Tag: sightseeing

KimTrippin: Pacific NorthWest — Day 13 (Grouse Mountain, Vancouver)


Today we escaped from city life and went to check out Grouse Mountain, just outside Vancouver. We were initially drawn in by the aerial tram rides, but once we got there, we found there was so much more to do.

The ride up on the tram was stunning. You could see all of Vancouver and beyond. We don’t know our geography that well up here, but we were told the snow capped mountain visible was Mt. Rainier, way out in Washington.

We found out the Cheung family was planning on visiting Grouse Mountain, too – so we got to meet up with them today. Ruby was thrilled to see their girls again. We saw a Lumberjack competition and a Bird Show!

For a few bucks more, we paid to ride the chair lift and go up even higher. It was definitely a memorable experience.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Canada, and then we’re headed back down south!

KimTrippin: Pacific NorthWest — Day 11 (San Juan Island)

Today was a beautiful day spent on San Juan Island. We got to take our car over with us on the ferry and it was the most amazing ferry ever! It was huge and you could barely tell you were moving — unless you went outside and felt the wind! Here are a few shots of the ride over from Anacortes:

Driving on to the ferry

Waiting patiently to embark

Enjoying the view

The main part of town on San Juan Island is Friday Harbor. It’s very quaint and has an old-time feel to it. We also explored Roche Harbor which was very picturesque.

But the main attraction on San Juan Island is the whale watching. So many orcas pass by – very close to shore even – that it’s common to spot them on most days. We were hoping to catch them, so in the later afternoon, we headed toward the Lime Kiln Lighthouse where they’re known to pass by most often. It was beautiful there.

After about an hour of patiently patrolling the water, we were lucky and caught sight of a pod of Orcas as they passed by the lighthouse afterall! We decided to just enjoy the moment and not stress over photos that couldn’t come close to capturing the magic of these whales in front of us, so there will be no documentation here. One thing for certain, after the orca sighting, someone is in love … :)

Our ferry back to Anacortes was scheduled to depart at 6:30pm, so it was a full day on the island.

We got our car back on board …

And this girl helped us get back! :)

Tomorrow we leave Anacortes. Next stop: Canada!

KimTrippin: Pacific NorthWest — Day 9 (Seattle)

We had a big day in Seattle today – so much ground was covered! We needed our coffee fix to kick off the action, so we went to Capitol Hill to check out Victrola Coffee Roasters — the same shop we fell in love with on our last visit 10 years ago. The shop – and most importantly, the coffee – was still great!

We couldn’t wait to get to the EMP Museum. Not only is it the coolest music museum ever, it has a Sci-Fi branch attached to it that had a Star Wars Costumes exhibit currently on display. Needless to say, Daddy + Daughter had an all out geek-fest checking things out.

Equally as geeky for me, Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses was on display. So many pieces of iconic memorabilia were there, including Kurt Cobain’s guitar from the Smells Like Teen Spirit video, the cardigan he wore at the MTV Unplugged show, early demo tapes and so much more.

Finally, even more fun was the What’s Up, Doc? The Animation of Chuck Jones exhibition. Ruby got a kick out of the old cartoons, especially the classic What’s Opera, Doc? with Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny. I was excited to see this original sketch from what I remembered of the cartoon as a kid:

Since the EMP is right next door to the Space Needle, we took some time to take the obligatory shot.

We knew we couldn’t blow off Pike Place Market, and decided it was today or never. We didn’t make it in time for Ruby to see the fish throwing and what-not, but we caught the vibe and went to Steelhead Diner for dinner.

There were shrimp & crab tater tots on the menu and Cioppino that was like Seattle in a bowl. It was a solid 100 Things to do in Seattle… recommendation.

Last stop — Kerry Park. We had the selfie stick in hand and we were determined to get the family shot with the Seattle skyline and Mt. Rainier in back. It didn’t work out as well as we wanted, but we still got some cool shots.


This time tomorrow night, we will be in Anacortes, WA. After spending the night there, we’ll be getting up early to take the car ferry to San Juan Island. We might see some Orcas …

KimTrippin: Pacific NorthWest — Day 6 (outside Portland)

Today we ventured outside of Portland to see some of the natural beauty that’s less than one hour away. We knew we wanted to start at Multanomah Falls and do a little hiking, but the 100 degree temps completely thwarted our plans! The heat and uphill stride were a little much for Ruby, so we cut things short. We still were able to get some sights in and enjoy the Falls for a bit though!

Too hot! That’s a wrap :(

We decided to hop in the (air-conditioned) car and continue driving north towards Hood River to take a little break. We decided to stop at the Bonneville Dam to see what that was all about. It actually ended up being quite interesting — the dam is massive and we also got to see the fish ladder that was constructed to help the salmon and sturgeon swim upstream without being harmed. There were also fish hatcheries and a big old Sturgeon named Herman! (Bonus points for the air-conditioned Visitor Center.)

Bonneville Dam:

Looking at the fish swimming upstream from underwater:

Weird looking Lamprey with their “teeth” on display!

Huge sturgeon putting on a show

After we left Bonneville, we drove to the adorable town of Hood River. The town is very quaint and the view of the Columbia River was absolutely stunning. Carrie’s 1st college roommate lives there and wanted to meet up, so we met for chips and salsa and caught up after 20 years!

Just for kicks, we crossed the bridge on the way home and drove home on the Washington side of the river. It was a gorgeous view as we paralleled the Oregon side.

We’ll be heading off for Washington in the morning for real this time — 4 days, starting tomorrow!

KimTrippin: PacificNorthWest — Day 4 (Salem, OR)

Leaving Bend for Salem was another 130+ miles, and it was definitely time to hook Ruby up with some quality “kid time.” The plan was to go to Enchanted Forest, a whimsical little amusement park with a Fairy Tale theme. The road to Salem was very pretty … we saw the scenery we were expecting to see driving through Oregon: Tall green trees and streams and lakes. We passed through the cute town of Sisters (which we know we’ll have to stop in next time) and we drove by Klamath Lake.

Enchanted Forest ended up being a real find. It’s very quaint and almost feels like you’ve gone back in time! The path you take leading into the park is storybook themed and you see everyone from Little Red Riding Hood to Hansel & Gretel to The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. Ruby was very tentative at first, but by the time she got to the shoe with the slide, she was into it!

They also had a bunch of kiddie rides that Ruby got to go on by herself. She rode the train, the kiddie ferris wheel, the bumper boats and even “The Frog Hopper.”

After the kiddie rides, she got really brave and decided she wanted to go on her first roller coaster! She and Daddy rode in the very back car …

Being used to Disneyland, we found Enchanted Forest to be incredibly low key! The park is literally cloaked in trees and the forest shade keeps you so nice and cool (it was in the high 80s today). We also couldn’t believe how cheap everything was – we actually bought her a souvenir that only cost $1.95! Short lines were nice too. It was cute, kitschy and even a little bit weird. But it was exactly what we needed after a few long days in the car.

We got through everything in a little under three hours and went to grab some dinner. Then, we met up with friends in Oregon for dessert at the Willamette Valley Pie Co.. It was such a cool place – more pies than you could imagine and even a playground out front as well! Our friends’ daughter Annie was born just three days after Ruby. They were instant buddies. :)

We said our goodbyes and then it was a about a 50-mile jaunt to Portland. We’ll be in Portland for the next three days and are looking forward to exploring this awesome city!