Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Two things about America that I forgot before I get to Canada... (1) Everything is a drive through! From San Francisco up through, there are these tiny buildings (chains and independent stores) that you drive around to get coffee. I think it must be claustrophobic inside the building! Caffeine (and Subway!) is taken very seriously (and speedily!) My favorite chain (by logo/color scheme) is Dutch Bros! (2) There are these funny traffic lights (thought I was seeing things in Portland) at the on ramps to some highway entrances, and they flash green for when you can go: "Only one car per green". To try to improve traffic flow?!?! I had never heard of this!

On to Canada! I arrived safely Monday night and noticed flashing green lights?!? And made it to my Airbnb on the bus after finding $2.75 in exact change, no small feat. It wasn't far but with my ever expanding bag, I was happy for the lift. 

I headed out running (by taking the bus! Where everyone thanks the bus driver on entering and exiting!) on Tuesday morning in Stanley Park. As I don't run with my phone, there are no photos but it was a gorgeous day and Stanley Park is very cool. Google it! I returned to do laundry (after my final "training" run) and get some groceries for a calm evening of cooking and sleep. 

Wednesday I headed out to Granville Island for some heavy touristing after visiting City Hall

 (Mr. Vancouver himself) and a very cute coffee shop in a historic building (saw many historic buildings with plaques on this walk, privately owned well maintained homes in gorgeous colors. The coffee shop used to be a house as well.) I headed down to the water (lots of waterfront paths in Vancouver!) to head toward the island (not really an island!) and found some pals:



and a cool sculpture!

  

All those clouds back there are covering mountains. Right there. I never got a good picture because there were always clouds covering them but they were very, very impressive. Closer than the mountains in Seattle! (All pretty though!) I wandered around in the market (good for lunch, though Pike Place Market is definitely better) Apparently this is the second most visited tourist attraction in Canada after Niagara Falls, and it showed, probably the most tourists I've seen in an enclosed space this whole trip. It was cool with lots of shops (brooms, glass, silk, chocolate, paper, and of course the food) but I'm not sure if it was totally worth all the hype. I did also tour the Granville Island Brewery and got somewhat of a beer education, which was cool.

Then took a ridiculously expensive boat ride over "False Creek" where they used to float logs, like in Seattle, to Yaletown/Downtown area.

 

I had intended to tour the downtown area more, but having spent my every last cent on the dumb boat ride, I could no longer afford the bus ride back to the Airbnb. All I could picture was my dinner and packing to do at my accommodation, so I headed back (which ended up being relatively close but I was tired and experiencing urban fatigue!) I packed last night and am currently bussing to (almost) Idaho! I was happy I chose to head to Vancouver, what a beautiful place and nice weather to enjoy! Have a good weekend everyone!

Seattle, Washington, USA

I bussed easily to Seattle on Thursday afternoon, kind of chatty passengers but humorous bus driver and good book improved everything. For some reason (locations starting to blur together at this point) I thought I was going to be further out of town (I chose my accommodation for proximity to the bus station) but I ended up right in Pioneer Square in the oldest part of Seattle and found my Buddhist temple accomodations easily. I was able to run out to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park before it closed at 5pm and learn all about the Alaska gold rush and how it put Seattle on the map. It was totally fascinating how a zealous promoter named Erastus got all the mayors/kings to send their citizens who wanted to gold rush to Seattle, where they spent $$$$$$$$ getting "outfitted" because the Canadian Mounties wouldn't let them cross through Canada without 2 tons of supplies each (to keep them from starving.) In all reality by the time the news reached the greater world all the best claims were taken, but Seattle made tons being the departure city and people had a good time in the wild even if they mostly found no gold. Great free museum and out to this sunset over Smith Tower.



After sleeping in the temple overnight I got up early for a beautiful amazing run on the waterfront Friday morning, down to the sculpture park with the awesome view of the mountains and boats! (And a really cool large sculpted head looking out over the water.) I came back to clean up and start touring! My first stop was Pike Place Market where I met the pig!



