The Washington Post.

Watching the sun go down last night at the top of the Seattle Space Needle at the Sky City restaurant was a wonderful experience. Great food and a great view, what more could you ask for.

This morning we planned a visit to Bainbridge Island via the Wahington State Ferry across the Puget Sound with a couple of quick stop-offs at The Crumpet store at Pike Street Market and the hugely impressive Seattle public library on the way to the ferry terminal.

Bainbridge Island was a quiet little place, lots of nice shops and eateries and a lovely art museum where we saw some amazing art constructed from feathers by a local artist.

So my Pacific Highway road trip is nearly over but it's been a blast. Some memories I will never forget. Time to pack our bags and get ready for tomorrows flight home.

See you on the other side of the pond.

Fred

Sleeping well in Seattle.

After a quick wander round downtown we decided to have an early happy hour dinner at a sushi place across the road from our hotel. Our server was really helpful and we a had a great selection of dishes recommended by him.

After dinner we picked up our tickets and headed to a bar to wait for the doors to open at the Paramount theatre for an evening of fun with The Flaming Lips.

An incredible show included lasers, numorous massive balloons, an inflatable rainbow, Wayne riding a neon lit unicorn and silver ticker tape that filled the auditorium knee deep by the end of the evening all added to an audio-visual experience we will never forget.

Next morning we headed out to the Seattle Centre, originally built for the Worlds Fair of 1962. The 72 acre site is connected to downtown by a monorail. A few minutes flying 3 stories over the streets gets you to the foot of the space needle.

A vist to the Chihuly Gardens and Glass, an exhibition space for Dale Chihuly's world famous blown glass art sculptures. They are truly beautiful. This was quickly followed by a wander round the MOPOP (Museum of Pop Cuoture) both of which made for an interesting afternoon.

Dinner tonight is booked for the Sky City restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. Should be a great view with some good food thrown in.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Fred.

Ore-gone, Hello Seattle.

We left Oregon behind us today and entered our 3rd and final State of this trip. Seattle looks like a fun place. The Paramount hotel is right in the centre of downtown, dwarfed by the skyscrapers all around us.

I hope tonights planned sushi visit before rocking out with The Flaming Lips is as good as last nights pasta at Grassa in Portland.
Sitting at a counter watching the guys cooking all the dishes was fun. Diner orders were prepared alongside take-out orders and orders for delivery and all done to a hip soundtrack played on vinyl. Cool vibes man.

Better get ready for Wayne and the boys final concert hall date before they start the summer festival season.
If you've never heard of The Flaming Lips click below for a taste of their live show.

https://youtu.be/chOc-BCHI64

Should be a fun night.
Fred.

Keeping Portland weird.

Portland, Oregon.

A whole day of non-driving is always a relaxing day on a road trip. Great though it is to have the world roll pass your window as you make your way along the planned route, it is just as nice to have a day where you can relax, take a breath, chill out and explore the place that you are temporarily calling home. Today is one of those days.

An evening spent at the Deschutes Brewery sampling their beers and eating their food was followed by a peaceful nights sleep atop the Sentinel in downtown PDX (thats how locals refer to Portland apparently). Morning happened with less than the usual sirens and shouting that a downtown hotel has provided in previous cities. After a trip to the complimentary breakfast goodies room and subsequent feast-in-bed we headed out into town. Portland continued to be earily quiet, just the rustling of newspaper bedding from the numorous homeless folk encorouged us to seek refuge back at Deschutes where we further sampled the brews and foods.

An afternoon relaxing on the roof terrace with some local vino and a good book is in order now, with a planned visit to a nearby pasta house for dinner later which will conclude our PDX break. Tomorrow the bright lights of Seattle beckon us on. The Flaming Lips will entertain us (look them up) while the Paramount Hotel will look after our every need... hopefully.

Fred.

It's Portland,....but not as we know it.

Klamath to Portland

Our pre-conceptions of Klamath were to be proved very wrong. What appeared on the map to be one-horse town with little to offer other than a bed for the night on the way to the bright lights of Portland and Seattle turned out to be a real delight.

We arrived at our lodgings at tea-time and asked the very helpful lady on the reception desk if she could recommend a place for dinner later that night. She offered the Steelhead Lodge as a steakhouse that cooked up the best ribs and steaks we would ever eat. High praise indeed and easily disproved. It was with great pleasure that we found our way to their door, after some dubious map reading and some blind guessing to be presented with food perfectly described by our host. The most succulent steak and ribs accompanied by char-grilled mushroom and pineapple kebabs, soft and buttery jacket potatoes and home-made ice-cream. A eatery that would never have been found without the directions of a local, we ate the food, drank the wine and brought the t-shirt. The Steelhead Diner is a hidden gem in many ways and we are all the better for finding it.

Klamath itself was an interesting place. The Yurok tribe of native Americans hold sovereignty over Klamath and the surrounding areas. A tribe of fisherman for many centuries have hunted the lands around the mouth of the Klamath river since before the white man arrived and their ancestral land has been given back to them in recent year, and quite rightly.

A mammoth journey of some 360 miles over more than 6 hours through Eureka, Grants Pass and Salem eventually got us into Portland mid afternoon. The offer of an upgrade by our check-in guy means we are currently enjoying a top-floor suite at the Sentinel Hotel, Portland, complete with outdoor terrace with fire-pit overlooking a stunning city-scape below us. Life is pretty sweet for this bear right now.

A quick trip out for some dinner at a local brew-house included a selection of tasting beers and a very pleasant local pinot-noir.

And so to bed....

Night all.

Fred.

Thats not a tree.. Thats a TREEEEE!

Fort Bragg to Klamath

The North Cliff Hotel in Fort Bragg was fantastic, a beautiful room with a stunning view. What more could a weary bear want. We were all sad to leave, but the open road was calling.

A lovely drive today started off with some breath-taking coastal views.

Soon Highway 101 turned inland and wound it's way through the forest. A quick detour off the main highway lead us off down the magnificent Avenue of the Giants.
Those trees are BIG. MASSIVE. ENORMOUS. EPIC.

Nearly time for dinner. A BBQ steakhouse on the Klamath river has been recommended.

I'll tell you how it goes later.

Fred.

Do bears zip in the woods?

San Francisco to Fort Bragg.

Our final night in Frisco was spent at AT&T Park watching the SF Giants baseball team. Me, my travelling companions and 40,000 giants fans spent the evening consuming our own weight in corn dogs, garlics fries and beer. Some of us watched the game, many others seemed to be completely unaware that the game had started, been quite exciting for a while and finished in a huge anti-climax as the Giants star batter came to the plate to hit the winning home run in the last innings only to get himself caught out and thereby lose the game.

The next morning we picked up the rental and headed north out of town over the Golden Gate Bridge and on into Northern California heading for a date with some large trees.

An amazing experience we'll never forget, thanks to Nick and Marina our guides for showing us the ropes.

A spectacular drive along Pacific Highway 1 passing through some familar places

Until we reached our lodging for the night at Fort Bragg.

A long but unforgettable day.

Goodnight. Fred.