Saturday morning, we woke up and walked to Top Pot donuts, which is a Seattle tradition. After donuts, we had a few hours to kill before we went to pick up Marissa’s parents from the airport. Therefore, we went to Point Defiance Zoo. Lucky for us, we already had a membership to our local zoo, and we were able to get into this zoo for free. We like free! It was a pretty neat zoo.
We picked up Marissa’s parents Saturday evening from the airport and went directly to the Space Needle. We ate in the restaurant on top of the needle. It had an awesome 360 degree view of the city and surrounding area, and it had excellent food. The restaurant rotates in a complete circle every 44 minutes. We highly recommend this to anyone who’s going to be in the area.
On Sunday morning, we went back to Pike Place Market and walked around. We then went to the Starbucks where several pictures were taken. After this outing, we loaded up Captain and headed for the ferry to Orcas Island.
Orcas Island is located in the San Juan Island chain in the Puget Sound. It is about an hour by ferry from the main land to the island. The island itself is very laidback. There are about 4500 people who live scattered throughout the island with only 5 cops. We stayed at the Turtleback Farm Inn, which is featured in numerous publications, including “1,000 Places to See Before You Die.” It is a B&B, and their breakfast has been featured in Gourmet magazine. It was a great experience.
Monday was bitter sweet for us because we had planned to go sea kayaking amongst the orcas, aka killer whales. However, the whales were too far from the island to kayak near. Plus, it was rainy and overcast all day. (Unfortunately for us, this would be the theme for the week that Marissa’s parents were with us.) So, we abandoned the kayaking idea, and instead went on a 4-hour whale-watching cruise. We saw numerous whales skimming the surface of the water. Unfortunately, none of them “leaped” out of the water like those seen in pictures. It was a unique and exciting tour.
We got up extremely early on Tuesday in order to ride the first ferry departing the island at 7:20 am. We were told to arrive at the ferry dock by 6 am. Unfortunately, that meant we had to miss the great breakfast at the B&B. Tuesday included two ferry rides and quite a bit of driving. We drove to Olympic National Park and got a chance to see one of the rainforests located there. The rainforest is the only rainforest in the western hemisphere which is protected by a government.
Wednesday morning we went for a short hike through the rainforest before departing to Mt. Rainier. The forest lived up to its name, as it rained on us the whole time we were there. We were disappointed by all of the logging which started immediately after the boundary of the national park and forest. I guess that only reinforces the importance of protecting national parks and forests. Our route to Mt. Rainier went through Olympia, the capitol of Washington. There was dense fog most of the way to Mt. Rainier where we stayed at a park inn near the mountain. Due to the fog, we never got a glimpse of the mountain. In fact, we have not seen the mountain yet (you can see it even from Seattle on clear days).
Thursday we traveled south to Mount St. Helen’s. We drove to the east side of the volcano where we viewed the damage from the 1980 explosion. There has been quite a bit of re-growth, but you can definitely tell the extent of the damage. Marissa’s mom was a very good sport on the ride up the mountain due to the fact that she is not so keen on heights. She was very thankful when we pulled into Portland later that day. We ate at a Lebanese restaurant which surprisingly, everyone seemed to enjoy.
Friday we checked out Voodoo Doughnut’s downtown location which was only a block from our hotel. It has a very eclectic mix of doughnuts, including body part doughnuts and maple and bacon doughnuts to name a few. Then we went to Portland’s Japanese Garden. Supposedly, it is one of the best in the US. We took Marissa’s parents to the airport around noon. Then we set off to see the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls. It is the second highest year-round waterfall in the US. We hiked up to the top of the falls which was a pretty steep hike. It was worth the effort to see the view at the top. Next up was the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Their exhibit featuring animals of the Northwest was impressive. The bald eagles were only caged in the exhibit by the doors that the patrons entered into. There wasn’t any barbed wire between them and us which was pretty cool. Also, the zoo had a 40th anniversary for Woodstock concert. We think that group/singer was Topaz?? The line for the concert was full of 60-something-year olds and had hundreds-to-thousands of eager ex-hippies waiting to relive Woodstock. Friday night was laundry night.
