Seattle Meet-Up

Day 02 - We had to get up early. We had plans to meet up with Bret and Trish, and Joel and Lynne for breakfast. I got a phone call on the Lido deck just after we'd boarded yesterday. Bret said they'd meet us at 8:00 and we'd go for breakfast at Pike Place Market.

We got up early and were ready about 7:15, so we went upstairs to get coffees. The breakfast buffet has been going strong since 6 am and I thought I might get a bran muffin with my coffee. While doing that I also grabbed honey and yogurt. I kept grabbing things until by 8 o'clock we realized we'd already eaten our breakfast!

We didn't know the cruise terminal used by Holland America. I had checked online and knew that Pier 91 was quite a distance from downtown. We went out of the terminal and passed the passenger pickup area without seeing anyone. We followed markings toward an area marked as 'Visitor Parking' by signs. It was probably a mile but we still did not see Bret and Trish. I couldn't phone them as my Telus phone did not roam. Unbelievably, the cruise ship terminal had no wifi, in Seattle where PC software was practically invented! At last, I asked to borrow a lady's phone to call Bret. We were sitting outside the terminal and they were parked a few hundred meters away! It was now nearly 9:00 am.

Lynne, Joel, and Whit had been waiting for breakfast for an hour, and it took a bit of time to get seated. Jay and I didn't need to eat but the others were famished. I did order a big Bloody Mary which contained salmon as well as olives an celery. I am on vacation, right? I want to thank them for picking up the tab, I think my drink was as much as a breakfast plate. It was nice to chat and we did for quite some time. We were even kicked from our table to a larger lounge area upstairs. All the seats had a marvelous view of the bay. Guys were throwing fish downstairs near the original Starbucks. How very Seattle!



We'd kept everyone from productive work til now. Jay and I walked down to the water and eventually back to the ship. It took an hour and 15 minutes but was mostly though nice park areas. There has been some work on shoreline rehabilitation over the years.



The MS Noordam pulled out of the pier at around 4:15. We had to head north again in order to escape into the Pacific Ocean. During dinner, my phone buzzed in my pocket as we went through Telus territory, perhaps near Vancouver Island. Our tablemates did not show up tonight. We do like being served three-course meals. The selections boggle the mind, not to mention the stomach.

Sleepless

We PVR'd the New Year's Eve celebrations from a Seattle channel and watched them yesterday. Pyrotechnics are embedded around the upper portions of the Space Needle and set to music, making for a good show. I do remember seeing the rather embarrasing 2007/2008 program when there was a malfunction. After several pauses the fireworks were set off by hand. Being that it occurred in Seattle, we all blamed it on an MS Windows® crash.

This is a special year in 2012 as the Space Needle turns 50 years old. I don't know which is more unsettling, the fact it's now 50, or that I first saw it in person when it was only 20 years old.


I looked through my photos on Flickr for one to include. Most, of course, are from beneath it, looking up. Here's one taken from a cruise ship when we pulled into Seattle on a San Diego to Vancouver, coastal cruise in 2006.

With Age Comes Wisdom

Why does a weekend, even if made into a three-day one, go so quickly?

We had to head back to New Westminster, BC. We weren't in a big rush but needed to get moving before 10:30 am. We had an appointment at 1:45 in Seattle. Of course that is directly where we switch from I-90 west to I-5 North.

We zoomed out of the Wenas on a dirt road rather than going around the longer way up the South Canyon Road. There were three cars heading in that direction. One of the Thomas's vehicles had to be dropped off at their place at Snoqualmie Pass and my Ranger is really not big enough for passengers other than Jay and me.

One main reason for our trip south was that we'd be able to stop in on Sunday afternoon for a surprise party for Bret. Lynne's parents, she, Joel, and Ben were going too. Bret will soon be 50 years old. He will finally catch up to me age-wise next month. His wife and daughter organized a great surprise party for him. Bret was almost at a loss for words; something that probably doesn't often happen.

We left at around 4:15 and got home a little after 7 o'clock.

