Jacki and Kurt’s Vacation to Seattle and Beyond - Sept. 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009

We started our vacation in Tiburon, walking downtown where Kurt got a cup of Joe to begin his day right. After driving to Oakland and parking in a long-term lot not far from the airport, we boarded our Southwest plane and flew to the Seattle-Tacoma airport. We rented a blue Chevy Anvil (actually Aveo) car from National Car Rental (blog sponsor possibilities?), and headed to the northern outskirts of Seattle to check into our Priceline-obtained Northgate Extended Stay Hotel. Our room had a view of Mt. Rainier, an unexpected bonus.Heading back into Seattle, we parked the car andexplored the downtown area, including Pike Place Market which was pretty well closed up for the evening. After dinner at a Thai restaurant where Kurt enjoyed his first plate of Pad Thai, we did some walking, buying postcards at the large Read All About It newsstand.It’s a little embarrassing to report that by then our librarian blood got the better of us. We hunted down the Seattle Public Library, walking all around the closed building and actually peaking in windows. Okay, this is really embarrassing. We returned to our motel for the night.

Friday, September 18, 2009

It does seem to be true that there is a Starbucks or two on every corner in Seattle, and we visited our first one near our motel for coffee and a scone for breakfast. Then we drove to Belleview in search of a local GEICO office (for documents needed in Canada). Jacki performed numerous “whoop-arounds” and we saw many a neighborhood during our search, including posh Clyde Hill and a blueberry farm. We debated the value of having a GPS or iPhone vs. old-fashioned paper maps and decided that it is far superior to be lost using a map than a GPS. Throwing a map out the window is much cheaper than throwing an iPhone out the window.

Eventually we found the office, handled our business, and made it into downtown Seattle where we lunched at the Three Sisters Bakery at Pike Place Market. Our very efficient waiter had dreadlocks tied back under a cap. We watched as another customer at the counter pulled a very long hair out of his sandwich and showed it to the waiter who asked, “Is that mine?” After lunch we walked to the Washington State Ferries Terminal and boarded the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Jacki’s college roommate, Marilynn, picked us up and drove us across the island to her beautiful house in the woods. We got to see Marilynn’s latest artwork, photos applied to large pieces of metal. It was very intriguing and we liked the effects she was able to achieve with the method. Soon after, we walked along the western Bainbridge shore in warm, sunny weather with dog Tito who attempted to retrieve anything, large or small, that was thrown in the water. Kurt will undoubtedly reminisce about what a wonderful dog Tito is for years to come. Passing by many beautiful boat houses, we saw a family of river otters in a lagoon. After returning to Marilynn’s house, we waited for her husband, Dan, to return from work by conversing and working on crossword puzzle. We all went to dinner at Dan’s favorite Bainbridge restaurant, Four Swallows. It was definitely the best dinner we had on our whole trip – delicious! The time got away from us and we had to rush back to ferry at 9:40 pm for our return to Seattle.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We woke to a light rain, our view of Mt. Rainier obscured. After a quick breakfast we drove into Seattle to explore the Queen Anne neighborhood. We attempted to find a nice view of downtown, but couldn’t find a clear view anywhere. We enjoyed walking through the neighborhood, however, and got a feel for the area.

