Crossing the Border: Victoria, British Columbia

The morning after Seattle, we drove north to Port Angeles, Washington, to catch a ferry to Canada. Since you have to get there an hour before departure, we parked in the line-up and then explored the little port town. It's very close to Forks, the very real location of the very fictional Twilight series. Even here, there was paraphernalia everywhere. Still, it was a quaint little town with beautiful murals and delicious donuts. I'm telling you, I've eaten more donuts on this trip than in the past 10 years combined.

Around noon, we boarded the ferry and prepared for the separation anxiety we'd soon experience at having to turn our iPhones to airplane mode (I may be speaking more about myself than about Tom...).

The ride to Victoria was nice, and the scenery is beautiful: gorgeous, lush mountains and water that just looks so fresh and crisp. We drove off the ferry boat right into downtown Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. We spent the afternoon exploring the area on foot - it's a beautiful city set on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island. Tom and I thought it quite interesting that the province's capital is only accessible by plane or boat. But it certainly adds to the character!

Since the whole ferry experience took about two hours, and since donuts don't have the staying power of a lumberjack breakfast, our first objective here was lunch. We went to a Thai noodle restaurant and had delicious, heaping bowls of lo mein. With full bellies, we walked down to the waterfront. This is where three of Victoria's main attractions are: The Empress Hotel, the parliament building, and the harbor. All were beautiful and felt very European (parliament is basically a shrine to Queen Elizabeth and other British royalty). I want to call Victoria quaint, yet it feels like it's outgrown that word... it is absolutely a big city in its own right as well.

The Empress Hotel:

Parliament:

The Waterfront:

After all this exploration, we checked into our hotel, rested our legs, and researched restaurants for dinner. We found a great neighborhood pizza joint far from the touristy area and pretended we were locals. The food was delicious, and it was nice to be in an area with a more relaxed, everyday vibe. Since it was a pretty late dinner, we just headed back and called it a night.

Up next: another ferry ride and Vancouver!

Fish & Coffee, Needles & Hockey, and Being (Almost) Stranded in Seattle

From Portland, we headed north to Seattle. Tom and I have both been here in recent years, but we still felt like it was a must-stop destination. We parked downtown and spent the first hour... looking for a hotel for the night. We're booking our lodging as we go - almost always for the current night. Sometimes it's easy and takes five minutes, but sometimes we can't find what we want at a price we like... like today. At least it happened in a city we'd already seen! We've fallen into roles on this trip that have worked pretty well so far: Tom is the hotel & restaurant finder, I'm the blogger. Here's Tom hard at work in Seattle:

After booking and canceling twice, calling about seven other hotels, and scouring countless places on Kayak, Hotels.com, Hotwire, etc., we finally found something that would do. It was now about 2:30 and we hadn't done anything Seattle-ish. So... we headed of course to Pike Place Market! We saw some fish-throwing, some gigantic crabs, tons of fresh flowers and produce, and lots of local artwork. If only every city had a market like this one!

After strolling through the market, we headed right across the street to the original Starbucks location. That's right - the very. first. Starbucks. cafe. When I came with my family, I didn't get anything here because of the line, and it's been haunting me. Today, I got a chai tea latte and wrapped up my unfinished business.

Park right by Pike Place Market where we sat while I drank my chai tea.

 From the touristy but fun Pike Place, we headed inland to the equally touristy Space Needle. This structure headlined the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle and of course has become one of the best-known symbols of the city. Tom didn't get a chance to visit this on his first trip to Seattle, so we bought tickets to ride up to the top for cool city views.

After the Space Needle, we hauled it over to a sports bar/restaurant to catch Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Seattle is just a stone's throw from Vancouver, so the place was packed with Canucks fans. Tom, having grown up in a suburb of Boston, was of course rooting for the Bruins. There were a few other Bruins fans around (me by default, a few men traveling on business), but we were grossly outnumbered. The place was packed, and we couldn't get a seat until the third period, but it was a fun, lively environment we really enjoyed being in. It was a sad night for Canucks fans, but with a goalie like Tim Thomas, the Bruins were destined to win...

We left full and happy after the game only to have our moods abruptly altered by this:

We had failed to notice that the garage where we left our car closed at 7pm. It was 8:30pm when we arrived. Our hotel was a 30-minute drive away. One hour and $50 later, we had our car, but had we not been able to decipher the tiny, inconspicuous phone number hidden away in a corner through the locked gate, it could have been a far worse night. The "street people" walking by pointed and laughed as we waited for somebody to come let us in. Apparently this is a frequent occurrence at this parking garage.

We finally made it out of Seattle and to our hotel! Up next: crossing the border into British Columbia.

Forward Thinking and Chinese Gardens in Portland

After the redwoods, we stayed at a hotel a little south of Portland. In the late morning, we drove into the city to check it out. Our first stop was the visitor's center in Pioneer Square - it's a neat hub in the center of the city right across from its historic courthouse. Right now, there's a flower exhibit that's plotted out like a world map (far right picture below). Every country is a different color flower. It's so neat! We got a map and some tourist tips from some friendly folks and were on our way.

We decided to make our first stop the courthouse because it was right across the street and offers a bird's-eye view (sort of) of the city from its third floor. We could tell from the visitor center employees and the staff at the courthouse that Oregonians are quite proud of this landmark. It's still actively used as a district courthouse.

After the courthouse, we walked over to another square and got burgers at a place called Violetta. Best veggie burger I have EVER had (not including the falafel burger from Las Vegas - that still wins overall, but it's in a category all its own). Tom's burger was really good, too. We sat outside in another downtown square and people-watched while we ate. There's a fountain in this square called Teacher's Fountain, "dedicated to all who educate and inspire." Nice to see some support for education these days...

As we've gotten into the northwest U.S., we've seen much more of an emphasis on recycling and composting. Portland and many other cities around here are liberal and environmentally conscious, and it's nice to know that they're actively making strides to take care of the planet. Many of these cities also have electric buses, even further reducing their impact on the environment. If only the whole country was taking these measures!

After lunch, we walked around the city's different neighborhoods. For as big as it feels, Portland is surprisingly walkable, and we covered a good amount of ground in the five hours we were there. We walked through the warehouse district, Chinatown, the waterfront, and parts of the financial district. Everything was very cool, but I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

 

We also stopped at the world-famous Lan Su Chinese Garden. Portland's sister city was once one of the wealthiest provinces in China, and they sent plants, buildings, materials, and art to Portland to create this utopia in the middle of the big city. Their mission: "to cultivate an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony to inspire, engage, and educate [their] global community in the appreciation of a richly authentic Chinese culture." To read more about the gardens, go here.

After exploring the city for the afternoon, we decided to keep moving and head north toward Seattle, our next destination. We stopped in Longview, OR, and caught a movie at the local theater. It may seem like a waste of time to go to the movies when we're in these new places, but we don't want to miss all the summer blockbusters, and it also helps give us a sense of normalcy. The few times we've gone to a movie on this trip, we've forgotten where we were and just settled into the movie. It's a strange feeling to come out of the theater into unfamiliar surroundings and have to think for a second about where we are!

We called it a night and set our sights on Seattle next...