Day 5 - Seattle in a Day

Now that our treks to the various National Parks were over, we were spending the day in Seattle. Slept in a bit longer, had breakfast at the hotel and headed off to find some good shopping! We had checked out the web for some of the best area shopping centers. We were only a couple miles from the Alderwood Mall so we started there. It was an "ok" mall. Nothing great. Sears, Penney's, Nordstroms as the anchor stores. Seemed as though the stores were more of a "B" grade though. Selection was smaller. We looked around a bit there and then headed to Bellevue Square. Now THAT is a mall! Nordstrom's, Penney's also but much larger selection. Bought some shoes for an upcoming wedding and ended up at Ruth's Chris for lunch. I had never been to a Ruth's Chris that was open for lunch. Smaller menu but same excellent food. Hit the Godiva store for dessert! Loved this mall!

After lunch we headed into Downtown Seattle to go to Pike's Place Market. What an interesting place. Lots of vendors selling lots of different things. Kind of like a flea market on steroids! It is a working Farmer's market and there is lots and lots of fresh produce to be had. Vendors are handing out samples of their produce and the colors and aromas are amazing. Speaking of aroma's they also have the most beautiful fresh flower arrangements I have ever seen and at a very reasonable price. Bouquets started at $5.00 for a smaller bouquet and went up to $15.00 for a very large bouquet. Absoultuetly gorgeous flowers! Then of course there is the main event...the fresh fish vendors. You have to stop and see the show when someone buys a salmon, the place goes crazy. The workers yell and sing and throw the fish around! Very difficult to get a good picture of it because it happens so fast but really fun to watch!

From Pike's Place Market, we drove past the baseball and football stadiums. The retractable dome roof was open on Safeco Field, the home of the Mariners. That was interesting just to see how it worked. Slides off and slides back on. By the time we returned to the downtown area in the evening the roof was back in place! From this area we drove down to our hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites by SEA-TAC airport. Got checked in there and dropped off our stuff. Let me just say that this hotel was a slight disappointment after the previous night at the Embassy Suites. The room was small and then internet had some major glitches. Oh well...not everything can be a presidential suite!

We had booked a reservation at the Space Needle for dinner at 7:00 PM. Since we weren't sure how long it would take to get back into town with traffic, we left early and arrived about an hour before our reservation. We took time to walk around outside and get some pictures. Then we headed in to check in for our reservation. Turned out they had an opening and were able to take us early. The nice thing about doing dinner at the Space Needle is that your ticket to the observation deck is included. There is a minimum of $35.00/guest at the restaurant. This isn't hard to do since all the entrees are over $35.00. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with the food quality. Reviews were good but I was skeptical since ths is a touristy thing to do. The food was excellent. I had the Seattle Clam and Corn chowder to start and the King Salmon for my main course. Rod had a salad and Beef Shortribs for his dinner. Both were very good. Dessert was fun! The space needle is known for its specialty dessert called the Lunar Orbiter. It is an ice cream sundae that is served in a bowl of dry ice which is steaming all over when it is delivered to your table. Not only is it fun, it's good too! The restaurant rotates during dinner and you get a great view of the city at night. We made two revolutions during our dinner. After dinner we climbed the few steps up to the observation deck and took a look around. You can walk 360 degrees and see the city from all angles. Very pretty at night! Checked out the gift shop on the bottom floor on our way out and took some night pictures of the entire Space Needle. It was a great night. I'm not sure it's something you would do over and over but it's something that everyone visiting Seattle should do at least once!

Headed back to the hotel for the evening and packed up for my return trip home. Rod still has a couple days of work to finish but my time is up unfortunately. I'm already looking forward to seeing the other things in the area that we didn't get to this time on our next trip this way!

Day 4 - Journey to the "American Alps"

Day 4 brought us to the event that I was most anticipating....a trip to North Cascades National Park. The North Cascades are billed as the "American Alps" and since I've always wanted to see the real Alps, I figured this was going to be the next best thing! By now we had learned our lesson and didn't get up quite as early but were still out of the hotel by 6:30 AM. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to the entrance of the park. We had stayed in the south part of Seattle by the Airport so it was a little longer than it would have been if we had stayed further north. Since we had booked hotels ahead of time and were coming from Mount Rainier the day before we weren't sure how far North we would be able to get...in hindsight, probably would have booked something a little further North to cut down on the drive the next day.