Next we parked at the Seattle Center and rode the Monorail into downtown Seattle and headed a few blocks down to see the inside of the new library. Shock and awe is perhaps a slight exaggeration of our reaction to the structure, but not much. It is a hard place to describe; definitely an architect’s building, but it also seems to function pretty well as a library. We spent an hour or two wandering around, trying to see everything we had heard about and seeing plenty of things we weren’t expecting. We made our way back to the monorail via Pike Place market, where we purchased flowers and fruit. Back at the car, we drove to De Moines, south of Seattle, to visit with Bud and Jane Reanier (no relation to the mountain), Kurt’s Godparents. We had a pleasant dinner at Wesley Gardens retirement housing where the two 90+ year-olds live, a tour of the dahlia garden, and a nice conversation. We were especially interested to hear about the Reanier’s experience at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Residents of the home were abuzz with news that the University of Washington Huskies had upset USC that afternoon.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday morning we again had breakfast at the Northgate Starbucks (this is getting old). To be fair, Kurt did purchase coffee at a number of other coffee houses; this Starbucks was just the most convenient for us in the morning. We drove north up Highway 5, passing forests, fields of corn, potatoes, and blueberries, to Chuckanut Drive which runs along the beautiful Washington State coastline. We stopped in historic Fairhaven and patronized the impressive Village Book Store before meeting Jacki’s Redlands friend, Kris, at the Colophon Café next to the book store for lunch. Afterwards we walked along the waterfront of Bellingham harbor and saw many families out enjoying sunny, warm weather. We drove with Kris through Bellingham to her three-acre farm and toured her well-decorated house, barn with mothballed cars; met horses, dogs, cats, and birds, and picked apples. Jacki and Kris caught up on old times while lounging in the sun next to the pond while Kurt talked to Reid at Times Square via cell phone. After saying goodbye to Kris, we walked through downtown Bellingham and found a local place for some excellent burgers. As the sun set, we drove to Anacortes and found the cozy Anaco Inn. We unloaded and quickly toured Anacortes in the dark, happening across a rope factory operating on Sunday night.

Monday, September 21, 2009

We woke up early to catch the morning ferry to Sidney, and bought breakfast at Starbucks in Anacortes (this is getting really, really old!). It was beautiful watching the sun rise while waiting to board the Washington State ferry at Anacortes with the rental car. The sea was as calm as glass during the 2+ hour ferry ride between San Juan Islands. Kurt spotted a bald eagle in a tree on one island, and we saw seals in the water. On the ferry we read a little of the Seattle Times to catch up on news and see about the victorious 49ers. After landing in Sidney, British Columbia, Jacki made a point to have our passports stamped at the border station, though the agent was reluctant to do it since others might want the same privilege. We just wanted something to show in our passports since both of them were clean as a whistle! We bought lunch to-go in Sidney, then drove to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. By chance we met author John Saul in the parking lot after noticing his Book 28 license plate. It turns out he is a very well known author; the Bel-Tib library has about 10 of his books. We had lunch overlooking the Sunken Garden. The weather was sunny and the perfect temperature as we toured the grounds. Dahlias were at their peek and chrysanthemums were just starting to bloom. Jacki took many photos as ideas for our future gardens. She thought that Butchart Gardens is a Disneyland for gardeners! We drove to Victoria in the late afternoon and found the James Bay Inn where we were staying for the night. We both took naps in the hotel after waking early that day for the ferry. Later, we walked in downtown Victoria, past the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel, to dinner outdoors overlooking the harbor and a nice sunset. We saw the ferry Coho arrive and sound its horn. We walked downtown and admired the city lights before turning in.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

We had breakfast at The Mirage Café (not Starbucks) in downtown Victoria, where Kurt had his best cup of coffee yet. We got in the auto line at the Victoria Ferry Terminal, and talked with a tour bus driver while waiting to board. He said he was taking a group of French tourists on a 17-day road trip all over the Western U.S. and part of Canada, staying in a different place every single night. After dropping them all off at the aiport in Seattle the next day he was going to high-tail it down to Los Angeles where he lives, spend a day at home, then go off on another tour. Luckily, he loves his job and his wife loves it when he makes money – happiness all the way around! Though it was a lovely ride across the Sound, we were disappointed to not have seen much marine life, in particular no Orcas. Though we had boarded the Coho mid-way through the car line, we somehow ended up right at the bow for unloading, and were one of two first cars off when we got to Port Angeles. Kurt waved victoriously to those waiting to board the ferry back to Victoria. We drove and walked around downtown Port Angeles, visiting a store dedicated entirely to the Twilight books, which have been almost as popular as Harry Potter in our local libraries. We visited the Chamber of Commerce Information Center, and ate lunch in an unremarkable café in unremarkable Port Angeles in remarkably great weather.After locating the Port Angeles Public Library to ask directions to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, we drove up to the Ridge and found views impaired by forest fire smoke blowing in from Oregon. We hiked up to the top of Hurricane Ridge to take the obligatory photos of Jacki sitting on a rock formation. Then we drove to Sequim, bought food for dinner, and made our way to Lucy & Rick Gibbs’ house on the northeast corner of Discovery Bay. The Gibbs are practically relatives of Jacki’s co-worker Patty McDonough, and kindly offered the use of their home while they were visiting their son in Mill Valley. The house was just feet from the water, a very quiet and beautiful spot. We made a nice home-cooked dinner of spaghetti, broccoli, and bread, did a load of laundry and went to bed.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

