Blogs from Washington, United States, North America - page 199

Start der 2tem Etappe Staaten Washington und Oregon. Start am 29.7. Wir fuhren von Vancouver nach Seattle. Seattle ist nicht wirklich einen Besuch wert, wenn man einen umweg fahren muss. Wir kamen am späten Nachmittag an und die Stadt war wie ausgestorben. Wir besuchten die Stadt unter der Stadt ( Sie mussten die Stadt erhöhen , weil sie immer überschwemmte) und fuhren dann weiter Richtung Mount Rainier und St. Helens Nationalparks. Der St. Helens Vulkan kennt wohl jeder, denn dieser brach 1980 aus und verwüstete eine riesige Fläche. Der Vulkan raucht bis heute und rund um den Vulkan sieht man noch heute die Zerstörung, welche er angerichtet hat. Weiter Richtung Pazifik und Highway Nummer 101 . Dieser Scenic Highway führt von steilen Klippen und weiten Sandstränden Richtung Süden und Kalifornien. Speziell zu erwähnen sind die Dünen ... read more

Our next stop was down in Missoula, Montana. Missoula is the home of a Smoke Jumper Depot...which means its a base for the fire fighters that parachute out of airplanes to put out forest and wild fires. The tour was awesome! It was led by a former smoke jumper, and we got to see the entire facility. It was a refreshing change from just looking at dioramas and replicas...about 6 jumpers came in from a drop while we were standing in their locker room. Crazy! There are actually about 22 forest fires raging right now, mostly throughout that particular region...but there are some as far south as Riverside, CA. We learned a lot about what it takes to jump into fires, how they put them out, what they bring with them on the jump, and what ... read more

So I am finally all moved out of my apartment and I am feeling a bit sad about my departure from "home" I lived in that apartment for two years, and now I am back at home with the parents waiting to depart to France! I still feel a bit numb at the thought of leaving the safe and comfortable realms of the U.S., but at the same time I am more exited every day with just the thought of going to France. Yesterday I got the email from my program director that gave me the detailed agenda of my first four days in France. I also go my address ( which really made it feel more like reality) and some other misc. information. I am stating to feel a bit more relaxed now that I ... read more

Day 14 After a big breakfast and a leisurely start, Terry and I popped down to the university and he showed me where he works, it made labs I have visited before look a bit like outhouses. We then all headed off to Stanley Park which is a “must see” in Vancouver and along with lot’s of other visitors we took in the sights. We popped in to see Tom and Shirley’s friend Barbara on the way out and then spent almost 2 hours in a queue to get back over the border to the US. Getting into Canada was so much easier. It was a slow trip back, with the border hold up and then an accident further down the road holding things up for almost another thirty minutes. Finally back to Hans and Catherine’s ... read more

070823 Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington After leaving Seattle I drove about 45 minutes south to Sumner Washington where my friend and co-worker Bryan grew up. I crashed at his dad’s apartment which was empty at the moment. While there I waterproofed my tent because it wasn’t very waterproof when it rained in Yellowstone. We pretty much relaxed all day, watched movies, did some laundry (since both of us are nomads we wash laundry when we can), and did general upkeep on our gear, like waterproofing, sharpening knives, whatever. I was thinking about going to Mt Rainer for a day then going to Olympic National Park for a day. Bryan suggested I use both days for Olympic National Park and stressed how cool the Hoh Rainforest on the west side of the park was. I ... read more