To get to the park, we started out on Interstate 5 North and went east on Route 20 which is also known as the North Cascades Highway. Route 20 takes you directly into the park and out the other side. It is a paved two lane road which is closed to the east of the park from Mid-November through April due to heavy snows. It also doesn't have much on it so be sure to gas up before you head down the road too far. You know how I said in previous posts that something strange always happens to us...well the gas station was the weird thing this time. We got off of I-5 at Route 20 and stopped at a gas station and you couldn't get gas there. The pumps were all shut down because of a power outage in the area. We had to turn around and take I-5 south to a different exit in order to get gas. Turns out there was another town on the way that had a gas station, but you hate to take a chance!

As you enter the park, the first stop is the Visitor's Center. We stopped there and picked up a map of the park and talked to the Ranger there who gave us some helpful hints on where to stop and what to see along the way. She also pointed us out the back of the Visitor's Center to get a panoramic view of the North Cascade Mountains. Very short, handicap accessible walk and well worth it for the view. It was absolutely stunning and the best thing....no fog or cloud cover! We asked if they get as much cloud cover as Mount Rainier and St. Helen's and she said it's about the same just happened to be a clear day. We stopped at Gorge Creek Falls first. Very high falls, right next to the road...not real clearly marked. We stopped at the pull out and took another trail to a small waterfall thinking that was Gorge Creek Falls but we kept hearing another falls. We couldn't locate it and then as we were leaving the area and crossing the bridge over the gorge we saw the real Gorge Creek Falls and had to walk back and see it. If you are looking for the real falls it's the one that you can stand on the bridge and look at! The smaller one is worth walking a little bit for but not nearly as impressive as the one by the bridge!

Our second stop was at Diablo Lake. Now this is a stunner! If you are like me and like your mountains big and snow covered and sitting by a lake that reflects them then this is the spot for you! There are beautiful mountains all around the lake it was like you couldn't even begin to take it all in at once.

From Diablo Lake we continued on past Ross Lake (not as great of views here) and through the east end of the park to Washington Pass Overlook. Again, awesome views of the mountains. Short pathway to the overlook area and well worth it. They list it as handicap accessible but other than the first part, I wouldn't call it that. To complete the entire walk you have to climb up steps and rocks and down the other side. There is quite a bit of incline in places. I'm not thinking that it would be somewhere you could push a wheelchair! Just a side note there...it seemed a bit odd to me that they considered this accessible!

Once we hit Washington Pass, we turned around and went back through the park to exit. The drive through the park takes about an hour or so each way. The views from West to East are much more stunning than East to West but there some spots that are pretty good when you approach from the East. Make sure that you stop at the Visitor's Center on your way out of the park to use the restrooms because there is nothing on the drive back to I-5 for quite awhile. Also, make sure that if you are going into the park during lunch time that you pack something with you. There is no food or drinks to be had anywhere! We had a partial back of Ranch Dorito Chips, even less of a bag of pretzels, a 4 pack of Milano cookies that were free from the hotel the previous night and two half bottles of water. Probably should have planned a little better because it was a good 4-5 hours of driving to and from and through the park and back before we found a Burger King and had the best tasting Whopper I have ever eaten (actually I think anything would have tasted good at that point!) The trip to and from the park is pretty ho-hum...except for a few glimpses of the peaks of the Cascades there is really nothing much to see. However, the park itself is well worth the trip and it definitely delivers when it comes to beauty!

We made it back to our Hotel in Lynnwood, WA that night just a bit North East of Seattle. Stayed at an Embassy Suites. Now here is why I tell you that staying at the same hotel groups and gathering points is so important. Again, since my husband travels a lot for business, he has a lot of overnight stays. He has chosen to go with the Hilton HHonors program and tries to stay with Hilton as much as possible. You can choose any rewards program with any hotel chain but just try to book with them as much as possible to rack up your points and get more travel perks with them. Because of all the stays that Rod (my husband) has, he is a Diamond Member of the HHonors program. That's the highest you can get and with that comes free upgrades if the hotel has them and they are available. Doesn't happen all the time but when it does...boy is it a perk! This time when we checked in we were told that we had been given a free upgrade to the Presidential Suite! It was a great perk, especially after a long drive! It had a living room with a huge LCD TV, dining room, wet bar, half bath, large bedroom with king sized bed and a full back with jacuzzi tub and double shower! Now that is an upgrade!

