Fish & Chips + Dune Fest

Yum!! Fresh fish and chips in an Oregon coast marina.

We had just pulled in to make some lunch 

and Dune Fest was happening! 

Man it would be fun to have an ATV!!!

Lunch on the beach...

                                                                                                 

We found the Pacific!!

There is endless beauty that awaits on the Oregon coast, rock formations stand in the ocean, coast lines that stretch into the beyond, and clean crisp air. We started our highway 101 drive crossing over the Columbia River on the Astoris-Megler Bridge, seeing a sign about half way across reading, Welcome to Oregon. The bridge let us off in Astoria, the oldest settlement west of the Rockies. Down the coast we passed through popular beach vacation towns and and fisherman villages. Taking an alternate route, Three Capes Loop, we pulled over to watch two parasailers jump off the side of a cliff and sail to Cape Lookout beach below. Camping at Cape Lookout State Park, we took in our first Pacific Coast beach. The Oregon coast is known as, "The People's Beach," the public own the beaches of Oregon, not the state!! We built a fire on the beach, one night, as the sun set, and the next day, heading farther south, we came across a more secluded beach that allowed vehicles. We drove onto the beach to have lunch and ended up staying most of the afternoon reading and shell finding (my most beloved shells yet), colorful starfish lay at the water's edge. Sea lions lay out on the rocks at Cape Arago, and we spotted grey whale spouts off a coastal overlook. Put the Oregon Coast on your list of things to see in our America!!

 

We lost a door somewhere in Washington...

 

Seattle

There's no way to miss Seattle's Space Needle in the Queen Anne's district, but the Garden of Glass Exhibition won't be in town much longer. We didn't go in the exhibition but you can see enough from outside the gates to tell it's a spectacular work of art. We headed downtown where locals and tourists flood Pike's Place Market, the oldest continually running market in the states. I got a pound of rainier cherries, which Washington is renowned for, and two nectarines--YUM!! Fish mongers yell orders and throw fish to one another, entertaining great groups of people. Everything and anything for sale!! We visited a famous old magic shop, a used book store, an AWESOME map shop, and ate at the side street Falafel King, sharing a wrap, while watching the city pass by, then walked to Post Alley where Chris faced the wall of GUM (I don't do well with birds, Chris doesn't do well with gum). The next day we made sure we got a Seattle coffee (not a Starbucks coffee, but the original Starbucks is located in Seattle next to Pike's Market). Chris and I enjoyed Seattle and got to see a bit of it all: the historic district, Pioneer Square (with hundreds lined up outside the soup kitchen), the shopping district (with every major name brand store to imagine), the bohemian district, Fremont (where I took Chris to find a big ol troll under a bridge, built to honor the arts of Fremont), and the business district (busy, busy, busy...). And to top it all off we saw a Ferrari take of down main street and the buildings carried its beautiful sound through blocks and blocks away.

Our Bocce Ball...

Ha!! So Chris and I invested in a bocce ball set some thousands of miles ago and have had lots of fun playing!! This duck thought our bocce balls were his treats and every time we would throw one he would go after it, pecking at times, he was right in the middle of our game, and wasn't afraid one bit. We thought he had retreated back to his lake but found that he was hiding behind some bushes, and came waddling out to fetch the bocce balls again on the second game. By the third game he had called his friends and they all started to gather around trying to figure out just what were these big colorful round objects.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...

747s  777s  787s

The engineers who build them,

The stages of the assembly line,

Done with incredible speed,

In the largest building in the world (by volume)...

Sorry no cameras allowed on the tour,

Putting great perspective on the world 

and future of aviation.

We had a chance to visit the Boeing Plant in Everett, 

Washington while visiting the Seattle Area.

To Really See...

I want to start this post by apologizing for not taking pictures of the unforgettable Northern Cascades in Washington. I suppose I didn't, I couldn't, because I could not lend my attention away from the wonder of this place. Unspeakable beauty, and a prescence of pure nature that could not be touched or exploited, exsisiting for the simple purpose of being awed. Tranquil mountains stand tall, some rolling above, others speared through the clouds.Water falls, cascade down mountain sides into glacieral rivers that hold water of  the purest blue, inviting at the site, piercingly cold to the touch. This is the kind of place that stays on the back of your eye lids while resting them at night. I often think about photographs while and after taking them, and hope that those who read and look at our pictures can capture a glimpse of the beauty we see before us, but this time I just could not lend a lens.

