Day thirteen

We left Kamloops at the crack of dawn (okay so it was still dark) and began the journey to Banff. You can see in this photo that the temperature of the water in the ponds was warmer than the air, hence the steam. Yes that is steam.
Today we travelled through the Canadian Rockies proper. Every five minutes we'd round a corner and see some spectacular scenery. After a while it's hard to keep taking photos because it's ALL so good!

Random nice scenery shot: there are a lot of these things to see in the Rockies.
Snow! I'm trying to be arty by showing you this picture in black and white.

More lovely scenery...
The Christmas Card shots!

Arriving in Banff late in the day, and boy was it cold. We had to dig extra warm clothes out of our suitcase for the short wait to get a cab to our hotel.
We stayed at the Fox Hotel and Suites and it was just lovely! They gave us a suite which was even nicer, so we had a huge bedroom and separate lounge, two big screen TVs, a kitchen, the works. I would definitely go back there again. And the food in their restaurant was really good too.

Day twelve

This morning we left our hotel at 6.30am (!) and went to the Rocky Mountaineer train station. The people there were very nice and had us all sorted in about 10 minutes. We departed on the train at just after 7.45am for the first day's journey to Kamloops.

We travelled out of Vancouver and through some very nice countryside and then the mountains, but not the Rockies yet!

This pass is called Hell's Gate; there is a cable car across it that you can go on if you're not whizzing past on the train!
We went under this bridge and I managed to snap a photo of the structure underneath. There are several single span bridges in the mountains; you have to wonder how they built them more than 100 years ago!
What we didn't realise about these mountains is that some of them are in a desert! Everything is very barren and there are not many trees, as you can see from some of these photos.
These are some rock sheds that have been built across the tracks to protect the trains from landslides. You can see the avalanche tracks right above the sheds.
But more excitingly, we saw lots of bald eagles! This one sat nicely in the tree to pose for me.

We stayed overnight in Kamloops but I don't have any photos because it was dark when we arrived and dark when we left again the next morning! Kamloops is not very exciting in the dark.

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.

Day five

San Francisco - today we took a helicopter flight over the city. We wanted to fly to the Napa Valley for a picnic lunch but they were booked out. Oh well. This is the helicopter we flew on. I don't know what model it is.
This is the view of South San Francisco as we took off from the airport. As you can see, it's the industrial side of the city.
This is what San Francisco looks like from the air. It's laid out in a grid pattern and it seems quite flat. The hilly parts you see in the movies are generally really close to the centre of town. The rest is flat and a bit boring.
Our pilot flew us over and under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was pretty awesome but also difficult to get a good photo! Here's one:
And here is a view of the Bay Bridge, which I think is just as nice as the Golden Gate Bridge but certainly not as famous. Perhaps they should paint it a brighter colour?

Day four

San Francisco - boat trip to Alcatraz Island.

We had to go and see it. And of course, the moment we stepped off the ferry, the battery in my camera died. How annoying! But since we flew over the island on our helicopter tour (see tomorrow for details) I managed to get some photos anyway.
The old prison is quite spooky. It's very cold and dark and although they have turned some of the cells into modern-day versions of what they think it looked like, some of them are still in original condition and there is no way I would have wanted to be there!
Apparently the one good thing about Alcatraz was the food. The prisoners were fed very well. My theory is that they fed them well to keep them warm, given the prison was solid rock and would have been freezing in the winter.
That tower was the water tower for the island. They had no connection to the mainland for water, power, sewerage or anything. That dirt area in front of the tower was the prisoner's exercise yard. Not very inspiring.

Day three

San Francisco - today we went on a tour of the city on one of those buses where you can get on and off at any points of interest. It was quite good although very windy. Going across the Golden Gate Bridge and getting photos was a challenge! But I got this one when we stopped on one side:
Here is a view of the city from the other side of the Bridge. As you can see it was a bit hazy. San Francisco gets a lot of fog!
This building - the former Hibernia Bank - was a lovely old building that had been boarded up. I don't know why they didn't restore it instead of building ugly things like the Transamerica Tower, which is the pointy building you can see in the picture above.

The next place we got off the bus was Union Square. This is where all the big department stores are (including Saks Fifth Avenue - which is where I bought my beautiful Christian Louboutin shoes) and the theatre and big hotels etc.

For dinner we went to a fancy restaurant on the 52nd floor of the Bank of America tower, called the Carnelian Room. The food was very nice (they do a killer chocolate souffle) but the best part of the dinner were the two people sitting at the table next to ours. He was in his 50's and she was a good 25 years younger (obviously a trophy wife!) and at first we thought she was being a princess and acting difficult but then he started throwing the cutlery around on the table and being a bit nasty and complaining about the souffle taking too long! It made for great entertainment. The boy and I indulged in a lot of meaningless conversation to try and hear what their fight was about. But we couldn't quite figure it out.