We checked in and dropped off our luggage and headed back out to a casino and outlet that we had seen on our trip in. The casino, Tulalip Resort, was billed as the best in town. We didn't stay there long. Games weren't all that new and slots were very tight. If that's the best in town, then the rest are really bad! My motto is "I don't plan on winning but I at least would like to have fun while I'm losing." I can't say anything we played here was fun. Got out of there in less than an hour and decided against the outlets. It had some decent stores but seemed to be missing some of the "Outlet Standards". Had dinner at the Olive Garden nearby and decided to call it a night and head back and actually enjoy the roominess and amenities of our Presidential Suite!

Next stop: Shopping and Sightseeing in Seattle and Dinner at the Space Needle.

Day 3 - Into the Pacific Ring of Fire

Day 3 of our trip, we had planned to get up early and go to Mount Rainier National Park and then head to our hotel for the evening. Well on the trip down to Portland from Seattle, we saw several exits for the Mount St. Helen's National Monument. Neither of us had any idea that Mount St. Helen's was nearby so we decided to do some research on the proximity to Mount Rainier National Park and if it was feasible to do both in one day. Turns out that there is very limited information on the web for either location and even less on how to get from one to the other and which route was the best to take. Suffice it to say that it took a lot of time to dig up a little information which left us with a sketchy plan at best. So we just decided to get up even earlier than we had planned and give it a go. We had all day and no where that we had to be at any particular time.

We were up by 4:45 AM and out the door of the hotel by 6:30 AM. We gassed up the vehicle and headed to Mount St. Helen's National Monument first. Ok...here again, you would have thought we would have learned our lesson about the weather in this area. We looked at the weather the night before and everything looked clear. If you are going to be in this area....do NOT believe the weather forecast. No matter what it looks like you are going to encounter the fog/cloud problem! We decided on the upper route to Mount St. Helen's. This route would take us past three visitor's centers and end at the Johnson Observatory which is the closest spot to the actual mountain and had films and information on the eruption. Sounded good to us...so off we went. We got to the first Visitor's Center and the road was gated and the center was closed. Now all the information that we were able to locate on the web indicated that it was a must to stop at all the visitor's centers, however they neglected to tell you that none of them open till 10:00 AM!! We arrived at the first one at approximately 8:00 AM....not even close! We decided to keep going toward the mountain...the further we got, the thicker the cloud cover got. At some points on the road it was hard to even see a few feet in front of our vehicle...let alone see a mountain off in the distance. We continued on thinking that the fog would lift. It did in spots but never cleared. We stopped at the various turnouts and were able to see some of the damage done by the lava flow and the areas preserved for the regrowth of trees. We drove all the way to the Johnson Observatory and it was about 9:00 AM at this point. Still an hour before any of the Visitor's Centers opened. We walked up to the end of the walkway and were standing right in front of Mount St. Helen's and I swear you could not see the mountain. The thing is huge....totally obscured by the fog! We were able to see the volcanic ash and the crevices where the lava flowed down the side of the mountain but were not able to see the huge crater on the top of the mountain! We waited a few minutes but decided that if we were going to have a chance to make it Mount Rainier National Park, we had to get moving.

There is only one road into Mount St. Helen's and it doesn't connect to Mount Rainier National Park so we had to drive back out the way we came in...about an hour's drive or so just to get back to the highway to head north to the exit for Mount Rainier. By the time we hit the end of the road, the first Visitor's Center had opened. We went inside but there was a charge to get in to see anything and at that point we had already been to the mountain so we decided to pass and keep going. At this point, all the way back down the road, the fog still hadn't lifted and in fact was worse in some spots than when we first headed into the monument area.

So after being disappointed by what was visible at Mount St. Helen's we had mixed feelings about Rainier. We were hoping that since the cloud cover had burned off around 10 AM the previous day at Columbia River Gorge, that it would be a similar situation today and we would be able to have a clear view by the time we arrived at Rainier around 11:30 AM. Well... we got to the park and headed in. The Ranger at the entrance told us that there was a chance that the clouds would clear and we would actually be able to see the top of the mountain. By this time we were seeing a theme develop! Obviously this is a regular occurrence in this area and it's rare to actually be able to see the top of anything ever! Well we figured...what the heck we are here, let's give it a go.

