Waterfront

Glad we decided to change plans and go to Seattle yesterday. Rain was forecast, and it rained for quite awhile on the drive up. But as we got to the city, the clouds quieted down and the sun actually appeared for a few minutes!

We really enjoyed the Pike Place Market. Of course, we watched (but couldn’t catch on film, dangit) the guys throw the fish around at the Fish Market. Funny stuff; the

The fish toss guys

mongers really interact with the crowd — both the guys posted on the floor (who actually throw the fish) to the guys behind the counter, who catch, weigh and wrap them for customers.

(We sure wished there had been a way to take some of those fantastic salmon fillets with us; I’m afraid the shipping cost makes me a bit ooky. )

We LOVED the small, out of the way (in the basement of PPM) Market Diner. Wish I’d snapped a photo, but I was too busy snarfing my salmon wrap and Caesar salad — wow it was fantastic. The Thriller had the same, but with chicken, and we were both delighted.

Then we shopped, and ended up buying two squares of fantastic Belgian chocolate (gone already), and these little gems: rice cakes covered in bittersweet chocolate. Gluten-free, vegan, only 80 calories for two pieces…what’s not to love? Psh.

On the way back to the lodge, we crossed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. We all remember seeing footage of the collapse of this bridge in November of 1940 (video here, complete with awesome dramatic music and narration — love it). Fortunately, our crossing was not nearly as eventful.

Today is somewhat of a housecleaning day. We’re going through suitcases and consolidating some stuff, doing laundry, cleaning out the car, and spending the day in Chehalis, where we’ll see World War Z after taking care of errands. That should take us through to dinnertime, at which time we’ll drive back here to the lodge, drive into Packwood and find somewhere fun to eat and close out our stay here.

The Crest Trail Lodge has been a great base of operations; pretty much centrally located from all the places we’ve been (Rainier, St. Helens, Seattle). We caught our first elk sighting, along the side of the road near the lodge. They are supposed to haunt the lawn and grounds every day, but we have been here three days and have yet to see one. We’re convinced they know they’re being stalked, so they’re hiding, laughing at us.

OK, time to get moving. Hope your week got off to a good start!

Hey, Fink here, coming to you from the lovely Crest Trail Lodge in Packwood, Washington — while the shaky wifi connection lasts.

To say that we have been on forestry and mountain overload would be an understatement. We have seen more gorgeousness in the last 48 hours than in the last 2 years, I think. To tell you about it all would take me the rest of the night, so I will try my best to hit the best and brightest parts without leaving out too much.

The summit of Mt. Rainier: the first of two incredible volcanoes we saw in as many days.

You just have to see this stuff in person to believe it, no kidding. The power of wind and water — and the restorative miracle of trees after a horrifying tragedy (the largest landslide in recorded history) — has knocked us out time and again over the last two days. It’s just a mind-blower, plain and simple.

Again, this is the shortened version. The many side-stops and trail treks we enjoyed made the experience even more amazing and special. Total “wow!” excursion, from the valleys near the entrance to the park, to the lakes that appeared out of nowhere at thousands of feet in elevation.

But hey, on to Mt. St. Helens.

Mt. St. Helens — shrouded in fog today, but still alive inside.

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on 18 May, 1980? I don’t, probably because I was sick and pregnant, but I do remember watching in horror as reports of the climbing death toll from the MSH eruption took over the nightly news.

Look at the photo; see that green color? Those are huge Noble firs, standing at least 50 feet high. See the little silver thread in the middle of the picture? That’s a river. This is how enormous these areas are. It’s impossible to relay the size of them through photography. But back to the volcano.

To give you a comparison, here is a photo of how Mt. St. Helens looked before and after the 1980 eruption. Forest-farming corporation Weyerhaeuser lost tens of  thousands of trees on 63,000 acres in a matter of minutes.

The excited words of David Johnston, a young scientist stationed alone at the observatory six miles from the volcano — “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it” — were heard over the radio, just before he was incinerated by the 300 MPH lateral blast.

