Not So Deadly - Seattle, WA - 6180 Miles

Warning: If you are unfamiliar with or not a fan of Deadliest Catch on The Discovery Channel, this probably will make little sense to you.

Today was another "you can't plan this" day and no it wasn't today's Seattle Pride Fest at the Space Needle. We went to the Space Needle yesterday and expressed plenty of pride in Portland. While at a park on Puget Sound to see a lighthouse and the remnants of a fort, we spoke with a local couple who recommended a nearby seafood restaurant.

"It's at the terminal where the fishermen sell their fish and they go there to eat afterward," they said.

How could we pass up an endorsement like that? I put the name in Jessica, our GPS, and she guided us using a route I never could have found taking us on the docks and winding us through stacks of crab pots and crates of fishing nets before getting us to the restaurant. The food was indeed good and the seafood was fresh caught. I'm not sure we saw any fishermen unless, after a hard day of hauling in nets full of salmon, they changed into their casual chic clothes for a glass of Chardonnay with their meal.

While eating I saw a sign saying, "Tour the Sea Star from Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch." After our meal we had a look at the boat. We weren't going to do the tour but could get into the gift shop on the back of the boat for free. Operations while in Seattle were run by Mike Day who manned the gift shop. He said he had major back surgery after years of wrestling crab pots while the ship was featured in season one so he wasn't in the show. The boat is now a chase boat shooting footage of the other boats during crab seasons and he was in the crew for seasons four and five. We decided to take the self-guided tour. When we got to the operational part of the boat we were greeting by Kenny. He was in the crew of the Sea Star during the first season and every time the show went to commercial it showed a graphic using his face. He said we could go anywhere on the boat except the engine room.















The Sea Star
















Terry in the galley and trying one of the bunks. After taking Terry's picture in the bunk I went back on deck. It took her a minute or two to come out. She said what we really needed was a movie of her trying to get out of the bunk.
















These are pictures of how I would be spending my time on a crab fishing boat until I fell overboard. I'd alternate between baiting the pots and puking my guts out.
















Pictures of me in the Captain's chair and Terry with Kenny. He was in the crew of the Sea Star for 35 years. Now he says, "I don't get along with the cold any more." He's had frostbite countless times and the more you get it the easier it is to get it again until now he can't tolerate cold at all.















Terry getting ready to throw the hook to snag a pot.

These are just some impressions and factoids from talking with Kenny and Mike:

• I asked if anyone got badly hurt while at sea. Kenny said, "Nah. A couple of guys lost fingers. One we cut off while we were out and the other waited until we got back to shore. Everyone's had broken bones. No one has a big toe that's right from pots falling on your feet. Everybody gets frostbite, but I haven't seen anything serious." He has a different definition of serious than I do.
  
• They both had a similar style of speech somewhere between Joe Walsh and Ozzie Osborne. I don't know if this has anything to do with crab fishing or if it's just a regional speech pattern.
• I asked if people got money from Discovery. He said no and he hears they sill don't, although he wouldn't be surprised if some money changes hands somewhere. There is a trickle down effect in that he makes money as a tour guide that he otherwise wouldn't. Also some of the captains endorse everything ranging from beer to sunglasses. And, of course, there are the internet sales of shirts, caps, etc.
• I asked if people went out not knowing they would get seasick. He said, "Yeah. The greenhorns have no idea what they're getting into. Now they bring them back. In the old days they stayed out and if you didn't work you didn't eat. They figured that out pretty quick."
• Crab fishing is not as lucrative as they lead you to believe on TV. Like farming, there are good years and bad years. Between boat repairs and 800-1200 gallons of diesel per day, a captain can easily have a zero income year. If you don't catch many crabs, the crew doesn't make much money. They predict the individual boats will soon be gone and replaced by corporations.
  

