Arrived back in Vancouver

We have been touring through Oregon and Washington State in the USA for the last week.  We caught a train to Seatttle and then picked up a hire car and drove to Eugene, Oregon where we were the guests of Marcia and Gouly.  I first met Marcia when I was a volunteer at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and we have kept in contact since then.  We had a great time with them showing us around their beautiful city and countryside.  They took us up to Crater Lake, it is Oregon's only National Park.  we had snow and rain on the way up there.  Once there we couldn't see the lake because of low cloud and it was still snowing.  We went for a walk and had a look at the Lodge, which was still closed for the winter.  Massive snowbanks each side of us.  On the way back to the car we decided to have one last look to see if the cloud and cleared and wow, what a great view.  It was a long trip but worth every moment to see the Lake.  we stopped on the way back for a picnic lunch.  Marcia and Gouly helped us plan our next day's drive from Eugene to Lake Oswego along the Coast of Oregon. 

We had a pleasant day drive up the coast through Florence up to Lincoln City.  Stopping along the way to see sea lions, lighthouses and beautiful coastal scenery.  We headed inland to McMinnville where the Spruce Goose is at the Evergreen Aviation Museum.  It would have been nice to spend more time there but it closed at 5pm so got kicked out and we still had to get to Lake Oswego about 1 hour away.

The next day we did the scenic drive around Mt Hood    Up to Timberline Lodge for a look around, lots of snow boarders and skiers on the slopes.  The drive brought us out at Hood River on the Columbia River.  After following the Columbia River for awhile we turned off onto the Oregon Heritage Trail and saw 3 beautiful waterfalls on our way into Portland.

We had one night in Portland and the Hotel was within walking distance to downtown so walked around, caught the tram, walked along the river's edge.   The Columbia River  is huge makes the River Murray look like a creek.

We headed back to Seattle with a detour to see Mt St Helen's.  It was the 31st anniversary of the day it last erupted the day we visited.  would have liked to get closer but had to be in Seattle by 4pm  to get the hire car back.  Our Hotel was right in town on top of the hill, walked down to the Pier and went to Crab Pot for dinner.   It was all uphill on the way back but we just made it back.  Next morning we went out to see the Boeing Factory Assembly plant for the 747's, 777's and new 787's. The planes were dwarfed by the size of the building, it was massive.  We got dropped off at the Monorail after the tour and went to the Space Needle.  I was very brave and went up, great views all around.  We headed back to the Hotel and then went to Pioneer Square and had dinner and did the Underground tour it was pretty amazing how it came to be and was very interesting tour.  Next morning we had booked a walking tour throught the Pike Place Market.  We had samples from the vendors stalls, restaurants we visited along the way by the end we were full,  we had to check out of the hotel by 12 so quickly back to the hotel and grab our bags and then dropped them at the railway station  for our trip back to Vancouver.  The weather was fantastic while we were away, some rain and snow up in the mountains but mostly sunny in Portland and Seattle. 

At Crater Lake

Crater Lake with Wizard Island in background

Mt St Helen's

Now we are back in Vancouver at Megan and Paul's house in Coquitlam now.  4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, theatre room, lounge, dining and family room just for the two of them.  So plenty of room for them.  Sherri and Anthony arrive back from Montreal tomorrow night, so probably catch up with them on Monday some time.