Month: May 2007

Not Just Elves Live In Hollow Trees

Ancestral HomeAs usual we were up before most people and headed into downtown Victoria. After finding a place to park not too far from the ferry entrance, we next found a place for breakfast. Ended up at a chain, probably the equivalent to our Denny?s, called Smitty?s which had a location on the ground floor of an office building.

Hunger satisfied, we wandered the downtown and the inner harbor looking for a real estate book for a friend who hopes to retire to this area in a few years. We had a dickens of a time finding one, unlike in Aiken where these books are in nearly every business and you are never out of sight of a stand-alone kiosk full of them (not unlike gift shops at a Disney theme park) here in Victoria we had to ask a half-dozen folks before we got a hold of one.

A couple of people we know, who have been here before us raved about the Inner Harbor area, with it?s interesting mix of old, stately hotels & government buildings and the presence of an excellent provincial museum. But to counter balance all that there are lots of tacky touristy stuff like bright yellow zodiac boats from whale watching companies zipping about, souvenir shops and a wax museum. For us the best part was watching a steady stream of seaplanes arrive and leave, bringing people right into downtown from Vancouver & other places.

We were so entertained that we almost screwed up our ferry ride back to Washington. The reservation for the Vancouver to Victoria ferry yesterday told us we needed to arrive no sooner than 60 minutes prior and no later than 30 minutes prior to departure, so we were going on the assumption that the one from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA would be the same. Wrongo! At about 50 minutes to the departure time we noticed that there were a lot of cars queued up at the ferry loading area. We had a reservation, so we weren?t too worried about getting on, but decided we should get the car and head over. When we pulled in to the line and paid we were near the very back of the line. It was then that we looked on the reservation sheet I had printed from the Internet and noticed in big bold letters that we should have been in line 90 minutes prior to the scheduled launch because of customs. Luckily it is not high season, because they could have given away our spot on the boat. At about the 5 minute mark of the 90 minute crossing we entered a fog bank and didn?t emerge from it until we were nearly ashore at the end.

Our first stop back in the US, other than filling up with gas, was Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park about 18 miles south of Port Angeles. Spectacular. Unfortunately the bright sun was high in the sky behind the ridge making an exposure that showed the bright blue sky with a sprinkling of high white clouds set against the gray/green peaks, some still covered in white snow, with dark green evergreen trees in the foreground impossible. You are just going to have to fly out here and see for yourselves. At an overlook on the way down we said hello to a guy who had just pulled in and he launched into a 15-minute spiel on how the logging companies, American greed and Bush have nearly destroyed the planet. At one point I had the car in reverse, but couldn?t go anywhere for fear of running over his feet. When he saw our National Park map he calmed enough to give us a couple of tips being as he is from the area, 1) the road to one of the rainforest trails we had planned on seeing was washed out about halfway to the end, rending that section of the park unreachable and 2) we should stop at Ruby Beach instead of the three others because it was the most scenic because it had several sea stacks along it.

He was right on the beach; Ruby was reminiscent of the Oregon coast we visited last fall and well worth the stop. We won?t even test his other tip and will just head back north up the coast to take in the other rainforest area in the park. There are also a couple other places to see back that way that we bypassed on the way to tonight?s bedding down spot, Kalaloch Lodge.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 18

White Rock

White RockDonna and I headed back towards the beach of White Rock for some breakfast. It was about 7:00 AM, so except for several joggers we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. I got a couple of nice photos of the town’s namesake without the graduating hooligans standing on top of it. The rock is the reason the town of White Rock, BC got its name when it incorporated 50 years ago. I guess it was white-ish in the beginning, but now they paint it white every year. Perhaps because it is still off season here there was only one place open, so that is where we ate. Both had a ham, egg & cheese bagel, not too bad, but we probably won’t eat there again next time.

Then it was off to Tsawwassen to catch the ferry to Swartz Bay. We meet Jim, Linda & Jennifer at the port and rode the boat over together, only to split up on the other side so that we could take the back roads while they took the main road. Donna and I originally intended to see the Butchart Gardens, but didn’t feel up the sun because it was already midday, so instead we went indoors and visited the Victoria Butterfly Gardens. Awesome place. If you stood still the butterflies would land right on you. It was only a couple kilometers down the road before we realized we should have taken Gnorm in with us. Dang.