Day two

San Francisco - our first day here.

We are staying at a place called the Argonaut Hotel right in Fisherman's Wharf. It's lovely! And the location is great. We have heaps of restaurants right outside the door and lots to see and do.
Today we just wandered around and looked at things, figured out where we were, and decided on a few touristy things we want to do over the next few days.
We went for a walk along the Hyde St Pier but we didn't go on any of the boats. We could also see Alcatraz Island but we'll go there tomorrow.

Departure Day

We are leaving this morning. Our flight leaves at 10.15am from Melbourne, we spend 7 hours and 45 minutes in the air before arriving in Singapore at 4pm, then depart Singapore at 5.5pm for San Francisco. Amazingly, after spending 17 hours and 25 minutes in the air, we will still manage to arrive in San Francisco today at 8.15pm.

It's tomorrow!

We're actually leaving tomorrow! Neither of us can quite believe it. All we have to do is pack the last few things and take the cars to their respective holiday homes.

I've set up posts for each day we're away with details on where we are, but nothing more. I'll back fill all the details and add photos when I get home.

See you all in a month!

Test pack

Yesterday I decided to write my list. I wrote down every single thing I think I might need on this holiday.

Tonight I decided to see if I could fit every single thing I think I need on this holiday in my suitcase. Houston, we have a problem.

If I leave my hiking boots behind, I can just about fit everything. Only problem is, I need them for the polar bear tour. Okay, so I could leave my polar fleece jacket out. I have another three jackets that are warm. That will do the trick.

I had to give up on my test pack about 20 minutes ago. I was getting too demoralised.

SIX DAYS TO GO!!!!!

Today's update

We have plugs. We have a suitcase. We have our tickets/passports/bits of paper. We are ready to go! Twelve days and counting.

MEGA EXCITEMENT

Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here! Our tickets are here!

What I've found out

Yes, Canadian and American plugs are the same. No, we have not bought any adapters yet. Also: we have not bought the boy's suitcase yet. I am wondering if I need another pair of gloves.

Three weeks and three days to go. I can barely concentrate on work now. I just want to get on the plane!

Oh, I've decided to get another lens for my camera. A bigger telephoto zoom lens. So I can zoom in closer to the polar bears.

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!

Adapters

Adapters. We need them. We have three cameras, three iPods, iPod speakers, two mobiles, and possibly a laptop. I'm still debating my hairdryer as I find hotel hairdryers to be CRAP!

Are American plugs and Canadian plugs the same? I should really find that out.

The boy still needs a suitcase.

Oh, Oh, Oh

It's SIX weeks til we leave. That's right folks, this time in six weeks we'll be on the plane in BUSINESS CLASS sipping champagne (no, I don't care how early it is) and winging our way to San Francisco, via Singapore. Oh yeah.

The countdown continues

Today it's 6 weeks and 6 days til we leave. Neither of us can wait. We received the final itinerary from the polar bear trip yesterday and are SO excited. We've got 2 days out on the tundra, a helicopter flight and some time in Churchill to look forward to. YAY it's getting closer!

Getting closer

On Friday we passed the eight-week-til-our-holiday mark. Both of us are so looking forward to it we can hardly stand it. I have been practicing taking photos with the new camera, mostly of poor Huffle who has learned to hate the sounds of the flash firing up, ready for extreme polar bear photography!

Every night, the boy Google Earth's the tundra buggy in Churchill. Unsurprisingly, it hasn't moved in the past two days. But we could see polar bears right outside which is THRILLING.

My boss is starting to realise that I will be away for a whole month, and oh my god who is going to do my work? It's kind of funny but I do feel a bit sorry for her. I do a lot of things that she doesn't have the technical knowledge to manage so I think a lot of things will be waiting until I get back. Oh well.

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.

Return visit to the shop of many things

We went back to Mountain Design last week, to sort out the extra vest charge on our invoice. Thankfully it was the same man who had helped us on the weekend and he did remember me so it wasn't a drama. We ended up getting another jacket each, and with the refund for the double-charged vest and the discount we got for being such good customers, it didn't end up costing too much more, which was nice. My poor credit card has taken a beating though. Just as well we have the money to pay it off immediately (we use it for the points).

Talking about the holiday

Since we seem to have exhausted the itinerary discussion, the boy and I have been just talking about the holiday. We are both looking forward to it so much. We go on a holiday every year but this is our biggest undertaking so far.

We don't have many plans for San Francisco (okay none) but we've decided we're going to adopt the bar and party culture and go out every night! We don't do it at home so why not? I'm sure we'll find other stuff to do as well.

The boy has even started having dreams about our holiday at night. It's 8 weeks and 6 days (NOT that we're counting lol) until we leave so that's a lot of dreams to be had between now and then.