Saw the gum wall (ugh)



got cheese curds at Beechers Cheese



(what public cheese making! Every day!) and ate lots of good stuff. Nutella roll, peanut butter canoli, and candied fruit (plus a book from an awesome used book seller) made my wallet lighter but my stomach full! I headed down the street, steeling myself for the large expense that would be the Space Needle. While there are many taller and cheaper ways to see the view, I really wanted to have the experience. I got a shared ticket with the Chihuly Glass Museum, but chose to go up first (had to wait for a bit so took a detour to the fountain)



before scaling the height. It was a very nice (as well it should have been for that price) modern presentation about the history of the tower in the bottom, as well as complimentary cheesy photo



before heading up to the real view! And what a view it was! I have been lucky to have one nice day in most of these west coast cities and otherwise rain, but boy it was a nice Seattle Friday!

  

And then I headed down (stayed at the back of the elevator after having to ride in front on the way up!) to what would turn out to be maybe my favorite museum ever of all time. Like whoa. It wasn't big or lengthy, but the Chihuly Glass Museum included my favorite bright colors into the most amazing sculptures and displays. It was so gorgeous. There aren't words (or photos) but I did try.

 
 Big flowers at entrance.



How does he do this without breaking all those pieces?!? All wired into a metal base.

     

It was obviously indoor/outdoor and I was loathe to leave! But I headed back to my kind accommodation that had been willing to keep my bag all day via the cool giant public library and the arctic building



to be picked up by a family friend for a day of incredibly kind hospitality. On Saturday we saw the hangars where they make and paint Boeing planes!!!!! And then to the Mukilteo ferry for a trip to Whidbey Island with stops in Langley for lunch at Useless Bay Coffee (plus beach walk)

 

Fort Casey State Park with retractable guns they used to defend the US (but never had to battle)

 

Oak Harbor for a naval base tour, as well as a small hike at the deception pass bridge

 

with gorgeous cold blue water! The eddies and current we had seen all over were mesmerizing. We headed off the island via the bridge and through the tulip festival towns (no tulips yet, but lots of snow geese) to a spaghetti dinner and excellent conversation. The next day I headed out to another friends house (sister of the first friend) for a gorgeous (if slightly soggy) dog walk in Greenlake Park and a relaxing calm afternoon! Monday was another wet day but I was treated to a tour of the Queen Anne neighborhood (big hill!) and the Smith Tower (another very well done historical exhibit at the bottom and then up!!) and to Delicatus for a really good lunch. I boarded my bus to Vancouver full and grateful for the excellent tours I had received!!! Thank you Danielle and Beth and families!!!! Today I have run in Vancouver (in Stanley Park!) and done GROSS laundry (wanted to do last run before washing) and now heading out for groceries! Update soon!

Highway 101 & Portland, Oregon, USA

Due to driving fatigue, general weariness and rain, there are not tons of photos of this leg of the trip, sorry about that! As I left Cresecent City I did enter Oregon

and take a beach photo:



I feel like the Pacific is somehow more wild here than other places I have experienced ocean? But perhaps that's because I havent experienced other ocean in a while? While there was some crazy surf in Indonesia, it didn't feel this wild. Maybe it's the cold that changes the perception. I stopped in the cute town of Bandon for some photo ops with these guys:



(see lighthouse in background?) before getting to Coos Bay for my Oregon coast stop (passed a GIANT GIANT pile of logging sawdust that was truly impressive) at a cute hotel, and then went through the Oregon dunes Tuesday morning, which were impressive but I neglected to photograph (photo fatigue). I arrived at the Tillamook Cheese Factory a little after noon on Valentines Day very hungry! And I was not disappointed! The pesto grilled cheese that I had was very good (not as good as Loleta Cheese in CA, but good) and then I got a GIANT tub of ice cream for $5. Seemed like a deal to me! 3 scoops!



That's what I thought of that! Yummy in my tummy. They are getting ready for a massive reconstruction project at Tillamook, so that will be interesting when it's done. They have self guided tours (cool boxes on the windows with labels so you know what you're looking at,) and it was very cool to see the process. I still think aging cheese that's shrink wrapped is cheating after the labor intensive aging room maintenance I used to help with at Boston Post Dairy!