By this time the sun had come out and it was a beautiful day for a drive. There were some wonderful waterfalls that you come to prior to the mountain itself. We stopped and took a couple short trails to see them close up. Now just a warning....the trails usually give a mileage for the trek. This we have decided is usually wrong....the trails are all downhill on a steep grade to get to the base of the waterfalls and then they are all uphill at that same steep grade on the way back to your vehicle. The sign may say 0.2 mi and you think that it's just a short little walk and the next thing you know...you are walking and walking and walking and going around switchback after switchback and you can hear the waterfall but nothing is coming into sight. Finally it appears and it's an awesome sight and you think..."Wow I'm really glad I made the trip down here." You snap lots of pictures from all kinds of angles and then you turn around and see that you are now going to have to climb back up those steep hills and wind up those switchbacks to get back to your car which is sitting in the parking lot! That being said, it was very worthwhile to go and see the waterfalls. The trips were not that horrible and the rewards were great! Each waterfall is distinctly different and amazing.

After the waterfalls we headed on up the road to the Viewpoint and Visitor's Center near the peak of Mount Rainier. Well by this time it was close to 1:00 PM and still no clearing of the cloud cover at the peak...it was totally obscured. We overheard one visitor asking a Ranger if the top would be visible at all that day. He was not optimistic but replied that if you see a little bit of blue sky moving in from the west that the top may become visible for about a minute before it would cover over again. Not terribly promising news. Well we decided that since we had made the trip there we would at least walk outside for a bit around the mountain. There was a "short" hike to another waterfall so we decided to take that and see if we got a little bit of clearing. Well just as we got to the place to turn off to go down to the base of the waterfall, sure enough we started to see some blue sky from the west and then...there it was...the top of Mount Rainier! It was just a second, just long enough to snap a couple pictures and it was gone again! We went on down to the waterfall and saw a ranger down there who told us that usually if the mountain clears it is between 4:00 and 6:00 PM. She said most people have gone by then and that's when it finally clears off if it is going to clear at all. Well by this time it was close to 2:30 PM or so. We stared back down to the parking lot and turned around for a last glimpse and then it happened again....blue sky and the top once again popped out for a few pictures! It wasn't much but we were satisfied that we at least got to see the top at all!

After the Visitor's Center we continued on the roadway a little further. Steven's Canyon Road is closed for repairs so you can only go so far and then you have to turn around. This area past the mountain peak was beautiful and well worth the time invested to see the area. As we were coming back (again there was only one road in and out of the park) the clouds cleard and we had a beautiful view of the top of Mount Rainier from the opposite side! Sometimes it just takes some patience and luck to see what you want to see! Now really satisfied we left the park. Something to keep in mind is that with the tree cover and cloudiness, it is important to get started out of the park by mid-afternoon if you want to get out while it is still light. It's important to get out while it is light because the roads are windy and narrow and hard to navigate in broad daylight let alone in the dark!

We headed back to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SEA-TAC) to spend the night. We stayed at Homewood Suites that was wonderful...no strange problems here!

So here are my recommendations for Mount St. Helen's and Mount Rainier National Park based on our observations.

1. While it is possible to do both in one day, I wouldn't recommend it. You really need to start out a bit later in the day in order to give yourself a fighting chence to see either mountain with the cloud cover. Starting later will also allow you to go to the Visitor's Centers and learn what you are viewing. it takes several hours to drive from the highway to each mountain then the drive time in between, makes for a very long day. You would be better off taking two days or chosing one if you only have one day in order to make the most of your visit.

2. Patience is a must when going to these parks. You can't rush things. It's a matter of waiting for the perfect time to actually see the mountains. Just realize that there is a chance that you won't be able to see anything.

3. Again, definitely gas up before heading to either area. There are no gas stations in either of the parks. There is also no cell phone service at least for Sprint so be sure that you are aware of that.

Next stop is North Cascades National Park.....the American Alps.

Day 2 - Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood

So after our exciting start to our vacation, it was time to actually see something on Day 2. One thing about traveling to the west coast is that it is really easy to get up early and get started with your day because the body still thinks it's on EST. So we are up at 4:45 AM and out the door of the hotel by 6:00 AM. This is usually a good thing....however, sunrise was at 7:20 AM. We figured it would take a bit longer from our hotel to get to the entrance of the Columbia River Gorge than it did. We stopped and got gas before heading into the park area. One thing about national parks or state parks or anything like that is that there are no gas stations within the park itself or if there are, the gas prices are extremely high. When we stopped for gas, we quickly learned that it was the first day of hunting season also...so the market was packed with hunters who were stocking up on supplies before heading out. Again, somethings you just can't plan on....flexibility is the key!

