Day Trip to Bellingham

Having lived on the eastern side of the continent for nearly a decade, I pay much less attention to state boundaries than I ever did when I was younger. States over here are smaller and then they are not smaller, they seem to take on funny shapes. For example, Maryland and Ohio each have borders that are logically defined by rivers and illogically defined by policy that cause either themselves or their neighboring states to have weird shapes (look no further than West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle and how long, in terms of north-south, the state of Maryland is in the community of Hancock).

What is now bizarre to me is when I visit the Vancouver area and it is not just natural to end up in another state. I mean, I live six miles south of Pennsylvania and less than 30 miles west of Maryland. I drive to Maryland because they’ve got better antiquing and bulk candy options. I drive to Pennsylvania because they’ve got better breakfast choices, and the outlet mall less than an hour away makes my Quaker heart sing with consumeristic delight.

I use all of these words to preface some of the most exciting news (to me) on this entire trip: day trip to Bellingham! We’re not crossing state/provincial lines, we’re going to Washington State. That’s a national boundary. We had some bureaucratic goals, but most of them were touristic. I love Washington State. There is pretty much nothing I do not love about Washington State. I say pretty much because I am pretty bummed about the epic cluster brewing on the Seattle waterfront concerning an enormous stalled out tunnel-boring machine. Though I have endless faith in WSDOT that they’ll get through it. Frankly, I sometimes fantasize about one day having the opportunity to work at WSDOT. Once again, I digress.

Order of business: visit the Western Washington University campus, mail myself a package of childhood memories, eat some tasty lunch, find a geocache, and ogle like a small child at the very conspicuous marijuana dispensaries, return to Canada via a different route than the one we came in on merely for the sake of variety while not forgetting to top off the gas tank with some cheaper fuel.

Western Washington has a stunning campus. The topography reminded me of West Virginia University. It seemed like a hilly nightmare. I often muse that if there were a scientific rating of the best legs on a college campus, West Virginia would rank very high because it is a relentlessly hilly campus. Western Washington would give them a run for their money, especially given the fact that your average Washingtonian has a healthier lifestyle than your average West Virginian (while Business Insider isn’t science, they report the America’s Health Rankings findings and West Virginia in their top 10 least healthy states)

On the other side of the WWU campus, I found a UPS store who was happy to ship a small box of my personal belongings back to West Virginia for me. If we hadn’t desired a day trip to Washington, I’d have tolerated the higher rate to ship from Canada and the extra few days for it to sit in a warehouse at the border, but now it made no sense. Besides, it had the opportunity to be fun to surprise Chris with a package full of 20-year-old knickknacks. The store was full of all of the right, laid-back characters you’d expect to find in a college town in Washington. Kind of really made consider relocation, right then and there.

Across the parking lot we hit up the Sehome Diner for lunch. The location was ideal. Our sandwiches hit the spot and the timing worked out because the worst rain of the day seemed to decide that now was the right time to move on through. This also marks an opportune time to plot the remainder of our day. I selected the geocache I wished to seek and we settled on taking the old highway back, which meant returning to Canada via Aldergrove.

We did a little more touristing and shopping before making our way back to the central business district to a small park, which appears to have been whittled away at over the years, now being little more than an awkward traffic obstruction near the center of town. Local Meridian is a virtual cache at this point. The monument in this park indicates and describes how survey divisions work to divide and determine land ownership, which was key in the original settlement of area by non-native settlers.

Small monument describing how survey divisions work

Heading out of town, back toward the border, I was in awe at one thing I had never noticed on previous visits (which predate the current legislation which legalize marijuana in Washington State): an abundance of shops offering up the product. Each shop seemed a little cheekier than the next. While filling up the car, down the road the black and green letters of Total Health Care stood out to me, and I realized that the acronym for the facility could be substituted for something else. Clever, clever. I’m not sure how their experiment is working out. I’m not sure I was quite prepared to just see marketing for it right in front of me like that. I felt almost like I was seeing something I shouldn’t be seeing? Perhaps that’s what the Feds actually would prefer given that I’m not a Washington State or Colorado resident?

With a full tank of gas we had no difficulty heading home. Because we planned ahead and did not cross the border at peak times, our waits were minimized. We also have a little bit of experience crossing the border. We have our documents ready when we get to the crossing and we are always up front and honest when asked any questions, even if it takes an extra few seconds to go through it all.

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Cruising into Pittsburgh

All good things must come to an end. We packed up the rental car and headed south. We left early because you never know how bad traffic is going to be at the border or along the highway. Besides, after over a week of being in very close proximity to my parents it was very nice to have a few hours of freedom. There was no delay at the border, since getting married it’s been as easy as I remembered when I was a kid, and we made it to the airport in no time at all.