 

I didn't take a photo of the packing side (which was cooler! Haha) Oh well. I drove over some mountains, past lots of people fishing in interesting super curved boats (again no photos, sorry) and what I think was bald eagle #1 of the trip, to happily surrender my rental car (though terror had mostly dissipated to just mild unease). Not sure if it was worth the hassle to find a gas station myself (rather stressful) but I did (instead of paying them to fill it for me) and also discovered that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon! Spent several hilarious minutes trying to get all my possessions out of the car and easily navigated the clear Portland light rail to my Airbnb. The next morning dawned very rainy, and as I am attempting to "train" for another half marathon, I headed out for a run in the rain through Tom Mcall Waterfront park, crossing bridges and running on a water-level sidewalk opposite the park to run back to my accommodation. There were relatively a lot of people out exercising and biking (to work?) for the weather, but not tons. I was really struck by whatever zoning that seemed to allow businesses on what appeared to be quite residential streets, so there were very cool restaurants and shops very near the nice house where I stayed. I warmed up and headed back out in the rain for a pilgrimage to Powells Books, one of the biggest independent bookstores in the US. It was amazing, I spent a while there and impressively emerged with only one book!

 

(Hilarious parody of Oregon Trail computer game above the books) I do have a weakness for cards though!

 

I met up with a friend and we went to Random Order for a quiche snack before our Portland International Film Festival movie about Mali and dinner at Bollywood Theater (a restaurant, not another movie!) It was great food all around (our quiche had Tillamook cheese on it and the Indian food was very good) and I left Portland the next morning for Seattle (with a home-made bagel/hand mixed rosemary cream cheese in my hand) While I didn't see a whole lot of Portland, I liked the sensical public transit, intense bookstore, neighborhood businesses, brave the rain exercisers/commuters and FOOD! Haha

Highway 101, California, USA

My finger hit publish before I had written any conclusion to the previous post, sorry about that, but I figured I was close to done and I was too tired to fix it. I got road trip groceries to supplement the ones from Uncle Mark after my Golden Gate tour day, and then I was up the next morning to go get my first ever rental car. Through a few bookkeeping mistakes, both mine and theirs, I endured a long hour on hold dealing with various car rental locations before finally heading out for the redwoods. And I will say that I really really really don't like driving someone else's car. It is not fun for me, especially on highway 101 which has a lot of speed limit changes (65? 45? 55?) and constant signs about "RADAR ENFORCEMENT". I tried to suspend my terror to enjoy the sights, which got easier when I entered the REDWOODS!!!! Which made all driving discomfort worth it!!! I traveled from San Francisco to Eureka on Day 1, venturing onto the Avenue of Giants for an "auto tour" and was just continually floored by the scenery. There are no words or photos that will do them justice.

  

I was able to meet the cat and dogs at my Airbnb before passing out for the night and getting up early for my complimentary 2 eggs from the chickens. I headed to Loleta Cheese company for a taste test and amazing grilled cheese from the grilled cheese bar!!! and continued to the Humbolt Bay Wildlife Refuge. It had been raining for a long time evidently before my arrival (see 'lake' above) but I was really happy to have gorgeous days! I was taken with the barn (not why people should stop at a wildlife refuge!)

  

And the moss!

  

And the actual wildlife...



Continued to Trinidad! (California haha)

 

Before getting to more redwoods! I stopped at Prairie Creek to walk on a really cool short "multisensory" trail (for people with visual impairments but also for me/everyone) and really marveled at how the parks have been working to be accessible for a long time (1981 was one of the signs I saw for an accessible trail). I got to hike for a little more time, totally obsessed with the moss on these trees, almost as cool as the redwoods!



It doesn't photograph well (or I am a terrible photographer) but it looks cool. Also elk. Just chillin.



But more trees...



and trunks



and roots



and ferns



and bridges


and amazingness!!!



I headed north to Crescent City to find my very basic hotel (but with a fridge!) and do laundry (gross clothes!) This morning I kind of ran/rock climbed this island (it is attached by a road, I didn't swim there!)

 

and got to watch a sea lion flex its muscles getting up onto this lounge place



(so intense, sea lion muscles! Interesting!) before seeing my final redwoods



and entering Oregon! My next post! Ta ta for now!!