Seattle: 3rd November to 7th November, 2016

In order to save a little time, we flew from San Francisco to Seattle. Battling a severe case of bed bugs, we got in at around 6pm and made our way to our awesome AirBNB. It of course was grey and raining when we arrived, it is Seattle, but we were both excited as good friends would soon be joining us. Before they got there, however, we popped down to the local liquor store and stocked up, as well as having a little browse around the local area.

By the time we got back to our funky little basement apartment, it wasn’t long before Luke and Tracy Raftl, along with Josh Smith had all arrived, slightly delayed after running out of petrol just after crossing the US/Canada border and forcing the boys to hire bikes and ride to the nearest petrol station, while Tracy patiently waited with the car. Then, after everyone was settled, we got started on the fun. As it was the first time in quite a long time seeing each other, much conversation was had, as were the beers, while we planned what we were going to get up to over the next few days. Then after a long day, for some more than others, it was time for bed.

  

The next morning we got up and all had breakfast at a nice little coffee shop downtown. We then made our way to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is right on the waterfront and has everything from a Weed Shop, to fresh fruit and veg stores, to handicrafts, and fresh fish markets. A cool place to explore. Across the road is also the ‘original’ Starbucks, although rumour has it is only the original plaque. The place was packed!

Once we had done a little more exploring of the waterfront, we then made our way over to none other than Seattle’s best known landmark, the Space Needle. This was my second time visiting Seattle and the Space Needle, but it was so long ago, I was still excited to be heading up to the top. Also, the fact that this was everyone else’s first time up the Needle, made it extra fun.

At the top, things had a familiar feel, but there were a few subtle changes. Now, I’m not sure if it was there last time, but the informative and interactive timeline was cool, informing visitors that the Space Needle was built for the World’s Fair in in 1962 and how it took engineering feats before their time, to complete it. Also new, was the giant interactive map that would locate exactly where everyone, who participated, was from and what they thought of the whole experience.

The last new thing since my last visit, was the free online photo you could receive. You know the one, the cheesy, I’m a tourist and this attraction is too big to fit into a real photo, so I’ll superimpose the background behind me, photo. Which of course we downloaded as soon as we could. It was a gem! However, one thing that hadn’t changed was the view. The surrounding mountains, cityscape, lakes and inlet, were all exceptionally beautiful and unusually visible due to the uncharacteristically good weather Seattle was providing

Once we had finished admiring Seattle and it’s surrounds from up high, we headed back down town to find some food. Not too much seemed to open, but we eventually found and agreed on a cute little café, selling delicious craft beer and amazing sandwiches with strange names. Sadly I cannot for life of me remember the name of the café, but the pulled pork sandwich was definitely memorable. Plus I’m sure it had some sort of Star Wars themed name.

  

On our way back to our apartment we stocked up on alcohol and settled in for a fun night. However, before we began the games, we ordered some delicious food. See the lovely Airbnb people had informed us that we could get food delivered to us by ordering it online. The first night we got Indian, this night we got Thai, the third night it was Ethiopian (something only Luke and Tracy had tried before, but something we all came away loving), and for our final night, it was Japanese. The online food ordering was fantastic and allowed us to tour the world gastranomically. Anyway, so once we had devoured our Thai food, the drinking games were on.

Two of the most memorable games of the night included a word/numbers game and a counting game. Now I know they sound boring, but I can assure you, hilarity ensued. Especially after a few drinks.

The word/numbers game was one where you had to recite a phrase for each number using your listening and memory skills. You all say the first phrase such as ‘one fat hen’, taking it in turns around the circle. Then a second is added, ‘a couple of ducks’, and again you all take turns around the circle, but now you say both phrases. This continues with new phrases until you can all say the phrases up to number ten, with longer and longer phrases and tricky alliteration thrown in. Each time someone stuffs it up, that person takes a drink. It was challenging and took us a long time to make it all the way to number ten.

The counting game was one where the numbers get replaced by actions and phrases. To begin with, on multiples of five you say Fizz and multiples of seven you say Buzz. You go to 21 with each person taking it in turns to say a number. How it works is, you go around the circle with person one saying 1, person two saying 2 etc., then when you get to number five that person says Fizz, then next around the circle says 6, then when you get to seven the person says Buzz, continuing hopefully until 21 or as it is a multiple of 7, Buzz. If you get around the circle with no mistakes and make it to 21, the person 21 lands on makes a new rule for one of the free numbers. So for ten, now instead of saying 10 you bark like a dog. Again it gets harder and harder with all the new rules and with each mistake, you of course drink. By the end and with all the insane rules, everyone is usually in stitches. Overall a lot of alcohol was consumed and a lot of laughs were had. However, the amount of booze drunk was not going to make getting up to hike Mt. Rainier the next morning too easy.

