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We had a free day as we arrived so we visited Snoqualme Pass
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DSCN0184.jpg-1 We had a free day as we arrived so we visited Snoqualme Pass |
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DSCN0187.jpg-1 and Lake Kachess the other side of the Pass |
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DSCN0188.jpg-1 with its beautiful beach. |
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DSCN0195.jpg-1 Coming home we just had to visit Snoqualmie Falls |
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DSCN0199.jpg-1 And Snoqualmie train depot |
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DSCN0209.jpg-2 That evening we had dinner with Diane's son Geoff and Theresa |
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DSCN0215.jpg-2 That night Mount Ranier showed its beautiful head |
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DSCN0228.jpg-2 The next day Geoff and Teresa got married! This was a bonus that we did not expect |
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DSCN0269.jpg-3 Then it was time for the cruise to get underway. We left Seatlle late afternoon and dusk found us in the Straits of Juan de Fuca looking at the Olympics |
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DSCN0271.jpg-3 The next day we cruised the Pacific (rather rough) and then the inside passage |
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DSCN0274.jpg-3 Typical Scenery |
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DSCN0278.jpg-3 The second day was cruising in Glacier Bay. I guess "Bay" was the name before global warming - The Bay is now a fjord almost 100 miles long with the glaciers at the far end |
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DSCN0279.jpg-3 Our first glacier sighting |
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DSCN0294.jpg-4 This full-size cruise ship gives an idea of the scale. |
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DSCN0299.jpg-4 We had camp followers |
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DSCN0302.jpg-5 Then the second glacier |
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DSCN0306.jpg-7 Note the beautiful blue colors |
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DSCN0314.jpg-7 Another check on the scale. No, this was not a cruise ship. You can just see a man standing on the back of the boat |
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DSCN0317.jpg-7 The first stop was the next day at Juneau. This is a typical very small town crammed up against the mountains |
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DSCN0330.jpg-7 But the best glacier was at Mendenhall. Notice the blue again |
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DSCN0342.jpg-7 We took a nature trail back to the bus |
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DSCN0350.jpg-7 The bus then took us the Glacier Gardens where they have upside-down trees. Twenty feet of trunk stuck in the ground and the roots ten feet in the air covered with mesh, moss, soil and flowers. There were dozens of these! |
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DSCN0352.jpg-7 And the rest of the gardens were very pretty |
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DSCN0364.jpg-7 And they had more flowers in their cafe for a photo-op |
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DSCN0367.jpg-8 Their grounds have an eagle nest with a camera showing the action. |
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DSCN0370.jpg-8 The next day we arrived in Sitka. By far the prettiest town |
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DSCN0381.jpg-8 And that night we got a folded towel on the bed |
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DSCN0383.jpg-8 Next day was Ketchikan |
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DSCN0386.jpg-8 And a Logger Derby that they put on three times a day |
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DSCN0400.jpg-8 Our dinner companions Flo and Penny just happened to live twenty miles up the road in Boerne and FairOaks |
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DSCN0401.jpg-8 The next day was cruising back but we stopped in Victoria, BC in the evening and went to the Butchart Gardens. |
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DSCN0402.jpg-8 Beautiful |
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DSCN0444.jpg-9 Fireworks are a Butchart specialty on Saturdays and they were the most spectacular we have ever seen. |
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DSCN0472.jpg-10 Back in Seattle we did laundry on Queen Anne Hill where the apartment dwellers live, then took a ferry and ended at Hurricane Ridge near Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. |
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DSCN0499.jpg-10 Port Angeles is a headquarters for growing lavender. |
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DSCN0504.jpg-10 Next day we visited the Hoh rain forest.and looked at ferns and moss for a few hours |
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DSCN0521.jpg-10 When a tree falls vegetation grows over it. Here is an example of trees growing on a downed log (a "Nurse" Log) |
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DSCN0534.jpg-10 When the nurse log decays the trees that grew on it often have a tunnel under the trunk |
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DSCN0537.jpg-10 That night and the next we stayed at Lake Quinault. A 1930's hotel |
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DSCN0538.jpg-10 The totem-pole looking object is a rain-gauge - 200 inches per year. |
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DSCN0545.jpg-10 They have their own rain-forest trail that we took |
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DSCN0572.jpg-10 And a lake to sit by. They have a campfire here each evening to gather around |
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DSCN0580.jpg-10 The next day we left an drove around the lake to visit a VERY large Western Red Cedar |
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DSCN0582.jpg-10 That was hollow |
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DSCN0590.jpg-10 This fungus was obviously growing very quickly - it has encompassed a recent fern frond |
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DSCN0592.jpg-10 The scale of the trees was very large |
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DSCN0595.jpg-10 Later in the day we arrived at the Oregon Coast |
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DSCN0600.jpg-10 This is the "Octopus" tree |
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DSCN0617.jpg-10 We stayed the night in a fisherman's lodge just north of Tillamuck |
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DSCN0626.jpg-10 And continued on to Depoe Bay |
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DSCN0635.jpg-10 And Newport. All the Oregon bridges seem to be decorated by spires. We concluded that they were ancient burial markers for workers killed during construction |
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DSCN0656.jpg-10 At the end of the afternoon we were at the Sandunes Park by Florence. |
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DSCN0658.jpg-10 It was cold for some |
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DSCN0660.jpg-10 But others walked where she thought the edge of the water should be. |
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DSCN0661.jpg-10 The dunes were a paradise for off-roaders |
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DSCN0662.jpg-10 Another bridge just before we left the coast. |
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DSCN0672.jpg-10 In Roseburg we met up with Diane's cousins who have moved out there |
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DSCN0677.jpg-10 And stayed in a very nice Casino |
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DSCN0680.jpg-10 The next day we travelled up the North Umpquah River and voted it most beatiful ever. |
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DSCN0684.jpg-10 There were wayside stops |
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DSCN0692.jpg-10 And Little hikes to waterfalls. |
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DSCN0708.jpg-10 Finally we arrived at Crater Lake/ Voted by Diane as most beautiful of the trip |
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DSCN0711.jpg-10 Notice the different colors of blue. In the shallows it even went green. |
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DSCN0714.jpg-10 Wizard Island is at one side |
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DSCN0722.jpg-10 The drive around the rim dips down in places. This run-off is from the rim itself. |
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DSCN0729.jpg-10 Lots of ground squirrels |
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DSCN0738.jpg-10 We stayed at Diamond Lake Lodge. Definitely the worst of the trip. The room had a thirty-year-old carpet that performed double duty as a wall protector behind the door |
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DSCN0742.jpg-10 Next day was to Bend, Oregon. Diane had always wanted to go fly fishing so she got a surprise trip |
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DSCN0751.jpg-10 Peter was talked into trying it also. |
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DSCN0759.jpg-10 The rock formations had wonderful basaltic columns everywhere. |
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DSCN0763.jpg-10 Next day was Mount St Helens. |
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DSCN0765.jpg-10 The mountain was cloudy so we took the nature walk. We tried to figure out how a snail can get to, and live on, an isolated lily pad |
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DSCN0777.jpg-10 Finally back in Tacoma to see Gracie again |
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DSCN0807.jpg-10 Training to be a plumber |
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DSCN0814.jpg-10 The mountain was still out |
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DSCN0819.jpg-10 And the next day we met up with Austin in Tacoma before heading home |