Finally we headed out to the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood. First stop the Columbia River Gorge. We had tried to research the best route to follow but found that information was sparse so from what we were able to gather was that even though Interstate 84 ran next to the Gorge, the only way to see the waterfalls and folliage that makes the gorge so beautiful is to get off of the interstate and take Historic Route 30 directly through the area. Well we got off the interstate at Troutdale and quickly realized that it was still dark! So we waited for a few minutes for sunrise and headed into the gorge. The second thing that we quickly realized is that the gorge is covered in fog/clouds all morning and until the sun is high and hot enough to burn off that fog it is very difficult to see anything!

After the first couple stops, we were rather disappointed because the fog was so thick and it really obscurred everything, we actually thought about just driving through quickly and heading to Mount Hood first and then doubling back to see the gorge. We kept going forward and by the time we got to the waterfall section of the drive we were pleasantly surprised that the fog had lifted enough that we had really clear views! The waterfalls in the gorge were absolutely amazing! There are 5 waterfalls within 10 miles that can either be seen from the parking areas or by walking on a short hike to see. Each one was different and well worth the time to stop and take pictures and just enjoy the beauty. Multnomah Falls is the centerpiece of the gorge and the second highest year-round waterfall in North America. The upper falls is 542 feet and the lower falls is 69 feet. It is beautiful and arguably as impressive as Yosemite falls even though it is not as high, because there is a flow all year whereas Yosemite stops for several months. We took a short hike up to the bridge which separates the upper and lower falls for a close up look at the uppper falls. The hikes to all of the falls are short but they are steep and involve some effort to get to but certainly doable and the views that you get are well worth the effort! There is a gift shop and concession stand with food and specialty coffees and fudge for purchase at Multnomah Falls so we picked up a snack and went on our way. There were two more falls just beyond Multnomah Falls and then you exit the historic route 30 area and head back onto Interstate 84. Now there are a few other things to see on the route and they can easily be accessed by exited I-84 and getting back to Route 30.

Eventually you turn off of I-84 onto Route 35/26 and continue in a loop around Mount Hood. Now by this time it was about noon and we never thought about continuing cloud cover over Mount Hood. One of the Rangers at the Columbia River Gorge had informed us that she thought the clouds might lift enough that we "might get a glimpse" of Mount Hood. Ok....never realized that this was a possibility or that this is a regular occurrence! It seems as though since we are in the Pacific Northwest and it's very wet and cloudy...the fog/cloud cover is always an issue. Well when we got to the spot that is supposed to have the best viewing area for the top of Mount Hood, Timberline Lodge, we could only see a very small portion of the mountain and certainly not the top of it. I have to admit that we were very disappointed but we snapped a picture and walked around a bit. We got back in the car and checked out the map that we were given and realized that there was another road that went around the other side of the mountain. We weren't hopeful that the cloud cover would be any better but thought that we might as well give it a try since we were there. This is a road that is paved the majority of the way, unpaved in spots and unmaintained in winter. Well luckily there was no snow and we were able to take our chances. Other than a small section where one lane of the roadway was closed due to the fact that the road had disintegrated and collapsed (there was a huge chunk missing!) we didn't have any problems navagating the roadway. About halfway around the road, the clouds lifted and there it was....the top of Mount Hood! We were able to get some awesome pictures of that side of the mountain and were happy that we decided to take the extra time to try the back road!

After our tour around the Gorge and Mount Hood, we headed back to our hotel to get ready for sweetest day dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in downtown Portland. Well when we get back to the hotel...(the same Hilton Garden Inn with the broken thermostat) we head up to our room and realize that our keys have been deactivated. Back down to the desk and a few minutes later we had reactived room keys and were back in business. Sometimes it's just the little annoyances with hotels...all in all it was not a bad place to stay and the price was reasonable but I'm not sure I would recommend it highly. We headed off to Ruth's Chris with a few minutes to spare just in case we got lost. Here's where we learned another lesson....always double check the address that the GPS chooses for you! We plugged in Ruth's Chris Restaurant and the GPS took us to a location that no longer existed. Thank goodness we had built in the extra few minutes, I was able to look up the Ruth's Chris in Portland and realized that they had moved to a new location in December of 2010 but obvioulsy the update hadn't hit the GPS!! We were only a few streets away and were able to make it there in plenty of time for our reservation but there were a few anxious moments! Dinner was very good and other than a slightly odd server, we had a great evening!

