April 28  Seattle
Another overcast day but warm, as we start at 60 degrees at 8:30.  Unfortunately, it drops during the day to around 50.

We join the heavy flow of traffic into Seattle and find a good parking lot for $10/day near Seattle Center, just a block from the Space Needle.

 We walk to the Needle and purchase tickets but several busloads of school kids arrive and we decide to come back in a little while.  Instead we go across the street to the EMP Museum (Experimental Music Project), which was originally music only but now includes popular music, and sections about Horror films (and music),  Fantasy,  Science Fiction and gaming.

The Horror Hall has a Scream Booth where you can go in and let loose (ahh felt good). Lots of chronicles of Horror films and interesting info on the difference that music and sound effects make. One director comments that instead of hiding your eyes at horror films you should cover your ears, because without the sound things aren't very scary.

angel of death from Hellboy

Thriller zombie outfit

Various props from movies are displayed like the Angel of Death mask from Hellboy II and a Zombie costume from Michael Jackson's Thriller.

Next area is Science Fiction, with things like the T800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2, star wars light sabers  and this gross guy.

  Next is an area on Fantasy with artifacts from the Wizard of Oz and others.

 Then we move onto the Guitar Gallery which features this sculpture of guitars, some of which are wired to create music, though we don't hear anything.

There is a gallery showing the evolution of the guitar and another area that shows well-known guitarists like Clapton and Curt Cobain - a local who gets lots of coverage.  There are photos, films and listening areas.  Lots of info about Punk music too and the Seattle music scene.

The next area is about gaming, featuring independent creators.  Many screens with various games - quite popular with the kids.

There is also an area called Sound Labs which is a labyrinth of small labs where you can play guitar, drums or other instruments, as well as areas for recording, mixing, sound effects, etc.  Lots of fun if this is your thing!

   And just for fun, they throw in a "We are 12" section about the Seattle Sea Hawks - rah rah!

Back to the Space Needle, but first we do the Chihuly Glass Exhibit and Gardens located at the base.  Very impressive and spectacular art by Dale Chihuly, like this Glass forest:

And the Sea Life Tower.

 And more. Spectacular color and lighting.

 Outside there is a combination of plants and glass items.

Finally we go up the elevator to the observation deck of the Needle, built for the 1962 World's Fair. At 520' you can walk around and see most of the city of Seattle.  Unfortunately the weather is still grey and visibility limited.  There is a restaurant and quite a few interactive displays.

From here we take the nearby Monorail, also a remnant of the World's Fair, down to Pike's Place Market, about a mile away.

Walking to the market, we see these gentlemen involved in a game of chess.

 We see the obligatory gum wall outside a theatre that had posted a sign asking patrons not to bring in gum. We made no additions but did see others doing it.

We see the welcoming pig, original Starbucks coffee shop, and lots of flowers, fish, crabs and other items for sale. The fish guys weren't too busy though, so we didn't see them throwing fish.

We stop at Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar for an Oyster Roll and a bowl of Northwestern Gumbo, which includes mussels, clams, salmon, shrimp, and fish.  Yum.

Someone told us not to miss the Hammer Man at the Art museum, so we detour a few blocks to see this moving artwork (as in he moves the hammer, not so much the other).

 We think we are getting out of town a little early for rush hour, but it is crazy busy.  At least we are able to use the high occupancy lane which was a little faster.  We head south to Bonney Lake - an area of beautiful big homes around what is supposed to be a lake but is largely mud.  Whole lot of unhappy homeowners here, I'll bet!

We stop at a Discount Tire here and replace the tires on the Trek, which we knew we were going to have to do.  Then it is rotisserie chicken and carrots for dinner, and good-night!

April 27 Back to the USA

48 degrees and misty rain this morning.  Don't think I would do well living with all this grey, but it does make you appreciate the sunny days! Yesterday's bumpy ride doesn't seem to have affected Greg, but Beth is sore, probably just from tensing muscles. We are both a little wind-burned.

Look, an Orca!  At ferry terminal.

We are heading to Duke Point this morning where we will catch the 10:10 ferry to Tsawwassen, which will put us south of Vancouver.  Greg exercised while we waited in line.  Smooth 2 hour ride and we then drove a little while to Blaine, the Peace Arch and US Point of Entry.  About a half hour wait and we cleared customs with no problem.

Heading south through Washington, we pass cattle and agriculture - many potato farms. Took Scenic Route 11 by Chuckanut Bay and Mountain.  Pretty scenes as we cling to the side of the mountain.

We take a detour onto Whidbey Island but it turns out to be a dead end (oops!)and not that scenic except for Deception Pass.

Back to Route 5 and south to Arlington from which we'll launch  tomorrow to Seattle. Spaghetti with italian sausage, salad and garlic bread for a nice dinner in the Trek.

Apr 25, 2015 Vancouver Island

 April 25  Ucluelet and Tofino and an Orca

Woke to 41 outside but toasty inside since we ran the heater last night. Light rain. We decided to head to the west coast of the island today, to the towns of Ucluelet and Tofino which are about 25 miles apart.

 It was about a four hour drive through some gorgeous countryside which included towering virgin forests, snow capped mountains and many beautiful lakes.  Several of the mountains looked like they'd been sprinkled with sugar.

Frosted mountain tops

The sun began to peek through about half way there and by the time we reached the beach at Ucluelet (means safe harbor) it was near 70 and sunny!  Port Alberni which has a long channel to the ocean was the largest town en route, and there were few others.

