Day 20: Finally... WHISTLER, BC!

This morning as we were slowly rolling out of Dryden Creek Campground with our windows down, we were unaware of the sprinkler on the side of the road periodically spitting water into the gravel path. We noticed the flying water too late, and within a second the Jetta rolled right into the line of fire and the sprinkler hit us with a healthy dose of icy glacier water. We gasped and screamed as the cold water jolted us out of our morning drowsiness and took quick evasive action to avoid plowing through the “Welcome to Dryden Creek” sign.

Now that we were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we made it onto the main road and headed north towards Whistler. We’d been looking forward to spending the day in the host city of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and walk around the Olympic Village. We were immediately in love with the log and stone style of the village and the breath-taking scenery around us. It was eighty degrees at the base of Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains but there were athletes in skiing and boarding gear strolling around. We bought tickets for the complex chain of ski lifts that take riders to the top of the mountain where winter activities were taking place on the glacier. Hopping aboard, we discussed how essential it would be for us to spot a bear on our trip and forty minutes later we were on top of the world. The view at the top of Blackcomb was incredible, and the glacier was crawling with skiers and snowboarders. It was hard for us to wrap our minds around this: here were are, warm, in tank tops and sandals, standing on top of a glacier covered in snow, being passed by people on skis.









The atmosphere at the top was so cool! Every other person seemed to speak another language, giant speakers blasted anything from Bob Marley to the Barenaked Ladies and there were tents and flags scattered along the sidelines of a massive field of ramps, jumps and half-pipes. There was some sort of competition going on and contestants ranged from all ages young and old, size and shape, man or woman.





The only way to get over to Whistler Mountain in the summertime was to take an enclosed ride across, so we boarded the world’s longest continuous lift system and enjoyed the glass bottom gondola ride over to the twin peak.



At the base of this mountain we got another dose of extreme sporting as we watched mountain bikers hurtle down steep paths and winding turns. The lifts on this side of Whistler had hooks for the bikes to accompany their riders up the chair lift.





Back down in the village, we looked around the town and were entranced by the little shops beckoning us to purchase ski pants and helmets (yes, even in the middle of summer). We wished so badly that we could join our friends on the glacier, but resisted the urge to buy anything (like a $4,000 mountain bike or $150 pair of snowboarding gloves). What a life! The rest of the afternoon we wandered through the village, stopped to munch on some panninis and worked on perfecting our Canadian accents. We were hoping to lure some wife-seeking Canadian men into our lives, making our stay in the Whistler area permanent.



Eventually making our way back to the car, we began driving south out of Whistler. We were disheartened to leave, but this town still had a trick up her sleeve for us. As we were passing the wooden “Welcome to Whistler” sign, we noticed a police car pulled up to the curb beside it. Not thinking much of it, we continued on until we looked again and spotted a young black bear chewing on his paw in the soft grass, oblivious to the traffic and park rangers’ shooing attempts. He took his time getting up and lumbered across four lanes of traffic right in front of us and into the woods nearby. We were so happy to have spotted a bear, and daydreamed about the chances of seeing big horn sheep at our next stop tomorrow. We drove well into the night, ending up at the Imperial Motel in Grand Forks seven hours later.

Day 19: A 21st Birthday Along the Sea to Sky Highway

It was another gorgeous day out. There wasn’t a single cloud to be seen, and we already knew how we were spending the day. It was Martina’s 21^st birthday, and it could not have been prettier out. Martina happily made her first adult beverage purchase at a government owned liquor store, and we headed to Porteau Cove, one of the many harbors on the strait. Turquoise seawater licked at the shoreline of grey pebbles and the forested mountains looked a hazy blue in the distance. It was the first day without a hectic schedule, and we were looking forward to lying on the beach with no plans but to relax. It seemed this was the plan for plenty of other campers as we noticed the narrow beaches and rocky inlets become dotted with people young and old.

After a few hours of relaxing in the sun, we packed up and returned to our favorite scenic inlet we discovered in Lion’s Bay the day before. The other four groups of beach-goers on the tiny beach each had a black lab with them, and looked at us as if wondering where our canine companion was. Within the hour, another three dogs had joined the four labs and we watched as they endlessly retrieved sticks thrown into the water. One stick would often return with two or three mouths attached to it; the high spirits and energy of the dogs just about got us to jump in and help fetch too. After having soaked up almost an entire day of sun, we grew brave, and jumped into the chilly glacier seawater. It was cold enough to knock the air out of our lungs for a second but it felt wonderfully refreshing.

