Seattle the City: I know that many of you could write pages about this iconic city, and I, I have only been there this once. So I am just going to highlight the fun things we did on this trip. If you are a beginner like I was when you go, you might find this helpful.
Pike’s Place market and the Underground Tour. Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened in 1907. You could easily spend all day here and not see everything. The “fish guys” are famous for throwing the fish to one another-to the scales to be weighed. It’s a Seattle icon. You gotta go there. Also the Underground Tour is a fascinating and eye opening walk through subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889. You do this with a ticket and reservation only. There are several companies who offer the tour. I highly recommend it.
Pike Place Market Seattle
Smith Tower and Observation Deck, which in 1914, became the first skyscraper in Seattle and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River, is another fun filled way to spend a morning or afternoon. For more than one hundred years, it has remained a cultural icon of the city, offering breathtaking, panoramic views of the city from the Observation deck which you access through the rooftop restaurant bar. Also lovely.
Smith Tower towering above the red brick
The Observation deck
From the Observation deck
From the Observation Deck
Smith Tower Seattle
Downtown Seattle and its beautiful architecture, and our cruise on Argosy Cruises Locks Tour, into the Puget Sound.
1895
Seattle and its Architecture
Sleepless in Seattle
Chihuly Garden and Glass is a museum in the Seattle Center showcasing the studio glass of Dale Chihuly. Really it is lovely, and it only takes about an hour to get through this stunning museum.
Chihuly Garden and Glass Seattle
And ALL of this in only 2 1/2 days. We left Seattle via the Bainbridge ferry over to Bainbridge Island. This Seattle–Bainbridge ferry sails across Puget Sound between Seattle and Bainbridge Island. Once on the island, we started our drive around the North side of the Olympic National Forest headed to the great Pacific Ocean, but with a few stops for hiking along the way. Lewis and Clark could not have been more excited than we were to arrive at that grand body of water. So let’s just let the pictures tell you the story of this 364 mile trek from Bainbridge Island to the Pacific and on south to Fort Stevens State Park with a night’s stay in the exquisite Kalaloch Lodge in Forks, Washington.
Bainbridge Ferry Seattle
Marymere Falls WA
Lake Crescent WA
Pacific Ocean at Ruby Beach WA
Hoh River WA
Kalaloch Lodge WA
Quinault Rain Forest WA
Astoria-Megler Bridge into Oregon
Fort Stevens State Park Oregon
The Bainbridge Ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island
Marymere Falls Trail Washington
Crescent Lake Washington
Ruby Beach And Our First Sighting of the Pacific Ocean
Hoh River Washington
Kalaloch Lodge WA. We stayed here one night. The Lodge food was also delicious.
Quinault Rain Forest
Lake Quinault And A Herd Of Elk
The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel truss bridge that spans the lower Columbia River, between Astoria Oregon and Megler WA.
Ft. Stevens State Park is worth far more time than we afforded it where the great Columbia River meets the Great Pacific Ocean.
Finally, we made our way down to beautiful Cannon Beach for our last night of this epic journey. Again, not enough time in Cannon Beach. But the food was wonderful and the views unforgettable. We stayed at the Inn at Haystack Rock. They are literally little cottages. Lovely and I do recommend them. But there are many places to stay. Just do your homework.The next morning we had a mere 1 hour and 40 minute drive to PDX, the Portland Airport, right back where we started this incredible quest.Why does it always have to end? Because of course we love our homes too and are always happy to get back again, that is until we shake the dust off of feet from our last trip, and are ready to repack our bags again, in search of another dazzling geographical location waiting for us to explore.
In the Spring of 2019 my husband and I took a long planned for trip to the Pacific NW of these fair United States. Unfortunately, at the end of my first trip ever to this region of the country, I didn’t satisfy my travel penchant for the Northwest at all. Now I just want to go back again. (and again and again) If you love hiking like I do, this is truly a hiker’s paradise. But never fear. Even if you are not a hiker, there is so much to do and see, you will never be bored. Do you like mountains, oceans, rivers, forests, plains, or valleys? You get it all here. You also get both the big city and the small town. We had 14 days on this trip, a pretty long vacation by anyone’s standard. But you can pick and choose from this travel itinerary and make it yours (as always) which means you can do 7 days if you like and never leave Portland, or Seattle or the Olympic National Forest. Get ready to be wowed! This is just Part 1 of this 14 day trip. Part 2 which takes off in Seattle, into the Olympic National Forest, to the Pacific Ocean and finally finishes in Cannon Beach, OR is Part 2.
Our day of arrival in the Pacific Northwest was a keeper. We landed at the airport in Portland, rented our car and drove directly to Multnomah Falls, the largest waterfall in Oregon and second largest in the nation. It is just about 30 miles east of Portland along the historical Columbia River. Underground springs from Larch Mountain are the year-round source of water for the waterfall, augmented by spring runoff from the mountain’s snowpack and rainwater during the other seasons. This spring is the source of Multnomah Creek. I hiked to the top. Take water and snacks. It is steep, about 1o to 12 switchbacks all the way up. But the views from the lower landings are impeccable as well. And for the “next time I visit,” I want to stay a few days before leaving the area and just hike all six of these waterfalls along this route along with Multnomah: Latourell, Bridal Veil, Wahkeena, Oneonta Gorge and Lower Oneonta, and Horsetail Falls. Eats: Multnomah Falls Lodge. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had lunch there and it was very good. We also had a view of the falls from our table.