Sleepy in Seattle - Seattle, WA - 6155 Miles

We spent our last full day on the Olympic Peninsula touring the town of Port Townsend. Just a brief history lesson. In 1880 Port Townsend was the busiest seaport in the Pacific northwest. In anticipation of a railroad connection to Tacoma, the town underwent a building boom. Unfortunately the town's plan coincided with a major economic downturn where one quarter of the nations railroads failed. The rail line was never built. Sea transport migrated to Seattle and Tacoma and this Victorian seaport faded into oblivion. As a result downtown Port Townsend has not changed greatly over the past century. Many homes in the residential areas overlooking town date to the 1860-1890 era. This makes for an interesting place to wander for a few hours.

Friday we made the drive to Seattle stopping in Bremerton to tour a Viet Nam era destroyer and see a few mothballed aircraft carriers before reaching our hotel in Bellevue. I continued my pattern of booking hotels in areas likely to accept my cheapskate bids on Priceline. Bellevue fit my criteria and I can accept a 10 minute drive to downtown Seattle.

Today we went into town to see the Space Needle, Pike Market, and the Pioneer Square area. Pioneer Square was the original skid row but now has morphed into a mixture of young, chic, hip, upscale, etc., and the homeless. The homeless seem to be losing this battle.



















Monday we head out to visit Terry's brother and his family in Olympia. Staying with them will even beat Priceline. They said we could stay as long as we want but I don't think they fully grasp the impact of making such an offer to people with no permanent address.

International Fugitive - Victoria, BC - 6005 Miles

We were unsure if we would go into Canada on this trip but still having $4.65 in Canadian coins from my last trip in 2006, I felt obligated to make a trip just to use the money. Yesterday we bought two round-trip ferry tickets and made the 18 mile crossing from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC. After filling out the Customs form on the ship, I headed down the gangplank. Only three steps off the boat I heard and felt the distinctive plop of a deposit from a passing Canadian seagull on the brim of my cap. Some also splattered onto my sweatshirt. Terry gave me Kleenex to wipe what I could and I held it while waiting in line to speak to Customs. I hoped for a trash can along the way but thought possibly they didn't want people dumping things right before Customs and I may still have it with me when I reached the officer. I could imagine the ensuing conversation:

"Do you have anything to declare?"

"Well, I have this Kleenex full of seagull shit."

"Please step out of the line."

Mercifully I found a trash can along the way. Rest assured when I reached the Customs officer I voiced my displeasure at the welcome I received to their fine country.

"I see," she said. "If you are superstitious some people believe that's an omen of good luck."

I'm not that superstitious.

"Oh, look," she continued. "You are lucky. You have both been randomly selected for a closer look by immigration. Please step out of the line. Go around the corner and wait in the room. An officer will come question you."

We got to the empty room, sat down, and waited. I looked around and was relieved to see there wasn't an area conducive to a full body cavity search. However I did start recalling episodes from the cable TV show "Locked Up Abroad". It tells the story of someone who thought it would be a good idea to smuggle drugs in a (usually) Asian third-world country and the ensuing chunk of their life spent in a prison resembling something out of Midnight Express. I pondered my possible future in a Canadian prison, but the worst treatment I could come up with was possibly being served really bad tea.

Finally an officer came in, took our passports, and went to another office. Did I forget a parking ticket or something on my last trip? Did my $4.65 in Canadian funds somehow enter into it? The officer returned, handed us our passports, and said we could go. For the first two blocks I kept looking over my shoulder to see if we were being tailed, but I saw no one.

While in Victoria I took the required pictures of the Empress Hotel and Parliment.

















We walked through town to find a pub where I could satisfy my craving for bangers and mash and a pint. They also came with something called "bubble and squeak". I had no idea what that is. The waitress tried to explain but the only words I really caught were "yams" and "tubers". I've learned from experience the less you know of the details of British cooking the better off you are.






After the return trip we went through US Customs. The officer took my passport and repeatedly alternated between looking at me and looking at my passport. "Oh no," I thought. "Here we go again." Finally he handed my passport back to me.

"I had a hard time recognizing you," he said. "You've lost a lot of weight."

"Why, yes I have," I replied. "Thanks for noticing."

