Southbound Sacky – 23 & 24 June 2010

Old and New – 23 June 2010

We left the campground south of Seattle and made our way back north to Seattle. Whilst at the campground we had found some brochures with things to see and places to do (or whatever way that goes). We decided that we had to go back into the city as there was too much to see not to.

We got up early and were back on the I5 by 6.30am. But then again so were a lot of Seattle workers. But it wasn’t too bad. And at least we moved continuously. We backtracked past the tower again and made our way down 2nd Ave and into a parking lot (paying $12 for ten hours worth of parking).

After walking down second we stopped into a Starbucks, in the hope of a coffee, something for breakfast and free wi-fi. Well, this didn’t go exactly to plan. We got the coffee (and it was pretty good), we got something to eat (this wasn’t so good) and the wi-fi was there but we couldn’t use it. The food arrived on plates as it was in the cabinet, a croissant for Mark that wasn’t heated and two, almost frozen, slabs of butter. If you can believe it, they didn’t have any means of heating the croissant, so this was promptly thrown in the bin. As for the wi-fi, they were not getting free wi-fi until 1st July. Frustratingly in about 1 week. I guess we would just have to wait.

After that disappointment we made our way down towards Pike Market. This market is famous for its fresh seafood (which you can smell a mile away), fresh flowers and fresh food. We arrived just as everything was being set up and decided to make our way back that afternoon.

We slowly made our way back into town and down towards the Underground City Tour. We had seen, a couple years ago, a TV segment on an underground tour of Seattle. This was so worth doing and we had so much fun. It was well touted and a very entertaining trip through Seattle’s chequered past.

The city’s underground was created courtesy of the original city burning to the ground in the late 19th century. The new city was then created on top of the remains, but 8 to 35 feet above the original city. Thus keeping the remains of the old city available for tours. And also, if you can get it to code, to be made into businesses. The tour included a highly entertaining 20 minute opening story about why the tours were created and what Seattle’s history was. A book about the time was written by the guy who started the Underground Tour. We found the story and tour so captivating that we bought the book to learn more.

After our tour we started wandering around the city again and were directed to a fantastic café, situated underground (a lot of these places still have the old brickwork and curved arches). We had a really lovely lunch (nice freshly made sandwiches).
After that we slowly made our way back towards Pike Market. The place was brimming with seafood, flowers and art and craft stalls. Also, in this vicinity, was the original Starbucks. One of the photos is of the original logo, pretty cool, almost wish they hadn’t changed it.

Another brochure we had picked up was for the Seattle Public Library. This may seem like a strange thing to be a tourist attraction but this place is an architectural masterpiece. Look it up online and you will see just how incredible it is. The entire roof is made up of diamond shaped panes of glass. The structure reaches up 10 stories in the centre and there is a viewing platform at the top and it is quite vertiginous.

We then decided, given that it was 3.30pm in the afternoon, that we should head out of the city and try to miss peak hour. No such luck. We hit a major snag right in the city centre. Something was happening a couple of blocks up and the traffic wasn’t moving at all. After inching forward we decided to turn completely the other way and head back towards the tower and out of the city, the exact way we had come in. Well, I guess we weren’t the only ones to have this idea, as it was just as slow getting out and we ended up driving south on the I5 in peak hour traffic that didn’t clear until well south of Tacoma, about 45 miles south.
We had decided that we needed a motel for the night. Sometimes, a full sized bed, a TV and some take-out is what is needed and on this night, that is exactly what we needed. Funnily enough, the town that we stayed in was called Centralia (cool name). This located about 60 miles south of Seattle.

I was in flower heaven (as many of you could well imagine), as well as food heaven.

Underground Tour

Underground crapper. Well, it was designed by a gentleman call Thomas Crapper. So it is a crapper! LOL

Fantastic skylight. Many of the tiles had either cracked or brocken entirely, but this one was still the whole thing. After this photo was taken, one of the other tour groups walked overhead and started stomping on the skylight, they all do it.

Chief Seattle, who the City of Seattle was named after.

One of many corridors of underground shops. Very cool (literally and figuratively).

The original Starbucks logo. Globalisation made them change.

Outside of the Public Library

Public Libary on the Inside.

The atrium from the highest point in the library. Remember it was 10 stories high at this point.

Volcano – 24 June 2010

We left the motel late in the morning and headed south on the I5 again. After only an hour or so, we turned eastward on state highway 508, straight to the Mount St Helens Visitor’s Centre. We promptly met an Australian woman there by the name of Gai (pronounced same as Gay). She’s from near the Sunshine Coast, where we live, and she’s been travelling around much of the US for the last 3 weeks also. We sat around and had a coffee and traded stories for awhile.

After a little while we parted company and headed up to the Johnston Observatory, right next to the mountain. We saw a movie about the famous 1980 eruption that was stunning in a different sense. The mountain today is shorter than it was before that eruption. This is because after the whole side of the mountain just collapsed, triggering the largest recorded landslide in the world, the volcano erupted and the top 1300 feet of the mountain were just blown away. Even now, the volcano is active, and as you stand there and watch, steam and smoke vent from the lava dome. It is awesomely powerful to stand there and watch. It is a reminder of how puny we humans are, with our tiny lives and insignificant nuclear power. Mother nature reserves the right to put us in our place whenever she pleases.

It is mesmerizing to stand there and watch the mountain. It was with great reluctance and a little foot-dragging that we drove away. All throughout this trip, there have been several places that we simply wanted to stay. Although it has been a great privilege to see these places, it comes with a bittersweet price tag as you have to put them in the rearview mirror and watch them get smaller until they disappear around a bend in the road. There is sadness as you wonder if you will ever see them again. I have felt this keenly many times and today was one of them.

Once we left Mt St Helens, we continued south across the Oregon state line and stopped at Salem. Edna’s daughter Joyce and her husband Cliff live here and kindly offered to put us up for the night. They have been excellent hosts and very welcoming. On Saturday, their daughter Jaye and her fiancée Michael are getting married nearby and we are going to help a bit tomorrow to run some errands.

Edna and Bob and Becky and Gary and Norma are all flying into the area tonight and hopefully we’ll see them tomorrow.

Charlie, Jaye's seriously cute border collie/ lab puppy. A seriously energetic happy puppy. At present staying with grandma and grandpa (Joyce and Cliff)

Milton, Jaye's cat. This guy is one of the most loving cats we have ever encountered. He gives you cuddles and keeps you company by the computer, a very cat thing to do.

A home made bendy combie! LOL

This destruction was about 8 miles away from the volcano itself. The trees all fell in the direction of flow. Just incredible to see and very humbling.

Mt St Helens, she started to talk just as we were leaving.

Mt St Helens, from 5 Miles away, Johnston Observatory.

How spectacular

You can easily see where the flow made its way down the valley. This still hasn't grown back.

Taken from the furthest visitor's centre. This is about 25 miles from the mountain.

How amazing does it look from this distance. This year was the 30th anniversary of the eruption.