Last night we visited Donna & Jim’s father’s cousin, tonight we all went over to meet and eat with Linda’s father’s cousin, Keith Walker. He, his wife and their youngest daughter treated us all like royalty. Like last night the stories flew, and while like last night I couldn’t always follow the family connections, it was great to get a sense of history these folks imparted.

Tomorrow we separate again when Donna and I head to the Olympic peninsula, while Jim, Linda and Jenn spend another day in Victoria. We meet up again on Friday night at the airport Marriott at SeaTac.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 16

Oh Canada

Gnorm Enjoys A Canadian 7UPAfter breakfast we left Snohomish and the Countryman B & B behind and headed north on WA-9. Traffic was ugly until we got north of Arlington and then it was pretty much one black PT Cruiser and the road until we hit Bellingham. There we jumped on I-5 and hightailed it to the border. Not many people heading into Canada on a Tuesday morning, there were two lines open at customs and we were number two in line for one of them.

So excited to clear customs that easily, we (meaning me) drove right past the Canada Welcome Center and then promptly zoomed by the exit for our hotel, realizing it only as we (meaning me) drove by the building. Is this a cool country or what? On the major highways you can go 100! Instead of backtracking we just headed into downtown White Rock for lunch. We ended up at a Japanese place where I discovered that it is really hard to eat flat, slippery noodles with chopsticks. While we ate at a table outside along the waterfront we were entertained mightily by a half dozen or so teen aged boys dressed up in wild and distinctly feminine attire (later explained to us a graduation rite where the girls dress the boys and parade them around town.)

When we finally did check in, the woman behind the desk said that they weren’t expecting me until tomorrow. Ooops, I made the reservation for the wrong day. Fortunately they were not full and could put us up for tonight. After settling in Gnorm and I enjoyed a Canadian 7UP on the small balcony of our room. Donna and I did a load of laundry as we waited for Jim, Linda and Jennifer to arrive. They got in with just enough time to catch a 1 hour nap before we went for dinner.

We met Donna and Jim’s 1st cousin-once removed at a local Fish & Chips place. His name is Jim as well and although he and is wife are regulars at this restaurant they didn’t know his name matched the famous singer for the Doors until we asked the waitress if he was there yet. The seven of gathered around a table in the corner of the place and heard stories from him and his wife Anne about their lives and the lives of some distant Morrison folks. Afterwards they invited us to their small neat apartment where we took pictures of each other and shared some more memories.

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 14

Mmmmm, Pizza

PizzaGnorm, Jim, Linda, Jennifer, Scott, Beth, Donna and I (Baby James stuck with formula) can recommend the Paradise Pie at Maltby Pizza & Pasta if you are ever in the Maltby, Washington area.

Donna, I, Scott and Ol’ Laser Eyes* went for a walk in the park this morning. Because Scott normally has Monday off he usually takes James with him to give Beth a little me time. Today she stayed home and caught up on a couple of projects while we went out walking. Because of last fall’s flooding rains the trail was washed out not too far in, so then we headed over to the Centennial Trail and walked for a couple three more miles.

After the walk Scott went home and Donna and I returned to the B & B where I finished my second Jack Reacher novel of this vacation, The Hard Way while Donna caught a nap.

You can see part of our dinner above, the other parts were vegetables and dip supplied by Scott and Beth, plus a second pizza from a place called Romeo’s brought by Jim, Linda & Jenn. After dinner the rest of the evening was spent chatting and watching the skydivers land at Harvey Field down in the Snohomish Valley visible from Scott & Beth’s backyard.

*Let me explain the nicknames directed at the poor defenseless 7-1/2 month old James Leslie Morrison. When Donna and I first arrived on Friday night she picked up her nephew, held him for a while and then passed him to me. James took an immediate liking to me and was quite happy to have me hold him. When I passed him back to his mother and he saw me from a distance he started to wail. He would be quiet for a while and then he would notice me and start to cry. Then for all day Saturday, Sunday and this morning he could look at me and not cry, but he would really *look* at me. He would stare at me like he was trying to figure out just who or what I was. It became a running gag amongst us. By tonight I guess he had figured me out some because it wasn’t all just starring, I could actually coax a little smile out of him now and again.