So lessons learned from today's trip:
1. Sometimes you can get up too early....check to see if there are any strange weather patterns that would affect your visit.

2. Be flexible and patient...sometimes conditions will change or you can find an alternate route and you will get to see what you wanted to see.

3. Always check your GPS to make sure that it has the right info to get you where you want to go!

Coming up.....Day 3....Mount St. Helen's National Monument and Mount Rainier National Park...

And Away We Go....

So we left for Seattle as scheduled on Friday, Oct. 15th. That is a very simple statement....in actuallity it was not so simple to make it happen! If you know me at all you know this is not abnormal. If you don't know me...well...let me just say that even the simplest things when it comes to traveling can become an adventure!

I know they always tell you to get to the airport 2 hours before your scheduled flight. My husband is a stickler for being there AT LEAAST 2 hours early. I always have a tendency to poke a little fun at him because he is so worried about getting there on time. Well...no more! We got to the Pittsburgh Airport at 6:30 AM...2 hours before our flight. As we walked up to the ticketing and bag check area, we noticed that the security line was unusually long but figured it would go down. Plus since we were flying first class, that allows us to check ourselves and our bags before the other people in line and it allows us to go through the priority security line. Well we get to the Continental desk and the regular line was backed up outside of the queue. Ok...still fine...we hop into the first class check in line. We had actually checked in for the flight online but still had to check the bags. It was also backed up but not nearly as bad as the regular line. After about 5 minutes of standing in line and not moving we started getting a little antsy. Next thing you know it one of the ticket agents jumps over the counter (literally...jumps...not making that up!) and starts going through the regular line asking if anyone is going to Chicago. The line was so backed up that the Chicago people were in jeopardy of missing their flight. She confiscated a few Chicago people and got them checked in. Still not moving in our line. People start getting a little annoyed. Counter agents get annoyed right back. Finally after about 15 minutes of waiting in line, we get to use the self check-in kiosk. Just as we start the process, one counter person announces that they can no longer take any bags because their luggage belt just went down. Ok....so now we are checked in and our bags are technically checked in (I know this because I have the little tickets that tell me that they are checked in) but we now have to drag the bags to the United Ticket counter which is across the room and give the bags to them so that they can go on the luggage belt and get to the plane! This is easier said than done because the Continental line is now wrapped around into the next airline! So we take our bags and wheel them through all the people in line and take them to the United counter. Now the United ticket lady has no idea that all the Continental passengers have been told to wheel their bags over to her counter. We were the first and she just lost it! She started saying that they couldn't take our bags there. We told her that Continental told us to bring them over because their luggage belt was down. She tells us that she thinks that their luggage belt is "about to go down too." Well that was about the last straw for my husband! He says to her, "What does that mean?" She replies again the she thinks that their luggage belt is going to go down and she can't take our bags becuase they look like they are oversized anyway. My husband says again, "I don't know what that means?" She looked at him like she had no idea what HE meant (and to be honest either did I) and said, "You are going to have to take those bags down to the other end by the wall." So at this point I had a "Melody Moment". Again, if you know me there is no other explanation needed, if you don't well then it simply means that I temporarily lost it because I was extremely annoyed. So I say, "Well at this point maybe we just walk the bags out to the plane so that they can get on the flight with us!!" So at this point the husband comes to his senses and pulls me and the bags out of the line and down to the end of the airport where there is a TSA person manning the oversized bag area. He tells us to put the bags against the wall and he would finish processing them. So off we went to the security line, finally bag free and hoping that the bags would make it onto the flight!