Seeing films in the education center about the aftermath was hard to stomach. You don’t really think about those things, but there was an enormous human tragedy attached to the environmental one. Fortunately, huge leaps in detection technology (computer powered “spiders” now take over many of the data-gathering expeditions that used to put scientists in great danger on the mountain) have improved safety and the dependability of predicting eruptions.

Then there was the whole Harry Truman story. I was amazed all over again, remembering it.

So, after two days of hiking, driving, hiking, driving, shopping, photography and eating really well, we’re taking the night off and watching the season finale of Mad Men in our room. Lazy bums.

Hopefully, if tomorrow’s excursion to Seattle can be written about (I’m amazed I’m still typing this post), I’ll have more tales to tell, but this time it’ll be the big city instead of mountains and trees. Fine by me!

Hope you’ve had a great weekend. Check back here on Tuesday morning — I hope I’ll have more to show you. Petitioning the connectivity gods…

Yep. Northern Idaho, to be exact.

There is plenty of beauty on this trip, for sure. I’ve posted some photos to Facebook along the way (this being one of my favorites — Hot Springs, Montana), and they all carry the theme of “Great Wide Open.” Sky and mountains and water, as far as one can see across the endless vistas. You can grow accustomed to it.

Yesterday, we crossed into northern Idaho, and beheld one of the prettiest, cleanest, and from what I could tell from the road, most happening cities I’ve ever seen: Coeur d’Alene. I was too busy gawking to take photos, so I didn’t get any of the true gemstone of this city: Lake Coeur d’Alene. Wow, I want to be there. I want to live there someday.

Anyway. After the last two unfortunate nights of sleep (in a Microtel that gave new meaning to the adjective “micro,” and the very interesting Lake McDonald “cabin”), we drove through the gorgeous Flathead Valley to scenic ski mecca Kalispell (pictured), and through Idaho to Washington.

Northwest Montana and northern Idaho? Nothing beats it, in my opinion.

We got into Spokane late afternoon, and spent the evening vegging. After the miserable night’s sleep on Thursday, it was much needed!

Today, I think we’re going to Mt. Rainier. Or is it Mt. St. Helens? I dunno, and the Thriller is still sleeping. But I do know it’s Saturday. Are you impressed?? OK, I looked at the calendar. Have a good weekend, fiends — check ya later with some fotos.

Fink out

About Glacier National Park. I shall give you the somewhat condensed version, or you’ll be here reading until dinner.

First, let me say that I have never been — nor shall I ever be — someone who likes to camp. “Roughing it in nature” and “vacation” are not synonymous in my lexicon. K? K. Still, I wanted to have the back-to-nature experience at this great location. So back in March, I reserved a “small cabin” at beautiful Lake McDonald.

Now, when you think of the phrase “small cabin,” what image pops into your head? Something like this, right? Well you’d be correct, because that was our cabin. Sort of. The reality is it that only one fourth of the “small cabin” belonged to us. This fourth. This is the small cabin I reserved for $130? A room with an old-fashioned, two-fauceted sink, and a shower so small I kept bashing my elbows on the wall while washing my hair?

But hey, it gets better. Let me backtrack.

As we crossed Montana, our sunny skies, as predicted by the weatherman, turned gray. By the time we were able to glimpse the mountains miles in the distance, it was starting to rain. And the temperature dropped seemingly with every mile.

At the entrance to the park, it was 44 degrees and raining, and that is how it stayed. No matter, though; we still got to drive on Going to the Sun Road — one of the main reasons we wanted to go to Glacier in the first place. So here we go…here it is!

Closed. CLOSED? Closed. For repairs.

OK, no prob — that doesn’t dampen our spirits. We’ll check into the lodge, get situated in our cabin, and go exploring. After the initial shock of the appearance of our lodgings wore off, we set out (with me in my winter coat and hood) to see what there was to see.