The first drop
The first drop
Finally at the top of the trail…
BEND, OR So from Portland to Bend on Hwy 26 through Mount Hood Forest it got to snowing pretty hard through Government Pass. We drove slow and conservatively. Several cars and 1 18 wheeler were in ditches along the way as well as one pretty bad no injury wreck. And this-late in March. As soon as we descended from the pass, it was done. The snow I mean. Gone as quickly as it had appeared. If you are there any sooner than we were (last week of March) make sure you have chains in your cars. We have family who live in Bend and this was our first time to visit this lovely city.
Bend, Oregon
A must do in Bend is to visit and hike around Smith Rock. The “next time I visit,” I am going to dedicate much more time than an afternoon to this place. Pack a cooler of food and drinks and plan to stay a while. And if you have time to squeeze in a little snowshoeing, you can do so at Wanoga Snow Park at Mt. Bachelor.
Smith RockWanoga Snow Park
Well, after dragging ourselves away from Bend, we drove up through rolling hills and plains of Oregon through the Shaniko Oregon Ghost Town all the way back to the Columbia River in Rufus OR where, after lunch, we headed east along the River to our next destination, our friends’ house in Richland WA. What was in store for us: hiking Badger Mountain, touring Hanford Works B Reactor, and touring the quaint city of Walla Walla along with all of its many wineries. This is excellent wine country, and the ambience of this area begs for a return visit.
A word about the Hanford Works. The Manhattan Project was the code name for USA’s making of Atomic bombs during WWII that effectively ended the war in the Pacific theatre. Three isolated locations were chosen. Oakridge TN created the Uranium for the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Richland Washington’s Hanford’s works produced the enriched plutonium for the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Los Alamos NM was the major testing site. We toured what remains of the Hanford site and the B reactor still existing there. Crazy interesting. I read a great book called “The Women of Atomic City” which is about the Oakridge TN plant. If you are ever in the Richland, WA area, the Hanford Works nuclear reservation is a must see. Super cool whether you are a chemist or not. (I’m not, but I am a pretty serious history buff!)
Shaniko Oregon Ghost Town
Badger Mt.
Badger Mt.
Walla Walla
Walla Walla
Walla Walla
Walla Walla
Hanford Works Washington B Reactor
Our next destination: Mount St. Helens, but along the way we enjoyed the views. That is what you do over here. You can’t just drive from A to B without being stunned by nature along the way. We entered US Hwy 12 from Yakima WA and stayed on it through White Pass a mountain pass in the northwest United States, located in the Cascade Range of Washington, southeast of Mount Rainier, until we got to I5 and went south from there to Mount Saint Helens. We were happy that our second Pass to drive through on this trip rendered no blowing snow or snowed over roads!! We admired the Tieton River and the Yakima valley along the Cascade mountain range as we drove.
Tieton River
White Pass
Cascade Mountain Range
We arrived at the Mount St. Helens visitor park in the early evening. Seaquest State Park is a public recreation area located on the western flank of Silver Lake in Cowlitz County, Washington. It is home to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, which offers displays on the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption of 1980. I highly recommend doing the short informative tour through the visitor center before heading out to hike or to see the crater. You get a very comprehensive overview of Mount St. Helens and the famous eruption of 1980 that is forever emblazoned in our memories. We stayed the night and the next day hiked both the Coldwater Lake Trail and Hummock’s Trail. We were in the off season so we could not go to the crater. But the hikes themselves were a constant unveiling of beauty and wonder. Furthermore, Hummok’s trail offers excellent views of the crater. We stayed at the Timberland Inn & Suites in Castle Rock which was only about a 10 minute drive from the visitor center. It was very clean and vey inexpensive.
Seaquest State Park Mount St. Helens
Coldwater Lake Trail Mount St. Helens easy to moderate hiking.
The crater of Mt. Saint Helens
Hummocks Trail Mt. Saint Helens relatively flat trail, easy hiking.
Kent Washington and the Aviation Museum of Seattle: Next we were privileged yet again to connect with even more friends in Kent. Both our friends there and my husband are pilots and aviation enthusiasts. When you’re married to a pilot, this is part of the package! But I love all things history and aviation so I was super excited to tour the Museum of Flight in Seattle WA. Also in Seattle is Boeing’s manufacture plant for the 737 airplane which is what Paul flies for the company. “The Museum of Flight is the largest independent, non-profit air and space museum in the world! With over 175 aircraft and spacecraft, tens of thousands of artifacts, millions of rare photographs, dozens of exhibits and experiences and a world-class library, the Museum and its people bring mankind’s incredible history of flight to life.” (Ref: Museum of Flight main website.)
The Museum of Flight Seattle
Where the new Boeing 737s come off the line. Eats: Pizzeria Pulcinella has the feel of an upscale, yet friendly, neighborhood pizzeria in the Rainer Beach area of Seattle.
Next up Seattle and the Olympic National Forest. See you there in the Pacific Northwest Part 2….