I have to say I was sad to leave our one bedroom suite - I had enjoyed so much time just relaxing on the patio with the terrific view - plus the time I had with Dan - (I don't think I was too intrusive) - it was hard to leave. We both thought it was the perfect size for each of us individually. It would be all I needed. Oh, that's right, I have Johnny Murphy back at home!
Anyway, we checked out, and Dan headed for Volunteer Park on Seattle's Capitol Hill. We went up, up, up. How do people drive in the rain or snow here? The hills are so steep and some of the streets so narrow! Then there are all the small roundabouts to calm/slow the traffic I presume.
We passed a neighborhood book exchange on the way up one hill. Made me think of my son John Brendan who had just been talking about doing the same thing in his Lowell neighborhood.
A park has been in this location since the late 1800s. In Boston we all know about Frederick Law Olmstead and the Emerald Necklace that he designed. It was interesting to learn that his sons designed Seattle's park system in the early 1900s. The park later was named Volunteer Park in honor of the Volunteers of the Spanish American War. Black Sun is the sculpture that Dan wanted to see. Seattle has lots of public sculptures on street corners, in parks, in the grounds of companies and government buildings.
This particular sculpture stands in front of the Seattle Asian Art Museum which seems fitting since the artist's father was Japanese. Dan wanted to take a picture of the Space Needle through the black sun.
This is Dan's picture at Volunteer Park that I took - I downloaded it from his Face Book page.
From Capitol Hill, we headed for Route 90 which starts with the Massachusetts Turnpike in Boston and ends here in Seattle. We passed the coffee shop from Frasier but I didn't realize it until we were just passed it. We had a last peek at the stadium with the retractable roof which seems like quite a feat but takes very little time according to our tour guide yesterday. We again saw trees and shrubs tucked into every little nook and cranny along the highway as we headed out route 90 to Missoula, Montana.
We followed the same route we had taken yesterday to Snoqualmie Falls. We passed over the floating bridges but it was too cloudy to make out Mt. Ranier which is an active volcano rising over 14, 000 feet. Even though it is over 50 miles from Seattle, we had seen it yesterday with the top still covered with snow.
We passed through Snoqualmie National Forest with its mountains covered with trees - top to bottom - until we were well out of the Seattle area. It was cloudy with sunny spells periodically - not too hot. A good day for traveling although clouds covered some mountain peaks.
Dan had his playlist going. I had been nervous about listening to his music. I like most music but can only take rap for short periods - especially if I can't understand the words. And I detest a loud bass. So I had ear plugs, but I had left them in my suitcase in the trunk. But the music was good although loud. Dan said he likes to feel it. Well, I could feel it too when the bass started vibrating parts of the dashboard!
We started passing mountains that seemed partially denuded after seeing the mountains in the Snoqualmie Forest. I wondered if this was natural or was there logging going on in this area or had there been landslides? I could see fallen trees along the mountains and also loose rocks. Dan mentioned the recent landslide in Washington which was not so far from this area. I could understand how it happened when I saw groups of houses nestled right at the edge of the mountains in what looked like little gullies. I could picture snow or dead trees or mud tumbling down on top of them.
We had to make a pit stop. The rest area we stopped at was too filthy for me so we pulled off the road a little further on. The shop had nice clean rest rooms which you come to appreciate any time you travel.
I had seen a sign for Fresh Strawberries so I walked back a very short distance to take a look.
I'm not sure what the fellow was serving in the cafe, but inside the tent were vegetables and fruit. The Ranier cherries caught my eye. How could I leave Washington state without trying Ranier cherries! So I bought a pound and a half for $9, and we were on our way again.
A little farther on we came to farm land in the large and small valleys between mountains. I was fascinated with the farm buildings, the farms themselves, the cows, and horses. Horses must be big business because there were so many of them. And there were a lot of cows - particularly black cows - they reminded me of the black Kerry cows around Killarney.
Hay must also be a big business. It looked like fields of hay had recently been harvested - this is June - so do they get another round of hay later in the summer? There were bales of hay everywhere! There were tractor trailers passing on the opposite side of the highway loaded down with bales of hay. I was fascinated with how the farmers store the hay - look at these pictures:
It was interesting to note that the homes were probably heated by propane gas - big gas tanks were outside all the houses. There was also a good amount of timber in many homes - for fireplaces or wood stoves?