The view, about 20 paces outside our cabin/cell.

At this point in my snark-filled treatise, I will say that Lake McDonald has got to be one of the most gorgeous places on earth. (See the photo.) And the lodge is beautiful; we had a nice dinner in the rustic ambience of their restaurant, and enjoyed a nice (albeit brief — it was pouring down rain) walk around the grounds.

We also didn’t mind that there was no cell service, no internet and no TV. The Thriller spent the last two hours before bed poring over maps and park literature, and I read my Nook. It was great. I guess it was the fact that the Sun road was closed (not anyone’s fault, really), and that the weather was completely crappy (I shall blame God for that).

OK, that plus the gargantuan cluster that was our “small cabin.” I must have missed a memo somewhere.

ANYWAY…we decided that the rain was not going to hinder us, so after dinner and the brief stroll, we got in the car and drove as far as the road would let us. We stopped for some stunning views, and I had to take some video of the rushing Flathead River, as it  raced towards Lake McDonald.

http://youtu.be/_pwGBp0Hd5I

At the end of the evening, after reading, it was time for bed. The double bed was fine, as long as you didn’t move. A muscle. Creak, creak, crackle, groan, honk, squeakity squeakem squeaker. Dear Lord in heaven. So not “vacation.” And I don’t feel guilty about wanting to be pampered on vacation, any more than I begrudge camping enthusiasts their feelings about getting down and dirty in the unspoiled confines of a tent in the wilderness. Whatever floats yer boat, mate.

Back to my tale. By 3:30 a.m., we were both laughing, because it was either that or kill someone. After the Thriller came back from a potty break and announced that “there was an ant the size of a helicopter in the bathroom; he’s gone now,” I buried my head in the crook of his arm (he always smells like fabric softener — I love that), and we decided to just make the coffee and get on with the day. So, here I am, on the laptop in the car, just outside Kalispell, ready for our jaunt to Spokane for the evening.

Who knows…perhaps we’ll do Glacier another year. But I can tell you for certain that if we do the Lake McDonald cabins again, I will talk a lot more to the reservation droids. Still, a good experience, and despite the weather, I’m glad we went.

I think. HA

Wow, what a busy Wednesday yesterday. So fun…

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel (don’t get me started about Microtel…), got the car fueled up, and took off for the Painted Canyon at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Oy, the wind. After a while, I just gave up.

I had no idea this park even existed. What a gorgeous place, and a wonderful tribute to the bigger-than-life man known as the father of the conservation movement. We started with Painted Canyon, outside the boundaries of the park. I’m telling you, fiends: you’ve heard the adage, “Pictures don’t do it justice,” right? Well, I have to apply that old chestnut here. I mean, the prairie just goes on and on and on. It’s breathtaking.

After lingering there for a while, we took off for the north entrance of the park. Fortunately for us, the Thriller had done some preparatory research and discovered that the “Scenic Drive” was down to a one-lane road due to construction, so we hightailed it up to the north side road. I don’t think we missed much, as the drive and hikes we took were amazingly beautiful.

And hey, we’re officially wildlife photographers. We caught this guy sunning himself, far beyond where visitors were allowed. Fortunately, we had the telephoto lens with us. We saw two more buffalo, but they were way far away, moving through the grazing grasses.

When we got to the end of the 14-mile trek, we were at the highest point in the park, where the plains meet the sky. It was awe-inspiring, truly, and of course I had to take a Titanic photo, featuring me as king of the world.

It was a completely beautiful day, start to finish. When we got to the Cottonwood Inn in weird-but-wonderful Glasgow, Montana, we had a nice dinner and went next door to a tiny little casino and won a hundred clams. How about that?

Today, we fight the rainstorms at Glacier. I hope they abate long enough for us to get out and explore a bit. If not, we’ll get out and explore in our raincoats and umbrella.

Unless it’s cold rain. The Fink doesn’t do that. So fingers crossed for a break in the clouds. Reporting live from Glasgow…

FO