Getting On Track

Right off the bat this morning, I put a link on my Facebook wall about the fact Amtrak is finally putting another train on the Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, British Columbia route. Amtrak's Cascades route could connect important cities and boost tourism and trade. It will be great to grab the train for a trip to Portland on a long weekend. The current schedule is so inconvenient that if I wanted to travel tomorrow, there are three times that a Amtrak bus runs down to Seattle to meet up with a train from there. That's pretty stupid, as I may as well take Greyhound all the way, or better yet simply drive.

At least starting August 19th, there will be a 6:40 train departure from up here. That makes it feasible to get into Seattle at about 11:00. Mind you, I could blast down I-5 and make it in under three hours depending on the border lineup. Still, there will be returning trains every morning and evening. At least the idea of taking the train may not have to be dismissed outright. The service is only guaranteed to run until the end of the 2010 Winter Olympics here. I hope it proves popular enough to continue.

It's a shame the US Congress didn't shovel some of those US $3 billion in the 'Cash for Clunkers' program into high-speed rail infrastructure.

Talk about cutting one's nose to spite one's face.


September 14, 2005 - "Today we raced across Belguim
to catch a connection in Cologne for an even faster
ICE train to Frankfurt."

Over So Soon?

Ah, where did the weekend go? It seems as though we were not in Portland nearly long enough.

There's something very quirky about the city. It's very urban Northwest and with that comes both good and bad. There are a sizable number of hippies still around. Of course, as the TV ad said, they enjoyed the sixties and now they're in theirs. We walked around the fenced-in park of the waterside park where the Portland Pride event was happening. We spent a great deal of time at the Saturday Market. Oh, Vancouver, you lack something like this. I don't need the permanent supermarket-like tourist trap named Granville Island, I want the crafty, ethnic food stalls, Tibetan beads, and bamboo-ware clothing here.

Seattle has managed to eradicate its 'skid-row-ness', but it's alive an kicking here. Migrant youth parade around in smelly old clothes begging for change. Near third-worldliness rubs shoulders with new-age yoga instructors. It's not equality but a sense of whatever goes is all right and maybe even it's cosmically-correct.

Surely, San Francisco is a cousin if not authentically Northwest enough. This city is urban Cascadia with 50 varieties of coffee and hiking boots. Up near the other end of the geographic coast is Vancouver. It's on the way to Alaska but an anomaly. It really doesn't fit in, as by comparison my city seems to care far too much of what people say behind it's back. It's a little too new too. And save for Hasting Street a little too clean.

Portland is a city that is not representative of much other than itself. I guess we could stay that's a good thing. It has to be the reason I like it. I wish the weekend had been longer. I've set this to post at about the time I should be boarding the first plane back. This time, we have to skip though Seattle in order to travel the mere 300 miles. We probably won't be at home until 8:30 pm.

Pride in Portland

We like the Portland that's on the west coast but it's been a long time since our last visit to Oregon. The picture below was taken during July of 2005.


We need to use up some Asia Miles flight rewards which will expire later this year. One of the possible short trips is down to Portland. We have booked for the second weekend of June but we'll leave on the Friday and return on Sunday the 14th. The Alaska Air flight leaves from YVR; however, getting the tickets is no easy task with this particular rewards program. I spent quite a while yesterday on hold with Hong Kong. As it stands I am sure the flights are confirmed but we've not yet received the actual link to the e-tickets.

It would be so perfect if Obama's proposal of high-speed rail through "Cascadia" comes to fruition. It'd be so convenient, and it would take so many cars off the road, were there a new rail corridor between Vancouver -- Seattle -- Portland. Rail in North America is about 100 years outdated. If given the option I'd prefer sipping a beer in the dining car to racing down I-5 choking on automotive exhaust fumes, hands clenched around a steering wheel.

In North America the Car is King

I patted myself on the back because I found relatively cheap tickets to Rome. Back in July, I mentioned about purchasing them online through Expedia. This was after becoming quite irritated that we could find no cheap flights from Vancouver. In fact, if we wanted to fly from Vancouver, a single ticket would've cost $1600! So, when I found round-trip tickets from Seattle for $820 per ticket, I snatched them up. Today on Expedia for the dates we chose, I found the cheapest tickets from Vancouver are now selling at $1820 each. Ouch!

I knew we would have additional expenses as well as inconvenience due to flying out of Seatac. Yet, we assumed even paying for Quick Shuttle bus tickets and hotel rooms, we'd still be saving hundreds of dollars.