There are probably thousands of acres of national forests in the Pacific Northwest. So lumber is a big industry - especially in the area that we were passing through near Couer d'Alene, Idaho.
We followed the same route we had taken yesterday to Snoqualmie Falls. We passed over the floating bridges but it was too cloudy to make out Mt. Ranier which is an active volcano rising over 14, 000 feet. Even though it is over 50 miles from Seattle, we had seen it yesterday with the top still covered with snow.
We passed through Snoqualmie National Forest with its mountains covered with trees - top to bottom - until we were well out of the Seattle area. It was cloudy with sunny spells periodically - not too hot. A good day for traveling although clouds covered some mountain peaks.
Dan had his playlist going. I had been nervous about listening to his music. I like most music but can only take rap for short periods - especially if I can't understand the words. And I detest a loud bass. So I had ear plugs, but I had left them in my suitcase in the trunk. But the music was good although loud. Dan said he likes to feel it. Well, I could feel it too when the bass started vibrating parts of the dashboard!
We started passing mountains that seemed partially denuded after seeing the mountains in the Snoqualmie Forest. I wondered if this was natural or was there logging going on in this area or had there been landslides? I could see fallen trees along the mountains and also loose rocks. Dan mentioned the recent landslide in Washington which was not so far from this area. I could understand how it happened when I saw groups of houses nestled right at the edge of the mountains in what looked like little gullies. I could picture snow or dead trees or mud tumbling down on top of them.
We had to make a pit stop. The rest area we stopped at was too filthy for me so we pulled off the road a little further on. The shop had nice clean rest rooms which you come to appreciate any time you travel.
I had seen a sign for Fresh Strawberries so I walked back a very short distance to take a look.
I'm not sure what the fellow was serving in the cafe, but inside the tent were vegetables and fruit. The Ranier cherries caught my eye. How could I leave Washington state without trying Ranier cherries! So I bought a pound and a half for $9, and we were on our way again.
We passed over the mighty Columbia River - I remember studying about it in school - starts in Canada and empties into the Pacific Ocean - one of the longest rivers in the US. Dan has some good pictures on his blog: http://mrmurphysays.blogspot.com/2014/06/big-evergreen-sky.html
Difficult to see the bridge over the Columbia River.
Hay must also be a big business. It looked like fields of hay had recently been harvested - this is June - so do they get another round of hay later in the summer? There were bales of hay everywhere! There were tractor trailers passing on the opposite side of the highway loaded down with bales of hay. I was fascinated with how the farmers store the hay - look at these pictures:
Hay bales are stored in these structures which are everywhere!!
The fields were all fenced off - some held cows, some held horses, some held vegetables. I know as we traveled through Washington state and Idaho that there were corn, potatoes, and hay growing.
We noticed that the land seemed dry - we learned that Idaho is one of the states experiencing ongoing droughts. There were creeks and rivers listed on the maps that I was reading that no longer had water in them.
I was fascinated by the irrigation system. It is difficult to make out in the pictures below, but it looks like a long tube is attached to wheels placed periodically so that the huge device can be moved along the wide fields. When it is turned on, it can irrigate a large distance. The irrigating devices are in all the fields.
It was interesting to note that the homes were probably heated by propane gas - big gas tanks were outside all the houses. There was also a good amount of timber in many homes - for fireplaces or wood stoves?
There are probably thousands of acres of national forests in the Pacific Northwest. So lumber is a big industry - especially in the area that we were passing through near Couer d'Alene, Idaho.
We were accompanied on the road by tractor trailers - some carrying 2 or 3 containers on steep those mountain roads!! And so many RVs!!! I know from working with retired military that many of them travel the country in RVs. But this is a really big business in this area of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. The RV parks were everywhere - large and small! And RV dealerships are enormous! Must be because of all the National Forests and National Parks in the area.
Anyway, we made it to Missoula where we were hunkering down for the night at the Brooks Street Motel. We stopped at Dickie's Barbecue Pit - it must be popular because they were out of almost everything. Dan had a craving for pulled pork; I had ribs.
Then we headed back to the motel to prepare for the drive to Helena tomorrow.
Anyway, we made it to Missoula where we were hunkering down for the night at the Brooks Street Motel. We stopped at Dickie's Barbecue Pit - it must be popular because they were out of almost everything. Dan had a craving for pulled pork; I had ribs.
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