Homeward Bound
Well after 11.8 Months or 325 days we find ourselves booking flights for home. Feeling the need to see our children and our extended family we decided it was time to head back and bring our continuous journey to an end.
Our last flight from to Seattle to Reykjavik was booked. Having travelled 95,149 miles over 26 Countries with our rather large green backpacks, home comforts were calling. We decided not to tell anyone and on landing we grabbed our last train to West Worthing and walked to our then flat. Fortunately we managed to get my son from Oxford there, thanks to his car needing a service.
Lucy opened the door and was very surprised if not shocked to see us standing there, Vince with his long hair and both of us having gone down a few dress sizes (trousers for Vince), it was wonderful and we couldn’t get the bags off quick enough to hug.
Stuart had popped out with his girlfriend Faye, when they returned we stood back a little in my bedroom doorway, where he did a double take as he wasn’t expecting us to be there, it was fab to see them all again and we began to tell our tales, while unpacking our bags.
Having travelled on 31 Flights, 120 Buses, 79 Taxis, 53 Boats, 38 Trains, 18 Tuk-tuk’s, 15 Bikes, 11 Cars and 5 Animals it was nice to be finally home. Sleeping in 119 forms of accommodation including Hotels but mainly Hostels, 37 Tents mainly in Africa to getting into our own bed that night was just the best, you just can’t beat your own bed.
The transition back to a ‘normal existence’ like waking up in your own bed each day, doing the housework or shopping to the rather dreary task of finding a job, was difficult, when we had been living from day to day, planning our every move, our next location to almost nothing, was strange and took some adjustment.
It’s not the end, we plan to continue again in the future maybe in a camper van travelling Europe.
Watch This Space.
USA – Washington State, Our Overview
Our Journey ends with a brief encounter of the USA. Time and money shorten our stay in this diverse but interesting country. Two weeks in and around Seattle enables us to see animals only previously seen in Zoo’s, we see the wonders of Yellowstone, discover mountain’s, museums and some incredible Glass Blowing.
Seattle a vibrant city, originally built below the city you see today. You can visit the old underground parts’ where you get a real feel of its roots. Parks with unusual Art sit on the edge of the shoreline. Museums, shops and the Pike Place Market just a small part of this huge city.
Just off the market this alleyway covered in chewing gum, a masterpiece of its own.
I thought these little police cars where only found in Lego, strange to see them in such a ‘large’ city.
One of the main reason for the Visit to Seattle was to meet up with Vince’s Cousins not seen for many, many years. We were really excited to see them and had some great meals and chats.
http://www.seattle.gov/visiting-seattle/history-and-culture-of-seattle
Seattle from Above
520 feet high with 360 degree views of the ‘Emerald City’, the Space Needle is a Seattle landmark. This space age image was the futuristic focus of the 1962 World Fair. The tower can withstand winds of 200mph and has withstood several tremors.
Views of the skyline and below a plane landing on the lake below.
Gigantic Arachnids overtaking the armoury building, no not really paintings of 2 daddy long legs spiders done in the trompe l’oeil (deceive the eye) style giving the spiders the illusion of reality. Painted by Marlin Peterson.
After a wonderful day its back on the ferry to our hotel for the night. The Seattle skyline as night draws in with the flag flying. Great end to the day.
http://www.spaceneedle.com/home/
http://marlinpeterson.com/tag/spiders/
Mt Rainier
Our last chance to fit in a visit to Mt Rainier, although the weather wasn’t looking good we head off to see if we can catch a glimpse of this Washington Icon standing 14,410 feet above sea level. We travelled along tree lined roads and stopped off at some lakes along the way.
We caught these fisherman on one of the lakes, where the early morning mist creates an atmospheric scene of calm and serenity.
Further on the reflections in this lake are wonderful with the tree stumps making it an unusual photos, one we love.
Christine Falls, named after my sister. No not really, named after Christine Louise Van Trump one of the first two people to ascend Mt Rainier in 1889.
Box Canyon carved by the Cowlitz River. Only a few feet wide, but 115 feet deep.
The scenery was fantastic especially when we got a short glimpse of the snow capped Mt Rainier, a dormant volcano considered to be the most dangerous volcano in the world.
Museum Madness
EMP is a leading edge, non profit museum with its roots in Rock ‘n’ Roll. The design unusual with the Monorail that links downtown Seattle to the center.
Multigenerational audiences explore the galleries learning of rock icons, such as Kurt Cobain from the band Nirvana who formed in 1987. Cobain died in 1994 from a self inflicted shotgun wound during a resurface of his heroine addiction. The band sold 25 million records in the USA alone with a further 75 million worldwide making them one of the best selling bands of all time.
Jimi Hendrix an American musician, singer, songwriter said to be one of the most influential electric guitar players in the history of popular music.
Sky Church a state of the art concert venue with the largest indoor LED screen in the world.
Star Trek meets Dr Who in the sci-fi icons section. Lieutenant Commander Nyota Uhuras red dress next to a dalek, just two icons amongst a whole galley full of them.
Frodo thru the eyes of this electronic spider.
Vince thinks he’s Neil Peart as he bangs away at the drums in the interactive section of the museum. He did much better than me, but I would still love a set of drums.
Scary, oh yes Vince in the scream booth.
We had a lovely few hours in the museum, learning, playing and seeing all the exhibits. A really interesting place for all ages. We would go back.
http://www.empmuseum.org
http://www.nirvana.com
http://www.jimihendrix.com/us/home
Shaun’s Encounter in The Glass Garden
Shaun the Sheep’s adventures continue in Seattle.
Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibition in the Seattle Centre alongside the Space Needle. Shaun couldn’t resist a pic amongst the triffid like glass flowers out in the garden, like being back in the field.