The next day we had a sloth like start to the morning, but we all got going at a reasonable hour. After we got some breakfast and bought sandwiches to take for lunch, we hit the road for about a 90 minute drive to Mt. Rainier. After a lot of traffic and a couple of wrong turns, we had arrived at the base of our hike and although we thought there might be some snow, the amount that was actually there, was incredible. There were even people skiing and snowboard down the hill. Never the less we geared up and of we set.

The first portion of the hike was relatively easy. Not a great deal of snow and not overly steep. Not too long after though, the real fun began. The snow suddenly got quite deep. This posed a challenge when trying to hike up the hill.

   

For the light of foot and experienced snow folk, such as the Raftls, this wasn’t too much of a challenge as they didn’t really sink, however for the less fleet of foot such as Adrian, Josh and I, sinking was kind of an issue. Ohhhhh boy did we sink, a lot! Right up to our thighs on occasion. At first it was fun, but as the mountain got steeper, it became a little more frustrating. The two most challenging parts were yet to come.

   

All the way up, no matter which way we looked, incredible views presented themselves. Snow peaks on one side, mountain ranges on others, and a valley on the other. Then after a short break to once again take in the views, we headed for our toughest section yet. A pretty steep hill, with sinky snow, bends, rocks and ice.

   

After patiently waiting for an older couple to come down (there conversation-  Man: ‘Just slide down on your butt, it’s fun’. Woman: ‘No way, I don’t want to die today. If I slide down I’ll die’. Man: No you won’t! I did it, it was fun and I’m alive’. Woman: ‘NO! I’ll die’... this went on for 20 minutes), we scrambled up the hill. Well at least I scrambled, the others seemingly did it with ease.

 

Once we arrived at the top of this hill, the views again were amazing and it was here we stopped for lunch. By this stage we felt we must be near the top of the loop, or at least we hoped. So once we had devoured our sandwiches, off we set for our final climb.

This time the hill was pretty much pure ice. Once again, old light feet Raftls sauntered up with ease. Josh didn’t go too bad himself. Adrian stayed behind with me to make sure I could get up there. After some slipping, skinning my hands and taking Adrian out, we made it to the top of the loop.

We had intended to complete the loop, but according to some other hikers, to compete the loop would be too dangerous. This made up our minds for us and once we had taken some more photos and soaked up the scenery of the Cascade Mountain Range and two peaks of Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helen’s all the way in Oregon, off we set, back the way we came.

Going down the mountain was the fun part. There was slipping and sliding and thigh deep snow, but you could also run down and sink and it was totally fun. Oh and that bit the woman complained about dying on, was soooo much fun to slide down on your butt. Anyway, eventually we made it back to the car park. Exhausted, wet as hell from falling/sliding/racing in the snow, but totally happy and satisfied after an awesome days hike, with awesome people.

That night, we were all exhausted. So we devoured some Ethiopian food, had a few beverages and had an earlier night. What a day.

The next morning after some breakfast at nice little café, we sadly had to say goodbye to Josh. He had to head back to Canada a day early as he had to work. It was really great seeing him again though.

We then drove downtown and made our way to the starting point for the famous, Seattle Underground Tour. Years ago when I had visited Seattle, I did the underground tour and I felt that the other guys should experience this gem of Seattle history. Also, true to form it was raining, so it was a good activity to do for the Raftls final day in the city.

The Seattle Underground Tour is a tour of some of the remnants of the original city of Seattle. Originally, Seattle was built way too close to the harbour, causing flooding in the streets and leading to potholes big enough for people to drown in. It also caused major plumbing issues. See, people who could afford to have a toilet had pipes from their toilets leading down into the harbour. When the tide came in water would rush back up the pipes and launch people off their toilets. This caused a couple of casualties. These issues also meant that old Seattle was buried and a new city was built higher and over the top of the new city. This left a somewhat useable city underneath. There were also stories of bad management causing the city to go broke on a number of occasions and how a Madame saved Seattle from complete bankruptcy.

Once our tour was complete, we had a yummy lunch in one of Seattle’s oldest pubs. We then made our way back to the apartment. Later that night we had a couple of drinks, enjoyed our Japanese cuisine and Tracy and I went to sleep. The boys however stayed up drinking into the wee hours and watch a Premier League match.

The next morning, bright (well Tracy was bright, Luke and Adrian were still a little drunk) and early, we said a sad farewell to the Raftls. Our fun time with them had come to an end. They were on their way home, back to Canada.

For the rest of the day, Adrian and I just chilled out, went for a walk down town and bought a new hairdryer. Our time in Seattle and the USA had come to an end. The next day we flew to Mexico City! A new adventure was about to begin.

Holly.

Sequoia National Park- 1st November to 3rd November, 2016

As a last minute change of plans we left San Francisco ahead of schedule and headed to the airport to pick up a last minute rental car booking.