I like US Customs.

Port Angeles, WA - 5999 Miles

I felt a little sad leaving Portland after nine days. The Holiday Inn seemed like home. I knew to turn the faucets backwards since, for some unknown reason, they were installed that way. I could set the right shower temperature with a single twist of the knob. No more too hot, too cold, just right, no wait it was just right because someone two floors up flushed the toilet and it's too hot again.

We headed back to the coast, picked up 101 just south of the Columbia River, and crossed it into Washington. Most of the time the road was away from the coast, but I got a few coastal pictures to complete my collection for each state. Though off the coast we basically traveled around the edge of the Olympic Peninsula with the ocean to our left and Olympia National Park to our right. Along the way we stopped on the shore of Lake Crescent before reaching Port Angeles on the northern coast of the peninsula.















We're in Port Angeles for five nights. I greatly prefer the longer stays to the one or even two night stays. I enjoy not feeling obligating to be doing something all the time. This morning we drove to Hurricane Ridge in Olympia National Park. Being the great outdoors man I am, I drove all the way to the end of the road and even went as far as walking on a paved trail to the top of a hill. Beyond that were dirt trails into the trees. I assume bear and deer used these. I don't know what else they would be for. This was our third national park of the trip. That's two more than I had been in the rest of my life.















Tomorrow we break out the passports for a day trip by ferry over to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island.

Off the Tracks - Portland, OR - 5562 Miles

Our first three day's in Portland were governed by the the rail system routes. It reminded me our our houseboat trip on a Canadian canal system The usual concern of where roads went didn't apply. Only what was on the river mattered. We were 10 miles away, by road, from a town that was two days away by water. Since we didn't have a car the river was all that was important. It is similar here. I have no idea where roads go, but I'm getting good at advising people on which train and stop will get them to their destination.

For the last two days we switched grids back to roads. One day was a work/laundry day that included driving to a restaurant on the Columbia River for lunch and a trip to Wal-Mart to restock breakfast pastries, razor blades, and dental floss. The other, and more interesting day, we drove along the river through the Columbia Gorge and then turned south toward Mt. Hood. On the way a sign said the next exit was for the "Historic Columbia River Road". Since I have a hard time passing things labeled "historic" and the sign also said it rejoins the highway in seven miles, we took the exit. The road itself was not special and actually afforded worse views of the river, but we did pass three separate 250 foot waterfalls and stopped at two.
























In Hood River we turned south away from the river and toward Mt. Hood. What makes Mt. Hood and several other area mountains so striking is not being part of an obvious mountain range. The surrounding area could be described as "hilly" but suddenly, all by itself, is a giant mountain. Usually you see what happens to be the highest point in a chain of mountains, but seeing a solitary mountain makes it look that much more impressive.

Portland doesn't have a terribly good location for getting a city photo. The best I could do was a shot from an overhead tram running from the riverfront to a hospital complex on a hilltop.

Today was back to the rail system. I can now say I've traveled every mile of light rail track in the Portland transit system. It's not likely to get me in the Guinness Book of Records, but that's about all the excitement I can handle.

You Can't Plan This Stuff - Portland, OR - 5355 Miles

Some people vacation having planned every day, every hotel, every tour, and every attraction to be seen. I don't do that. I stay about a week ahead on where we stay, but beyond that everything is on the fly. True to form we started off in Portland Saturday buying a pass for the transit system and heading into town on the rail. We got off at the first stop downtown and followed what seemed to be the general flow of people. We ended up at the Portland Saturday Market which is a weekly event with music, food, and dozens of vendor booths with any arts and crafts type wares one might desire. After spending time at the market we walked much of the downtown area, had lunch at a local microbrewery, and took the train to Washington Park to see the inevitable rose gardens. On the way back to the hotel we again passed the Saturday Market and I noticed it said, "ON SUNDAYS, TOO." We decided to return Sunday to tour Chinatown and go back to the market.