I'd nearly made reservations at a cheap hotel adjoining the airport, when I decided to check out the availability of inexpensive, long-term parking near the airport. Wouldn't you know, it's cheaper to drive down and buy a month's parking at Seatac Park, than the bus tickets alone. Not to mention, the process is undoubtedly more convenient than crossing the border with a bus load of other passengers and not being able to stop to eat or shop.

I reserved a space for September 14th through October 5th. Driving down and parking is the easiest and cheapest way to get to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. That is a little ironic considering we're going to Europe where it's perfectly possible to get around on public transit.

Next Rest Stop 34 Miles

There's hardly a thing I truly desire that I don't already have. And certainly my time is more important to me than the few dollars saved at a Boxing Day sale. So I have no bargains to crow about in the blog today.

I did think it was interesting that on our trip to Seattle, for the first time, I noted WiFi signs at the rest stops on Interstate 5. I believe there are three in each direction between the border and the city.



Now, as well as a trip to the restroom, it's possible to check out the winter pass information for free. The whole web is not actually free but the following sites are provided gratis:

WS DOT Home

Traveler Information (cameras)

Travel Alerts and Slowdowns

Construction Updates

Weather

Mountain Passes

Accountability

Washington Tourism

Access is made available through a private company closely connected with www.coachconnect.net, so it is possible to buy time with a credit card. It is well designed for the RV crowd at $30/month and at the present a $2.95 tariff for 15-minute access would be useful for emergency email. Bear in mind, often these rest stops may be miles and miles from an exit.

The Bluest Skies in Seattle

'Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the Eighth Ave Inn
not a creature was stirring not even ...

Okay, so I'm not much up to my rhyming old self.

So far the trip has been nice. We left before breakfast yesterday and got all the way to Bellingham before eating in a Country Buffet in the mall. We walked around in the mall before flying down the Interstate in the rain. We got right into the city easily and arrived too early to check in. For some reason they wouldn't let us have the room available until 3:00. So we walked to the commercial section of downtown and even to the Pike Street Market. Incidentally, they do continue to throw fish in the winter. After checking into the Inn, we got a call from the Thomas family. Joel, Lynne, Ben and Whit arrived and whisked us off to dinner in at a Bippy de Peepo or something like that. It was an Italian, family-type restaurant right down here close to Lake Union. It was fun and filling. It's the type of place where groups order large dishes and then everybody takes some. Everybody took a lot but our waitress still packed up the extra for us.

Speaking of eating, there is a nice breakfast offered where we're staying. It's just continental but there there plenty of fruits, yogurt, as well as cereals and muffins. This morning, we took our coupons from Expedia and walked right to the Music Experience Project. It was interesting especially the hand-on sections. I wish I'd had access to something like that as a child. Who knows, I might've been a rock star. The science fiction museum, obviously another of Paul Allan's hobbies, was interesting enough. I couldn't help but hold my Samsung cell phone on the opposite side of the glass from the Original Startrek series communicator. It was life imitating fiction. We ended up eating in the Westlake Center after trying out the new trolley car that runs about a mile to the shore of Lake Union. How sort of European! Finally this whole part of Seattle is getting a makeover. If I had a million dollars I could probably buy a studio apartment that'll be worth three million in a few years.

It's only 5:42 but it's, of course, dark. I won't bother unloading photos until after we go back home. There's no rush but everything will surely be closed tomorrow. Maybe I-5 won't be crowded as we travel back up to the Canadian border during the late morning or early afternoon.

Going a Little South

We avoided yesterday's rush on the roads. Rather than that, we're heading south to Seattle in a few minutes. Staying in a downtown hotel will make it easy to visit the Music Experience Project which has now been open for seven years. I didn't even really know about the addition of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, which opened in 2004. Of course we do know the outside of the freaky-looking building near Seattle Center. We already printed the vouchers from Expedia and will present them for use tomorrow.

We'll stay for two nights, returning on Christmas day. I think we last stayed in Seattle the Holiday Inn Express. As Jay was working at one in Richmond BC, he got a discount at all lodging within the company. That would've been the end of 1999 or during the subsequent year.

