Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Day 4: Vancouver to Seattle (aka: Talking to Americans)


Its Tuesday, so this must be Vancouver. I was smart enough to take a picture of the odometer this morning. Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to take a picture when I arrived this afternoon. I'll take a picture before I leave in the morning and update.







Heading south towards the border... this is the George Massey Tunnel which goes UNDER the Fraser River.








The Peace Arch located at the Blaine Border Crossing. The caption at the top of the arch reads "Bretheren Dwelling Together In Unity".

Brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it?











Thank you! Its good to be here!











Maybe THIS is why I feel so at home down here...









Coming across the east side of Lake Union with a beautiful view of downtown Seattle.










So when Blake goes to Seattle, what's his first stop? The Museum of Flight, of course!









Now a car like this sure would help me cover more ground on this trip... I wonder what the trade-in on the Accord would be...








This is the first Boeing 747 ever built. I get a little chill up my spine every time I see this airplane, and the Concorde parked next to it. Both were truly revolutionary airframes.









Qwest Field: Home of the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks... far and away the best team in the league.









The Rainier Tower. This was one of the first things I walked past on my 3 mile trek to and through Myrtle Edwards Park. Definetly a unique looking structure.











In Seattle's historic Pike Place Market. I got lost trying to find the restaurant where I planned to have dinner, but I ended up here... and that's never a bad thing. Neither was the Alaskan Halibut I enjoyed for dinner!









A coffee pilgrammage if ever there was one. This is the world's VERY FIRST Starbucks.









Midway through the trek through Elliott Bay/Myrtle Edwards Park. I was planning on watching one of Seattle's two major fireworks shows here in this park, but I thought of something better.

BTW, for those of you who are Frasier buffs, you'll know that the fictional building that Frasier Crane lives in is called the "Elliott Bay Towers".




At the north end of my 3 or so mile trek up from downtown Seattle. It was worth it for many reasons... the exercise, the chance to take this great photo, and an inspiration.

Now if I want the best view of the fireworks in Seattle, where should I go?









... THE SPACE NEEDLE!









Now it wouldn't be one of my trips without me running into people I know from Fort McMurray. At the base of the Space Needle, I almost literally bumped into Marg and Janet Hatfield (center and right) and their friend. They were in Seattle to celebrate Janet's 21st birthday.





A beautiful sunset from the top of the Space Needle before the fireworks shows. Yes, I said shows. Seattle proper has two major fireworks shows... the Fourth of Jul-Ivars (sponsored by Ivars) is on Elliott Bay to the southwest of the tower and the Washington Mutual show is on Lake Union to the northeast.

Anyway, the mountain range you see in this picture is the same one I see from my apartment in Victoria.






SPECTACULAR!

Happy 4th of July!

2 comments:

  1. diemdoppelalderJuly 05, 2006

    I was stationed 2 years at Fort Lewis and got to do a bit of exploring. I never made it to Vancoover because I was too busy doing military duty, going to Seattle, or Victoria. The Pacific N.W. and British Columbia have a way of growing on you. I will be going to the area, in a few weeks, for vacation. I will go to Victoria and Munro's Bookstore and we know this.

    Theo

    P.S. To avoid the B.S. customs at Bellingham, take the Coho Ferry from Port Angelis to Victoria. I did go through Bellingham a few times. I had CT plates, which looked like British Columbian plates. I caught it from both customs. I couldn't convice them that Canada didn't have states. I dealt with customs officers who could not read a license plate, scary!

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  2. Colby MillerJuly 31, 2006

    Got some trivia that you might like to add to that picture of the Massey Tunnel - It's North Americans lowest public road...who knew?

    ReplyDelete