Seattle - Day 1

We set out for Seattle on Tuesday morning.  The closest ferry terminal from the RV park is approximately 8 miles down the road on Bainbridge Island.  We didn't want to ferry the car over, so we parked in a public parking lot at the terminal.  You pay to park all day (10 hours or more) then you can walk inside the terminal and board the ferry.  Only $4.00 round trip each for seniors.  The weather was outstanding!  It was sunny and warm.....in fact, Seattle actually broke a record Tuesday for a high temperature of 86.  Wow!  That was a record folks!  It was only 71 yesterday (Thursday). Below are some pictures of the inside of the ferry we rode to Seattle.  It was much bigger than the one we took from Coupeville to Port Townsend the day before.

 Sitting at this end you can watch the Seattle skyline get closer.

This is only a fraction of the seats.  

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In the center section of the passenger deck, closer to where the snack bar is, there are many tables to eat or work at during the ride.

Snack bar/restaurant area is bigger than this picture shows.

 Outside on the deck we were able to get some great pictures of Mt. Rainier.

  

We were fortunate to see Mt. Rainier so well.  Two day later we couldn't see it at all. 

Right away we see two of the things on our agenda for today. 

The Space Needle.....

and the Seattle Great Ferris Wheel!

It is a giant Ferris wheel located at Pier 57.  With an overall height of 175 feet, it was the tallest Ferris wheel on the west coast of the US when it opened on June 29, 2012.

This view is part of the Seattle skyline from the ferry as we were coming in.

 

The anticipation is building!

 This is a look from the bottom of the wheel before we got on.  It's huge!

The pictures below were taken from the top as we went around.  We got to ride three times around before they stopped to let you off.  Of course everyone gets to sit at the very top while they start unloading from the bottom.

On our way UP!

When you are on the ground, the interstate is usually way above you.  On the Ferris wheel, you are way above that highway. 

The ride is over....we made it!

After the Ferris wheel, we headed toward the Space Needle.  We had to walk several blocks down the waterfront and then cross the street to start uphill towards the Westlake Center (mall area) downtown to catch the monorail.  The monorail station was located (outside) on the third floor of the mall.   The pictures below are some of the neat things we passed along the way.

 Fun shops and restaurants.

 Brass bench....lots of photos taken there.

Shrimp or Lobster?

These steps lead up to the next level or street.  I never thought of Seattle as being hilly.  There are also some really steep downtown streets.  Some of the printed directions for tourists usually include whether or not there are significant inclines.

A really big Macy's store in the middle of town.  

Oh no!  More steps!

We finally made it to the Westlake Center where we will go inside to catch the monorail

 to the Space Needle. 

The monorail runs through downtown for about 1 mile.

Next stop.....Space Needle.

From below...buying tickets.

Pictures below are some views from the top.

You can see Mt. Rainier in the background.

Above picture is of Lake Union where the Kenmore Air seaplane base is located and where we started our tour.

Looking out over the sound.  Looks like a Carnival cruise ship is in port.

Yes, those are spiders painted on the top of the building below.  Yikes!

      

We had a spectacular view of the city from 520 feet in the air!

We got back on the monorail and headed  back to the Waterfront to eat lunch.  We decided on the "Crab Pot" for some Fish 'n' Chips.  It was very good!

YUM!

After lunch we made our way over to the ferry terminal for the ride back to Bainbridge Island.  We had a great day sightseeing in Seattle and couldn't wait to start again the next day.  Our plans for Wednesday are to take an Argosy boat tour of the two lakes in the city.  Union and Washington.  

Ferry Ride

Monday morning we left Anacortes headed for the ferry terminal about 35 miles south on Whidbey Island.  We had made our reservations the night before via the internet to ferry the motorhome, car and 2 passengers from Coupeville, WA on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula.  The ferry trip took about 35 minutes.  These ferries load and unload at an amazingly fast pace.

The Washington State Ferries is a passenger and car/truck ferry service owned and operated by the Washington State DOT that serves communities on Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands.  It is the largest passenger and automobile fleet in the US and the third largest in the world by fleet.  It carries 11 million vehicles per year.  The larger jumbo ferries can hold 2500 people and 202 cars.  The ferry we took across was not one of the jumbo ferries, but it held a lot of cars, trucks, semi's and people.

Once you have parked your vehicle, you can lock it and go upstairs for the ride.  There are drink and snack machines, and even a small snack/restaurant on board.  The larger ferries have larger snack/restaurants and many more seats and tables.  A lot of the residents use the ferries to get to work.  There were even jigsaw puzzles laid out on some of the tables that you could just sit down and work while you were ferried across the water.  