Wednesday morning we went for a short hike through the rainforest before departing to Mt. Rainier. The forest lived up to its name, as it rained on us the whole time we were there. We were disappointed by all of the logging which started immediately after the boundary of the national park and forest. I guess that only reinforces the importance of protecting national parks and forests. Our route to Mt. Rainier went through Olympia, the capitol of Washington. There was dense fog most of the way to Mt. Rainier where we stayed at a park inn near the mountain. Due to the fog, we never got a glimpse of the mountain. In fact, we have not seen the mountain yet (you can see it even from Seattle on clear days).
Thursday we traveled south to Mount St. Helen’s. We drove to the east side of the volcano where we viewed the damage from the 1980 explosion. There has been quite a bit of re-growth, but you can definitely tell the extent of the damage. Marissa’s mom was a very good sport on the ride up the mountain due to the fact that she is not so keen on heights. She was very thankful when we pulled into Portland later that day. We ate at a Lebanese restaurant which surprisingly, everyone seemed to enjoy.
Friday we checked out Voodoo Doughnut’s downtown location which was only a block from our hotel. It has a very eclectic mix of doughnuts, including body part doughnuts and maple and bacon doughnuts to name a few. Then we went to Portland’s Japanese Garden. Supposedly, it is one of the best in the US. We took Marissa’s parents to the airport around noon. Then we set off to see the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls. It is the second highest year-round waterfall in the US. We hiked up to the top of the falls which was a pretty steep hike. It was worth the effort to see the view at the top. Next up was the Oregon Zoo in Portland. Their exhibit featuring animals of the Northwest was impressive. The bald eagles were only caged in the exhibit by the doors that the patrons entered into. There wasn’t any barbed wire between them and us which was pretty cool. Also, the zoo had a 40th anniversary for Woodstock concert. We think that group/singer was Topaz?? The line for the concert was full of 60-something-year olds and had hundreds-to-thousands of eager ex-hippies waiting to relive Woodstock. Friday night was laundry night.
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Saturday morning, we once again headed over to Voodoo Doughnut for breakfast. This time, Marissa got a Voodoo doll donut (person-shaped donut with red raspberry filling) and a chocolate glazed donut with peanut butter and Oreos. Jeremy got a Cap’n Crunch topped donut and an M&M topped donut. Yum-O!
After a delectable breakfast, we headed to Oregon City, OR, the oldest incorporated town west of the Rockies. It is home of the only municipal elevator in the US. It is also the end of the Oregon Trail. We ventured to the Oregon Trail Center, but were rather disappointed as it didn’t match up to the previous trail centers we had been to previously. We then headed to a National Park-sponsored historical house. The house was the home of Dr. McLoughlin, who was the city founder. It was a pretty good tour of the house, especially because it was free!
Once we completed the tour, we met up with one of Jeremy’s old college roommates, Brent, and his girlfriend, Rebecca. We had a tasty supper and chat, then we headed down the road toward the coast. However, as we were driving, we started calling hotels along the way, and they were all sold out. Therefore, we diverted to Salem, OR, the capital city, where we are once again doing laundry because we found out that some of our sleeping bags were damp from being stored in coolers which were on the back of our car.
Tomorrow, we head back to the Oregon coast, and we plan to camp on the beach.
After a delectable breakfast, we headed to Oregon City, OR, the oldest incorporated town west of the Rockies. It is home of the only municipal elevator in the US. It is also the end of the Oregon Trail. We ventured to the Oregon Trail Center, but were rather disappointed as it didn’t match up to the previous trail centers we had been to previously. We then headed to a National Park-sponsored historical house. The house was the home of Dr. McLoughlin, who was the city founder. It was a pretty good tour of the house, especially because it was free!
Once we completed the tour, we met up with one of Jeremy’s old college roommates, Brent, and his girlfriend, Rebecca. We had a tasty supper and chat, then we headed down the road toward the coast. However, as we were driving, we started calling hotels along the way, and they were all sold out. Therefore, we diverted to Salem, OR, the capital city, where we are once again doing laundry because we found out that some of our sleeping bags were damp from being stored in coolers which were on the back of our car.
Tomorrow, we head back to the Oregon coast, and we plan to camp on the beach.
Sounds like a great time! Lots of adventures. Sorry the kyaking didn't work out. I know you guys were looking forward to that. I can't wait to see more pictures. Camping on the beach...now that sounds fun! Take care!
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