Today we got to town at about 10:00 and walked the two blocks to Chinatown. It had Chinese-style streetlights, random concrete dragons, and several Chinese restaurants such as Louie's Chinese Seafood, but the area seemed remarkably devoid of Chinese. Like yesterday the movement of people tended toward a specific direction so we joined in, this time away from Saturday market. Along the way we passed a gay bar with blaring music and an all male crowd spilling out onto the sidewalk. I thought, "I never knew Sunday mornings were such a rockin' time in the gay community."

A block further movement came to a stop in a massive throng of people. Someone spoke into a bullhorn. The billboard on the bar next to me advertised female impersonators nightly. We had inadvertently ended up less than 30 feet and 30 seconds from the start of the 40th annual Portland gay pride parade. Some people probably paid thousands of dollars for packages to put them in that spot at that time and we were there by complete accident. Never being one to pass up a good parade, we stayed to watch.

Before the actual parade, things kick off with the start of the Portland Drag Race. There were great photo ops but I was in a hurry holding the camera overhead and shooting blindly over the people in front of me. I'm not sure what I did but when I checked I hadn't taken any pictures. By the time I got it together, the traditional leaders in the parade had begun - Dykes on Bikes.















Any parade needs a marching band and official "Queen". This was no exception. I loved the band T-shirts saying on the back, if you can't see it, "I Can't Even March Straight." You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it, but note the guy walking behind the queen in the coat, tie, and pink tutu.















The Parade also had a contingent of gay clowns and gay segway riders.















Other random parade pictures.















I briefly contemplated joining in the parade with the Gay and Lesbian Employees (GALE) of Pacific Gas & Electric but decided against it.














We watched about half an hour before continuing on and having lunch. Later we stumbled upon the parade ending location. It had started at 11 and ended at 2. I can't imagine how many participants were involved but everyone ended up on the riverfront for a big party. I heard activities from the night before included a naked run along the river. I feel lucky we didn't stumble upon that.

Portland, OR - 5350 Miles

We opted for the coastal route from Eugene to Portland. It was easier than expected after three nights in Eugene. I think we only moved the car twice in those three days.

Eugene joins the list of highly livable cities along the west coast. Our hotel was downtown but the downtown area was not as compressed as most. Lots of green space mixed in with mostly one and two story buildings. Few buildings were over four stories tall. Traffic was light and parking abundant.

I drew three conclusions about Eugene. First, the dominant colors are gray, green, and brown. The colors dominate the local environment and folks carried them through into everything built or otherwise man-made. I'm convinced bright colors were these people's Kryptonite. The sole exception was the rose. They go nuts over roses. Rose bushes were everywhere. Second, smoking was more socially acceptable than I've encountered elsewhere lately. I even saw old-style cigarette machines not seen in decades - the ones you put your money in and yank hard on a knob to get a pack to drop. You could even get candy and cigarettes out of the same machine. Third, there seemed to be a lot of illness in Eugene. I'm basing this on the amount of medicinal marijuana in the air. I hypothesize the illness is caused by bus fumes since the medicine seemed most common near bus stops, but it's only a theory. The victims were happier than most though.

My early note on Portland is the love of drab colors and roses continues at least this far north. In fact we just missed the rose festival which seems to be to the people of Portland what rumspringa is to the Amish. We are in Portland for nine nights so I plan to get caught up on doing absolutely nothing while here.

Oregon Coast - Eugene, OR - 5100 Miles

We crossed 5000 miles for our trip just north of Coos Bay on the Oregon coast. I think the Oregon coast beats California in beauty only because it's more rugged. It's amazing vista after amazing vista. I can still appreciate the views but they're not as stunning as they were initially. It's getting easier to pass up signs identifying vista point turnoffs.





























We arrived in Eugene yesterday afternoon for a three nights stay. This morning Terry is working and "attending a meeting" over the internet. I walked two blocks to the visitor center to pick up info on Eugene. Since my responsibilities for the day took about 15 minutes, I had time for this entry.