First Position

The Magical Lantern Theatre, an independent theatre, located in charming downtown Spokane Washington, was an intimate viewing of a film. The barista made us a mocha served in a bright deep mug, and asked if we would like a saucer. We sat in the antiqued lobby with aged wooden floors, and sipped. Approaching the table the manager took away our empty mugs, and let us know we could be seated for the show within 10minutes. The screen room had about 15 seats, covered with an eloquent printed pattern. There were about 5 other people sitting on the back row, 2 of which I pegged as dancers.

First Position is a Sundance film, a documentary focusing in the lives of 5 dancers, revealing 

pain, dedication, and love.

The appreciation of art must come from within. 

Side Note: 

Right next door to the Magical Latern is the first REAL Comic Book Shop (actual name) I had ever been in...it had tha guy...you know the one that works there, showing off a hero figurine, and a group of adults in the back throwing around Magic cards...SO COOL!! 

Such a good dog waiting on his master outside of a store in Idaho.

From Montana to Washington

Crossing what is known as the Panhandle of Idaho, we laughed stopping at the Idaho state sign. We both had the thought 'Idaho will probably be the first state sign we actually get to take a picture in front of...,' the thought materialized. Funny because we have looked for opportunities to take our picture in front of all other state signs we have spent lots of time in...but the state that we enter and exit within an hour has a most convienent place to stop for a picture...ha. Hwy 2 has unbelievable views of Lake Pend Oreille, one of the largest natural lakes in the world, totally unexpected.
Parts of the lake is pinned with a community of
desirable lake homes. This small distance across
Idaho was simply beautiful, the last bit of the drive
turned to blue hills stretching out to the left and right,
reminding us of home and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

"See America First"

 

Glacier National Park!! AWESOME!! We were taken by this life-filled place. 

Below are some of the aspects that made our experience memorable:

Plant Life--Over 3thousand different species of wildflowers that grow in Glacier--this of course not counting all of the trees and other foliage! Some of them are so tiny and together color a whole field--others large and vibrant. I do not know the names of all of my favorites--there are many to admire--with every corner there was a new color with a life of its own. 

Bear Grass (white plant above)-- capturing my attention from first arrival, imagine my excitement when I found out bear grass is the'unofficial flower of Glacier,' only blooming every 7years--we were ever so fortunate to be able to see them--and they are called bear grass not because bears eat them but because Lewis and Clark saw bears standing in a patch of them--thus naming them the obvious.

Going to the Sun Road on the Red Bus Tour--the Red Bus tours were established in 1900's when people arrived to Glacier National mostly by horseback and train--they could simply hop on the bus and see Glacier--it was great to travel Glacier the same way as early travelers did--there are still all origianl red buses except for one---#100 that was run off a cliff by some young gear jammers (red bus drivers)long ago, having a little to much fun--we rode BUS99--the doors are still wooden and line the right side of the bus--the roof is canvas and is rolled into place creating an open roof--we had stops on our tour called prarie dog stops--standing up and looking out of the roof. Our tour guide was from good 'ol Georgia--Blake was about our age and filled with information about the park. He made goofy jokes all day--a group of bikers came by and  he said, "There are a lot of motorcycles out this time of year, we hear the bears refer to them as 'meals on wheels,' yeah...jokes like that:) We did get to see a grizzly cub twice on our tour--mountain goats and big horn sheep as well. 

 Campgrounds/Hike-- we stayed in three different locations: Cut Bank, Two Medicine and Avalanche, the sites were tucked away in the trees and quiet, at Two Medicine we went to a ranger talk featuring John Gladstone that sang songs and told stories--so much fun!! Two Medicine was a beautiful place to hike too, we went on the lake loop hike, we hiked a total of almost 10miles!! The hike took us to waterfalls, over rivers, across a swinging bridge, through plants that were as tall as my head--jungle like, and then returned us to the forest. Tired, with one mile left we saw a moose and her baby, an intriguing animal, filling our spirits we hiked on. Priceless.

"See America First" was Glacier Parks original logo, advertising that you 

didn't have to go across seas to see amazing wonders 

they are right here in 'your own backyard'.