The Pacific Northwest…Seattle, WA with Side Trips to Panama City Beach, FL, Bend, OR and Vancouver, BC
This post is going to be a bit different than our usual. Our original plan once we got to Seattle from our adventures in Idaho was to stay roughly two weeks. During that time we would be sending Bubbles into the repair shop, visiting with family & friends and fly to the Florida Panhandle for a wedding before continuing on. Due to issues in obtaining very specialized RV parts from Canada our stay in the Seattle area turned out to be closer to a month. Since this post would be roughly 30 pages if I hit the highlights of each day, this post will be broken up into our highlights in Seattle as well as the side trips that we took from the city.
Seattle, Washington & the surrounding area
The first week and a half or so in Seattle was spent visiting with family and friends. Not only did my mom, Cindy, stay but also my Aunt Lorri and our friend Mary Lou joined from New Jersey. We had a great time with everyone. We spent the time wine tasting (WA wines are great!), trying new restaurants in Bellevue and Kirkland and generally relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. The big outing while everyone was in town was visiting Treehouse Point. If anyone reading this is familiar with the TV show “Treehouse Masters” then you have heard of Treehouse Point. Treehouse Point is a collection of tree houses that you can actually stay in. They also do tours once a day that you can go on and tour each of the tree houses. This was one thing that Julie had been looking forward to since she booked the tour tickets months before. When we lived in Rochester we would watch the show every week so it was safe to say Julie was already obsessed with this place. The visit there turned out to be awesome! It was a beautiful sunny day. We were able to tour 5 of the 6 tree houses. Each was handcrafted and stunning, it was such a cool day! Also while in Seattle we were able to catch up with friends Julia & Kyle, John & Virginia, Braxton & Carly, my cousin Evan and his girlfriend Teresa! We also had two great dinners with the Hollinger family! (Hi Everyone!). It was really special being able to catch up with all of these people, some we had not been able to see in a long time. We also did do a lot of actual touristy things while in Seattle. We visited the Public Market a few times picking up some great seafood, drank amazing coffee at the Starbucks Roastery, took in the Dale Chihuly glass museum, toured the Capitol Hill/Fremont/Columbia City neighborhoods and took in a Seattle Seahawks game. We also took a day trip to Mt. Rainier. This was truly spectacular as on a clear day you are able to see this mountain from the city even though its two hours away. The mountain did not disappoint once we got there. The entire drive to the mountain we weren’t sure if the experience was going to be great as it was foggy, cloudy and rainy. Then just about a mile or so outside of the park boundary the clouds lifted, the birds chirped and rays of bright sunshine shone down. The mountain gods were looking upon us and it was great. The hiking once we got to the top was so much fun (Just keep in mind its at 5000+ feet altitude!). It was also great being able to spend a lot of time with my Dad, Dave, as he works in Seattle. All in all we had a blast in this corner of Washington State.
Panama City Beach, Florida
A week and a half after arriving in Seattle it was time to take the first plane ride of the trip. Our friends Haze & Hannah were getting married. The timing of the wedding had worked out perfectly for us as we had known about it months prior. As this was the case we were able to work it into our Seattle stay without an issue. Even though we were going on a cross-country trip the travel part went as smoothly as possible. We hit no delays and arrived in Florida excited to see our friends and be in the warmth of the Sunshine State. Not only did we get to see the wedding of two great friends but since Haze was from Rochester most of our buddies flew down for the wedding as well. We had 4 amazing nights and days in Panama City Beach. Two of those nights we stayed at a great Airbnb right on the Panama City Bay. It was amazing being able to wake up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and stroll out into the sandy bay, water only a foot high as you watched hermit crabs scuttle around. The wedding also turned out to be one of the best. The setting for it was a county park beach and you could not have asked for a better day. It was a warm day with a soft breeze, which made pictures look amazing. We were very lucky to be able to spend the time with great people and see an amazing couple get married. Yay Panama City Beach!
Bend, Oregon
While in Panama City we had learned from our friend Tyler that he had to go to Bend, OR for work the next week. We thought this was great as we were not planning on going to Bend and we had heard it was a really neat city. The day after Tyler flew into Portland and drove to Bend we drove down to meet him for a night. From Seattle it was a 6 hour drive but worth it in every way. There is no highway that goes to Bend and to get there coming from the northwest you go right over Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood appeared to us as the twin to Mt. Rainier. On the western side leading up to the mountain we drove through lush cedar forests towering above us. As you curved on the road up the mountain the views were just stunning and as we crossed the top we even encountered snow that they had to plow already even though it was the middle of October. Once we got to the eastern side of the mountain the lush forests were gone, replaced with desert brush that we had seen while traveling through Utah, Idaho and eastern Washington. After passing through a few small farming communities we arrived in Bend and really loved it. Bend is a lot of things. It’s technically in the desert although its right next to a big ski resort of Mt. Bachelor. It also has a big branch of Oregon State University there as well as a multitude number of known and lesser-known breweries. Bend had a lot gong on for it. While in Bend we had a great time with Tyler. We visited a secret speakeasy on the 4th floor of a hotel that was only accessible when you walked into a janitors closet and pulled a broom handle. We also had a great dinner at Bend’s most famous brewery Deschutes. We would have liked to hang out with Tyler longer but as he was there for work he could not hang out as long as we all would have liked. Julie and I walked around the city a bit the next morning before leaving. While not on our original list of places to go Bend has found its way to our “we need to come here again” list.
Vancouver, British Columbia
As we had been to the furthest eastern city in Canada of St. John’s we felt that we needed to go to one of the furthest western cities that you can get to. So off we went for a weekend to Vancouver. The trip to Vancouver from Seattle is a fairly short one, only a 2.5 to 3 hour drive. Before we knew it we were crossing the border and driving into Vancouver proper. Vancouver is consistently on the lists of the top 5 places in the world to live. Its always in these lists for a reason, Vancouver is just incredible. The city itself is easy to get around in, a pretty moderate climate for Canada, friendly people and above all amazing scenery. While in Vancouver we ran into an outdoor hockey rink, surrounded by palm trees next to a city beach. No wonder people like this city so much. The first night we arrived we toured around Vancouver’s oldest district, the Gastown district. This is filled with small shops, restaurants, pubs and galleries. The centerpiece of this district is a clock that is powered by steam that puts on a show every 15 minutes. It was really fun to watch. The next day was spent exploring Granville Island, which holds Vancouver’s public market. To get there we had to take the smallest ferryboat that we had ever seen. These boats only fit 8-10 people max and have stops all around the city (the city is on a peninsula after all). The Granville public market turned out to be one of the better ones that we had been to. While not as big as the Public Market in Seattle we liked it just the same. Not only did they have what you would expect in terms of vendors selling vegetables, fruits and meats but they also had a number of great restaurants on the property. After visiting the market we took the little ferry back to the downtown area walking around and exploring for the rest of the day. The last day there we explored one of the best urban parks in North America, Stanley Park. The park is located on the tip of Vancouver’s peninsula and is hundreds of acres large. It includes everything from miles of hiking trails to a marina, naval post and zoo. We walked around the park for a long while taking in views of the city, mountains and watched cargo ships come in and out of the bay. We had a great time in Vancouver!
Next up….Bubbles is back in action and Cruisin with the Careys heads south to Portland, OR!
