Happy New Year!!! wooohoooo!!!
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
82
90
Trip End
Jan 06, 2009
Seattle,
Washington,
United States
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Well, we left 'The White House' in pouring rain and 'got back on the road again'. The drive to Seattle was only a couple of hours away and fairly uneventful. No police cars. No burst tyres. Just rain. And freezing cold weather.
When we arrived in Seattle, as it was New Years Day, understandably the City was like a complete ghost town. Seattle-ians must have either been surrendering to the pain and glugging hair-of-the-dog or moaning and rocking with their head in their hands in darkened rooms. We drove around for a while to get our bearings and then parked outside a Hotel which was very cheap and central. Then a member of staff casually asked us if 'that' was our car outside. It was. Yes, he gathered...did we know it was a one way street?? Er..................Nope..... We had driven down it the wrong way!!! Lucky, Seattle was a ghost town that day then. Hopefully all Seattle police were moaning and rocking back and forth too!
(David: Here's a thing: We initially checked into the Hotel for two nights, for around $120 a night or so. But then needed to extend it later on
Hilly streets down to the harbour front
. But, I'd noticed on the internet that they had rooms going for $50. So, remembering a story Ken had told us, I went to reception and asked to extend our stay. They said, sure. I said: 'and that's at the same internet rate isn't it'. She said: 'Er... it'll be the same rate as you checked in with. I said: 'Yes, $50 isn't it?' She checked, she said no it was 120 dollars. I said: 'oh...?'. She said: 'But I can change it, don't worry. There, $50 a night.'Odd that. Usually we've been given the absolute best price by walking in. We've learnt not to take that for granted in North America now.)
That night, the Hotel recommended a local pizza restaurant. It was peeing it down. And the restaurant was closed...as was every other restaurant in the City too!! It was about 9pm and freeeeeezing cold and the whole City was dead and locked up. We walked for miles until we got down to the harbour where all the boats and seafood cafes are. This was also a morgue of life. But finally we discovered good old fish and chips from the one and only place that was cashing in on the extinct City. (David: I resisted the temptation to answer the little American boy that asked his mum: 'Why are they called chips when they're fries?')
The next day, our priority was to return the hire car. We didn't really need one in Seattle and we had already decided to get the train from Seattle to Vancouver in a few days time, for our explorations of Canada. We eventually found the local Thrifty car hire place, down at the harbour somewhere.....we must have driven up and down the very long, busy harbour road a million times
Some bizarre wonderful building...
. EVENTUALLY, we found the local Thrifty, tucked away right at the back of a small waste-ground car park. However, the office was locked up and deserted with a yellowing, curling sign saying they had moved three months ago and were now near the airport, an hour's drive away!!!We had no choice. So, back in the car we got. However, on the way, we found on the navigator another Thrifty branch closer than the airport, so we went there. We pulled in, parked up, got all our paperwork out. No, sorry, we couldn't return the car to them as they were only a very small branch of Thrifty so we really did have to go to the airport branch to return it. Sigh! However, right next door to Thrifty was a Denny's Diner. David and I had never been to a Denny's before and we were both very hungry, so....
....After we had eaten at Denny's, there was a fairly unanimous decision that we would never go to another Denny's ever again. Although, waitresses re-filled coffee cups in a very subdued, hushed dining atmosphere with quiet background music which made for a very warm, cosy atmosphere, the food...was.....well, how can I put this eloquently.........Crap.
Eventually, we got to the airport Thrifty branch. This was actually located about 45mins away from the centre of Seattle and situated in the middle of several highways so to get to the airport for a taxi would have been much like walking alongside the M25 to get to Heathrow. Also, a taxi back to our Hotel would be the price of approx one night's stay at our Hotel!! We ummed and erred with the lovely Thrifty lady who offered several suggestions and we explained, exasperatedly, that Thrifty, back in LA, had confirmed we could return the car to the harbour branch but surely Thrifty knew the branch had been closed for three months?? and if so why didn't they tell us? I muttered that I would be writing Thrifty a letter asking for a taxi refund
Me doing the washing at the laundrette
. Eventually, the lovely Thrifty lady said "ok, listen, you know what?? I'm actually off in about 5minutes, I could give you a lift back...?" We didn't need to think twice and thanked her profusely as we climbed into the back of her 4x4. 'Hope' was so kind, pointing out Seattle attractions along the way, things to do in the City and showing an interest in our blogs and our travels. She saved our bacon!We got back to our Hotel at about 6pm!! We had spent the whole day driving round and round in circles returning a flaming hire car. However, we had probably seen more of Seattle than we anticipated.