Things probably won't be very busy tomorrow because of the time of year. I do look forward to seeing the decorations in the downtown area. I'm guessing sellers do not throw fish around the Pike Place Market in the winter. I'm betting the original Starbucks, however, will be pouring a lot of coffee for last-minute Christmas shoppers trying to dry off and warm up.

The Original Skid Row

Although there are five free days for the Christmas break, we've still not decided on anything specific. I guess this is one time when there are not any last minute deals available. At least, I can't seem to find any three or four day get-aways selling for a song on the Internet nor in the local newspaper. On the contrary, it seems as though suckers who don't book early have to pay through the nose.

Of course, we could simply drive somewhere close. Hotels are seldom busy as business travel has ceased and many folks are staying with family even if they are travelling. I can remember going to the nearly frozen Okanagan one Christmas. On others we went to visit friends or jumped on a ferry for Victoria. It's only Wednesday, so there are still a couple of days to make a final decision.



It may even be fun just to slide down to Seattle for a few nights. Discounting the wait at the border, it's only a leisurely three hour trip. If one's willing to stay cheap, it's possible to find, because of the season, a hotel within walking distance to downtown for only $60 per night. In order to see the city where the term skid row was coined, I fired up Google Earth. I was first awed by the program in October 2005 and since then it's continued to grow and develop. It doesn't often get the press it deserves but for those of us who like geography it's truly a miracle.

On the Move

My personal memories may frequently be categorized by location. They may have been formed when growing up on the other coast, working in the Middle East, or during the vacations and journeys we've taken. It seems I've typed an amazingly large number of words in my eJournal and images describing trips and journeys from my past.

Since I started blogging in September of 2003, other vacations both short and long have taken place. So, this has been a good way to chronicle our comings and goings. Although not expressly a travel blog, I do frequently get the chance to make entries from the road. I thought I could take a minute to locate and organize many of the them here. Click a date in the following list to link to the starting day.


Place - Length of Stay - Month of Travel
========================================


( ** Updated links found at this location. ** )


Arriving in Seattle via the MS Veendam on a coastal, repositioning
cruise. Taken in May 2006.

Our Latest Cruise Revisited

I took me longer to get them online than it did to take 'em.

Back in May, I did complete some blog entries during the trip. We headed down to Seatac airport to catch an Alaskan Airways flight to San Diego. During our three night stay, we accidentally visited Mexico for a few hours. We did the zoo, too. Then we got on our the Holland America ms Veendam for a five night coastal trip to Vancouver. We spent a half day in Seattle and a whole day in Victoria, BC. The eight-night journey went without a hitch.

To individually select from the more than 90 photos, use this option. Or, if you'd rather run through a slideshow of all the photos, just click here.

Update from Seattle

I've been out of touch for a few days only because I'm too frugal to spend the cash required for wireless at sea. I can't do much in one minute if it costs 75 cents; I'd be too nervous.

Right now I'm up in the Lido Restaurant on the top of the ship. We docked at Seattle a few hours ago and we hiked up to the market and looked around.

We slowly head to Victoria tonight and have the entire day there tomorrow.

I'll get back to regular blogging on Sunday and even 'back fill' missing information and pictures.

It's been a great trip so far ...

South Bound

This morning we're off. In order to get the cruise deal, we have to fly out of Seattle. Getting down to Seatac is a slight hassle but as the flight is late in the day, we will be arrive in plenty of time by getting on the 9:00 am bus that leaves from downtown Vancouver. As we've a lot to do, I shall enter some information that I typed yesterday while my students were taking the course final examination.

---

Can I be doing this again, already? It doesn’t seem very long ago that I had my laptop in class during a previous final examination. I suppose it really wasn’t long ago for these intensive courses fly past like greased pigs. Have pigs learned to fly? I’d suggest that perhaps only the slippery ones have.

I find myself sitting in front of a classroom. I’ve already corrected the listening part of the final exam. I administer that separately, so I can keep busy while they are completing the writing section.

As I want to get these grades turned in a soon as possible, I have also opened a copy of the course marks in an Excel spreadsheet. All the columns have been filled in. The only free spaces are those where the final exam scores will go. Then, there’ll be an instant numerical grade in the last column. The weightings of the activities and assignments create a rather lengthy formula:

=(Q10*0.45)+((R10*2)*0.15)+((S10*16.667)*0.1)+((T10*16.667)*0.1/2)+(U10*0.25).

