Portland, Oregon

We did a day trip in to Portland, Oregon yesterday. Carol's cousin, Dena, and her husband Bill met us and we toured the city. Powell's Book Store is the largest independent book store in the country and we picked up a couple of used books there. The draw bridge is interesting...the Willamette River runs next to downtown and divides the city

2035 miles to Quadalajara, Mexico near where my brother & sister-in-law live

kids have fun going thru this water..in the waterfront park

There's a line of parks thru downtown and lots of statues. They have a light rail that runs thru downtown on the same street as the visitor center...we got pulled by a policeman for driving in the train lane...we saw the bus only lane, but didn't realize the train tracks were a no no! He was nice about it, and we were glad to see him as it was confusing.

If you look closely, you can see Mt. Hood in the background

The city of Roses, and what a beautiful Rose Garden that blooms May to October!

Carol and cousin Dena

Many ceremonies held here including weddings

We ended the day at a local Brewery for dinner and drinks. Dena & Bill with Steve and I. Bill works for a printing company that prints magazines for the Oregon coast, so we were able to get great information about the next leg of exploring the USA...the 300 miles of the Oregon coast

Mount St. Helen

We left Seatttle area yesterday and here's the Tacoma Dome on our way thru Tacoma We're at Mt. St. Helen's RV Park

Today we toured Mt. St. Helen...to refresh your memory (or to tell you younger ones), on May 18, 1980 a 5.1 earthquake shook the mountain causing a landslide. Then the volcano exploded, and ash roared 10 to 12 miles up. The blast flattened 230 sq. miles and killed 57 people. The largest landslide in recorded history swept thru the Toutle River Valley, choking rivers and lakes with mud, ash, and timber.

A portion of the blast zone, 110,000 acres, has been preserved as a national monument for visitors, scientists, and educators

If you look closely, you can see the dead trees on the ground

The valley has new growth thanks to many efforts...but some of it looks like hardened lava

Big Foot country! It was in the 50's up there, and 72 back at the trailer...glad to visit here.

Tomorrow we'll be exploring new territory...not sure where yet

Seattle Area

We camped outside of Seattle in Auburn and drove in on the 5..west coast talk..Quest and Safeco Sports Stadium

and the skyline

First stop, Space Needle..520' up

From up top..great views

I was a little chilly up there

you could barely see Mt. Rainier due to clouds, but on a clear day you can see it good

We then took the monorail to the center of town to go to Pike's Market

all kinds of seafood

lots of veggies

Parker Pickles

crabs...so many stalls of seafood, flowers, veggies, crafts, bakeries, etc.

The pig is famous...actually a piggie bank for charity

Peppers, what great colors

a little snack at a cheese company..behind Steve is the cheese being made

The first Starbucks..over 2000 coffee shops in Seattle on every corner...they love their coffee!

Laurie Herman, one of the youth group when Steve was a leader, is doing an internship at a church in Seattle..we had dinner together at Aqua Ferde and she gave us a list of things to do..even with addresses and phone numbers.

something we haven't seen before..yellow jacket traps everywhere

toured the campus of University of Washington

We found another fair the next day in Puyallup (got to be a story about this town's name), but I think we are done with fairs for this trip

We drove about an hour to Mount Rainier National Park

Huge trees in the Park

Doesn't it look like a post card? It is so amazing but hard to capture the beauty

Friday morning our son let us know that our townhome in Raleigh had a water problem..we shut off the water but apparently my energy efficient front load washing machine leaked water.

After a few phone calls, we picked up on our plans for the day...in to Seattle for seafood at Ray's Boat House on the water

and then to the Locks...here boats are waiting to pass from Salmon Bay to Puget Sound

The salmon migrate upstream to spawn and to help them pass, a fish ladder was built

The kinds of salmon that come thru here

There's a viewing area and here's a big one coming thru the ladder

We finished our Seattle visit on the Underground tour at Pioneer Square, the original settlement of Seattle that was closed down years ago Rich in history of debauchery and con men..quite an interesting tour

and the last picture..the Smith-Corona (typewriters) Building that was one of the tallest in the Nation when it was built

Spokane, Washington

We've made it to the furthest state in exploring the USA...Washington and guess what, another FAIR..so we had to go

We started collecting these can tabs for Ronad McDonald House after one of our friends told us about this..here's a ton of them

We tried Huckleberries today...they were so good..little like a blueberry and tart..there everywhere here

The Rodeo..Steve's first was great..here's the ladies riding in with the sponsors flags

riding the bulls

and the bucking bronos

Here was something different..the cowboy herded 2 buffalo on top of the trailer

Steve took a shine to Miss Rodeo Idaho (on his left) and Miss Rodeo Spokane

neither of us had either seen a Mutton Bustin' contest..the first contestant was 4 years old

He didn't stay on the sheep long

This 6 year old stayed on the longest!

We met this guy at a street fair downtown

Gonzaga campus is very nice

This was the home of Bing Crosby who was from Spokane and was donated to the University

In the middle of Spokane is Riverfront Park with Falls..this town was originally called Spokane Falls and later the Falls was dropped from the name

The clock tower in the distance, and by the way, it was the hottest day since we left July 10th..95 or so in Washington..really...

This Carrousel in the park is on the National Historic Register

and a big red wagon!

Also downtown we went to the Davenport Hotel..one of the best in the Nation

If you say in Spokane, meet at the fireplace..this is where you would meet

We stayed overnight in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho on the Spokane River...it was beautiful..and then on the next day to Spokane, Washington about 30 miles away

All the boats at this marina were under a blue roof

This is at the campground where we stayed on the water

Westward tomorrow