Category: travels

Grand Coulee Dam

Originally uploaded by marymompics

Dam, that’s big! The Grand Coulee Dam generates more electricity than any other hydroelectric plant in the US. It was one of FDR’s NRA projects started in 1933 and completed in 1941 bringing electricity, irrigation and flood control to Washington. We saw a movie about the building of the dam and the politics behind trying to get it built. Apparently the private electric companies lobbied hard to squash the project (duh).

An interesting side note – in the film they showed the election campaigning of FDR. He was all about taking the country in a new direction and leading the country out of depression with new ideas and hope. It sounded a lot like Obama’s speeches.

Our perusal of the dam was not quite as thorough as we would have hoped. There is a tour that goes on the top of the dam and down an elevator to the generators. A lot of it is conducted outside. On the north side of the dam, though, there was a wildfire and the air was filled with smoke. After about 5 minutes I was coughing so that put the kabosh on doing anything outside.

Rats.

Oops, we overslept this morning. I thought I set the alarm for 6 but at 7:30 we were still in bed.  I am a really on time person. So I am feeling bad about the delay but we decide it’s not tragic. We can still get to Winthrop, Washington in plenty of time. Except, except, we didn’t count on the BORDER CROSSING.

The Peace Arch shown in the picture reads, “Brethren dwelling together in unity.” Yes, dwelling in the unity of unending lanes of cars. We waited two hours to cross the border back into the U.S. Two hours! After spending time in Europe where you cross unimpeded from country to country, this was unbelievable. Crawling along and adding to the greenhouse effect, we were then questioned by the  dour border guy who seemed surprised that we were only bringing back a few presents for our kids. Really, where were the cheap drugs that I get spam about every day?  And seriously, these border guys?  Are they selected for their dourness?  John and I decided they must be put in a room where they are told jokes.  Anyone who laughs is out of contention for the job.

John was near to exploding which made me even more guilty for oversleeping. But we passed through without being searched and headed to our next destination.

But wait, what’s this? While stopping in Concrete, Washington to find a post office to mail Nathan’s postcard-of-the-day we spotted a mural. Check it out below – the tagline under Concrete says “center of the known universe!” Of course unlike the one in Victoria, this is only of the “known universe.” We are visiting one more center in Idaho. It’s really strange how the center of the universe keeps moving.  I guess it’s wherever we are.

 

John has said that we seem to have themes to different segments of our trip. First there was the lighthouse section, then the bridge section,  then the Olympic Peninsula section and now the garden section. The VanDusen Botanical Garden is very different from the Butchart Gardens. It’s not all perfect flowers but runs the gamut of everything botanical. Some things are in bloom and some have gone to seed. There are vegetables. Things are labeled (they are not labeled at Butchart Gardens and that is very frustrating.) But it is just as beautiful if not in the same tidy way.

Tonight we are going to dinner at the Connor Butler Restaurant. It specializes in cuisine from the Northwest. We will, of course, mention that we are celebrating our anniversary. You never know what tasty freebies you might get.

Vancouver

Originally uploaded by marymompics

For some reason I didn’t take any pictures today. So even though it looks like I went to some nearby mountain or boarded a helicopter to take this picture, it’s actually just one off the internet. Anyway, that’s Vancouver. The setting is fabulous, the architecture not so much. I also enjoy the blue sky. It’s certainly not blue today.

Once again we arrived by ferry. It must be hard to live on an island and have to pay almost $70 when you and your spouse and your car want to go somewhere else.

We really didn’t do much today except make the trip here and check into the hotel. We ordered some food in and watched So You Think You Can Dance. Another exciting day!

   

Butchart GardensOriginally uploaded by marymompics

Today we went to the spectacular Butchart Gardens not far from Victoria. Since it was raining periodically, the crowds were not too large. We had a wonderful time and spent most of the day there. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

    

Port Angeles ferryOriginally uploaded by marymompics

Today we caught the ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC. We had made a reservation and I am glad we did. There are only three crossings a day and a lot of people had to wait until the next ferry. The trip was pretty uneventful although out in the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca the ship rolled a lot.

