Since we're leaving for a mini road trip tomorrow, we had a relatively light day today. We started out by heading over to Mark's house where we took an Uber to the Seattle Sounders game (our first one ever so we're now part of the 21st century!). The only soccer Jess and I have ever attended has been a couple Carolina Railhawks games so seeing an MLS game at a stadium that's known for its atmosphere would be fun.
Unfortunately, the Sounders aren't good this year but the crowd was still lively as we got to the stadium (and it was still pretty early). There was a lot of noise as people were heading to the gates all while chanting and banging drums. After getting inside, we got up to our seats - which thankfully were in the shaded part of the stadium, making for a very comfortable game given the beautiful weather - and checked out the club level. Between this and last night at the Mariners, we can definitely get used to the good life! We grabbed some food and waited for Greg to arrive.
The fans there are pretty good with their chants that everyone knew and the main supporter section was standing the whole time. It was a throwback game so they wore 70's jerseys from when I guess the Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps existed in some previous league which would have been cool but I kind of wanted to see their newer kits.
The game itself was good as Seattle scored on a penalty a few minutes in and dominated the game. Sure, a third goal by anyone would have been great (for recreational reasons only, of course) but we ended up being even from the games Friday and Saturday with some swings in there so that was fun. After it was over, we said good-bye to Greg and grabbed another Uber back to Mark's house.
Mark and Laurel were nice enough to cook for us again with burgers on the grill and fries. It was great to spend more time with them and Sadie and we had a wonderful evening. After leaving, I dropped Jess off at the hotel while I went to the airport to drop our car off since we wouldn't need it anymore. That took a little while (basically just waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel) but it saved us over $100 vs. dropping off in the morning so it was worth it.
After repacking, we went to bed and awaited our morning road trip.
As they say in Seattle, "We love the Sounders!" Note: Not a lot of people seem to say this. It's definitely a Seahawks town...
It was hard to top yesterday and we definitely weren't in a hurry to do anything. We had bought tickets to the Mariners game at 7 PM so we had all day to kill. We ended up not getting ready until mid-morning and then we headed up to Snoqualmie Falls since we had heard it was a popular site and meant to do it last time we were here. We also have friends in Snoqualmie so we thought maybe we'd see them there too.
The falls themselves were cool but it's not like it was something that took more than 20 minutes to fully see. I guess there are a couple different viewing areas and some hikes but after yesterday, we didn't care to do it. Besides, the sunburn I got being out all day yesterday was pretty bad so any sun felt extra hot. Our friends ended up not being around during the time we were up there so we just headed back to our hotel, ate lunch and then took it easy. I tried to figure out a plan for returning our car and figuring out where to stay during our last night here so that we didn't inconvenience any of our friends.
About 5 PM, we headed out to the light rail station to go to the Mariners game. It was pretty easy and cheap compared to sitting in traffic and paying for parking and we got to the game in plenty of time. Our seats were on the club level and the recommendation of Jackie and Erich, our old seatmates at the Canes game for a number of years. They, along with their sons and some friends, met us and Greg at the game (Greg's girlfriend Mary ended up being stuck at work and couldn't make it) and we all had a great time. Greg is the one I've gone to most of the ballparks with and it may have been over 10 years since we saw an MLB game together so that was nice. The seats were great - the club level was nice and less crowded - and the game was close too. We even made $3.50 putting in a few bets throughout the game so it basically paid for itself.
The game was busy but it wasn't because people were super into the Mariners vs. White Sox; it was because there were post-game fireworks set to the music of Pearl Jam. A lot of people stuck around and it was decent display - if we liked Pearl Jam, I'm sure it would have been awesome. The trip back was a little more packed on the train but not too bad and we were back to our hotel at around midnight, which is pretty late for us.
As they say in Seattle, "Eddie Vedder is the greatest musician of all time." Note: Judging by the crowd, they probably do say this.
We wanted to do some hiking while we were here so we decided that today we'd go to Mt. Rainier and do something there. Even though my friend Greg has been living in Seattle since last September, he hasn't made it to Rainier yet so he was happy to come with us. After meeting us at our hotel at about 7:30 AM, we decided that we'd go to the most popular part of Rainier and do the hike that is probably the most recommended. That meant doing the Skyline Trail Loop at Paradise and it certainly did not disappoint!
