We liked Vancouver. Went to Stanley Park and walked around; definitely our kind of city. Perhaps a little too far north, the sun set around 10pm which is a tad odd. I'd hate to be there in January when the sun sets at 3pm.
Unfortunately the things we wanted to do in Vancouver all involved spending more money than we had. So we left Canada and drove back to Washington, this time down the east side of Seattle and to Mt Rainier National Park.
Mt Rainier was socked in with snow. We got a site at one of the lower elevation campgrounds on the east side of the mountain (Ohanapecosh or something like that). The next day we walked along the river since most of the trails in the park were under 8 ft or more of snow. The river was full and there was a 1/4-mile or so long section of rapids/cataracts called Silver Falls. It was really gushing.
Naturally we did not climb over the barrier for a closer shot.
Aaron had a cold, so the hiking was fairly short. We continued along to a boardwalk in a grove for lunch and turned around. Brought the extra sleeping bags into the tent at night for the 40-something chill.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Week 1 Stats
I meant to post this earlier, but internet has been sketchy. Post it while you got it!
Here are some stats for the first week of the road trip:
Miles driven: 1109.8
States visited: 3
Brewpubs visited: 4
Brewpubs open when we got there: 2
Number of times we tore apart and rearranged the car: 3
Kombucha consumed: 1.5 pints
Here are some stats for the first week of the road trip:
Miles driven: 1109.8
States visited: 3
Brewpubs visited: 4
Brewpubs open when we got there: 2
Number of times we tore apart and rearranged the car: 3
Kombucha consumed: 1.5 pints
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Scooby Update
Since everyone really loves Scooby our kombucha culture, here's an update. :)
We pulled our first road-trip-kombucha over the weekend. It was not as sour as the stuff we made in Oakland, so we didn't like it quite as much. Probably too cold (low 50s at night and 60s during the day) lately and it didn't fully convert. Scooby also looked a little sad, but we fed him again and we'll try to drive to warmer places.
We pulled our first road-trip-kombucha over the weekend. It was not as sour as the stuff we made in Oakland, so we didn't like it quite as much. Probably too cold (low 50s at night and 60s during the day) lately and it didn't fully convert. Scooby also looked a little sad, but we fed him again and we'll try to drive to warmer places.
Leaving the US
...for now. We broke camp in Sequim Bay and headed toward the Port Townsend ferry. A short sail later and we were on one of the islands in Puget Sound. Definitely moving to the islands in Puget Sound, they are great. Stopped for lunch at Deception Pass which was a wonderful idea, very beautiful. No, Hilary does not have a back problem in this picture- she's looking for rocks to skip unsuccessfully (okay, sometimes successfully) in the surf.
Drove back onto the mainland across a few bridges and through the last bit of Washington. Took the side road across the border since the big magic billboard told us the wait was shorter. After confirming we didn't have any guns, the border patrol told us to have a nice time in Vancouver. It was weird leaving the mountains, islands, and hills of Olympic and Seattle and then driving across the flat floodplains leading to Vancouver. On the plus side, Vancouver is proving to be warmer and drier.
Arrived in Vancouver mid-afternoon. Checked into our one night of hotel (we're spoiling ourselves in the last west coast city destination), and headed across the bridge on foot to dinner at Vij's. Thoroughly stuffed ourselves there and tomorrow we'll visit the local parks.
Map Link
Drove back onto the mainland across a few bridges and through the last bit of Washington. Took the side road across the border since the big magic billboard told us the wait was shorter. After confirming we didn't have any guns, the border patrol told us to have a nice time in Vancouver. It was weird leaving the mountains, islands, and hills of Olympic and Seattle and then driving across the flat floodplains leading to Vancouver. On the plus side, Vancouver is proving to be warmer and drier.
Arrived in Vancouver mid-afternoon. Checked into our one night of hotel (we're spoiling ourselves in the last west coast city destination), and headed across the bridge on foot to dinner at Vij's. Thoroughly stuffed ourselves there and tomorrow we'll visit the local parks.
