The Seattle Trip - July 2012

Saturday – A Long Day: Up at 4 AM in Minneapolis for a 7 AM flight. We arrived in Seattle 4 hours later, 9 AM local time. We took the light rail train to downtown. Checked in at our hotel and ate at the Cheesecake Factory.

The Monorail is only one mile long, with one terminal in downtown and the other in Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. This is the 50 year anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair, when the Monorail and Space Needle were state of the art. Now it looks so 60-‘ish, but it’s still impressive. We took the Monorail to Seattle Center then walked to the harbor to get our boarding pass and loading assignment for Monday’s trip to Canada. We also saw a cruise ship loading and getting ready to leave for an Alaskan cruise. On the walk back to Seattle Center we stopped at a glass blowing shop. We finally rode to the top of the Space Needle, 605 feet tall.

After admiring the view we discovered there would be a parade starting soon on the street in front of the Needle. While we waited, we ordered pizza from vendor handing out menus. They delivered right to where we sat watching the parade! By the time the parade was over we went back to Needle to see the view after dark (our earlier ticket allowed re-entry within 24 hours). Eventually we rode the Monorail back to downtown and to bed at 11 PM local time (1 AM CDT). A 21 hour day!!            See More Seattle Photos            back to top

Sunday – Moving Day: Today we moved to a different hotel in the Queen Anne area, very near the Space Needle (only had one night reserved for downtown). A short walk took us to the Science Center and Imax movie about Egyptian discoveries. King Tut display was also there, but we didn’t get tickets. The line was too long and sold out today.

Next we took bus to Pike’s Market. Walked around briefly (planning to return on Tuesday). Ate fresh fish at Cutter’s.            More Photos            back to top

Monday – Canada: Up early and took cab to the Victoria Clipper port. A three hour ride on the Clipper took us to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Back to Victoria with about three hours to wander downtown. Had some very good fish and chips (halibut and French fries). Went inside the Parliament building, which is like our state capital. The trip back on the Clipper was quiet. Everyone was tired.            More Canada and Butchart Gardens Photos            back to top

Tuesday – Fish Throw: We took a morning city bus to Pikes Market and had a roll and coffee for breakfast at one of the many great shops. Saw the famous fish throw, walked through all of the market vendors. Lots of fresh fruit, flowers, all kinds of food, groceries, etc. Visited the Aquarium, took a one hour cruise around the harbor. Ate at Etta’s. Fresh fish again, of course.            Fish Market Photos            back to top

Wednesday - The Mountains!: This morning we picked up our rental car and drove to Mt Rainier. About a three hour drive plus another hour through the national park to get to the Paradise ranger station. We walked up one of the hiking trails, about a mile. Beautiful views with snow alongside the trail. We were 5,400 feet above sea level. Many online reviews said you might not get to see the Mt Rainier glacier because of the fog and clouds. It was a great day while we were there. Blue sky with high clouds. As we left the parking lot we noticed a large cloud bank was quickly moving in and was obscuring the view. We were there at the perfect time to see everything.

We drove down the mountain to the east and headed for Mt St. Helens, about two hours away. The road was paved, but quite winding and right along the edge. One side was mountain, the other was thousands of feet down, through lots of trees and rocks. More great views. Once we reached Mt St. Helens, we had a thirty mile drive to reach the Windy Ridge Observation site. This was another hour drive on winding roads through the forest. As we got closer to the top we could see the damage from the volcanic eruption in 1980. Many dead trees with only trunks still standing. Very barren look. As we got closer, the dead trees were on the ground, all knocked down in the same direction. Windy Ridge Observation Point is very aptly named. Once parked in the lot, we climbed 361 steps to see a great view. We could see the portion of the mountain that was blown out with the volcano and tree trunks still floating in the river. You can see four mountains from here: Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, Mt Adams and Mt St Helens. We drove back down the mountain and back to Seattle, arriving at 9:30 PM.            More Photos of Mt Rainier and St Helens            back to top

Thursday - Home Again: Took city bus to Pioneer Square, the original old part of town. Took the Underground tour to see how the city has been built above the original buildings over time. Then returned to hotel for our luggage and took cab downtown to the train terminal and back to airport. We ate lunch at the airport while we waited for our evening flight. As the plane gained altitude, I could see the four mountains: Mt Rainer, St. Helens, Adams and Hood. I was in awe watching them and didn’t get my camera out quickly enough to take a good picture, but I did get a photo above the clouds. Arrived Minneapolis and got to our room about 1 am local time, another long day.            back to top