We were pretty broken up over parting with the rental car. Despite being woefully impractical it was an absolute blast. We’ve got to hand it to the folks at Fox Rent-a-Car for talking us into it (and giving us one heck of a deal!). After dropping off our checked bag we had about six hours to kill before flight time. We made for the light rail and headed downtown. As we rode closer to downtown the train filled up with happy people going to and from Seafair.

Once arriving downtown we made for the waterfront where we grabbed dinner at Ivar’s, unlike the Ivar’s we stopped at in the suburbs soon after arriving, this is the original location. We ate our fish and chowder while the seagulls impatiently watched us eat. Tough for them, we ate every last bite.

After eating we strolled in and out of the shops, but our attention was grabbed by one of the multiple boat companies selling harbor cruises. I highly doubt it was the first time they were offering half-off their hour-long harbor cruise, but the price was right and we had almost two hours before we had to head back to the airport. Despite their consistent pressure to buy the expensive drinks, we enjoyed the sights. Most interesting was certainly getting to see the port up close, container ships were actively being loaded and unloaded, and we even had to make a tight turn up a freight berth.

Seattle landmarks in the distance

We walked back to the light rail stop in the downtown transit tunnel with smiles on our faces and couldn’t imagine a better way to bid farewell to the west coast. Before we knew it, we were back at the airport. We still had time to kill before the flight! Like any seasoned adult travelers (without kids), we found the nearest bar. We split some nachos over a drink before queuing up with the rest of the herd for the first flight back.

Little sleep was had on the flight. The flights were hot and it seemed like we weren’t the only ones uncomfortable. Arriving in Pittsburgh almost felt like a punishment! The rain was pouring down and the air was a sticky hot. But the fact of the matter is: the vacation isn’t over until you’ve paid for airport parking. $72.

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Where Transportation meets Water

Despite the early hour and cool air, we left Grand Coulee in style—top down! State Route 174 took us through winding prairie and we returned to U.S. Route 2 in the sleepy town of Wilbur. The prairies out here have one abnormality compared to those in Iowa, there are volcanic rock formations all over the place. The farmers here have simply adjusted to these geographical differences. Soon the farm fields were replaced with small strip malls which were growing in frequency. The sun was heating up our heads and the timing was right to come across a Wal-Mart.

Across from Fairchild AFB we stopped for a geocache. This was a clever cache in a typical location. It was a tape measure. Dad held one end of the tape measure and I pulled the other, we measured about 6 feet when I signed the log. We crossed the shopping center to Wal-Mart where Chris and I picked up baseball caps. I got a Washington State University and he got a Gonzaga University cap. A generic cap simply wouldn’t do.

Spokane passed in a flash. To those new to Spokane I think the size of the city is surprising. Many seem to believe Seattle is the only big city and Spokane merely an outpost on the frontier. Winding through downtown on the freeway you could as easily be in Richmond, Virginia or Madison, Wisconsin. Before we knew it, we were in Idaho. We grabbed lunch quickly just north of Coeur d’Alene at a Wendy’s and make tracks for Sandpoint.

Sandpoint is famous for its breathtaking location on Lake Pend Oreille. U.S. Route 95 crosses the lake. When an upgraded bridge was needed it was built parallel to the old one. Thankfully, the old bridge was not removed. Rather, the old bridge lives on as a pedestrian and bicycle facility. While time did not permit us to enjoy the entire bridge, Chris and I walked out about half a mile. It was a beautiful opportunity to stretch our legs. In the distance we saw a BNSF freight train cross the lake while boats passed next to and below us. I also enjoyed seeing the aged mile marker signs next to the new ones. Then right before returning to the car we saw a group of kids playing on an old pier in the water. It looked absolutely heavenly on such a hot, hot day.

U.S. Route 95, mile 472: old and new

While not directly on the route, our next stop would be Montana. Dad nor Chris had ever been to Montana and we would just be passing too close to miss the opportunity. We took U.S. Route 2 toward Troy and decided to find at least one geocache. It took only a few miles and we didn’t see a whisper of Troy. Chris and I took a souvenir rock and left some “Friends of Coal” pins we had picked up at the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine the month before back in West Virginia.

On our way back to our route at the border crossing into Canada at the end of U.S. Route 95 we stopped to visit a rest area. To our surprise, the area was an overlook for the Moyie River Bridge and Falls. The bridge reminded me so much of the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. When on the Moyie River Bridge on our way into Montana we had no idea we were over 400 feet above the river below. On the New River Gorge Bridge you haven’t the faintest idea you are nearly 900 feet above the river below, nor do you know the beauty of the structure holding you up. Just beyond the bridge, the falls used to generate power for the municipally owned Moyie River Dam are also visible.  Infrastructure never fails to take my breath away!