My next driving test comes Friday when we go to Portland. It's less than two hours by interstate or six hours west to the coast, north, then back east to Portland. I've tried to find a middle option but none exists. I'm leaning toward the coastal option but I may weaken.

Eureka, CA - 4775 Miles

We're spent two nights in Eureka giving us a full day to wander the town. Even so we had a difficult time squeezing lunch, ice cream, and happy hour into the same day. We visited the dunes on the coast, the boardwalk and marina area, and walked the central area of town. Most homes and commercial buildings were built between 1880 and 1910. Whether by accident or planning the Victorian flavor of the town has been kept since then. Like many California coastal towns it would be a nice place to live if you don't need a job, don't want to buy a house, don't care about taxes, and don't mind a large population percentage who never escaped the '60s. Since those aren't major concerns of mine, I like it here. Tomorrow we head to Oregon. My dilemma is deciding if I need additional expensive California gas to get there.

More Coast - Eureka, CA - 4700 Miles

We continued our trek up the California coast today. I think I'm starting to get "coast-ed" out. As the desk clerk said when Terry told him we drove up from Santa Rosa, "That's a beautiful drive up 101."

"We came up Highway 1," I said.

"Oh. Well that's a long, winding, beautiful drive."

Six hours of it starts to wear on you. I'll press on, though, because it's a trip I probably will
never make again.

Wine Country - Santa Rosa, CA - 4460 Miles

After Yosemite we made it back near the coast into the Napa/Somoma area for four nights. Jessica (our GPS) continued her pattern of opting for roads that weren't in the atlas we carry for back-up. We drove 40 miles before getting on a road we could find on a map. Most of that time we were the only car on the road. Farmers and ranchers in their fields looked at us like a passing UFO. She hasn't let us down yet though. Even once in San Diego when she took us down an alley on trash day to get to the beach. I waited for, "Turn left at the next trash can."

I'm not a big wine person but it was interesting to hear the people pouring at wine tastings (oh yes, I did taste) speak with near reverence of their soil, grapes, and microclimate of their particular vineyards. Only one admitted much of the land was owned by growers who sold grapes to whomever wanted them. Valley homes with any land had most of their yard leased out and covered with grapevines. For the record only Korbel had both free tours and tastings. Other places wanted $25 or more per person for both. I completely missed the subtle hints of vanilla, peach, etc., claimed to be in the wines. It was simply wine. It could have been Boone's Farm. I did manage to avoid my mother's catch phrase any time she tasted wine - "Tastes like licorice."

I learned that in wine awards all gold medals are equal. One winery touted two of their gold medal winning wines. One wine received its gold medal from the International Tasters Guild. The other won its medal at the Indiana State Fair. I was going to buy the first until I saw it cost three times as much. I decided those Hoosiers really know their wines.






























On the way back from lunch on the coast we stopped in Bodega to see the school used as a set in Hitchcock's The Birds. (Yes, we are easily amused.) It's now a private home. A sign warned of a beehive in the bush to the right of the front door. Given the cloud of buzzing bees, the fence was a close as we wanted to get. I considered throwing a rock into the bush while Terry posed for the picture but decided she wouldn't find it nearly as funny as I would. The bees probably deterred trespassers better than a "Beware of Dog" sign.

Yosemite National Park, CA - 3866 Miles

Yesterday afternoon we entered the eastern side of Yosemite on the highest road in the park. The elevation at the entrance was 9945 ft. Snow and ice were still common and several areas had not yet opened after the winter. We spent the afternoon crossing the entire park mostly at these high elevations.















Today we wandered through Yosemite Valley. Dropping 5000 ft in elevation creates an entirely different park. Like the Grand Canyon, photos can't adequately capture the image. Looking across the valley was like looking at something made by a Hollywood special effects department to show a world inhabited by elves and trolls or an alien Earth-like planet.
















We visited waterfalls and Sequoias. I learned in the tree world Redwoods are taller but Sequoias are older and fatter. I guess in the people world I'm more of a Sequoia. We saw deer, wolves, and a bear. Apparently coming across a bear from the roadway is pretty rare.