Tomorrow we are off to Canada eh.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 12

I Really Don’t Get Art

Gnorm, an Eagle and the Space GneedleDonna and I were going to meet everyone downtown for lunch and then do some walking to see a few things. You know us, we went down early.

First, even though it was lightly raining, we took a nice walk from Donna’s book. On the way into Seattle we visited North Creek Park in the town of Mill Creek. It is about a mile round trip and all on boardwalk through a small wetlands.Very interesting walk, but I called it off after about 2/3’s of it because I was getting soaked.

From there we ended up parked not too far from where we were to meet at, the Olympic Sculpture Garden. After we had covered almost all of it we stopped inside the pavilion to warm up and dry off. While we both found the pieces interesting and the park itself very nice, we agreed that we really didn’t get art. The only one we both could “understand” was a giant eraser (another of which we had seen before.)

At noon we met brother Jim, wife Linda and daughter Jennifer next to the entrance to the sculpture Garden, but instead of going to view the “art” we headed down the water front to see Sylvester and Sylvia Mummy at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. Now that’s entertainment. After gawking at, but not buying any, curiosities we walked whence we came to meet brother Scott, wife Beth and evil-eyed baby James for lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

After lunch Jim, Linda and Jen headed off to see an old teacher of Jennifer’s and the rest of us walked up the hill to Seattle Center to check out the Folk Like Festival. Think music, arts and crafts, multiply that by 10, toss in a dallop of free spiritry and you get lots of very strange characters (and I guess that includes us.) I think if you enjoyed a particular style of music and could plan your visit around that it might be a very entertaining way to spend a day.

By three thirty in the afternoon Donna and I were toast so we all walked back to the cars where Scott, Beth and stare down king, James went their way and we went ours.

Started up, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 8

Snohomish & A Hike

SnohomishAfter breakfast we got up and walked around the small downtown of Snohomish. Lots of antique stores, lots of coffee shops and lots of old buildings.

We then went over to Scott and Beth’s to see about going for a short hike/walk. Donna has a book with a 100 walks through natural places in the Puget Sound area and Donna had picked out a couple close by ones. Scott was at work so we figured we’d take Beth and and baby James for a nice distracting walk. When Donna asked if we should wear our hiking boots, I told her, “Nah, James will be in the stroller, so we’ll pick a nice easy rails to trails type thing.”

Beth had a different book, A 100 Family Friendly Hikes, and had picked out one she had done a few years before. After loading up the cars we followed Beth over to her Mom’s house as she wanted to join us too. Cool, the more the merrier. There we all piled into her Mom’s SUV. Joanie proceeded to tell us that she and her husband, Les, have done this hike before and promised we’d love it. The trail ended at a nice little lake where we would have a great view of the 6100 foot tall Mount Baring. They read the description of trail to us from the book which told us we would start by leaving Rte. 2 in the town Baring and drive through (traverse was the word the book used) a valley to reach the trail head.

After last years visit to Washington state I mentioned something to the effect that people were different out here compared to home. When we started traversing the valley I knew I had underestimated in just how different they were. When we turned off Route 2 the road quickly went from paved to narrow gravel forest service road. After about 10 minutes of driving up a windy steeply inclined road I asked aloud when would we get to the valley. The reply I got was that this was the valley. Oh boy, apparently if the ground isn’t vertical it is considered flat. The surprises weren’t over though.

At the parking area, everyone got out while Beth strapped James into one of those three wheeled baby jogger strollers. At the trail head I noticed that this was not any rails to trail thing at all. Think backcountry North Carolina, Appalachian Mountains stuff. West Virginia gnarly single track mountain biking trails. Roots, rocks narrow wood bridges. I bet an eighth of the mile and a half trail was smooth and wide enough for the stroller, the rest of the time it was on the front wheel with the back lifted up or vice versa. There we also a dozen or so places that the stroller had to be portaged over obstacles. Incredibly enough baby James slept calmly through all the jostling, snoring away.