Moyie River Bridge, Idaho's second highest bridge

From this breathtaking rest area, we make tracks to Canada! One of the most entertaining things to happen on the trip occurs at the border, and one member of our party did not even know until several days later! Chris discovers a unique solution to a problem in the Canadian mountains. And we all discover a relic from North American motoring history. Stay tuned!

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: It was Dam Familiar

In 1997 my tour of the Grand Coulee Dam included a trip into the Third Powerplant via a glass elevator as well as the pumphouse. In 2012 the tour would only visit the pumphouse and the top of the dam. The scientific content of the tour has been more or less gutted. Once guests went through the metal detector and got on the bus to the other side of the dam where the pumphouse is, the time allotted for the hour tour was virtually half over. Truthfully, I was disappointed. The 10-year-old girls on this tour aren’t having the same, positive experience with civil engineering I did in 1997. Most of the tour was spent on the road on top of the dam for photo ops.

Prior to 9/11 the road on top of the dam was open to the public so it is nice to add this to the tour. A few years ago construction began to replace the turbines in the Third Powerplant, so it is understandable for the tour to no longer stop here. However, more than a glance at the old exhibits and a few seconds in the pumphouse gallery would be nice. What would’ve been best would have been some better informed tour guides, even if that meant charging a nominal fee for tours. And as stated previously, it was disturbing to have rent-a-cops lurking with fully automatic assault weapons.

Looking down from the top of the Grand Coulee Dam

Thankfully, margaritas have a wonderful way of washing a bad taste from your mouth. Above the dam on the shores of Roosevelt Lake is the town of Grand Coulee. La Presa is the local Mexican restaurant. While the rest of the area was sleepy, this restaurant was packed. The food and the drinks were fabulous.

We headed back to the Coulee House Motel, the same hotel I stayed at with my parents in 1997. The motel has been a work in progress since the 1950s. Some of the buildings and wings of the motel are newer than others, but once built haven’t seen much of any updating. While we didn’t stay in the same room, the bedspreads and furniture looked awfully familiar. For all of the change in the past 15 years of my life, little had changed in here. It was nice to visit a familiar friend to my 10-year-old self.

After a short rest, Chris and I walked down the main drag to the bridge over the Columbia River. The dam is the reason the town exists. Interpretive signage lines both sides of the bridge. Signs on one side describe the geologic history in the area and signs on the side facing the dam describe the history of the dam. It’s a pleasant walk and a very nice supplement to the dam tour.

Grand Coulee Dam, from the bridge, at dusk

As dark set in, 10:00pm drew nearer and a crowd began to form in the park across from the motel. Folks sat facing the dam as the gates to the spillway opened and the concrete face of the dam was covered in rushing white water. This is how they set up the screen for the nightly laser light show. Soon the old, weather-beaten speakers crackled to life and the sights and sounds seemed so familiar. The light show describes the mighty River Columbia and its relationship with the dam. As we sat to take in the show a little orange cat stopped by every single person for affection. Next year it is promised that there will be an all new laser light show.

After a hot day the cool, evening air was a dream. The walk back to our room was pleasant and we quickly fell asleep. Once again, our plans to visit the hotel pool were thwarted by our exhaustion and interest in the local history. After all, you can find a swimming pool in virtually any town. An engineering wonder of the world is much rarer. Tomorrow we would visit three states on the way to crossing into British Columbia. Some of our adventures were planned, others came as surprises.

Random trivia learned on this day: Grant County, Washington (where Grand Coulee Dam is situated) farms more potatoes than the entire state of Idaho.

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Toward the Dam!

We kept a tight travel schedule every day of the trip, regardless of the time zone. Alarms went off at 7:00am and we would be in the car by 8:00am. Having come from the Eastern Time zone was a blessing for Chris and me. At least on day two of the vacation, 7:00am felt more like 10:00am. For dad it was just getting up at 7:00am on a Saturday.

In the planning stages of the trip I had evaluated the time difference between taking the interstate highway or U.S. Route 2 toward Wenatchee and ultimately Grand Coulee. I decided the 30 extra minutes on U.S. Route 2 would be worth it. It did not take long for each of us to appreciate this choice. Within half an hour of getting on the road we discovered gems such as the Wayside Chapel, a section of a thousand year old Douglas Fir, and an adorable drive in restaurant in the Sultan area. But the most important reason to follow this route was to visit Leavenworth.