So now the security line is twice is long as it was when we went up to ticketing. We ask if the alternate security line is shorter and are told by the agent that usually it is but she had no clue if it was today or not. So we chose the regular secuity line and went into the first class line. Things went quicky in security. Since fly regularly we are pretty familiar with the routine and had our laptops out and shoes off well before we ever got to the machine. After having gotten through security we then had to catch the shuttle to the gates. No problem there. By this time we are about 45 minutes before we had to board. Now as I told you in my previoius post, making it to the "Club" is very important! We got to the gate side of the airport. Since my husband has membership to the Continental President's Club and they don't have one of those at Pittsburgh, they allow him into the USAirways Club since it is part of the Star Alliance. So we get into the club...no problem. Took me 10 minutes to locate the women's restroom...walked all over the darn place. Found the men's room...not an option. Kept walking...here the women's room is outside of the area before the desk where you check into the club! Finally found that and grabbed a cup of instant oatmeal and some hot water. It's soupy....I look at the instructions and it says to microwave it. I'm thinking well I don't remember seeing a microwave anywhere (and believe me I had been around the room more than once looking for the restroom!) but off I go to look for one again.....nope no microwave to be found. I give up on the oatmeal and have a mini muffin instead. With all the laps around the "Club" it's now time to board so we get to the gate and get on the plane and everything finally seems to be going ok.

Flight leaves on time. First stop is Houston. Very smooth flight, even get to rest a little bit. Land early. Then the fun begins again..... We have a tight connection to make in Houston. There's only about 25 minutes before we board the next flight for the Seattle leg. Our flight lands early so we are thinking that this is great...a few extra minutes. Well we have to wait for the gate for a few minutes because no one is there to guide us into the gate. This doesn't take too long and we move into the gate area. Well we all stand up and get ready to get off of the plane and nothing happens. The door doesn't open. We keep standing...still nothing. 5 minutes go by and the service people have come up the other side of the plane and opened that door and started putting the food on for the next flight but still no progress in letting us off the plane. Finally the captain comes on and says that they are having problems getting the jetway to work but they are sending someone to work on it! Great...time is ticking. Our next flight is actually leaving from the gate next to us...we can see the plane but we can't get off ours to get to it! So finally we look out the window and see the jetway start to move...back and forth...back and forth...still nothing. Finally someone with earmuffs comes over and moves the jetway and gets it to butt up to the plane and we are able to get off! By this point it is starting to be funny....I mean what else are you going to do but laugh! We make it to our plane and leave for Seattle on time. Flight is smooth and lands in Seattle on time. We are going to drive to Portland from Seattle (about 3 1/2 hour drive). So we just need to collect the rental car and head on our way. All smooth sailing from here right? WRONG!

We go to baggage claim and our bags arrive with no problem. (We were afraid they were still in Pittsburgh leaning against a wall of the airport!) We have rented a car with National and my husband has an executive elite status with them so you can bypass the counter and go directly to the executive elite area which it says on a sign is located on the second floor and accessible by using the yellow elevator. Simple enough....or not! Turns out there is a major construction area right around the rental car counters. We go around this area and look for the rental car signs. One points us to the right then there are no other signs. We try going up the elevator (which was not yellow) and that takes us to the parking garage but no signs of rental vehicles. We go back down and head back to the counter to check out the instructions again. It clearly says second floor on the yellow elevator. We try again, take an escalator this time (because we still haven't seen a yellow elevator. We end up in the same place. This time we go into the parking garage and off to the left we see some yellow elevators. We head that way. We are on the fourth floor so we head down to the second. Turns out that the construction inside the building was in the area of the yellow elevator. Now why wouldn't the rental people change the sign to reflect that the yellow elevator was CLOSED?? Anyway...got the rental car and headed out of Seattle to Portland.

Traffic was horrendous on the way out of Seattle. Lots of road construction. Roads look quite old and in need of repair. Lots and lots of traffic. Not as bad as Los Angeles traffic but very congested and slow going. We finally make it to Portland and head directly to our hotel. At this point we have been traveling for about 15 hours straight. We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn, Portland Airport. We find the hotel just fine. Check in. Get our room keys and head up to our room. Get inside the room and it's freezing! We check the thermostat. It doesn't have a display (like it's not on). After pushing several buttons on the thermostat with no luck, we check the air conditioner unit in thee room. We open the lid and it says, "This unit is adjusted by the wall thermostat." There are no buttons or knobs inside. So we walk outside and a person from housekeeping is in the hallway. We tell her that we cannot get the thermostat to work and it is very cold in our room. She looks at it, pushes the buttons and says "Oh..you have to use the unit in the room." We tell her no it says to use the wall. She checks and says "OH...you are right you have to use the wall thermostat and it doesn't work!" Duh!!! So we trek down to the front desk and tell the manager on duty that the thermostat doesn't work. She does get someone to look at it while we ate dinner in the hotel (which was quite good by the way). After dinner we ask if they had checked it out and were told that they did and it didn't work. She seemed surprised by this but moved us to another room that did have heat!

