Fairfield Inn By Marriott Philadelphia Deptford

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Day 3:
Continue south on 101 and stop at Kalaloch Beach, home to plump sunning sea lions and Kalaloch lodge, lunch!
Drive on to Mount Rainier National Park & do an afternoon hike.
Stay at the Paradise Inn

Day 4:
take Route 410 thru Rainier's eastern border and climb above the tree line at Chinook Pass (open may-Nov)

... Capilano Suspension Bridge.
Grab lunch in Dundarave Village (at 25th st) at one of the many cafes or coffee houses.
After lunch head out to Whistler Mountain. After checking into Adara Hotel (www.adarahotel.com) head over to Blackcomb Tube Park (1,000 ft tubing lanes)

Sunday:
Skiing @ Whistler Mountain

Hotel: The Opus Hotel in Yaletown

... later in August which the guides on the tour seem the laugh at as people think that was the official that was read out...
Linda had a real hassle on this tour with the accent of the guide. She gave up half way thought and just told me to translate the whole thing to her when I get a chance.....another classic.

After the tour was complete we ran through the rain and headed over to the Liberty Bell center and checked that out.....Took a few ...

... and the fact it wasn't allowed.

So from then on we had to make a move to fit everything in. 1st up was the Lincoln memorial. THe a jog for about 2kms to Arlington cemetry for some more pics.
Then it was a jog back to the Washington memorial. We actually got tix for this as we were there so early....Went up and snapped more pics before then running for the hotel and booking out to get the 12.00 bus back to Phili.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States tman7deuce

... up being tipped out for the animals in the garden then Linda's apple ended up being soft like water mellon. A beauty start to the day here I thought.

Anyway we decided to move on and get checked in which took us about 1 min only as the queue was gone. They were really good about the 25 before us and we quickly headed for the ranger to get access to the crown.
When we approached the rangers at the next check point we were advised we need to leave all our belongings in a locker and ...

Just a quick one to say hi to all my mates from another US city of the revolution (a couple of hundred years ago) now the city of Brotherly Love & soft cheese ! Have spent a few days eating and drinking and catching up with Andy's former life / acquaintances etc - lots of rowing talk and seemingly collecting specimens for a stacked boat at Henley 2010. Back to London on Monday night and work shortly thereafter yeuck.

... aside, I'm fairly physically fit so it wasn't because I couldn't hack it.) If you are a runner or enjoy biking, that might also be a good way to explore the park since you'll see more of it. Also, if you are a fan of wildlife, the place is crawling with deer and birders will have a field day checking out the many species of birds who call this hallowed ground home. Enjoy my pics and if you go, enjoy the park!

Finally made it home by way of Route 322. It was a wonderfully pleasant drive. We happened upon the Elk Scenic Drive which had signs telling you the best places to view bald eagles or elk. It was an endless region of state parks and wilderness. I'm going back with a camera... pictures soon to come.

Philadelphia - Home of the American Constitution Gee it ain't half hot mum! We have arrived in Philadelphia with the city in the middle of a heat warning the mercury is nudging 100f and very humid, not ideal for walking miles! But we have lots to see, we can't let the heat beat us! We boarded the Amtrak Train at Union Station in Washington and in less than 2 hours we were pulling into 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. The Train was on time and had seats which ...

Today we are going home! We woke up, checked out, and then caught another bus (tube strike is still not over) to the station where we caught the Gatwick Express train to the airport. We considered taking one of the van shuttles to the airport from our hotel but later learned it was not worthwhile because all they do is take you to the train anyhow and it takes hours for them to do all the local hotel pickups. Once at the airport we needed to make sure that our ...