Map Link
Seattle and Olympic NP
Seattle is gorgeous. We're moving there, at least until we see something else that is also beautiful. Let's wait a few days and see what happens.
Went to a wedding in West Seattle. It rained in the morning but cleared up a few hours before the ceremony. We watched with baited breathe as the rain crossed the sound, but it held off until we started walking to the reception across the street. Hooray! The wedding was super cute and the setting was beautiful. There was even an osprey carrying off a fish as vows were exchanged. We'll presume that bodes well.
Seattle was great. We parked near the wedding in the early afternoon and took a bus to downtown. We visited Pike Place market (of course) and were rather sad that fish doesn't keep well on the road. Such great looking fish! We visited a little shop and got some temporary road trip wedding bands since the lack of rings was driving us slowly insane. Had the sampler at the Pike; the beer ranged from ok to fairly good. The city itself was great, we loved the hills, the green, and the water.
Stayed the night in Tumwater again, then set off for Olympic National Park. We drove up the east side and got a camp site at Sequim Bay state park. [the state parks tend to have showers, the national parks most often do not.] The forecast called for a couple days of dry weather, so we chanced booking two nights at our site. That afternoon we drove down a random forest road (not the one we intended to, but the signage was not particularly great) and found ourselves at a trailhead for Mt Zion. We hiked to the summit along a great 1.8 mile trail, only 1300 feet vertical. Great views of the Olympic mountains through the misty fog and it only rained on us a little.
After a night of solid rain (forecast for dry...) we left camp and traveled to the west coast where there is a strip of park along the beach. We walked along Rialto Beach until the tide hemmed us in, and had a picnic lunch. After that we drove down to the Hoh Rain Forest and walked through the mossy trees. Maple trees were common, that was surprising. The moss was pretty intense and we are planning on coming back here to do the rainforest-to-glacier trail: a 37 mile round trip hike. Someday when we have a warm house to return to later.
It was actually sunny-ish and fairly warm, so when we returned to camp our stuff was mostly dry. We decided to head out the next morning before more rain moved in.
Went to a wedding in West Seattle. It rained in the morning but cleared up a few hours before the ceremony. We watched with baited breathe as the rain crossed the sound, but it held off until we started walking to the reception across the street. Hooray! The wedding was super cute and the setting was beautiful. There was even an osprey carrying off a fish as vows were exchanged. We'll presume that bodes well.
Seattle was great. We parked near the wedding in the early afternoon and took a bus to downtown. We visited Pike Place market (of course) and were rather sad that fish doesn't keep well on the road. Such great looking fish! We visited a little shop and got some temporary road trip wedding bands since the lack of rings was driving us slowly insane. Had the sampler at the Pike; the beer ranged from ok to fairly good. The city itself was great, we loved the hills, the green, and the water.
Stayed the night in Tumwater again, then set off for Olympic National Park. We drove up the east side and got a camp site at Sequim Bay state park. [the state parks tend to have showers, the national parks most often do not.] The forecast called for a couple days of dry weather, so we chanced booking two nights at our site. That afternoon we drove down a random forest road (not the one we intended to, but the signage was not particularly great) and found ourselves at a trailhead for Mt Zion. We hiked to the summit along a great 1.8 mile trail, only 1300 feet vertical. Great views of the Olympic mountains through the misty fog and it only rained on us a little.
After a night of solid rain (forecast for dry...) we left camp and traveled to the west coast where there is a strip of park along the beach. We walked along Rialto Beach until the tide hemmed us in, and had a picnic lunch. After that we drove down to the Hoh Rain Forest and walked through the mossy trees. Maple trees were common, that was surprising. The moss was pretty intense and we are planning on coming back here to do the rainforest-to-glacier trail: a 37 mile round trip hike. Someday when we have a warm house to return to later.
It was actually sunny-ish and fairly warm, so when we returned to camp our stuff was mostly dry. We decided to head out the next morning before more rain moved in.
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