I decided it would be easiest to share the photos from our trip to the Pacific Northwest if I split it up into 3 posts, each with its own slideshow so that you can really see the beauty of the area.
Just in case anyone else wants to take the same trip, I'm going to make it a little easier by sharing the details. For those who'd rather just see some pictures, you can skip the commentary and watch the flash
slideshow (notice: music will play automatically but can be turned off and slideshow will loop)
First we flew into Seattle where we rented a car and spent a couple of days exploring the city. I got a great rate on priceline for the the Hyatt Regency Bellevue which acted as our home base. Bellevue is an upscale area with lots of food and shopping nearby. Although we saved $ on the room, we did have the added expense of commuting downtown and parking. The hotel was very nice, but if I did it again then I may go for a hotel right downtown.
In Seattle, we visited the famous
Pike Place Market (which was entirely too crowded to even enjoy) and had some great clam chowder at
Pike Place Chowder. We also visited the
Seattle Museum of Flight and took the obligatory trip to the top of the
Space Needle just after sunset for some beautiful views of the city. We had excellent weather for our entire trip, but the sky was unfortunately too overcast to see Mt Rainier on our first days in Seattle (the picture above was taken on our last day when we returned to Seattle to fly home). Some of the best views of the mountain were from the plane. I saw it poking up through the clouds on my flight into the city and had even more majestic views of it on our flight out so you may want to book a window seat.
We left Seattle one morning and drove north to the
Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center where we took a fascinating tour of the huge factory where they assemble the Boeing jets (no cameras allowed). Then we drove over the border and ended the day in Vancouver.
All of the hotels in Vancouver are expensive, but I would recommend finding one on the waterfront near the convention center. Burrard Street is another good option as it is a major artery for food and shopping.
In Vancouver, we ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Gastown and took a trip to
Grouse Mountain overlooking the city.
There was a black bear sighting the day we visited, but we also saw grizzlies playing inside an enclosure. We were only in the city one day (and are both afraid of heights) so we skipped the
Capilano Suspension Bridge, but we did take a drive through the city's famous Stanley Park.
In the evening, we boarded our ferry for the trip over to Victoria on Vancouver Island. I booked the ride that ended just at sunset, and the views from the boat were breathtaking.
In Victoria, we took a morning trip with
Eagle Wing Tours to see the Orcas. I highly recommend this tour outfit. Although it was a sunny and warm day in Victoria, we definitely needed the heavy coats that they provided, and I was especially happy with our choice of tour providers after seeing some of the other little boats being taken out by other companies. Although there was a huge fog bank, we had plenty of sightings and were lucky enough to even see a whale breach (although I couldn't catch a picture) and some sunbathing harbor seals.
After two days in British Columbia, we boarded another ferry for the sunset cruise back to Washington. Although we were comfortable in jeans and t-shirts for most of the trip, you definitely need several warm layers and a hat or hoodie for those windy ferry rides! We arrived in Port Angeles just as the sun set, and near the end of the slideshow you can see photos of the Olympic Mountains taken from the ferry as we approached the mainland.