North West USA

deel 4

Zondag 4 juni 2023

After breakfast we drive to the Sol Duc valley, an area in the Olympic National Park about 50 minutes west of Port Sol DucAngeles. The rainforest is also very dense here. We follow the Sol Duc river to the end of the road. There is a parking lot where a number of walks start. I follow the 0.8 mile trail to the Sol Duc waterfall. The path is not too difficult, but goes up and down a few times. The height difference is about 60 meters. The waterfall is beautiful and fierce. From the parking lot we drive back a bit to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. This is a thermal bath with spring water. It smells like sulfur. You can splash in the jacuzzi here. We don't and we drive to Crescent Lake. That's a big lake on US-101. We drove past it yesterday and this morning. It is elongated and also fairly wide. It is used for swimming and fishing.
We drive back to Port Angeles and have lunch in our apartment, or rather in its garden in the sunshine of Sol Duc Falls. In the afternoon we drive to Hurricane Ridge Road, which leads to the tops of the ridge, which also includes Mt Olympus. Unfortunately, the road is (still) closed. The snow probably hasn't cleared yet. We go to the visitor center and then back to the apartment.
In the evening we eat at Bella Italia, said to be the best Italian restaurant. That is disappointing. The food is nothing special and the service is a bit lacking.

Weather: sunny, 11 to 17 degrees

 

Monday 5 June 2023

After breakfast we drive to Port Townsend, the ferry port to Coupeville in the northeast of the Olympic Peninsula. Here we will cross by ferry to Whidbey Island, which forms the northern edge of the Puget Sound. Before embarking for the 12:30pm sailing, we explore the old town of Port Townsend. Along the waterfront there are numerous old factories and warehouses, which have been converted into shops, studios, hotels and restaurants. We drink coffee at the waterfront and walk along  Water Street. At a quarter to twelve we join the queue of cars that want to board the ferry. We have made a reservation. The crossing takes about half an hour.

On the other side we drive to Coupeville, the capital of the island. It is a  village of 1800 inhabitants with beautiful wooden houses and a nice village center, where even a stray elk walks around. We have lunch at Toby's before we can check in at the Coupeville Inn. A striking wooden building with a view of the water.

Later in the afternoon we visit Fort Casey. It was built in the late 19th century to protect the entrance to Puget Sound from hostile invasion. Initially the enemy was Great Britain, later Japan. The position soon lost its military significance. It is now a State Park. The Admiralty Head lighthouse from 1903 is also located here. The lighthouse has not been in use since 1922.

In the evening we have dinner at Captain Whidbey, a 7-minute drive north of Coupeville. Beautifully situated on the waterfront of Penn Cove. We have a delicious meal.

Weather: sunny, 17˚

Tuesday 6 June 2023

The breakfast at the Coupeville Inn is disappointing. There is very little choice. Luckily we have some meats left from the Airbnb to satisfy our morning apetite. After breakfast we drive to Ebey State Park on the west coast. Nice view from a hill is our reward. We continue to Langley. The other village on the island. Beautiful main street with many artsy shops, studios and eateries. Then we continue to the ferry. It departs fifteen minutes after we get there. It is a short crossing, barely 20 minutes. We arrive in Mukilteo. From there it is a 45 minute drive to our Airbnb in Seattle. On the way we have lunch at McDonald's and after arrival we do some shopping at Safeway. This Airbnb is also in the basement under the house and with arather low ceiling. Not as low as in Port Angeles, but a beam runs the length of the ceiling just under six feet above the floor. It is also a bit noisy, although the owner, who lives upstairs, is a quiet neighbor.

In the evening we eat at an Ethiopian eatery nearby. Good food, but we get full quickly.


Weather: sunny 25˚
 

Wednesday 7 June 2023

We take the bus, line 3 towards downtown, because we are going to the Museum of Pop Culture. We bought a day pass for public transport online. Then the bus turns out not to go all the way to where we want to go. We change to line D and get quite close. Another 5 minute walk and we're there. The museum was opened in 2000 as a result of an initiative by Paul Allen, Bill Gates' partner in the founding of Microsoft, who was bought out and started this museum with his proceeds, among other things. He is now deceased. The museum is dedicated to the popular culture of the 1960s and beyond. Lots of music, but also film, photography, film and much more. We see musical instruments (celebrity originals), interactive exhibits for learning to play, exhibitions about Jimmy Hendrickx, science fiction, horror, rap, and so much more. The design of the building by Frank Gehry (known from Guggenheim Bilbao) is also special.