We left the beach and drove to Shannon Falls Provincial Park to hike. This beautiful waterfall reminded us of Multnomah Falls, and felt that it was quite a bit grander. The water was roaring down a huge granite rock wall and flowed toward Howe Sound. There was an absolutely perfect rainbow arched over the falls: unfortunately though, no pot of gold. Right past these falls is the famous Stawamus Chief, a huge granite rock face that is very popular with rock climbers. We read a plaque that said there are over 300 climbing routes across it! The couple climbers we saw on the rocks looked like little neon ants – what an adrenaline rush that must be to climb!

We sat down outside for dinner at Boston’s Pizza and enjoyed the last bit of the setting sun and the last couple hours of Martina’s birthday.

Day 18: Vancouver, British Columbia

Today was the moment of truth. We left our campsite early in the morning and headed for Canada, with hopes we would be permitted to cross the border. We stowed our newly purchased fruit and lunch meat under the seats before we rolled through the port of entry; we didn’t want to risk another repeat of our California produce seizure. We played 20 questions with the border patrol agent about our business in British Columbia and passed her rigid set of questions. Hello Vancouver, here we come!

Immediately we were overcome by how incredible downtown Vancouver was – we had been told that it was just as amazing as Seattle but in its very own way. The architecture was like nothing we had seen before, and the modern building structures looked like they were from the future. Gardens were incorporated into the design of almost all the downtown streets and there wasn’t a single piece of trash to be found on the pavements.





We spent a good portion of the day in Stanley Park, which is located in the northwestern tip of Vancouver and is comparable to New York’s Central Park (its almost 10% larger). There were rose gardens, over 100 miles of walking and biking trails, a Native American activity village, lots of statues and sculptures, horse and buggy tours and the Vancouver Aquarium. There was so much to see and do in the park that it was little bit overwhelming. We knew we didn’t have time to see everything so after exploring for a couple hours and eating our sandwiches next to a pretty little pond, we laid down two beach blankets and took a siesta for a couple hours. It felt great to sit still for a while and regain our energy.



After some much-needed downtime, we got back on 99 (Interstate 5 in Canada) and drove north to the town of Squamish. We were surprised by how quickly the scenery changed once we passed Vancouver and got into the Strait of Georgia area. The landscape seemed like a mix between scenery you’d see in Switzerland, Ireland, and Minnesota. We both agreed this area was the absolute prettiest area we’d seen so far on the entire trip. All along the winding road, we could see swimmers jumping off rocks into the water and splashing in the shallows. The environment in this area was really truly unique; mountains covered in conifers plunged down into the salty ocean strait, creating ocean ecosystems along its shore.









We found our campground at the end of a quiet dirt road right outside of Squamish; we were very pleased to learn that there were showers at this site and we could enjoy our next two days a bit cleaner than we had during the first week of our trip. We looked forward to hot showers after our camp was set up, but unfortunately, the singing of a woman stuck in her Brownie/Girl Scout campfire song days shattered the wonderful, steamy silence. She sang the song “There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea.” Those of you not familiar with this song, it’s a horribly repetitive campfire cadence that has another detail added onto each additional verse, meant to be repeated by the listeners. When we got into the showers, her song sounded like: “There's a hole in the bottom of the sea.” When we got out, she was to a line that sounded like: “There's a fleck on the speck on the tail on the frog on the bump on the branch on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea.” We spent the rest of the night hoping and wishing for any other song to get stuck in our heads.

Day 17: Journey to the San Juan Islands, WA

We woke up very early this morning to pack up the car and leave the Coleman’s home to explore the San Juan Islands, which are in the Salish Sea (a geographic term for the Strait of Georgia-Puget Sound-Strait of Juan de Fuca region). We had a bit of driving to do in order to catch the 11:50 ferry leaving Anacortes. Getting through the small towns near the ferry dock took a little longer than we had anticipated; we ended up sprinting up the boarding ramp with our tickets in hand as the final boarding horn sounded. Wide-eyed and out of breath, we hustled up the stairs to find a seat on the outer deck of the ferry. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and we knew we had a beautiful day ahead of us.