Snake like glass structures spring out from the ground, shaun sits atop a one of the giant glass globe.
Shaun had a ball in the garden, good to see him back in the wild out doors.
Chihuly, Glass Wonderland
Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941. Dale trained as an Interior Designer before discovering glass in the 1960’s. His collections are shown in over 200 museums worldwide and we got to see his ‘Garden and Glass’ exhibition held at the Seattle Center, next to the Space Needle’ in Seattle. Eight galleries, a centrepiece glasshouse and lush garden showing the amazing art of glass blowing.
Mille Fiori Italian for a ‘Thousand Flowers’ was inspired by his mothers garden.
This is my favourite. I love reflections and the colours within the glass balls are wonderful.
From inside to out, glass sculptures adorn walls, ceilings and flower beds. Balls of glass set around the garden cleverly reflect the Space Needle. A great place to visit.
A park, fairground, arts and entertainment centre providing year round entertainment. A Monorail, the Space Needle, an International Fountain surrounded by shops and restaurants all in one place, The Seattle Center built in 1962 for the Worlds Fair. A great place to send a couple of days.
A Grave Day, Going Underground.
As a Hendrix fan, well Vince is, we couldn’t help but take a slight diversion to Renton on our way to Seattle to see Jimi Hendrick’s memorial. Hendrix, a musician, singer, songwriter had a short career but widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarist’s. His memorial is visited by hundreds of fans every year, who go there to pay homage to this rock legend.
Not to far away lies the grave of Bruce Lee and his son, Brandon. Not quite the Jimi Hendriix show piece, just a simple headstone. Martial Artist turned actor. A short but influential 33 years, before his tragic death. Even less for his son also an actor/martial artist who died at 28 an accident with a revolver during a film shoot.
On the brighter side we got to see Seattle from below the city. From a restored 1890’s Saloon in Pioneer Square, our tour begins. The great fire in 1889 saw Pioneer Square burn to the ground, The city was previously built on soggy mudflats. When the city was rebuilt it was agreed that stone or brick would be used and retaining walls eight feet high where put up. First floor building’s became basements as the city was rebuilt. With the gold rush in the 1890’s Pioneer Square became popular but not necessary with desirable people. Today we get to see a glimpse of this time. Bare brick wall’s with archways, old timber, the odd chair or bath lays scattered around.
From underground a brief glimpse of city life thru the vault light also known as the sidewalk lights set into the pavements. Originally used from the 1840 as deck lights on ships, to allow light below deck. They look quite pretty from above ground.
Outside in the alley way, this building just reminded me of the movies and all those scenes when you see actors escaping down the fire escape. Just like in West Side Story.
http://www.jimihendrix.com/us/home
http://www.jimihendrixmemorial.com/index.html
http://www.brucelee.com
https://www.undergroundtour.com
Mt St Helens
While in Washington State we took a day to go and visit Mt St Helens an active stratovolcano that erupted in May 1980 destroying 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways and 185 miles of highway. The plume of volcanic ash reached 80,000 feet into the air and ash was deposited in 11 US States and 5 Canadian provinces. Snow, Ice and several entire Glaciers melted. The volcano now has a large crater in its north side, not that we got to see it as anything was covered in a thick and visibility fog.
We did get to see the damage caused to the land during the 1980 eruption. Nature is still reclaiming the land.
Over the years there have been reports of an Ape like creature spotted around Mt St Helens, Bigfoot a bit like the Loch Ness Monster. Lots of could be sightings, but nothing definite. Couldn’t resist a photo with the giant himself only this one don’t move.
Now you can’t go to America and not have a Denny’s. Cooked breakfast and pancakes which I thought would be small, well they were a little bigger than expected and you shouldn’t waste food, so I did my best and thoroughly enjoyed. Yay for maple and pancakes.
Yellowstone National Park 2
Breakfast done we head back to Yellowstone via the North Entrance. Mammoth is Yellowstone’s Head Quarters and has some amazing geothermal Hot Spring Terraces, where boiling hot water cascades over like a waterfall and collects in smaller pools. A mountain of Calcium Carbonate stretches out against a backdrop of mountains, just a few dead trees stand upon its surface. Quite strange.
Bison of Yelowstone are considered special having roamed the land since prehistoric times. Males can weigh up to 2,000 pounds (900kg) and run 35mph. Wolves, Mountain Lions and Grizzly Bears are their main predators and can kill an adult. I think I prefer them in the distance, don’t seem quite so big as when they are beside your car and give you a look to say ‘back away’. I was scared taking pics as he seemed to get really close, but what a magnificent beast. Not one we would want to argue with.
We made our way to Hayden Valley where we came across this Coyote ambling along the open vista. Coyotes weigh around 30-40lbs and their colouring ranges from Grey to Tan with some red tinges. They live for around 6 yrs and can hunt either alone or in packs. Would have been great to come across a pack but seeing one was cool.
We headed onto Old Faithful via Lake Village that sits on the shoreline of the largest lake in Yellowstone. The lake is 7,732ft above sea level covering 136 square miles. A lovely pic by Vincent where lake meets sky.
We joined the throes of tourists waiting for ‘Old Faithful’ to blow. She erupts every 75 minutes and spits boiling hot water high into the air for about 3 minutes. We felt this whole area was very commercialised when there are far more interesting and less touristy areas around the park.
‘Great Fountain Geyser’ on ‘Firehole Lake Drive’ we came across this on our way out of the park and was a great find, great reflections.
We had a great two days exploring as much of the park as we could in the time we had. An extraordinary place that we have to go back to and do at a slower pace.
ageholdsnobounds 