After the museum we walk to the sculpture garden of the Seattle Art Museum on the shore of the Puget Sound. The sculpture garden spans over a  highway and a freight railway track. A sculpture by Jaume Plensa looks familiar.

Then we take an Uber to the Seattle Central Library. This was designed by Rem Koolhaas from Rotterdam and his office OMA. It is an impressive 10 storey building. The facade is transparent with small windows in the middle and an atrium over the full height of the building. Upstairs in a viewing platform. We take bus 2 back to the Airbnb.

In the evening we take bus 2 to the gay area and drink a cocktail and a beer. We eat at Osteria de la Spiga and then head to the Pony, Seattle's traditional gay bar. It's not that busy. Relaxed, though. Back with an Uber.

Weather: sunny 27˚

Thursday 8 June 2023

  It's going to be a very warm and sunny day. We take the bus to Pike Place Public Market. It is very busy there, mainly with tourists, who flock to this farmer's and fresh markets . There is mainly food, flowers and other edible goods for sale, but also a lot of handicrafts. On the ground floor there are mainly market stalls, but on the lower level there are also shops with the strangest specialties such as miniature cars, film posters, old records, stamps and coins. The market has also expanded to the other side of Pike Place, where there are more restaurants that specialize in one product, such as cheese, ginger beer, chowder and more. Some of them (like the Pike Place Chowder) are clearly hyped on TikTok, clearly visible by the very long queue. After a while we get tired of strolling and the crowd and we have lunch at a Greek seafood restaurant overlooking the Puget Sound. Not very special, but you also pay for the view. I think we were here in 2000.
We take the bus back to the apartment and rest a bit. In the afternoon we go by car to Fremont, a neighborhood north of Lake Union. At the initiative of the neighbourhood, a number of special works of art have been placed on the street here. Under the viaduct of the Aurora bridge we find the Urban Troll. A little further down Fremont Place is a statue of Lenin. Two blocks down, off Easton Ave, the Fremont Rocket has landed. Finally, we see a group of statues of waiting tram passengers waiting for an imaginary tram.

After all this public art we drive to Gas Works Park. This small park is located on the north shore of Lake Union. At the edge of the park are the remains of the only remaining gas plant in the US. The factory operated from 1906 to 1956. The park was opened in 1975. It is the setting for various festivals and events such as concerts, fireworks and bicycle tours. From the artificial hill you have a beautiful view of downtown Seattle. The lake is used for sailing, rowing, canoeing, sailing, surfing and supping.

After this we drive on to Kerry Park. A miniscule park with the best view of Downtown from Uptown.
We crawl our way back to the apartment by car through the evening rush hour and then take the bus back to downtown to eat at Wild Ginger, a fusion restaurant with dishes from various countries around the Pacific Ocean.

Weather: sunny and warm, 28˚

Weer: zonnig en warm, 28˚

Friday June 2023

We get up around 7 am, have breakfast, clean up and pack our luggage. We drive to a gas station for the last fill up and then head out of downtown to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. That's about half an hour's drive south. At the airport we return the car at the rental car facility and are then taken to the terminal by shuttle bus. Handing in the luggage goes quickly, but we have to stand in line for half an hour for the security check. Then we have lunch and wait for the departure of our flight with Delta to Amsterdam. We board around 1pm. The flight departs a little late. Everything goes well until we have just passed Iceland and a doctor and/or nurse is called for. Erik reports "for duty", but a doctor has already been found. Someone has had a stroke and the captain decides to make an emergency landing in Keflavik in Iceland. We turn around and land 25 minutes later at Keflavik. It takes us almost two hours to get the patient out and refuel. After that it is another two hours and twenty minutes to Amsterdam. The captain jokes that Delta is not charging anything for the second flight of the day. The purser adds that we saved a life today. That sounds nice, but we do get tired. Especially because we are seated near a crying child. The parents don't know what to do with it.

At Schiphol we are led to a remote gate, so we have to board a bus to the terminal. Once there, our luggage has beaten us to it and is waiting for us on the belt. The 12:10 InterCity Direct train service is not running today and we have to wait 40 minutes for our train. That is – just like on the outward journey – an IC New Gen and we race to Rotterdam at 200 km/h. We take an Uber home from Central Station.

Weather: in Seattle light rain and 16˚. In Rotterdam sunny and 30˚

 

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