Day eleven

We didn't realise that flying from Seattle to Vancouver wasn't really necessary. We just assumed that if you go to another country you need to go in a plane (that is always the case in Australia). Apparently we could have gone on the train which would have been more scenic. Oh well. We flew in a Dash-8 Series 300 which the boy was excited about.

We stayed over night in Vancouver and tomorrow we get on the Rocky Mountaineer for two days.

By the way, it rained the whole time in Vancouver while we were there.

Day ten

Seattle - Mount St Helens Tour! We left the hotel at 7.15am for the three hour drive to Mount St Helens National Park. We stopped on the way at a tiny place called Toledo (not where Klinger is from!) and had the best coffee of the whole holiday from a dirty service station.

We then went to the County Park to have our morning tea. While we were there these Canada Geese flew overhead.
This is what the park looked like:
This was one of our first views of Mount St Helens.
Here are some more shots:

This is a view of the river plain which was covered in many metres of ash and rock. The water is slowly carving another channel for itself.

And here are The Hummocks, a topographical feature caused by the ground swelling after the eruption.

Day nine

Seattle - today we trekked over to Fremont to meet up with friends and their huskies, Steve and Kat. We had a nice lunch and then went for a walk to find some photo spots. I got Valerie to take this photo of the boy and I with Steve (red bandanna) and Kat (pink bandanna).
The people at our hotel told us it would take us ages to drive to Fremont (it took 12 minutes) so we decided to walk back to the city. On the way we walked over the Fremont Bridge which is a draw bridge and started to split as we walked over.
This is a picture of the river under the bridge. I have no idea what it is called.
We walked and walked and walked and eventually made it to the Space Needle so we decided to go up there since we were in the neighbourhood. This is what it looks like from underneath.
This is the view of Mt Rainier from the top of the Space Needle. Apparently we were lucky because it was a clear day.
I love the fact it looks like the mountain is just floating in mid-air. It's not, that's just how it looks.

Day eight

Seattle - our first day here. We just walked around and looked for a decent cup of coffee, somewhat unsuccessfully. We went to the Pike Place Market because everyone said it was so fantastic but honestly, I wasn't that impressed. And there was no good coffee!

Anyway, we went back to the market in the evening to get some shots of the fluorescent signs.

Day seven

Most of the day on the train. This is what our train looked like. This was at a place called Klamath Falls in Oregon.
This is what Oregon looks like - those parts that weren't covered in snow as we went by.
Here's my idyllic farmhouse photo. It's a bit far away but I like it anyway.

We arrived in Seattle really late at night and made it to our hotel around midnight

Day six

San Francisco - our last day here. We spent most of the day lounging around and doing not very much. Oh, in the morning we caught the tram up to the train station and collected our tickets. I didn't get a photo of the tram myself, but the nice people at FreeFoto.com have some so here is one for your viewing pleasure.

We also went for a ride on the cable car into the city. Then we walked and walked and walked and eventually found Little Italy where we had a very nice lunch. And then we walked back to Fisherman's wharf to our hotel. Here's a picture I took when we went on the tour bus thingy of the iconic houses in San Francisco - they call them the Painted Ladies.


At 8pm we left for our night trip on the Coast Starlight Train to Seattle. We caught a bus from the San Francisco Ferry Port to Emeryville where we got on the train. Thankfully we had booked a sleeper so we had our own little room with a tiny bathroom. It was surprisingly comfortable.

Updates, updates

We now have an itinerary for the Seattle and Mount St Helens tour. It includes a helicopter flight over the blast zone! So excited! It will be a long day (12 hours in total) but should be good fun. The boy is very excited. This is a sample of what our tour will be like.

We have discovered no plugs, so need to get those at some point. Also: we have not bought the boy's suitcase. That will be a job for this weekend.

I think I need another pair of gloves. I'm worried about being cold!

Four weeks and four days to go. I can really feel the holiday mood descending on me now!

Mount St Helens Tour

The boy has decided what he wants to do about visiting Mount St Helens. Click here to get an idea of what he has planned. Or I should say, what he wants me to plan. Apparently I am "good at this stuff" so I should be the one to organise it. Does that seem fair to anyone else? I thought not.

But let's face it, if I don't do it, we won't be going. And then he'll complain about missing out and we can't have that now. I have to email the travel agent to find out exactly what day we arrive in Seattle so I can contact these people. I get all the good jobs.

Seattle things to do - museum

A friend of mine suggested the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The boy was immediately excited so we will be going there for sure. It looks kinda cool!

Seattle things to do

Okay, we will!

Itinerary Part 2

After we leave San Fransisco, we'll be heading to Seattle. Only we're catching the train! We decided it would be a much better way to go - we won't have to fly domestic American airlines (always a dodgy proposition) and we'll get to see some of the scenery along the way! It's a 24 hour train trip so we have a sleeper car.

Whilst in Seattle we are going to see Mount Saint Helens volcano park. I'm not sure what else we will do; probably see the Space Needle and whatever other touristy things there are to do. I'd better do some research so I know what to expect!