Arrival in Seattle Area and Boat Lock Tour

Saturday, June 22, 2017

Arrived today in Issaquah about 17 miles east of Seattle.  Left behind the trees and shade of our last campground for a place in the sun.  Not sure which is better.  I dislike  living in the dark when staying in the forests, but like the coolness.  Weather here is definitely warmer and being in the sun means turning on the A/C to keep the RV and us cool. 

We took some lesser traveled roads (or so we thought) today rather than taking I-5 which takes you into downtown Seattle.  It was a short drive (about 90 miles) and roads were mostly four lanes all the way and through the mountains and trees.  Traffic wise, it was a bit better than I-5 but still had many stop and go places along the way.  This area is certainly much more congested than I thought it would be and I am not anxious to come this way again soon.  Love the area but hate the traffic.

Sunday, June 23, 2017

Argosy Lock Boat Tour

This morning we drove ourselves into downtown Seattle to take the Lock Boat Cruise.  Traffic was not too bad until we reached the waterfront.  I spied a parking lot just after we reached the waterfront and Ron turned in thinking even though he thought we could find something closer.  Our first shock of the day was the cost of parking for 3- 10 hours ($30.00).  Wow! Wow!  Guess you have to be a millionaire to live here and pay those prices all the time.  As it turns out our parking lot was just across the street from the Pier where we would be leaving.  Hurray for that.

We had about two hours to kill before the cruise began and spent it walking up and down the waterfront enjoying the sites and anticipating our trip.  

Though our trip was not until 12:45 with line up supposedly starting at 12:25, they announced where the line was going to be about 11:55 and people began lining up right away.  Since we knew we wanted to be in the front and outside on the boat, we decided to get in line too.  A young couple and their 11 year old daughter lined up behind us and we had a nice conversation while waiting so time passed quickly.

Boarding the boat, we walked up the inside stairs to the top front outside deck where we found chairs giving us a nice view.  We left on time with the captain of the boat, a bar tender/snack person and a female crew member in charge of untying/tying us to the dock and giving us a wonderful almost continuous commentary for the two hour trip.  She was very, very informative and very up to date on things going on in the city and harbor.  A delight to listen to and we enjoy her humor along the way as well.

Rather than much commentary, I am just going to include pictures.  I will say that our crew member did point out where Fraser’s apartment house was, the floating house for “Sleepless in Seattle” , and numerous other interesting sites we were passing along the water.  Of course, we saw several large cruise ships waiting at the docks, many commercial boats and many, many pleasure boats of all sizes and shapes.  

How about this cute fellow?

The picture below shows two bridges and our crew member asked us to figure out which bridge comes first.  See if you can guess. Hard to tell isn't it.  It was for us too.   Answer at the end.  

  

The highlight of the cruise was going through “Ballard Lock”.  Yes, there is a community in Seattle called Ballard where this lock is located. There is a bridge as well.

 Our captain gave us commentary regarding who has priority going through the locks, etc and giving us information about how the lock works.  At this lock there is actually a large and small lock.  We watch while the pleasure boats go into the large lock where there can be up to 100 boats in the lock at one time.  Amazing. 

We have the right of way into the small lock and are soon locked in and watching as the water rises and takes us to the Lake level.  Interesting process.  The number of feet that a boat rises here depends on the time of year and the tide height at the time the boat enters the lock.  It can be anywhere from 8 to 24 feet.  What a beautiful view of the city and the space needle in Lake Union.  

Something interesting I learned at this point in our cruise.  Lake Union is fresh water as opposed to Elliott Bay being salt.   I grew up on both coasts of this country and my family had boats which we took out of the water in the fall and put in in the spring.  During the winter, my Dad spent many winter weekends scraping barnacles off the bottom of the boat while it was in dry dock  Barnacles are little crustaceans’ that attach themselves to docks, pilings, boat bottoms, etc.   What we learned on our trip was that boat owners here bring their boats into the fresh water lake because barnacles will release from boat bottoms saving the owners lots of work.  Wish we had had fresh water near where I lived. 

We  pass under one last bridge before arriving at the dock and wonder if we really will fit.  Yes, but they have to lower the flag and the antenna on the top of our boat. Whew! 

It is in this area that we see the house boat from Sleepless in Seattle.  Arriving at the dock, we are met by two buses which take us back to the waterfront where we began. 

  

A wonderful boat trip.  (Answer regarding bridges.  The blue bridge is first.)

What a cute picture this is.  

Family and Tumwater Falls

Wednesday, June 19, 2017

Meeting Family

Today Ron and I went into Tacoma to meet a second cousin (and her husband) whom I had not seen since the early 1950’s when we were children and my family made a visit here.  Gail is the only daughter of the second oldest child of my grandfather‘s sister who lived and raised her family of six children here in Tacoma.  Most of the children stayed in the area as did their families.  Today only the wife of the youngest son is still living. 