The lake and the views at the end were well worth the trip. Joanie even had brought in some cheese and crackers for an impromptu picnic on the shore of the lake. It was probably near 90 degrees in Aiken today, but at Barclay Lake I was cool in a T-shirt with a sweatshirt over it. There was still snow on the mountain across the way.

For the return trip Joanie decided to give her daughter a break and carried the 20lb James zipped up in her sweatshirt like a front papoose. Donna pushed the empty stroller with me helping lift it over stuff. Next time either of these women offers to take Donna and I on an easy trail in the woods we will go gladly, but we will be sure to have on our hiking boots not sneakers.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 8

Bad Glen Campbell Song

Norm & Queen CharlotteWell we did get the 30% off the room making it almost worth staying the night. We woke up earlier than the alarm and just got moving. We checked out at 6:00 a full half hour before breakfast started, but when Donna went back into the lobby to get a Charlotte area map we had seen, she coaxed the front desk guy to let her snag an apple and an almost warmed up Cinnamon Bun. The drive to the airport took us right by the same shopping center that we got ice cream at last night and it had a Panera Bread place, so we stopped in for a bagel and a banana.

We pulled into a long term lot but it seemed like every spot was taken. We wound our way further and further back where we parked against a back fence or as Captain Barbossa would say, “You’re off the edge of the map Jack.” Our shuttle bus driver was a hoot and made whatever we pay for parking out there worth it. She stopped the bus to pick up one group of five, three women and two men. The guys were in the back and the women were up front and started stacking the luggage inside the door of the bus and the driver yelled out at the guys to come forward and put the bags on the rack as they were big strapping fellows and she was just a bitty older women. Once loaded up all was forgotten and she gave them the same spiel as she did us. “To get back here you have to get on a bus for Long Term One, but a short bus and tell them you are in the north west corner. Remember a short bus, like this one, not a long bus as it couldn’t make the tight turns.” We stopped and picked up one lone woman and when she asked what airline of her, she just sighed when the woman answered Jet Blue. Everyone so far had answered US Air. She told the new woman that she would have to get off at the US Air stop as the one she wanted was always backed way up with rubes. She could just walk back to it, it wasn’t far.

Trouble started when I tried to check in using the self service kiosk, it didn’t know me. Not by name or flight or swipe of the credit card. I flagged a clerk and he couldn’t find us in the system either. Off he went to find someone with a clue. She arrived and fingers flew. Seems that US Air stopped flying the morning non-stop to Seattle months ago. They were nice enough to offer us seats on the 5:55PM non-stop, a mere 11 hours later. When we expressed displeasure at that, her fingers flew around the keyboard in a blur (obviously she done this a few million times before.) She could get us on a flight to Phoenix

By the time I get to Phoenix she’ll be rising
She’ll find the note I left hangin’ on her door
She’ll laugh when she reads the part that says I’m leavin’
‘Cause I’ve left that girl so many times before

where we could change planes and hop one to Seattle. One 4-1/2 hour flight just became a 3 hour flight with a 2-1/2 hour layover followed by a 2-1/2 hour flight. “Oh, you want to sit next to each other? Impossible,” she says.

For the first flight we were placed 3 rows apart and the second we were 6 rows apart. But for both flights we managed to find a nice person to swap places, so that we sat right across an aisle on one flight and next to each other on the other. With the amount of other seat hopping that was going on, this seems to be standard flight operations on US Air. Judging by the long lines at the service counters, everyone last one of them, canceled, delayed and changed flights I guess I shouldn’t expect anything less.

Our next surprise was at the car rental desk. Seems that if you rent through Travelocity or Orbitz or some other intermediary company and miss your selected pick up time the quoted price doesn’t need to be honored. Our ridiculously low price for the car jumped by about 100%. After what we had dealt with so far yesterday and today we didn’t put up a fight. Plus it was still lower than the price quote we got directly off the rental car site.

Now everything is just fine. The weather was great for driving with the top down, the Seattle traffic was not nearly as bad as expected, the B & B in Snohomish is nice and new nephew James is as cute as a button. Although he took to me right away about 5 minutes into the visit he decided he didn’t like me at all (no problem, because now I won’t have to change any diapers.)

Started up, went down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/07: 177

Started up, went down, back up, back down, up again, still up.
PT Cruiser Top Transitions since 05/25/07: 4