd Avenue but we found a diner with the motto “We’ve been cheating tourists and drunks since 1929”.
So today’s last observation based on all this walking around for two days and especially for what we saw outside the diner is that Seattle has a big problem with homeless people, with a mix of opioids, alcohol, and schizophrenia in all likelihood at the root.
July 5
Today was the day for Bainbridge Island by ferry. It worked fine until we got there but then Bainbridge was so crowded we couldn’t really explore. We did find Jake’s deli and then went on to Bloedel Reserve, 150 acres of varied plants, ferns, and moss.
I could not believe the size of the rhododendrons. It was a 2 mile walk but very serene. Then we decided to take the Kingston ferry. We missed the one at 3:10, the 4:00 one was full, and so we had to wait for the 4:40 one. After that it was easy getting back to the hotel but the day was done. Ice cream dinner.
July 6
Meet up with the family day. We went to a small diner about 4 blocks from the hotel for breakfast and then went downtown by Monorail (free because the till wasn’t working) to buy a small extra suitcase which we almost immediately started filling with extras like tea from a store called Steepologie.
We then went back to the Armory for lunch with Jill and family and Leesa and family. Ali had a laughing fit which was pretty loud. A waited 45 minutes for a cheese pizza.
Then it was off to the Museum of Pop Culture which mostly went over my head. Jimmy Hendrix guitar from Woodstock was neat as was the six fingered glove from Princess Bride but the Prince, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and video game exhibits were way beyond me.
We finished in time to get back to the hotel to meet M&J and then to drive north to Anacortes.
Our hotel, the Majestic, was holding Ramos and Delphia’s wedding. Beth was staying in her van but borrowed our room for a bit. M&J and the two of us went to Frida’s Mexican restaurant for an excellent gourmet Mexican dinner.
Anacortes reminds me of Rapid City SD with broad, quiet streets and cutouts of former citizens. I expect Anacortes’ reason for existence since 1891 has been supporting the ferry to the San Juans. 15000 people in 2010.
Seen on a sign- “wash your hands and say your prayers, germs and Jesus are everywhere”.
July 7-
First thing to do today was to watch the Women’s FIFA World Cup US versus Netherlands. Then we (M&J, B&C) met Mike, one of our three BackRoads guides. He took us to the ferry terminal where we met Beth, Gordon and fam and Graham and fam. It was “hurry up and wait” but we got on the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Then, on the way to the Roche Harbor Inn where we spend three nights, we took a short hike to English Camp. It was 600 feet up in elevation. There is also an American Camp. These military camps date from the 1850s when the boundary up here wasn’t fixed. A farmer up here nearly started another war between England and the US when he shot a British pig. The two sides squared off, with the US side under the command of Pickett, yes that Pickett, last in his class at West Point. Eventually the boundary was settled but we are so close to Canada that I keep getting messages from Verizon welcoming me to its Canadian phone network.
The hotel is nice with a Wintergreen condo kind of setup. Food was good even tho we were outside on a chilly rainy night.
I did not sleep well last night so I was very happy to go bed early and get a good sleep for Monday.
July 8-
The main activity today was biking on San Juan. We started at South Beach which is a state park dedicated to watching for whales, mostly Orcas, coming thru the Haro Strait. No orcas have been seen in a while although there is still monitoring from an old lighthouse by hydro phone. There was a list in the lighthouse with foreign language names for Killer Whales. The one I noticed was Orca assassina in Italian.
Then the biking began. I love my electro assist bike! The route was pretty hilly but the assist made it tough but not too tough. Total miles for the day for me was about 15, with a break for lunch on a beach with lots of driftwood including a mini Moby Dick. A full bike ride would have been 31 (Gordon and a couple more).
Today was Ali’s birthday which we celebrated at lunch on the beach.
We did see a whale but it was made of driftwood.
At South Beach I saw a Hutton’s Vireo and a Red breasted Nuthatch.
Tonight we go into Friday Harbor for dinner. Halibut- frozen, fresh frozen or fresh. 50 servings out of one 40 pound fish according to the chef. Bunny Tracks ice cream afterwards.
July 9
Last night a fox came walking down the lane in front of our house yipping and trying to locate his or her buddy. It was loud enough to wake us up.
This is truly a multi adventure trip. Yesterday was hiking followed by biking; today was sea kayaking followed by biking. C and I had our paddling act together today and did not squabble at all. It was mostly sunny and about 65 but the water temp was 50. There was not a lot of wildlife but we did see belted kingfishers, a cormorant, harbor seals (pretty close), lots of bull kelp and a kelp crab. Everyone including the kids ate some kelp straight from the bulb. The cord of the kelp felt at least as strong as our paddles.
After a good picnic lunch on the lawn, where Theron asked us which superpowers we would like to have, Michael and I did the Pear Point Loop, about 8 miles by bike. This was the best biking so far- fewer cars on the road, and I have a better handle on the best way to use the electro assist.
After the paddling and the biking my right thumb got a pretty persistent twitch that lasted a full day.
July 10
We left San Juan via whale watching trip on the Pelagic. It was unbelievably foggy and the fog horns on the larger ships were a little spooky. The mate Clay tried to listen for whales but to no avail. The captain called or listened to other boats, and the chatter was about whether anyone had made any contact with HBs. I guess the code was so we would not get too excited. We pushed on and right outside Orcas we found some other whale watching boats that had eyes on Heather and Raptor, two local HBs ie humpbacks. They were very accommodating and did two deep dives in front of us and then one came up and breeched.
I added a rhinoceros auklet to the birdlist.
When we got to Orcas we had lunch and then then set off on a hard uphill hike of about 3 or 4 miles depending on how ambitious one was.
I lagged but enjoyed the quiet and the green moss, ferns, lichen, firs, spruce and hemlocks. It resembled the Forest Moon of Endor in the Star Wars movies. I was beat afterwards.
Our hotel on Orcas is the Outlook Inn. The room is much better than the whole house we had at Roche Harbour.
After dinner there was a rainbow, then a double rainbow, and a lot of photos taken of them.
July 11
Today after a good breakfast we ferried over to Lopez Island for a 16 mile bike ride for me. I moved up another level in e bike skills but then had a minor crash to keep me humble.
July 12
I still found bumps and bruises from my “incident”.
We all took a 1.6 mile hike around Crystal Lake which is at the beginning of that grueling uphill hike from a couple of days ago. A little before the end of the hike there was a place to jump in the lake (60 degrees) which about half the group took advantage of.
Then on to the ferry back to Anacortes. On the ride Ashley, Mike and Maggie gave everyone awards for being on the trip. Ali was our ambassador, C got the Orca award since Orcas are matrilineal, and I got the “best dismount” award for my unseen crash.
Once there we all drove separately to Seattle for one last night together. M&J and B&C made a detour from Anacortes to see Deception Sound which was discovered by George Vancouver- he was deceived and thought it led to the ocean but really defined Fidalgo Island. The area acquired later fame in the 1880s because of a guy who would illegally import people from China and land there to discharge them.
At dinner the last two nights the grandkids have led us all in Telephone with very silly messages to pass along.
Beth is staying in the van at the hotel tonight and I just found out there is a rehab center 2 blocks away so I hope she had no visitors.
July 13
After getting M&J to their flight home, C and I had a free day to repack and rest.
July 14
C went back for a solo week at the beach and I went to Billings for fishing.
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