 

Gail and Me

We had an enjoyable lunch down on the waterfront at Anthony’s Seafood restaurant and were driven around Tacoma afterwards taking in some of the old homes and area. 

Last summer we visited with another second cousin from the same family (the oldest child) in Idaho.  While I have seen Claire and her husband many times over the years while she and my parents lived in the same town, it was nonetheless great to meet her adult children and make a connection.

Since my mother had no siblings, this is the only family I have from my mother’s side.   It’s been great to reconnect with both of them even if it is late in our lives.  

Friday, June 21, 2017

Tumwater Falls

This is our last day here in the Olympia area.  Our weather has been great with just a bit of a small rain shower early yesterday morning.  The temperature has not exceeded 85 degrees and the nights are in the low 50’s making for comfortable sleeping. 

We take a drive just south of Olympia to see Tumwater Falls which cascades into the Deschutes River flowing into Puget Sound as short distance away.  The town of Tumwater was founded in 1845 by a small group of settlers led by Michael T. Simmons and George Bush, the latter a descendant of African and Irish parents.  They came to Washington because Oregon banned black people from owning land.  The location of the Falls provided a steady source of power and the nearby prairies provided rich land for farming.  The community soon became the first American settlement on Puget Sound.

The Falls are located within a beautiful park below several car bridges which pass over it high above.  The Park is owned by a foundation and in the fall you can watch salmon fight their way upstream. 

 There is a walkway along both sides of the Falls and river giving you a view of several smaller waterfalls along the wooded and shady pathway below.  

What a beautiful place to walk and spend time on our last day in the area.  So serene and peaceful listening to the Falls and river. 

Tomorrow we head for the Seattle area and a visit with an a girlfriend from high school.  

Port Orchard and Gig Harbor

Monday, July 18, 2017

We couldn’t ask for better weather for being outdoors than we have had since we have been here.  Cool mornings (we are in the woods at our campground) and warm afternoons.  Most of the time it is in the mid to high 70’s and today in the low 80’s.  Great weather for being outside and even along the water.

Driving in this congested area of the state has not been my idea of fun.  Lots of traffic going both north and south on I-5 but so far, except for the first day here, we have avoided being out at peak times.  Today we drove north and west through Tacoma and over the Narrows Bridge to the large island where we found Port Orchard and Gig Harbor.  We head to Port Orchard first and will stop in Gig Harbor as we head back later in the day.

For those who like the sweet romance stories of Debbie Macomber, Port Orchard is the basis for the town of Cedar Cove in her series of books with address titles and the Hallmark series with the same name. 

Port Orchard is located on the Sinclair Inlet of Puget Sound and across from Bremerton.  

Looking across to Bremerton

Port Orchard was settled in 1854 by settlers who built homes on the wooded shores and named the community Sidney.  Sawmills and shipyards formed and in 1903 the name of the town was changed to Port Orchard and it became the county seat for Kitsap County.  Today it is a cute little community with antique and specialty shops with hiking, boating, biking and other outdoor activities in abundance.  Numerous murals caught our attention and we enjoyed a walk along the water capturing a picture of the murals and this totem pole.

GigHarbor is located just over the Narrows Bridge from Tacoma and is a really cute and quaint fishing community where it is obvious there is lots of money by the looks of the homes and boats to be found here along the shores.  

Gig Harbor can be found along the Colvos Passge of Puget Sound.  The Bay here was discovered by chance by members of the 1841 Wilkes expedition seeking refuge from a storm.  They named the bay for their gig, a type of boat. 

We take a drive along the waterfront taking in the beautiful waterfront scenery and the lovely homes along the shore. 

 I really like this community much more than Port Orchard.  We stop to have lunch at a local restaurant on the water called “Tide’s Tavern” 

and enjoyed waiting for lunch and the lunch while sitting inside next to a window overlooking the boat dock outside and the homes across the Bay as well as boats traveling up and down the waterway.  The restaurant has its own dock so boats can dock and come into the restaurant for a meal rather than coming by car. 

We saw a site we did not expect across the bay.  It was an Italian gondola floating near the opposite shore.  I learned that a gentleman from California discovered Gig Harbor, moved his family here and started his business taking advantage of his love of Italian boats and the calm waters of the Bay to give customers something different to do around town.  Cute.  I didn’t learn if he sings along the way.

The gondola is on the far left side

Mural next to an old local grocery store

Stairway up the hill

Mt. Rainier off in the distance

We return to the campground where we spent some time with another RV couple.  The lady grew up in Gig Harbor and she and her husband now spend only the summer months here and live the remainder of the year in Goodyear, AZ.  We are looking forward to continuing our friendship with them this winter when we too are in Arizona.  While we belong to RVillage and had hoped we would meet others in the group at campgrounds we stay at, there seldom are any others.  Instead we are meeting other campers and have found several couples this summer who spend their falls and winters where we do.