It was a two hour drive up and when we left it was cloudy, although the forecast said it'd clear up during the day. As we arrived at the Paradise Visitor Center, it was busy but at least there were parking spaces. While it was still pretty cloudy - and thus you couldn't see any mountains - the sun was starting to show through at times so we were hopeful that it would clear soon. We stopped at the gift shop, got Jess her stamp and bought a few drinks before moving our car to a different lot (since we'd be there for hours) and heading out on the hike. We spoke to a ranger beforehand and she warned that there was still snow in parts but she said the entire 5.5-mile loop was passable if a bit challenging.
The beginning of the hike was paved but it was pretty steep. We knew we'd gain about 1700 feet in elevation but at least a good chunk of that was at the beginning. After we got off the paved part, we were basically in the clouds so visibility wasn't great. We could see short distances which meant snow, wildflowers and marmots galore. We hadn't seen marmots in person during our other trips and this time they were right by the trails and didn't seem concerned that people were right next to them. We also saw a lot of fat chipmunks too.
The trail itself was pretty steep and was tough for Jess at times because the stretches between rocks and steps were sometimes pretty wide and her legs are short. It was very rocky and uneven and steep at almost all points during the first half of the hike. There were a few less rocky parts but that meant it was either kind of sandy or there was snow. Yep, it turned out that even in July, large stretches of the trail were completely covered by snow. Thankfully there were flags and you could follow the footsteps to see which way to go but it was very easy to get a little off course.
We climbed up about 1400 feet to the major veiwpoint of Panoramic Point but unfortunately it was still cloudy so we couldn't see anything in front of us. Behind us was the peak of Rainier, and after stopping for a few minutes to eat lunch, the sky cleared slightly and Rainier was briefly visible. It was pretty amazing although it didn't look as big I expected but that was mostly because we were halfway up and there were still clouds to the side of it.
The clouds came and went rapidly so we left and tried to get up above the clouds and hope for better views. After a short distance, we got to a point where the mountain was completely visible where again, it was only for a short time but we sat there for a while and got to see it come in and out of view a few times. When it was visible, you could definitely see the glaciers up top and the blue hues looked amazing. I did manage to drop our camera and of course it fell down about 10 feet, bouncing off rocks on the way down. It didn't work at first when I got it back but thankfully Greg had this happen to him before and it just required some adjustment to the lens. It seems like it still worked (after all, that's where most of these pictures came from) so we continued on.
After hiking up a couple hundred feet to the high point of the trail, we walked along a giant mound of snow. I think it was a glacier but can't be sure. We saw a huge mountain goat - which I first thought was another snow mound - just sitting there along with people practicing and preparing along the snow below the trail for what I assume was a summit attempt. At this point, the ranger had said there were areas of more snow so we expected that somewhat but there was definitely more than we bargained for. While we thought the uphill parts were tough, it was a lot harder climbing down the snowy steep parts.
Lucky for us, there were a couple people that decided they would use their jackets or a garbage bag to sled down. They may have gotten a little wet doing it but considering you're likely to fall anyway, it seemed like a good idea. The guy offered us an extra garbage bag and we took it. It turns out sledding on that works and is a lot faster and easier to get the down the hills! We took turns sledding at various points and while you didn't have a lot of control, it definitely worked (and was a lot of fun). Here's a video of Greg on one his slides:
(And yes, I'm an idiot for not shooting it landscape.)
We did have to cross a couple of streams too. It wasn't like they were moving that quickly or were deep but you definitely could get your feet completely soaked like I did. There was no clear path through it so you had to guess at which rocks wouldn't move and would stay near the water line. It wasn't easy to stay dry but we all made it with no one falling into the water.
The trail down wasn't that bad and we ended up getting more great views once we got below the clouds. We also saw more marmots sunning themselves on the rocks and the snow. When we were at about mile 6 of the hike (somehow we ended up doing nearly 7 miles so we must have meandered around a lot in addition to the hike from the parking lot to the trailhead), we had to go back up a steep area to get back to the visitor center. We also saw a group of people carrying out a gurney with something tied up in a bag. We think it was a training session but they didn't say that so we don't know if they were recovering a body (though I later checked the news and didn't see anything about it).
