Harrison Hot Springs, Seattle, and Portland

It was a pretty full-day drive across British Columbia from Banff to Harrison Hot Springs, legendary home of Sasquatch. Sort of a sleepy town, with the type of beach-town shops and restaurants that I wouldn’t have been surprised to find on the South (New) Jersey shore. I didn’t see Sasquatch (who apparently was busy preparing for a press conference in Palo Alto at the time), nor took the opportunity to experience the hot springs during my stopover, but I was very favorably impressed with the quality and value of the Harrison Beach Hotel, overlooking the south shore of Harrison Lake.

It was back to the good ol’ USA on Tuesday. A short drive, less than 200 miles, to Seattle. Even after spending 50 minutes in the queue at the border, I was still running early for my 4 PM hotel check-in, so I made an in-route adjustment, taking a side trip to Woodinville, for a tour ($1 admission price!) of the Redhook Ale Brewery. Frankly, must more of a “tasting” than a tour – not that there’s anything wrong with that…

On to Seattle. I stayed a couple blocks away from the Seattle Center, in the (virtual) shadow of the Space Needle.

I took a walk around the Seattle Center upon checking into my hotel, and then went for dinner at a sports bar. On Wednesday, I spent the morning on a (self-guided) walking tour to the Olympic Sculpture Park, along the waterfront, down to Pioneer Square,

and through the Pike Place Public Market.

In the afternoon, I visited the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project (all Jimi, all the time), and the attached Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame. I walked back down to the Pike Place Market area for dinner at the Pike Pub (crab-stuffed salmon paired with stout).

I drove down to Portland on Thursday, for a family reunion and tourism in the area. Everyone arrived by Thursday evening, and we starting planning our activities over pizza. On Friday, we went downtown to visitor the Pioneer Courthouse Square (“4^th Best Public Space in the World”) to start the day,

before visiting the Portland Art Museum. Both Brian and Kate had off from work on Saturday and Sunday, so they were able to join us and lead us. On Saturday, we began the day with a trip to Powell’s City of Books downtown, the largest used bookstore I’ve ever seen – it took extreme control not to spend half the day there or buy more than 4 books. We then visited both the Japanese Garden

and the International Rose Test Garden (where, per some oft-received advice, I literally did stop to smell the roses). Brian and Kate also showed us Mt. Tabor Park, near their home, and Maywood Park, with its views of the Columbia River.

We gathered Sunday morning for late breakfast from the Waffle Window, and then we were off for more tourism.

We took a tour of the Pittock Mansion , and then visited the Oregon Holocaust Memorial Monument. Next we took the aerial tram to the OHSU Center, where Brian works, for panoramic views of the city, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and (if you concentrated hard enough) Mt. Rainier.

It was hot on Monday. We took a scenic drive along the Columbia River Gorge

and the Mt. Hood Scenic Byway, stopping at Multnomah Falls

before having a picnic lunch at Panorama Point.

After lunch, we stopped at some fruit markets and a lavender market.

Tuesday we headed for the coast, taking a drive to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park. It was much cooler there than in Portland (where temperatures cracked 3 digits that day), but unfortunately it was fogged in, so the views were minimal. We stopped in Manzanita, a few miles down the coast, for a quick lunch at the fish market/restaurant. Food was good, but the service was the worst – it took well over an hour to be served three bowls of chowder and an order of fish & chips; they just didn’t seem to care.

Everybody hit the road on Wednesday morning, and I made the decision, after nearly three weeks on the road, that I was ready to go home. I had a fairly effortless 11.5-hour drive, and it was good to get back to Half Moon Bay. It was great to spend so much time with family.