We woke at sunrise with the sun shining red through band of smoke over Discovery Bay. There were lots of birds, ducks and geese, but no bald eagles. We saw a deer and a raccoon. We drove west on Highway 101, stopping at Sunny Farms, an excellent organic grocery store outside Sequim, for coffee and lunch items. Whole coho salmon in the fish department and hundreds of pumpkins at the entry added to the atmosphere of the place.We stopped in Port Angeles to go to library (closed, no WiFi on), mail letters, and withdraw at Wells Fargo, then drove to Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. We visited the old ranger house where Jacki’s in-laws used to summer. Jacki called Natalie with a question from the ranger about the house’s old chimney and had a nice talk. We ate lunch lakeside, lounging in Adirondack chairs and admiring the clear water that was as calm as glass in the unseasonably warm weather. Then we drove to the Salmon Cascades and spent a long time watching for salmon trying to swim up the rapids (maybe saw three fish jumping, many more large salmon in the pools below the rapids). We continued to Sol Duc Hot Springs and took a hike to Sol Duc Falls in the lush rain forest. We drove back through the then windy Lake Crescent and to Port Angeles with fog above the mountains along the way. Had dinner in Sequim and returned to Discovery Bay in the dark.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cleaned the Gibbs’ house on a foggy Discovery Bay and watered their plants before driving to Sequim for coffee and gifts for the Gibbs and Wendy (from Purple Haze Lavender Shop). We ordered takeout Thai food from Sawadee Thai Restaurant in Sequim and ate on the deck of the house overlooking Discovery Bay in warm, sunny weather. Then we drove to Port Townsend, a lovely Victorian fishing village with many shops for tourists like us, watched boats come and go and rested in the sun. Next time we would like to stay in a cottage at the Swan Inn and visit the Carnegie Library in town. We took off in mid-to-late afternoon and drove to Bainbridge Island just in time to catch the 5:30pm ferry to Seattle. The two-lane Highway 19 from Port Townsend was one of the most pastoral we had traveled. We drove to the Seattle Center neighborhood of town and walked to four hotels looking for the best price (Jacki does love a deal and we found one at the Travelodge--too bad it had a bullet hole in one of the room’s windows!). We walked a few blocks downtown and had a pizza, returned for bed.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Had complimentary breakfast at the Travelodge, then walked to a bus stop near Seattle Center. We rode the bus through the Fremont neighborhood (a site to which we must return) to the University of Washington and toured the main campus, including the magnificent Suzzallo Library reading room. We enjoyed roses and a view of Mount Rainier over the campus fountain on yet another day of perfect weather. We walked past Husky Stadium to the Waterfront Activities Center and rented a canoe for an hour. We paddled underneath highways to botanical garden and enjoyed trees, ducks, and turtles. The we walked through the UW campus to Agua Verde Restaurant for a busy lunch by the waterfront before catching another bus to the Ballard Locks. There we watched a wide variety of boats use the locks, and toured the Ballard Fish Ladders where we saw a handful of salmon swimming upstream. We walked a short distance (during what was obviously happy hour time) through the Ballard neighborhood, bought snacks at micro pastry shop, and caught another bus past the Lake Union waterfront to Seattle Center. We toured Seattle Center looking for entertainment and returned to the hotel. Then we drove to the Queen Anne neighborhood for an excellent dinner at the Five Spot Café.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

We had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, then packed our luggage for the trip home. We drove through Downtown and Pioneer Square areas looking for coffee for Kurt. With some extra time before our afternoon flight, we stopped at Angle Lake south of SeaTac and watched a man run a radio-controlled, hand-made model of the Aircraft Carrier Constellation. Back at the airport we returned the rental car and worked on a crossword puzzle while waiting for our Southwest flight back to Oakland. The flight was delayed an hour and a half for a “situation” with the baggage door. We arrived in Oakland to 90° weather and a home-cooked meal (finally!) at Jacki’s home. It was hard to believe our trip was already over, so we downloaded vacation photos and reminisced.