When we got close to the trail's end, we saw a nice waterfall and there were a few deer grazing by the path. We were all pretty tired - it ended up being an 11-hour day in total, which was longer than we had planned on - so when we got back to the hotel, we parted ways with Greg and took it easy the rest of the night. It also turned out that despite being below or in the clouds much of the day, we were out long enough that I got badly sunburned so that wasn't terribly comfortable once it really set in.
As they say on Rainier, "You've reached the summit when you're about halfway up." Note: No one says this.
It was an uneventful flight yesterday evening so the trip got off to a good start. After waking up this morning to cool temps, it was certainly nice to get away from the high 90's (heat and humidity) and have some more reasonable weather for a change.
We had the morning and early afternoon before we were meeting our friends so we decided to head downtown and hit a few spots. We stopped at Pike Place Market first and checked out all of the vendors there. There was art, flowers, food, fish, crafts...basically anything you can sell from a stand. We did end up picking up a nice small piece of art before heading over to the Seattle Art Museum. It was very busy though since this is peak tourist season and we wanted to get away from there before it got even worse.
The museum itself was huge and had a lot of different things from modern art to silver and furniture. No one area had that much by itself but it definitely had a large variety. I admit a lot of the modern stuff is not my cup of tea but some things like the porcelain rooms - with the teacups - were at least somewhat interesting.
After a decent lunch at a brewpub near the market, we walked around a little more before heading back to the hotel to kill an hour or so before heading to Mark and Laurel's house to see them and meet their baby!
I've worked with Mark since 2006 and his wife Laurel also worked at the same company. They moved to Seattle and had a baby last year so this was our first time meeting her. She was great the entire evening - nothing but smiles and laughs. She just learned to crawl too so I think she was happy to show off her new skills.
They made us dinner - pizza (they know my eating habits) and salad - and after a delightful time there, we headed back to our hotel since we had an early morning on Thursday.
As they say in the tourist areas, "That'll be $20 for a hamburger." Note: They do say this.
It's always the intent to post blogs every day on our trip but sometimes late days or bad connections mean we have a couple of delays. On this trip, I think most of the internet was satellite based and we couldn't upload pictures at all. Since the pictures really tell the story, we decided to write the blogs as we went along but wait until we were home to post them.With getting sick and being lazy, it took two weeks but at least they're up there now...
We were up early and took the bus back to the airport in Vancouver. Because we went from the cruise directly to the airport, we didn't have to go through Canadian customs and they had our bags waiting for us right inside the terminal. Unfortunately, our flight to Chicago was already delayed twice when we got there so when we went to check in, we could change our flight (at a cost to us, of course) but it did leave about 2 hours earlier. We only had about an hour and a half before the flight left at that point but I figured with a tight layover, if the flight was delayed once more we'd be in trouble. I decided to go for it and we rushed to go through security and US customs. We did make it in time but there were two problems: first, we didn't have time to eat so all I could get were some snacks and some Timnits from Tim Hortons. Second, we weren't sitting together.
One last look at the webcam from the front of the ship...
When the plane boarded, I was hoping the guy in the aisle next to my middle seat would be sitting alone and therefore wouldn't mind trading for the aisle seat Jess had a few rows back. When I got there, he had actually moved to the middle seat to sit next to his wife so that didn't work. Thankfully the guy across from me was traveling alone so he agreed to move so at least Jess and I were near each other. The flight wasn't bad except it was storming in DC so we were late to land and they forgot to load the snacks on the plane so it was a good thing I bought a couple things beforehand.
The trip from DC to Raleigh was quick and uneventful and even though we didn't get home until about 1:45 AM, it could have been worse. It turns out our flight to Chicago got there after our flight to Raleigh left so there's a good chance we would have been stuck there overnight.
After a long 2+ weeks, it was nice to get back to Raleigh. It did seem extra warm considering it's been pretty cool for us since we left. In fact, even in the middle of the night it was about 10 degrees warmer than at any point in our trip. After talking about this trip for years, it lived up to our expectations and I have a feeling we'll be back at some point.
As our captain Michele Tuvo said after each announcement, "Bye Bye!" Note: He really did sign off that way, but just imagine it in a cheery Italian accent.
