Pacific Northwest Trip 2022

We flew to Seattle Washington on October 5 and picked up our rental car. After exploring the PNW for about three weeks we flew out of San Francisco. We visited friends along the way and enjoyed the many beautiful sights.

We spent a few days in Seattle, staying at the Belltown Inn close to Pike Place Market.

Our first evening in Seattle we went to eat at the market and found it was closed in the evenings. We went back the next day and found it quite busy. It has about 6 levels of different shops. Originally a farmers/fish market there are not many that haven't been displaced by tourist shops. The flower market there had beautiful displays at a very modist price.

A stall where you could buy cooked fish products.

The famous Pike Place fish market. They have been throwing fish here for a lot of years. Emerson had been there maybe 40 years ago while attending a conference and was quite surprised to see a fish being tossed. This time we were waiting for it to happen along with a lot of other tourists. It's fun.

The Space Needle was built in 1962 for a World's Fair. The observation deck is 520 feet above the ground.

Along the path inside waiting to go to the top

Looking down from the top. It was a bit of a hazy day due to continuing forest fires but we still enjoyed the view and spent quiet a bit of time at the top looking around. It was more fun than I expected.

Laying down as the observatory turns.

The Seattle skyline behind us.

Looking through a sculpture at the nearby sculpture garden.

Instead of waiting for a table at Elliott's Oyster House we sat at the oyster bar. We had another lovely evening talking to this young man as he was opening a steady stream of raw oysters. The food was good. We didn't eat any oysters. He had stock from different bays and people were asking for oysters by their location.

A high school classmate of Emerson lives close to Seattle. They became reaquainted at their 50th reunion. We joined Steve and his wife Kate early one morning and road the Victoria Clipper to Victoria Canada. Our objective was to see the Butchart Gardens.

The gardens are part of an old quarry and are gorgeous.

A short video of this moving fountain.

One of several other fountains.

Having fun.

Some of the beautiful flowers and other plants.

The water taxis start their day.

You could hire a water taxi to take a tour of the harbor. Our guide was quite delightful.

We rode the ferry back to Seattle and said good-bye to Kate and Steve. We spent another night at the Belltown Inn.

The National Park Service has a museum about the Klondike gold rush.

The hardships these people endured was amazing. However, there were quotes from some who didn't make any money on the experience but were glad they had done it.

Linda, Naomi, Sandra and Emerson. We had a nice visit and lunch at their house and explored their wonderful yard. From here we drove to Mt. Rainier.

Mt Rainier behind us. It looks a lot more rugged than I expected. No wonder it's a difficult trek to the top for those that try it.

Mt Rainier behind Linda.

From Mt. Rainier we drove to Olympic National Forest. It is a temperate rain forest. The answers are "B" and "C". We drove around the north side of the park getting on the start of highway 101 and followed down the coast into California. We occasionally got off of it but only to be closer to the coast.

Typical rain amounts and how much had fallen by October 11 2022. The whole coast was experiencing a lack of rain.

On a walk starting from the HOH visitor center.

On our walk.

It was so green and lush. Everything is covered with green except where people step off the trail and then it is bare ground.

Along the walk a very nice stream.

Next we drove to Mt. Saint Helens.

A map of the Mt. St. Helens area. We passed several closed gas stations on the way up and I was getting concerned we as we were getting kind of low. The Ranger said there was a gas station along the route we were taking back to Astoria. It helped that we got great gas mileage on the downhill part of the trip.

Mt. Saint Helens.

Vancouver was the small town where the observers were based. Shortly after his transmission David Johnston was obliterated by the explosion.

The Cascade Range is volcanically active.

We drove to Astoria. Besides being famous for the setting of the movie "The Goonies" it is where the the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived at the Pacific Ocean. This tower has a great view of the city and inlet to the Columbia river.

They sell balsa wood gliders at the gift shop to send off the top of the tower. We bought a couple to bring home but left them in the rental car.

Their route.

We stopped at a lot of lighthouses as we traveled down the coast. This one is at Cape Disappointmet State Park just north of Astoria.

North Head Lighthouse.

A typical view down the coast.

We stayed at a funky hotel called the Atomic Inn with lots of 1960's decorations on October 11.

We spent a lot of time at the Columbia River Maritime Museum the next day.

The Coast Guard life boat service has been busy here over the years.

The Bar.

Driving on down the coast we stopped for the evening in Seaside Oregon.

It was fairly late in the season and a lot of restaurants were closed. We decided to try this place called Nonni's Italian Bistro. We had to wait awhile to be seated but it was worth the wait. People coming out recommended the chicken picata. We both got it and it was wonderful ranking as one of our better alltime meals.

We then headed up the Columbia River from Astoria on October 13.

A view looking down the Columbia River Gorge.

The Vista House, a famous landmark overlooking the gorge.

Inside. They had a nice little museum in the basement about developing the gorge parks.

The gorge is famous for its wind surfing.

Wind surfers in action. Shot from Vista House.

We stopped at several falls along the route.

The most famous is Multnomah Falls.

Second highest year round water fall in the US.

Linda on the Benson bridge.

We went to the end of the gorge at the Dalles where there is another nice museum. The environment quickly changes from rain forest to very dry as you go inland.

Exhibits on early migration theories.

Native American culture was covered.

A wooden carving of a sturgeon.

Some sturgeon were much bigger.

Mt Hood. 15 Oct.