The ferry ride was about an hour long, and docked in Friday Harbor, which cradles a picturesque sea town in its arms of conifers and pine needles. The town had almost a sort of Mediterranean feeling to it with people zipping around on scooters and bicycles. Cafés and eateries hugged the shoreline and booths were set up all along the streets offering kayaking, scooter and bicycles rentals. We learned that the waters around the small island are regular routes for orca whales, and that there are three well-known pods in the area nicknamed “J,” “K” and “L.” Kayaking is a great way to get around the island and appreciate the landscape, so we signed up with a small company called “Discovery Kayaking,” for a half-day tour of part of the coastline. Our friends, the Kunzs, recommended them and we’re so glad we took the suggestion! We had a great tour guide who grew up around the San Juan Islands, and she was really able to cue us in to all the different types wildlife in the water and on land. There was only one other couple in the group so we were really able to pick our guide’s brain with random island inquiries. We were as amused by this awkward couple as we were with our non-Illinois surroundings. Every so often we stopped to admire harbor seals, jellyfish, bald eagles, and to nibble on sea kelp. We learned that there are many, many types of edible seaweeds and kelp.

After returning slightly burned, in spite of our sunscreen efforts, we grabbed a quick meal of island burgers before catching the return ferry to Anacortes. This time we caught the sunset over the islands – it was gorgeous. Mt. Rainier was visible in the distance too.

We rested for the night close to the Canadian border at Birch Bay campground. The sky that glowed above us was absolutely magical.

We arrived late at night and had to check ourselves in and pay via a metal deposit box anchored to the ground. We were exhausted from the day’s activities, and the only thing on our mind was our cozy blow up mattress that was currently deflated and packed up tightly in the cold trunk. We started a stopwatch, jumped out of the car, and threw our home for the night together in about seventeen minutes. Three minutes later we were snuggled up in our goodwill blankets and drifted to sleep, thinking of the orca pods we unfortunately never saw.

Day 16: Exploring Tacoma's Glass Museum, WA

During our day in Seattle yesterday, we learned from a glass-blowing vendor that the state of Washington is known for its glass-blowing schools and artists. Furthermore, the city of Tacoma just happens to be the home to several expert glass blowers, one of which is no big deal really: Dale Chihuly!! We’d been to the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York when we were younger and we were excited to see another museum. We realized we had no choice but to check out downtown Tacoma’s Museum of Glass, which holds the exquisite work of famous glass blowers like Preston Singletary, Dale Chihuly (obviously) and guest artists from around the world. Singletary’s exhibit was the first one we went through and we were blown away (no pun intended) by his work. He is a Native American artist who draws much of his inspiration from his heritage. His pieces reflected many stories about ravens, orca whales and other spirit creatures that are a part of the Native American traditions.



Another section of the museum that we really enjoyed was “Kids Design Glass.” This display was filled with glass productions inspired by children’s creative illustrations. Every illustration chosen to “come alive” was crafted in the museum’s studio, in front of the young child artist and their family. Two identical pieces are created; one gets displayed in the exhibit, and the other was given to the child. Each piece was unbelievably colorful and had a picture of the original drawing and a description by the child. It was impossible to pick a favorite – some of our favorites were: “pickled bandits,” “coyotes with rainbow socks,” “banana on wheels” and a “pizza cat.” We thought it was such a cool idea. Just imagine how proud a child is to have their design picked and brought to life by glass artists.



As we came to the end of the exhibit, we entered a huge glass studio shaped like a cylindrical cone. There was theater seating, along with a catwalk that encircled the round room so that everyone could really get a 360-degree view. Several of the visiting/resident glass blowers were hard at work, scurrying to and from the giant molten glass furnaces with Kevlar gloves and masks. We were told that the furnaces are kept at 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit. Each artist had an assistant and it was amazing to watch how smoothly they worked together. Someone was always blowing or pulling or stretching the glowing yellow-white material, amazing us with the properties of molten glass. A man who worked for the museum spoke into a microphone to explain exactly what was going on at each of the artist’s stations. We sat, mesmerized, for over an hour as we watched and learned about the art of glass blowing. We’d love to take lessons now!









The museum also had a lot of neat outdoor displays, one of which is the famous Chihuly Bridge of Glass. It’s a 500-foot-long pedestrian bridge linking downtown Tacoma to the city's waterfront and has three different parts: the Seaform Pavilion, the Crystal Towers and the Venetian Wall. The shapes, curves, colors and reflections cast by the artwork were so beautiful.









We explored Gig Harbor later on in the afternoon; this quaint town was the perfect place to spend the rest of the day and enjoy the late afternoon sun. We came across a small cafe with a pottery studio in the back of the building. Here you could chose a ceramic plate, mug, or small statue and use any of the glazes or paints to decorate your piece. The room was full of creativity and dedicated young artists. We skipped out on the painting and found a table outside to sip our chi tea and plan our next day’s adventures on the San Juan Islands. For dinner, we found an outdoor grille right on the water and watched the boats come in and out of the bay. It was the first beautiful evening in a long time, and Mount Rainier was visible far off on the horizon.