Our destination was to be one of the legendary national parks in the state of California, Sequoia National Park. This meant a 5 hour drive southeast from San Francisco, first crossing the 3 kilometre Bay Bridge, then through Oakland, before hitting the comparatively rural parts of the state and some long, straight freeways. A highlight of our road trip was stopping in at a roadside Starbucks for a coffee and seeing our cashier dressed in a full Tyrannosaurus rex suit (we had forgotten that it was Halloween!)

We arrived in to the small town of Three Rivers, on the outskirts of the park, just after dark. Here we checked in to our hotel and grabbed a quick bite to eat just down the road. We were only staying in the area for two nights so it was important that we made the most of the following day. The park boasted quite a few sights, but our priority was to see the ancient sequoia forest towards the middle of the park.

   

We rose early and set off driving the thin and windy road up in to the park. The park itself is enormous. It is around 404,000 acres and like many of the parks we had visited previously, offered some great spots to pull over to admire some incredible panoramic views. 

Also, on our way up into the hills we came across an incredibly friendly mule deer buck, who was so intent on eating the grass on the side of the road that he allowed the car to get nearly to touching distance so we could grab some great shots.

Finally we reached an altitude of 6,000 feet or 1,800 metres. Apparently this altitude is perfect conditions for the sequoia trees to grow in and the location of the appropriately named Giant Forest, which is said to contain 5 of the 10 largest trees on earth. It was quite chilly at this altitude and we were very glad that we had come adequately prepared with some cold weather clothing.

We parked at the forest welcome station which was standing amongst a large group of smaller sequoias and started out on foot. We wanted, like most tourists, to visit the famous General Sherman sequoia, reported to be the largest tree in the world. However, rather than drive straight to the adjacent car park we decided to hike the scenic 3.5km Big Trees trail through the forest to get there. This turned out to be a fantastic idea as the scenery along the path was stunning and for nearly all of it we felt like we had the entire forest to ourselves.

At the trailhead was the enormous sentinel sequoia standing at over 78 metres tall and with a circumference of 24 metres. Much to our amazement we read that this tree was only of average size for the species and we could expect to see much bigger further down the trail! Each time we turned a bend in the trail, we were amazed by the sights, with the picturesque huge trees and the brilliant autumn colours of the ground level foliage.

Many of the sequoias were blackened around the trunks by old forest fires or lightning strikes, though in most cases the trees are large and rough enough to survive. We did pass a few fallen sequoias including one that had fallen across the path. This tree was so large that it had had an entire doorway carved through the trunk to allow us to pass through.

After hiking for roughly an hour and a half we reached the General Grant Grove. This area of the forest was home to several huge sequoia groves, with many of them named after famous political and historical figures such as Robert E Lee, John Adams and Roosevelt. Some of the other names are a little more fun and imaginative such as the Grizzly Giant, Three Fingered Jack and the Black Mountain Beauty. The General Grant sequoia is the king of this grove at 81 metres tall!

It wasn't just the single trees that were impressive either, in a couple of places smaller sequoias had grown together in a clump creating another amazing visual. We were feeling well and truly dwarfed by these ancient trees, some of them having reached over 2,500 years old. Again we only saw one or two other people as we did our rounds of the grove making our experience feel even more special.

From General Grant grove we had another small hike to reach the General Sherman tree located in Giant Forest Grove. Along the way we encountered some of the local wildlife with a small herd of deer peacefully grazing in a clearing and a brightly coloured woodpecker noisily going about his business.

We finally reached the Sherman Tree and marvelled at the sheer size. The incredible dimensions of this tree include standing at over 83 metres high with a trunk circumference over 32 metres. This tree is not the tallest in existence, the record is 95 metres (or a 25 story building), nor the widest, but at 1,486 cubic metres it is believed to the largest tree by volume, anywhere in the world. The approximate age of this tree is estimated to be around 2,300 years, again not the oldest, but the perfect growing conditions of the area have allowed it to grow into the famous behemoth it is today.

As large as the trees we had seen on our hike were, it was even more incredible to learn that many sequoias cut down in the 18 and 1900s for the logging trade would have been larger still. Then, after taking a few pictures it was time to head back and compete the second half of our hiking loop.

As we returned back to the welcome centre banks of fog began to roll in through the trees creating quite an eerie effect. As a result of the fog the temperature began to drop, by the time we reached our car it was down into the mid 30s Fahrenheit (approximately 2 degrees Celsius). It was a relief when we hit the road again and turned on our heater as we made the drive back down out of the mountains. As we left the park we drove through a huge flock of wild turkeys who were blocking the road. These turkeys were very different from the Australian variety, looking more like the traditional farm turkey. As we cruised up, the group of around 30 turkeys reluctantly scampered out of our way, gobbling madly at us.

We spent our last night in California back in our hotel and woke the next morning to discover that we still had one final surprise. A major bedbug attack had occurred overnight. A little more bite-marked and itchier than when we arrived, we returned to San Francisco airport to catch the flight to our final USA destination, Seattle.

Adrian.