Since it was too early to check into our B & B, we followed a sign which read, “Centre of the Universe, 1500 m” with an arrow pointing to the right. Well, how can you pass up a sign like that? Especially since I know we are visiting another center of the universe in Idaho. Unfortunately this particular Center of the Universe is closed on Mondays. So we only have a picture of what we know is the real center of our universe.

We checked into our inn, the Gazebo Bed and Breakfast. It is run by a very nice Canadian/British couple who were very helpful with things to do, places to go and where to eat. The room is very nice and the gardens around the house are lovely. The downside is that the internet connection is functioning only occasionally which is strange. John hacked into their system but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Ergo, this post and the ones to follow are being written from Vancouver.

 

    

Mary Clark Rd.Originally uploaded by marymompics

We are riding along on a fairly deserted road near the Olympic National Park when what do we see? A road named Mary Clark Road! Wow! A road named after me. So, of course ,we took it for a short ways. My road had trees and bushes lining it. Also a couple of dirt roads came off of it. Someone had littered. But I am immortalized. How many people have a road. I wonder who she actually is (was).
 

Hoh Rain Forest

Originally uploaded by marymompics

Just a quick post to say that the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park is amazing. We took a short hike on the Moss Trail and the scenery was spectacular. There was moss hanging everywhere. It was abundantly green. And everything is gigantic. Trees here grow way bigger because of the conditions. There are spruces that are 300 feet high! And because it is a rain forest, it rained on cue. But the leafy canopy is so thick that few raindrops reach the ground. At Passover John always tells the story of Rabbi Akiba who walked between the rain drops to fool the Romans. In the rain forest it was actually possible!

I’ve been playing catch-up with my blogging as our cottage doesn’t have internet.  If there is one thing I’ve learned on this trip, it’s don’t book a place that doesn’t have internet and always get a king-sized bed.  Our charming cottage has neither but it is clean and cute.  It is also quite isolated and we haven’t had to interact with the other guests  or the hosts much.  We see this as a plus.  Here’s a picture of our cottage, the Morning Dove.

Today we went to the Olympic National Park and hiked up to the Marymere Falls.  How could we not?  Marymom does Marymere.  Anyway, I have discovered how incredibly out of hiking shape I am.  It was only about 2 miles.  Only the last part was really steep and only a couple hours later I am hurting quite a bit.  I guess tennis muscles don’t help hiking.  Below is a picture of the falls.  The park is enormous with Mount Olympus at the center.  Tomorrow we will go to the Hoh Rain Forest.  It should be fairly dripping with moss and verdant growth.

Lastly, we went to the Arts in Motion fair in downtown Port Angeles.  Two fairs in one week, it has to be a record for us.  There were the usual crafty things to buy, local talent on the stage and fair food but, there was also a sand sculpture contest!  It was great.  We saw these really large sand sculptures made in the shapes of cavemen, babies, musicians and the one that we voted for which was entitled “Jazz,” and was kind of cubist representation of the theme.

We also found out today that there is WiFi in the main lodge of the B & B so we are all set! (except for the queen size bed.)

EEK! Astoria Bridge

Originally uploaded by marymompics

So to give John a break, I took the wheel for the first part of our journey today. First, I drove up a really steep ramp with a curve in it, then I drove to the really high top of the two lane bridge and then coasted down and across. Yeah, sure I did. John drove and it made me feel sick just to be a passenger.

Most of today was spent getting to Port Angeles, WA. It wasn’t as long a trip as the GPS said it would be but it still took the better part of the day. We broke up the trip by a short stop to look at the Pacific County Courthouse in South Bend, WA, an old locomotive in McCleary, WA and lunch at Gwennie’s in Sequim. There, with what seemed to be the entire senior population of Sequim, we had a fresh Dungeness crab melt with avocado sandwich. It was quite good.

We got to our Hidden Haven B & B at 3PM but our instructions told us that there would be no checking in until 4 PM so we did some wine tasting at the Black Diamond Winery. The wine was mostly forgettable although we did buy a rhubarb wine. Then we stopped at the store to pick up something to cook for dinner, checked in, watched tennis and collapsed.