I guess the tip I have for all you travelers that comes from this crazy day is to be flexible when you travel. We planned and planned, did all the right things to get to the airport in time and get the rental car and get the hotel but sometimes it just doesn't matter. Anything can happen so just be flexible and try not to let it all aggrevate you!

Getting Ready to head West

Well it's the night before we start our latest adventure.  Bags have been packed since Monday (which is really odd because I am really a last minute packer!), house is cleaned up, weather has been checked, double checked, triple checked....(well you get the picture!).  Let me reiterate that my husband is a weather nut meaning that he has to check the weather several times a day to see if it's changed.  This starts at least 15 days out because that's when Accuweather.com starts posting long term forecasts!  We've checked in for our flights and printed our boarding passes.  We are leaving from Pittsburgh Airport tomorrow which creates a small problem for my husband as he usually flies out of Cleveland for business and invariably we start out and head toward Cleveland.  Our flight leaves at 8:30 AM so we will be up at 4:00 AM, out of the house by 5:00 AM, at the airport parked and in line by 6:30 AM.  It's kind of like clock-work anymore.

Because my husband travels a lot for business, we have several travel perks...one of which is the use of the President's Clubs at the airport.  Believe me I never had a clue how the other half lives until I was escorted into the President's Club!  Actually it's not quite as exciting as it sounds but it does have free food (really snacks but sometimes it's better than others).  You can count on cheese and crackers, Waverly cookies, free drinks and a comfortable seat...so really much better than sitting at the gate.  We also were able to use miles to upgrade to First Class on the trip out.  Since we are traveling from Pittsburgh to Houston and Houston to Seattle it's nice to sit in the comfort of First Class and nicer that it didn't cost!  Travel days are always exhausting, especially when the flight is to the West Coast and isn't direct, so it will be nice to be able to have a little more room and comfort to try to get some rest on the trip out.  Nothing big planned other than traveling to Seattle and driving to our hotel hub in Portland, OR.  Just anxious to get going!!!

Into the Great Unknown - The Pacific Northwest

Well I've decided that since I have a split travel personality, I will need to split my travel into two separate blogs.  Travels With Mel: Disney Edition which will cover all things Disney (I know Captain Obvious here!) and Travels With Mel will cover all other travel that I do and see.  Both will include recommendations and opinions and reviews but definitely need to differentiate between the two.

So now that I have gotten the preliminaries out of the way....the next trip that I have planned is a trip to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.  I am excited about this trip for many reasons but the biggest one is that I will check two states off of my list on this trip.  I am down to 6 states left to have traveled to all 50 and this will take a chunk out of that list!  Since I've never been to either of these places before, it will all be new to me and I'm going to take you along with me as we discover the Pacific Northwest.

If any of you know me or have read my previous posts, you know that our method of travel is to target a specific area and do everything that you can possibly do and see everything you can possibly see within driving distance of the target! This is the "Have rental car...will travel" theory! This usually creates some wild and crazy trips and lots of adventures along the way but no one can say that we don't make the most of our travel time!  So having established the rules of travel here is our itinerary for our Pacific Northwest Adventure:

Friday Oct. 14:  Flight to Seattle, Washington, Get rental car and drive to Portland, Oregon

Saturday Oct. 15: Drive from Portland to Mount Hood/Gorge Area, drive back to Portland for dinner
at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (We like to eat and are making a game out of getting to all the
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse locations so this HAS to be in the itinerary!)

Sunday Oct. 16:   Drive from Portland to Mt. Rainier National Park.

Monday Oct. 17:  Drive to Cascades National Park in Northern Washington

Tuesday Oct. 18: Visit Seattle area attractions, shopping, dinner at the Space Needle Restaurant.

Weds Oct. 19:  Return flight

This again is a rather adventurous schedule given that all of these attractions could easily take a few days on their own and are quite a distance apart.  If there's one thing that I've learned in traveling to the Western US it's that things are very far apart and take several hours to get from one to the other!  However, the challenge of seeing lots of things in a short period of time is what keeps our interest piqued!