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Published: August 8th 2007
written by Miss Wendy O Washington We said goodbye to the mountains, the altitude, the hot days and freezing nights and the scary hairy beasts, and headed West into Washington (the most North Westerly State).
There was a sudden drop in temperature as we crossed the state line where the weather was wet and the skies stormy. Like the mountains, Washington escapes the whole convenience and mall epidemic infesting the mid West and East coast. It was refreshing to see bare highways and where downtown is where most shop, eat and drink.
Seattle, home to Jimi Hendrix, Starbucks, Microsoft and Grunge, is a cool city bursting with character. But it doesn’t take long before you can’t help noticing the huge homeless and poverty problems they have. Maybe it’s just more concentrated, but it’s certainly the worst we’ve experienced in the States so far. Seattle appears to be hiding behind a glamour façade with its huge high street and boutique stores.
The grunge culture is still alive and kicking with dudes with more facial piercing than corn in South Dakota, smoking weed and hanging out at underground music venues. Stuart and I fitted in perfectly with our Turtles. We
stayed at the Moore hotel. It was centrally located but not the fanciest. The grumpy grandad on reception didn’t exactly greet us with warm open arms. We only had enough time to explore the pier, via Pike Place Market, caught a few beautiful moments as the sun set then head down to Pioneer Square, the oldest part of Seattle packed with art galleries, antique shops, cafes and sex shops. It was our 1 year anniversary so we splashed out on a nice meal at a funky, arty restaurant!
The next morning we only had enough time to squeeze in a run along the pier to soak up the daylight views of Seattle.
Victoria, BC, Canada Our original plan was to head North to Vancouver then pop across to Victoria to visit our friends, Mark and Sylvie, who we met in Iguazu Argentina. But with time running away from us fast, we decided to short cut Vancouver and head straight to Victoria from Seattle. To avoid the outrageous $144 ferry crossing from Seattle, we drove 3 hours to the cute wee port town of Port Angeles to catch a $23 return fare to Victoria.
Victoria, capital of British Columbia,
is a beautiful, friendly, cute, colonial city on Vancouver Island, just a couple of hours off the Canadian mainland. We timed our visit perfectly and rocked up the day before Mark and Sylvie were due to move house. Mark met us off the ferry for our whistle-stop visit, then we drove to the island’s premier tourist attraction, Butchart Gardens, where Sylvie is the Big Boss! Her name only needs to be whispered to send most employees into floods of tears. After taking a walk around the gardens we headed back into town for yummy food and tasty drinks. As an Argentinean reunion we then headed back to the Apartment for a jammin’ session and a peek at Mark and Sylvie’s photos.
Oregon Coast We set off down the wet and windy West coast of Oregon. Expecting to see gorgeous white beaches and sunshine, we were disappointed the road didn’t reveal too much coastline so we only caught glimpses of the roaring Pacific now and again. Instead of being sunny white beaches however, they were wild rugged and beautiful, it reminded me a lot of the West coast of Scotland.
Turtles on Tour Four Fireballs and the 
Pioneer Sq, Seattle
Sculpture outside Contemporary Art GallaryBill
To round off our evening with Mark and Sylvie in Victoria, we all snuck into Big Bad John’s for a nightcap. As the name suggests, this is no place for pussies! The staff serve no-nonsense whiskies with angry growls and dungarees. Obviously a local to Big Bad John’s, Sylvie ordered in style….. “We’ll have four fireballs and the bill.” Classic line!!!
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