Narrow, windy roads with 16 and 17% grades at some spots, Few pullouts, few photos.

First stop was the lighthouse at Amphitrite Point built in 1906, and part of the Wild Pacific Trail.  We walked part of the trail – just awesome scenery.  The blues really were this blue!

Drove through the little town of Ucluelet and noticed these residents. 

Many beautiful yards with cherry trees, etc. – I’m sure they know all the deer-resistant varieties!  Saw a couple of surf shops, as this is the place to surf in this part of the world.

Schooner Cove was our next stop, closer to Tofino.   Long wooden boardwalk with lots of stairs led to a wide sandy beach.  It was low tide so we could walk to a small island and explore some more tidal pools.

Similar creatures to what we have already seen, except for some pink and white anemones.  Quite a few star fish (sea stars) – a good sign according to a ranger we talked with later, since a disease nearly wiped them out last year all up and down the west coast.

Back to the Trek for lunch and then on to Chesterman Beach, a favorite of surfers and storm watchers.  There were 15-20 folks surfing, including several groups who were taking lessons.  Surf wasn’t very high, but I guess they take what they can get!

Sea kayaker as well

Several “Surf Canada” shirts and everyone was dressed in wet suits head to toe. Don’t know the water temp but I’d say VERY cold.

They call the speed bumps here “traffic calming”.

Next stop was the Kwisitis Visitor and Interpretive Center which is part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Several displays about the original native inhabitants. In 1774 the native population was 31,000 and 100 years later that number was 3500, due to interaction and disease from fur traders and others. Other displays of whale hunting, baleen, canoe making and the results of a fashion from ocean trash contest.

Ocean trash fashion

This part of the island wasn’t connected to the eastern shore till 1959.  It is becoming more and more popular but is still pretty and quaint, especially Ucluelet.

We drove back to Ucluelet to the Floathouse Patio and Grill, which floats in the harbor there. Recommended by someone we talked with.  They didn’t open for another half hour but were happy to serve us a beer and some yummy fish chowder.  A fisherman docked nearby with a 9-lb king salmon (they call them Spring Salmon or Chinook), a ling cod (similar to cod) and some rock fish. We then had some fish ‘n’ chips and chatted with a photographer from Alberta at the table next to us. 

We have decided with great hesitation and trepidation to do a Whale Watching trip tomorrow from the other coast, so we head part way back the road to Port Alberni and stop at the Walmart there.

April 26 Whale Watching

42 degrees and where did the sun go?  Foggy/misty with occasional big plopping raindrops.

Our Whale Watching trip is at 1:00 so we slowly make our way in that direction.  We stop at the port of Nanaimo and notice quite a few cars in the lot we’ve parked in.  Turns out we are just in time for dragon boat races!  Apparently rowing is a popular sport in the area and there are  7-8  local teams here to compete. 

It is cold and windy as they warm-up and get ready to race.  Teams seem quite a mix of men, women,  all ages.  We watch the first heat and then head back to the Trek for our own heat – some hot oatmeal, coffee and hot chocolate!

Another popular sport here at Nanaimo is Bathtub Races and there is a statue of the guy who started this – Frank James Ney – the “admiral of the fleet”.

We head down the road to Cowichan Bay and Ocean Ecoventures, where we meet our captain for the day, Simon.  He  reminds me of Seinfeld a bit with a sort of monotone and dry wit. 

There are 9 of us heading out today in an orange zodiac (big rubber boat).   First we all don lovely flotation suits which make me feel like an orange Pillsbury DoughBoy.

But they are warm and we are soon very grateful to be wearing them.  Note that I also am wearing 2 pair of pants, a t-shirt, sweater, jacket and raincoat  under the suit.  They give us gloves, hats and goggles as well.

Our excursion leaves from Cowichan Bay where these tugs were berthed.

More houseboats at Cowichan Bay Harbor

All the whale-watching businesses communicate and Simon says the only Orca he is hearing about today is a single male about an hour away, so we head that direction.  As we were being seated he asked if anyone had back or neck problems and four people claimed they did, so, long story short, Greg and I ended up in the very front of the boat.  I tentatively asked if that was going to be a bumpy ride, to which Simon said “Oh it shouldn’t be bad today.”  HA HA.  Obviously HE doesn’t sit up there!

Since we had a long way to go, we went at high speed and directly and it was very bumpy.  I fully understood the question about back and neck problems!  We  paused to watch some sea lions at one point and shortly afterwards found T103, a big transient Orca.

There are several pods of Orcas that stay in the general area all the time and these eat mainly fish.  Then there are transient Orcas which travel singly or in groups and eat mammals – seals and sea lions.  T103 is a transient who lost his mother a few years ago – all the Orcas are matriarchal.  We, along with two other boats, follow him for a while as he hunts.  Orcas are constantly on the move, even when sleeping.

We re-visit the sea lions at the lighthouse and learn  a bit about them and see a bald eagle nearby.  Simon is very informative when we are stopped, but then we begin to hightail it back.  Fortunately the wind has died down and the ride isn’t as rough this direction.  I asked Greg to say “no way” if I ask to do another boat tour!  The one we did in Kenai Fjords in Alaska was even colder because it was raining and we were outside.  I thought we would see some of the San Juan Islands on this trip and on a warm sunny day we would have.  Though it didn’t actually rain, it was very foggy and while we knew we were passing islands we didn’t see much detail.

We drive back up the road to Nanaimo and stop at a Boston Pizza for dinner.  We stay at our recent favorite – Walmart where they have good wi-fi , even in the remote parking lot!