Washington State Ferry

Our ferry......

  almost at the ferry landing and it was time to board.

Our view as we headed into the belly of the ferry.  The ferries are open ended, so they do not have to turn around.  You drive on and when you get to the other side you just drive off

Yes..... that's the nose of our motorhome.  We are wedged in tight behind a couple of semi's.  The red sticker lets the ferry crew know that we have turned off the propane gas.

You can't see our car, but it is still hooked up to the motorhome.  We didn't have to unhook the car which made it super easy to drive on......and drive off.

This is the view looking out the back of the ferry as we headed up the stairs to sit in the passenger area for the ride over.

You can walk around outside if the weather is nice.

This ferry had one of the smaller restaurant areas. 

Tables and chairs from the front of the ferry to the end on the passenger deck.

Sun deck on top.

We are arriving at the ferry dock in Port Townsend.

Anacortes, WA

This quaint little seaside town of Anacortes is located on Fidalgo Island and is part of the San Juan Islands.  It is connected to the mainland by a bridge.  It has a population of approximately 16,000 people and is surrounded by the north Puget Sound.  The weather is milder than other areas of the Pacific Northwest because it lies within the Olympic Mountain rain shadow.  Fidalgo Island gets 21 inches of rain per year, only half as much as Seattle.  In the 1950's  oil companies built big refineries near town.  Two of the five refineries in Washington are located near the town.  Refining remains the area's largest industry, but the economic base now includes yacht construction/ship building, tourism and residential services for nearby Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
During our week on the island, we became familiar with the town and the surrounding areas.  We were always amazed at the beauty of the island and the friendly people.  These are some of the places we visited on the island as well as some of the scenery.

A beautiful entrance to the downtown area.  Flowers hung on all the street lights.

We had a great view of the bay from our spot at the campground.  

These Canadian geese swam by each morning.  In the afternoon there was a Harbor Seal that would come by but it was hard to get a picture of him.

These little coffee huts were located all over town. 

  

We drove out to Washington Park located a few miles northwest of downtown.  As we approached the entrance to the park, we immediately had to stop for several deer that were walking through the area.  

There was an area for picnicking and a boat launch area.  We drove up the winding road to the top of an overlook that had a great view of the bay.  The small one-way road was used for cars as well as people walking or biking.

The cherries, raspberries, and blueberries are all coming in this time of year. There are little stands along the main drag in town selling them.

MURALS:

As we drove or walked around town, we kept seeing these murals of people in old modes of transportation, or on a steam roller, etc.  Some were just standing...like a picture of a mailman on the wall outside the post office or a Judge at the courthouse.   Some had a name beside the picture, so we realized that some of these murals were of townspeople current and/or past.  We did some research and discovered that the artist was a man by the name of Bill Mitchell. He has painted nearly 120 murals since 1984.  Many are located in their proper location such as the mailman.  There are too many pictures to post, so I have selected a few to share.  The first is a picture of the wheelchair bound artist.  He gets around town in this little cart.

The artist.

ALAN!!!

This was only a fraction of the murals around town.  It was fun to turn a corner and see another fun mural.  

The picture above was the view from our motorhome.  We kept noticing cars parked on the top of this big rock across the way.  We found out that it's a park called Mount Erie Park that is popular for hiking, biking and rock climbing.  It is 1,258 feet to the top.  You can drive up to the top for breathtaking views.  Here are few of the pictures we took on the top of the rock.

There were several of these old clocks along the sidewalk in town.  Different styles and colors.  We also saw the same type clocks in several other small towns in the area.



This is the oil refinery that is located across the bay from the RV park.  It is quiet and clean and very pretty at night with all the lights.

When is the last time you saw one of these?  We spotted this "working" phone by at the marina.

There were large watering cans at each corner of this building designed to disguise the downspouts for the gutter system.  Each one was a different color.   See the mural next to the door? They were everywhere!

This was a house and garden that we passed each day on our way to town.  I finally got a picture of the beautiful garden.  Many of the houses had large beautiful gardens.  This is their spring.

Driving down by the harbor, we saw the Sally Ride and Neil Armstrong ships being built.  The Sally Ride ship will be based in San Diego, CA when it is completed.  It is a research ship. 

Gorgeous sunset.....however, it was nearly 10 pm!

We really enjoyed our visit here, but it is time to move on down the road.  Our next stop will be on the Kitsap Peninsula in another seaside town named Poulsbo.  

But first we have to get the Motorhome and car over the next island.