Chris & John's Travel Log: WASHINGTON STATE, USA

Well here we are in the States again. Flew via LA which is very dry at the moment. Amazing how such a huge city can be built in the desert. Lucky they have Hoover Dam for water. Seems a bit of a sore point in some circles in California that so much of the water from the Hoover is gobbled up by LA. Anyway it's a little different in Washington state although the eastern parts have been very dry as well. Arrived in Seattle around 4 pm and after picking up the car headed south on the I 5 toward Centralia. Was drizzling rain and of course we would have to set out at peak hour so was very heavy traffic. Got dark around 6 so we only went as far a DuPont and pulled into a hotel. Certainly escaped the heat of Bowen as it was 11 degrees when we arrived. Cool but not too bad really. Dinner was a brief walk up the road - pizza + a nice local beer for John and the cider I had was lovely as well.

John's beer of the day. Nice.

Also couldn't resist this drop which I'm told was also very nice.

One of the things we love about over here is the easy availability of cheap meals in nice places as well as getting to try all the new beers and ciders etc. Contrary to popular belief the yanks do know how to make nice beers. The wait staff are always really pleasant as they need their tips to earn a reasonable income and they are usually very interested to have a chat when they hear you're from Australia.

The contrast in countryside is immediately evident. Flying out of LA we could see just how dry it was and there aren't any trees much around there. Then into Seattle and there are trees everywhere even if they don't have any leaves at this time of the year.

Our first night away and cyclone Dylan forms off the Queensland coast and heads straight for Bowen. Spent quite some time on the net next morning trying to find out how things were going. Managed to speak to a friend on Facebook around 1 am Qld time but she was in Mackay. Also seeing photos and trying to predict where it was going and whether there would be a storm surge gave us plenty to think about as our lovely dog Leo was still at home in the care of a neighbour.

Once we found out that everything was fine back in Aus, we headed south from Du Pont to Centralia where there is quite a large precinct of Direct Factory Outlets. We both grabbed some cheap shoes and of course some clothes for our granddaughter Hope then it was just down the road to Chehalis to get a phone to use over here as mine was locked. Wasn’t too bad as a Samsung phone almost exactly the same as mine cost $15 (yes that’s right – mine was $80 in Aus) and a 5oo minute, unlimited text monthly plan was only $35 so we were happy with that. We went AT&T but Verizon also has very good coverage here on the west coast.

We were a bit taken aback by the sight of beggars sitting on almost every intersection as we came off the I5. They all have signs asking for a handout. Things still aren't that great over here.

Next stop was our hotel for two days at Packwood. On the way we stopped off to take a look at a lovely house we had seen in 2008 in the little town of Randel. I looks a bit different from it's summer photo when it was surrounded by beautiful flower beds, but is still lovely.

Summer

Winter

John found the Hotel Packwood on Tripadvisor and it is a lovely, quaint little place. It has lots of history and according to Nigel, our Kiwi friend who lives here, it was originally the local brother. There was no snow there when we stayed but they do get snow that far down as the picture below shows.

Anyway we loved our stay in Packwood. First thing we saw as we drove up were several elk just grazing in the yard. Apparently there is a herd which lives around the town in the winter obviously because there is still some grass around the place.

Marilyn, the owner of the hotel is a lovely lady. The rooms are a little small but they are clean and cosy and at $45-$55 a night they are great value. I think for skiers it would be a better price than you would pay at most of the other establishments.

Our room at the Packwood.

The cosy parlour.

I christened this guy Fred. He is carved from Western Red Cedar
and in fact most of the hotel is made from this beautiful timber.

This old building at the back of the hotel is abandoned but still full of character.

Our first night in Packwood was spent down at the Blue Birch Saloon where we were lucky enough to witness the weekly Thursday night poker tournament. The locals were really friendly and we had a lovely night with both locals and a group of skiers who were up from Seattle.

Sean, second left works the chairlift at White Pass. Say hi to him when you visit.

After breakfast at Cruisers across the road we headed up to White Pass to check out the ski fields. As we approached the snow-line we were immediately taken by the beauty of the snow on the trees and up on the mountainsides. Our trip up was slow as it was punctuated by several photo stops. The locals at the ski field advised us to try the snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing so we decided to return next morning for the 10 am lessons.

It was an early night after an enormous pizza at Cruisers, as we had had too much fun (and wine) the night before.

We were up bright and early next morning, more than a little excited about trying our hand at skiing etc. The weather again was perfect – no wind or rain and the sun peeking out from time to time. Apparently, the snow has taken a long time to arrive this year, but has been coming down steadily for the past few weeks. Talking to a regular visitor who comes to ski, we found out that the snow at White Pass is as good as the best powder fields in Utah, which apparently are most popular. We had noticed that the snow was really soft the day before. Anyway we were lucky enough to get an ex national cross country skiing coach called Dick as our teacher. He actually designed the cross country circuit here years ago. I reckon he would have been in his eighties but he certainly didn’t show it on the snow. Our efforts weren’t too bad. We both managed to be able to get ourselves around ok but unfortunately John got too adventurous too soon and ended up coming a cropper on a steeper slope. Hurt something and was in a lot of pain so we called it a day a bit early.

John in the carpark with White Pass ski fields in the background.

The start of the cross-country circuits.

Before the fall!!!!!

Behind me is the frozen lake around which the cross-country circuit runs.

Beautiful Rimrock Lake on the way down to Yakima.

Part of the lake had started to freeze over.

From White Pass we headed down the mountains to the east through Naches, a big fruit growing area, to Yakima, where our friends Donna Sue and Jack live. Donna Sue had rung around for us and recommended the Comfort Suites where we got a nice little discount by saying we had AARP membership (American Association of Retirees and Pensioners). Apparently it is OK to do so if you are a foreign retiree they are happy to give you the same discounts as the locals – obviously they knew we weren’t American and they didn’t mind. We had stayed in Comfort Suites several times on our previous trip and they are definitely “comfortable”. Prices seem to vary but are usually between $90 - $120 before any discounts.

We decided to take a drive around Yakima and take in the sights but it didn't take long for us to realise that there is not a lot to see or do in Yakima in the winter. The surrounding area is obviously a huge fruit growing area and of course all the action there would be in summer. Anyway with directions from our mate Jack, we managed to find the old opera house - a beautiful old building that is now used as a theatre.

Across the road was an impressive historical display in the square although it was somewhat spoilt by the presence of a guy in a wheelchair/sleeping bag. We thought that he had slept there all night but later discovered that he would have spent the night in a nearby shelter but they have to leave in the morning. It was still upsetting to think that someone in a wheelchair had nowhere else to go. It was VERY cold. This older part of town is certainly pretty dismal and apparently inhabited by several gangs.

Anyway the local museum was closed as it was Sunday so we headed out to Donna Sue and Jack's place and had a lovely night watching the Super Bowl (which was a huge hit of course because the Seattle Seahawks had a convincing win over the Denver Broncos). We met some lovely people and Annie (Donna and Jack's beautiful little Chow puppy) and had a fantastic night. It was topped off when it started snowing.

Real snowflakes - our first fall of snow.

The snow kept coming on and off all night and the next day, so we experienced what it was like to be in a real snowfall. We headed south-east after a lovely lunch with the gang, crossing the mighty Columbia River at Biggs Junction into Oregon.