The next day was Saturday. As we were catching our train to Vancouver on Monday, I decided we absolutely needed to go to the laundrette as I now had no clean knickers and no clean tops to wear!!! It was either shopping or washing. I know which one I preferred!! There was a laundrette 'up the road' from us so we hauled our rammed rucksack 'up the road'. After a 30min hike up hilly streets, we finally got to the laundrette which was actually really cosy with a tv, arcade games etc. A few bag ladies and scary old men with wild hair and no teeth but otherwise ok.
By the time we finished doing our duties here, it was around 2pm. So we dumped our washing off and walked around the town. Hmm....well, on New Years Day when we arrived, it was a ghost town and today, Saturday it was also a ghost town! Some of the shops were closed and the streets were barely busy
BIG crab legs at Pike Market
. Bizarre. What do people DO in Seattle? Obviously the week ends are sacred stay in bed/stay at home time. We headed for the main train station to try and sort out our journey to Vancouver on Monday. By the time we had done this it was about 4pm and by now, almost every shop had shut up for the week end!?What we did find open though was the famous Pike Street market. This was a great place. A buzzing, heaving area of stalls and shops selling everything you could possibly want in life, including a fantastic fish stall where you could sample some tuna, a cheese stall, coffee shops, coin shops, stamp shops (for the avid collectors!) and an incredible magic shop rammed with lots of vintage magic equipment and accessories and an Elvis Fortune-Telling booth!! Stall holders shouted, customers haggled, it was a really fun place.
The next day was Sunday and we were meeting David's cousin, Tish and Adam. I'll let David take over here as it's complex but interesting. (David: Oh yeah, right. Yeah. So. Tish is my Cousin and Adam is her husband. There.) Lois: Sigh! ok, I'll explain then! we got the ferry from Seattle over to Bainbridge Island, just 30mins away. Tish and Adam met us at the ferry terminal and immediately took us for lunch at Nola's cafe!! (sorry we didn't take any photos Nola!). It was a great little place and our brunch of Eggs benedict was absolutely delicious. David and Tish did most of the talking as they had lots to chat about, it was a good introduction to tish and adam though, they were a really lovely couple
David, Tish and Adam
. (David: It was great to meet them both... we oddly had a lot in common.)After this, they took us back to their house. Tish is a landscape gardener so you can imagine, her garden was a haven of flora and fauna. It was a bit weather beaten from the tempestuous storms and heavyweight snow but it was really lovely. We also met their mad-as-a-march-hare dog who was just absolutely gorgeous and completely bonkers!! We all took him out for a walk to a nearby beach. On the way Tish and Adam drove us around the island a little. Bainbridge is a great place. Seattle is only 30mins away and here you have forests, beaches, stunning vistas, winding country roads, deer, it's just an idyllic place to live, so so pretty (David: Except the deer devour the tastiest garden plants). On the beach, the dog went crackers chasing waves, really funny. David and Adam swapped notes: Adam works for a company contracted by Disney amongst other so much talk was had about graphics, computer games etc. After this, they took us to their favourite bakers where they sold scrumptious cakes all freshly made. The smell on entering was enough to start the dribbling!! it was heaving in there so we sat outside and scoffed our cakes while we chatted some more. As we did, so the snow started coming down, really pretty. Finally, we had to say our goodbyes and get the ferry back to Seattle. We had had such a great day meeting them and wandering around. We were also incredibly lucky with the weather all day: freezing cold but very sunny
Our hire car: look at the registration plate!
. On the ferry back to seattle, the clouds closed in and the snow fell, heavily. We did warn Tish and Adam about our fondness for inciting freak weather conditions and so we kept true to our word, as that night, the Seattle streets became smothered in a blanket of fluffy white flakes..... (David: As an update, Tish has informed us that we appear to have left even crazier weather conditions in our wake...)So, by the time we finished with Tish and Adam, it was late and we were quite drained so we went round the corner to the local pizza place which was actually great fun, really lively and fantastic food.
The next day Monday, was our day to travel to Vancouver. We actually decided to go by bus instead. (David: No we didn't. There were 5 'trains' per day to Vancouver. Except that all bar the first one was at 6 in the morning and they were all busses run by the train company. So it was less of a decision and more of a forced necessity to get the bus.) Lois: so.....we decided to get the bus then!?! We COULD have got up at 6am...we used to get up at 4am regularly in Peru!!! The bus was great. A smooth drive with a short stop at the border to visit customs. Customs were not as bad as when we arrived in LA but we still got interrogated somewhat as to our 'intentions' of visiting Canada.
Finally, after about 4 hours, we arrived in Vancouver, to heavy snow. All we had to do now was find a room......
Love us xx