Standing next to a section of a 1000 year old Douglas Fir

Leavenworth, Washington (not to be confused with Leavenworth, Kansas, which is home to several penitentiaries) was the headquarters for the Great Northern Railroad until the 1920s when the railroad relocated to nearby Wenatchee. In an attempt to reinvent the town, an improvement organization was formed in the early 1960s and they decided to turn the town into a mock Bavarian village. Dad, who was a military brat and lived in Germany as a kid, confirms that Leavenworth has very successfully replicated the look of a Bavarian village. As schnitzel enthusiasts, this was where we stopped for lunch. I can assure you that the jagerschnitzel I barely took the time to chew was fantastic.

Front Street in Leavenworth

Beyond Leavenworth the primary goal was arriving at Coulee Dam in time to catch one of the last tours of the day. We made only one stop on the way. By the time we arrived in Coulee City we needed to stretch our legs. We stopped at a little café in this town of a few hundred that had a very unique way of stocking over 30 flavors of ice cream. They had a machine that dispensed vanilla soft serve and 30 flavors of syrup. In this unique container they could mix the soft serve with the chosen flavor, then they could pump the mix out of the container into an ice cream cone. The flavor was perfect and the dispensing end of the container dispensed the product to look just as if it came out of the soft serve machine. Maybe it’s the engineer in me, but I thought this was absolutely ingenious!

Continuing on the road, now off U.S. Route 2, we passed by Steamboat Rock State Park. The namesake of the park appears to rise up like an island in Banks Lake, but we learned that this is not the case. It is possible to drive up to the rock and many people were enjoying this element of geography.

Steamboat Rock as seen from Washington State Route 155

Finally, we arrived in Coulee Dam. We were closing in on 4:00pm so we made a beeline for the Grand Coulee Dam tour center. To our surprise, the 4:00pm tour was completely full and people were already beginning to wait for the 5:00pm tour. We decided it was worth the wait. Dad had done the tour here in the 1950s and again in 1997 with me. We were very excited.

Our first surprise was that we each had to go through a metal detector. Our second surprise was that there was a contracted security officer with a fully automatic assault weapon. I acknowledge that the Grand Coulee Dam is a critical piece of infrastructure and must be protected, but I would have preferred the gentleman with the assault weapon to be donning an Army uniform. We were also informed that the tour would not be the same tour that dad and I did in 1997.

How had the tour changed? What big attraction had not changed? How else did I get nostalgic for this town? Beyond Coulee Dam what discoveries did we make near Spokane and in Idaho? What awkward question did we encounter while crossing the border into Canada? This and more in future installments!

Conquering the Pacific Northwest: Day 1

I take my vacations very seriously. While I also attempt to make the most of my weekends and time off at home, true vacations are different. Our last vacation included a tour of the best of Arizona and the vacation before that discovered the best of the southern California deserts and Route 66 in Arizona and California. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the time for a vacation came around again. This time, we planned to conquer the Pacific Northwest.

The following entries will detail our adventures on the roads and at the attractions that are only part of what makes this region so incredible.

Day 1:

We flew from Pittsburgh to Seattle via Houston. The plan was to meet up with my dad at the Seattle airport and pick up a full-sized car for a five-day road trip. The road trip happened as planned, but with some deep discounting and coercing, the folks at Fox Rent-a-Car convinced us to take a bright red convertible 2012 Ford Mustang.

Did somebody say upgrade?

Our first stop was at the Fry’s Electronics in Renton, WA while waiting for dad to arrive at the airport to sign on as our second driver. For technology geeks, visiting a Fry’s is akin to a religious experience. Simply walking in inspires and draws out emotion in even the most dysfunctional types. Chris struggled to focus on what he actually needed as he was continually distracted by some new component, piece of computer hardware, or gadget. There is no big box electronics store that compares to Fry’s.

After extracting Chris from Fry’s we returned to the airport, picked up dad, and were off on our adventure! To begin, we cruised down Marginal Way along the perimeter of the Boeing facility. Aviation fans are always in for a treat when traveling this route as many historical planes are clearly visible, including an actual Concorde, which is part of the Museum of Flight. We continued into Seattle where eventually we found ourselves heading north on Aurora.

When traveling it is priority to eat at local establishments. The definition of local seems to differ between people, but we tend to focus on what we cannot eat at home. Wanting to make moves for our hotel in Monroe, Ivar’s was a natural choice. Of all seafood fast food I’ve ever tried, Ivar’s is, without a doubt, the best. For me, the cornerstone of their menu is the white chowder.

Finishing dinner, we made tracks for Monroe. I selected Monroe as our starting point for the following five-day roadtrip because it was a short drive from Seattle but was situated on U.S. Route 2 immediately before it begins the climb to the Steven’s Pass. Arriving at the hotel we had ambitions to enjoy the pool. But once we arrived at our room, those ambitions evaporated. After an early morning, hours of flights, and a three-hour time difference, sleep became the only ambition.

This was likely for the best, as the adventures on the following days would require more and more energy.