Basically, it all adds up to a single decision. The result helps me decide if a particular student is ready to go on to the next COMM course. I suppose there are numbers that contribute to more far-reaching choices. Numbers used by structural engineers might help design a part which is capable of handling the lives of thousands of people. A number may allow the pinpoint accuracy needed for a spacecraft to hit the surface of another planet. Still, I think the ramifications of my formula are significant. The number in my last column has the ability to determine the future actions of twenty-two people.

Getting Ship Shape for May

Last week I checked out this book from the library. San Diego is not a place we've been before, so we'll need a little advice.

My current class doesn't finish until May 5th. Then, I've got exactly a week before another begins. A week turns out to the perfect amount of time.

We'll head out on Saturday the 6th by first taking the Quick Shuttle down to Seattle to catch the flight to San Diego. After three nights, we'll board Holland America's Veendam. Subsequently, there's a leisurely, 5-night trip up the coast with a free half day in Seattle and a complete day in Victoria. We're back in Vancouver on Sunday the 14th, just in time for a new class the next day.

The ship was in the Caribbean for the winter. The day it docks at Vancouver, it'll begin a summer of cruising the Inside Passage to Alaska and back.

Blog as Memory Dump

I got a Christmas card from Bret yesterday. It did remind me to get one out to him. Bret is an old friend. In fact, we lived a bicycle ride away in my hometown of Sunapee, NH. We attended all grades in a class with around 30 others. So, it is rather strange that we're still nearly neighbors. Bret and his family live in Seattle. It'd be a long bike ride, but it doesn't take much time to get there driving down I-5.

Bret reads this blog sometimes. He synchs up daily with AvantGo. In his card, he mentioned something about me teaching English to the world via this venue. I must admit that task is my chosen career but it's entirely accidental if it occurs in this forum.

Exactly why have I been writing so religiously here for so long? I write my eJournal and images for personal reasons. I like being able to add a few ideas to this catalogue of Dennis. It's really not for others although I'd not be tempted to keep it up without the theoretically possibility of sharing with others. I am absolutely sure I'm so fantastic that even the most mundane aspects of my life are worthy of world-wide attention.

A New 'Must See'

This year, I have decided the television show I just can't do without is Grey's Anatomy set in Seattle. Might it be that I have an unnatural infatuation for Canadian actress Sandra Oh? Anyway, the show's not your typical medical drama.

They Do Highways Right

There's not a single toll booth between here and Tijuana.

US Interstate 5 is a very important chunk of asphalt. Although it's probably not environmentally-correct to admit, I love being able to roar through Seattle during non-peak hours. It reminds me of a video game.


This photo was taken on our way back from a summer trip to Portland, OR.

Heading South

I can't quite say why I'm up early today. I awoke before the SkyTrain was running. (If I concentrate, I can hear as the system runs at the foot this apartment building.) Rather than lie there I decided to get up. I've fed the fish and petted the hamster. I've made coffee. And for the last twenty minutes I have been plugging different destinations into www.expedia.ca.

My present class finishes up on December 2nd. That means I've more than a month off and although I'd be satisfied hanging near home, I feel obligated to, at minimum, check out what I could do for a week. I love testing different possibilities. I have a much longer attention span than any real-life travel agent. After all, they'd soon wonder if I were serious. Even the best of agents tire of customers who can't commit to a plan.

There are some amazing bargains from Seattle. How about a diagonal run to Orlando, FL for $200? Vegas or Reno hotels are cheap at $30 in the middle of December. This isn't the best time for Washington DC, is it? Domestic Canadian routes are not only frigid but too expensive. Whether it's the sunny US southwest, Mexico, or Central America, most Canuks end up heading south at the time of year.



This picture was taken during school break in 1984. As poor U of WA grad students, my roommate and I decided to hit the road. We had less than a $100 between us, I think. We were either really brave or extremely stupid. I remember sleeping right in the station wagon as it was parked on a steep San Franciscan street. Thankfully, the old beast didn't break down as we would've had to abandon it and hitchhike back up I-5.