Seattle - Mt. Rainer - 6/11/10 - Day 40 - 6400 Miles

We arrived Seattle Wednesday the 10th via ferry from Bainbridge Island to downtown Seattle. After a few screwy turns from the ferry we made it to the Marriott Courtyard in the heart of town. This hotel opened just 3 hours before we checked in. It was the old Alaska building which they bought and gutted, except for the historical lobby and facade and remodeled in a nice, contemporary style. We were the ninth guests to check in, the first in our room. It was so nice to have everything brand new in the hotel room even though the building itself is 112 years old and served the Klondike gold rushers in more ways then just providing a room.



Peg's cousin Bob, and Bob's delightful wife Barbara, have lived in Seattle for many years and were excited to show us their fair city. You can't beat local residents for tour guides, much better then the part time comedians on those red double-decker tour buses. After showing us the nice neighborhoods where they had lived, they drove us down to Pike's Market, the well known fresh food, fish and flower market, along with other stuff like really good cheese, wine, and an abundance of fresh herbs and spices. You have to remember, this is a city where folks buy organic food, and fresh locally grown vegetables and fruit, cheeses and flowers.



These are Idaho brook trout. Me, the one who never liked fish, so far has had Idaho Brook Trout twice and actually liked it. Goes to show you, even I, in my wise old age, is becoming more flexible and adventurous.




It's obvious, that the display of the food is equally important as the quality.

























Seattle, for sports teams, has had several professional teams, but from what we have seen, nothing has excited them more then their professional soccer team, the Seattle Sounders. The Thursday night we were there, the Sounders were playing the D.C. United, from Washington D.C. The tradition is for fans to march though Pioneer Park to the stadium, wearing their Seattle green, kind of a cross between neon green and chartreuse, shirts, hats, and waving their scarfs. On arrival, a volunteer fan band plays music at Qwest Field to help rally the supporters. Although quite a few local pubs, especially Fado's Irish Pub, had already done a good job of that. The fan turnout is one of the best soccer fan turnouts in the US, unfortunately though, they lost 3 - 0.


This exuberant young lady was selling horns for more noise and posed nicely for this pic.




We left Seattle for Mt. Rainier National Park. I am not sure if she is the tallest mountain in the cascades, but I would have to say she is the queen. Again, I am quoting from a pamphlet given to visitors. "As an active working volcano Mount Rainier stands as a reminder of the beauty and power of nature. The Cascade Range had been volcanically active for millions of years, thanks to its location close to the western edge of the North American tectonic plate. It is relatively young, in geological terms, it formed 500,000 years ago. Like Mount St. Helens and other Cascade volcanoes, Mount Rainier has the potential to erupt again at some unknown time.


We are in the lodge at about 8000 feet and it's another 3500 feet to the top. Special permits are required for hikers who go above the 10,000 foot level because of the many dangers involved. Not all listen though, so injuries and fatalities occur.

This alpine lake is still frozen but the colors are beautiful.




We left Mt. Rainier Park through the west entrance and continued east until we stopped at the charming, clean and beautiful little city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It is right on a very large and tranquil lake of the same name and should not be missed by any traveler coming through the Pacific Northwest.





Peg and I agree the three cities we like best so far are Sante Fe NM, Ashland OR and Coeur d'Alene ID. This is based on the cities charm, support of the arts, natural beauty and cleanliness. Of course, you wouldn't want to summer in Sante Fe any more then you would want to winter in Coeur d'Alene. Ashland winters are not too bad, rainy, but the other three seasons are very nice.

We drove on to Livingston, Montana and stayed the night before our visit Yellowstone National Park on the 13th. More about that on the next post.