Day 15: 4th of July in Seattle, WA

This was a day that we were looking forward to for some time. Many friends have told us about all the great places to visit in Seattle, so we left early in the morning to ensure enough time to visit everything and beat the Fourth of July traffic.



The first stop we made was to the famous Pike Place Market. Immediately, we were in awe of all the hustle and bustle of the place; the colors, smells, styles and textures of the two-level market were a complete sensory overload. Artists, chefs, farmers, florists, fisherman, butchers and bakers had all their goods displayed, happy to tell you about their colorful backgrounds and where they were from. Street performers and musicians were on every street corner, creating a friendly and inviting atmosphere. The thing we noticed the most were the smells – smells coming from every door. Fresh breads and pastries from the French bakery, seafood from the wharf area, Indian spices, Greek foods and olive oils galore, fresh fruit and vegetables grown locally, a cheese shop crafting vats of cheese in front of an audience and Asian cuisine cooked-to-go in giants woks in front of you were all enshrouded with the fresh scent of the ocean less than 100 feet away. The fish vendor portion of the market was very impressive in and of itself. Rows and rows of tables were packed with mounds of ice on which every shape and color fish imaginable lay, fresh and chilled, waiting for its chef to come hand-select it for his menu that night. Tanks of live lobsters and crabs lined the front of stalls; we almost stepped on a giant crab crawling across the pavement that a vendor had let lose in order to show a crowd of staring kids. The variety of fresh flowers available were also staggering; the colors were vivid and petals exotic. It was unreal that the huge bouquets were being sold for just $10 - $15. We soon realized that one day alone was nowhere close enough to the time needed to experience the complexity and diversity of this wonderful city.









We came to Seattle with the mission to find a good European bakery. Little did we know just what a treat we were in for when we stepped in the door of a French bakery called “La Panier, The Very French Bakery.” We were instantly transported to pastry heaven by the smells that wafted from the ovens. We stood in line for the longest 15 minutes of our lives before we were able to place our orders. By this time we had only added to the countless face and hand smudges left on the outside of the glass deli cases. We shared a chocolate-filled croissant, a kiwi-strawberry-blueberry fruit tartlet and the best slice of rhubarb tart we’d ever had.



As we were strolling down Pike Street, we came across one “performer” we wish we hadn’t. A grungy looking man had a small stand with a cat in a sweater perched on it. There was a small crowd, so we approached out of curiosity. He was speaking with a woman about diverse cat names, and as we reached out to stroke his cat, he quickly broke off his conversation with his cat comrade to bat Martina’s hand away. He explained that he was not a bum and that we needed to make a donation to his cat club if we would like to speak to him and his cat.



As some of you may know, Seattle is also home to the very first Starbucks which is located in the heart of Pike Street itself. It is also the only shop that has the original mermaid logo - she appears a tad bit more revealed than her present-day counterparts! The line for coffee was out the door all day long, but this didn’t stop Martina. According to her, the 15 minute wait for her skinny caramel latte was well worth the wait. Just a note: the number of Starbucks in Washington is staggering. In downtown Seattle, it wasn't unusual to see more than one shop on the same city block!!



We also came across a wonderful Italian wine and truffle shop called La Buona Tavola. Martina was overwhelmed by all the Italian wines; it immediately brought her back to her days studying abroad in Florence where she took a wine-tasting class. The highlight of her day was finding a wine that shared her name! It was a must-buy and we never hesitated making the purchase.



We had both been craving sushi for some time, so after being pointed in several different directions we came across a Japanese restaurant called the Umi Sake House. We felt a bit out of place as we trudged in with wet jackets and hair from the rain outside, but quickly fell to business ordering our fresh sushi and edamame. To say the fish was good would have been an extreme understatement; it was phenomenal! It's understandable that a sushi restaurant four blocks from such huge fish markets would have a remarkable quality of food.

With exhausted legs, we found or parking complex as the sun went down and battled the holiday traffic to make it to Lake Union for the 10:15 fireworks show. We watched as fireworks lit up the entire sky from the barge they were being shot off of. The bangs from each explosion were so violent, that several car alarms began screeching. We fell asleep two hours later, having fought our way back through outgoing traffic, images of our own fireworks bursting in our heads.