Mark & Gill

Another early start but plenty of time to admire the recommissioned King Street Station. A grand waiting hall.

A nice little trip up the coast today from Seattle to Vancouver. The early part of the trip reminded me of the drive up the Thames Coast of NZ..close to cliff edge, land either side of water, random fishing boats, beach walkers, flotsam and jetsam, driftwood and houses hugging the hills. Lots of trees but no pohutukawa!

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Early start to see the Chihuly Garden and Glass. Located at the foot of The Space Needle built for 1962 World Fair, Dale Chihuly’s exhibition is amazing. In fact, stunning. See the photos (more to come). Incredible colour, detail and design. All sorts of shapes- flowers, sea creatures, chandeliers, balls and forms.

Link to Chuchilly photos

Also very cool are some of his collections displayed in glass tabletops in the cafe. Best way of showcasing memorabilia from shaving brushes to fishing flies, tin soldiers to toy cars!

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Seattle boomed as a town with the Klondike Stampede and people stocked up here before they headed to the Yukon to find gold. Few had struck it rich when the rush ended 1899, but a rich history remains and is visible. Lots of stories and memorablia.

Explored the Pike Place Markets this morning- started in 1907 to avoid the high cost of produce through middle men, it is the longest continuously operating market in the US. Multi-level and covering 9 ha.

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Spent most of the day in transit..SF to Seattle. Waiting in the airport, waiting on the runway and waiting to land! Very dry in CA, a historical drought, and certainly very brown from the air. Quite a contrast  to the “Evergreen State” of Washington.

Seattle – very picturesque on approach with snow capped mountains, water and fir trees.

27 ° on arrival and a nice view down the street to the waterfront from our hotel door. More on that later! We have a room on the 29th floor out over the city and part of Puget Sound.

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Good fast flight from NZ.  Last here in SF in 2011 and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Short overnight only this time on the way to Seattle.

Sunny afternoon today – staying at a hotel overlooking San Francisco Bay. Nice view to the airport over the pretty little Anza lagoon and able to watch lots of planes coming in to land and queuing to leave. Enjoyed a stroll along the foreshore this afternoon in a very brisk wind. The notorious fog rolled in and out for most of the afternoon over the city way!

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We are heading off at the end of June to tick off another “must do on the bucket list” with a little extra along the way.

We are spending a few days in Seattle and Vancouver before joining a cruise along the Alaskan Inside Passage and then up to Seward and Kenai Fjords  (South Central Alaska), then to Anchorage and on into Denali National Park (Alaskan Interior).

A shortish trip and hopefully not too cold up amongst the glaciers!

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