Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Pacific is covered in fog, producing a rather dreary atmosphere on the South Beach Kalaloch Campground. Ruby Beach. There are many large tree trunks all over the beach. Jutting out of the stormy waters there are rather strange rock formations — an impressive sight. Highway 101. Upper Hoh Road, along the Hoh River. Hoh Rain Forest, admission $15. One-and-a-half-mile hike. Very interesting, very unusual, in all of my life I’ve never seen such a forest before. Forks. Lah Push in the Quileute Indian Reservation. Recently both towns became well know through the film Twilight. Forks 101 RV Park. I call Hannes Hase — on Thursday we will visit him in Seattle.
Ruby Beach
Hoh Rain Forest
Forks
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Forks. Highway 113, later 112. We take a side trip to Clallam Bay. A nice trip, pleasant autumn-like weather, we drive through a narrow valley and dense woods. Crescent Bay. We enjoy the midday sun and take a walk along the beach and do the same later at the RV Campground. We have a nice view of the Strait of Juan De Fuca, on the other side of which is Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. We learn that this is a good place for whale watching. We drive past Lake Crescent and further on to Port Angeles, where we take a room for the night in the Riviera Inn on Front Street.
View Strait of Juan de Fuca from Crescent Bay
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Port Angeles. Port Townsend. We take the ferry to Whidbey Island. Coupeville. Clinton. Another Ferry to Mukliteo. We’re right back in the middle of the crazy world of traffic lights, traffic jams, billboards, hustle and bustle. Elke is my navigator as we make our way through the labyrinth of roads and highways to Redmond, the headquarters of Microsoft. We cannot find Hannes’ house in Bellevue, it takes a while before we discover that we are on the wrong side of Lake Washington. We cross the Lacey V. Morrow Memorial Bridge to Seattle. Finally we find the house. We are warmly welcomed by Paula and Hannes and their daughter Johanna. Later we meet their second daughter, Erika, and their son Carl. Paula is an American and met Hannes during their student days in Göttingen. She studied medicine, he forestry.
Ferry to Seattle
Boing Seattle
Friday, September 4, 2009
Seattle. Johanna studies medicine in Göttingen and flies back to Germany today. While the Hases drive her to the airport Elke and I take a pleasant walk in the warm sunshine, along with their German Shepherd Ari, to Green Lake. The way there takes us through a picture-book part of town with beautiful houses and lots of green.
Hannes Hase
Erika, Carl, Paula and Johanna
Ari
Family Hase's house
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Seattle. Hannes invites me to see his company, HH Windows & Doors. We drive to an industrial area on the south side of Seattle. The production rooms are quite large and equipped with modern (European) machines. The finished windows and doors are of highest quality and look very good. I’m impressed by what I see.
HH Windows and Doors Seattle
HH Windows and Doors
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Seattle. College Inn. Historic building. The weather is windy and chilly. We take a walk through the University of Washington campus and the adjacent area.
College Inn
Monday, September 7, 2009
Seattle. We visit the REI in Seattle, a huge store for top-notch recreational and outdoor equipment. Today is Labor Day, a national holiday in the USA. People are shopping like crazy, as if there’ll be no tomorrow. Good for the economy! The Seattle Waterfront and the market halls are very touristy but worth seeing just the same.
Library Seattle - photo Guenter Krueger
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Seattle. I phone Cascade Auctions about auctioning our VW Vanagon. We make an excursion to Alki Beach Park, where we have a nice view of the Seattle skyline and of Mt. Rainier.
Seattle Skyline
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Seattle. We head for Mount Rainier National Park. Elke navigates me to the Interstate 90 which we exit in Issaquah, then go south on the Ussaquah-Hobart Road through beautiful countryside to Landsburg, then Balack Diamond and Enumuclaw. We decide to do a circle tour of Mt. Rainier. Highway 410. Greenwater. Once again beautiful scenery, impressive mountains. Highway 123, then 706 to Paradise in Mt. Rainier National Park. We have lunch at the foot of the volcano. On highway 7 we reach Elbe! Le Grandeauf. At Kapowsin Highway we keep to the right and drive north on the Orting-Kapowsin Highway. Then highway 162: Orting, Sumner, Pacific, Algona, Auburn, Kent. From Renton we drive along Rainier Ave. S., which goes directly into Seattle. We turn onto 23rd Ave. E. and we found ourselves again at the university campus.
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier from Space Needle
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Seattle. We take a tour of the Space Needle and the former World Fair grounds. From the top we have a wonderful view of the skyline as well as of the beautiful countryside surrounding Seattle. We relax in Alki Beach Park, then stroll through the market halls downtown. We have dinner at The Fishermans Restaurant at the waterfront. In the evening we return to the Hases where we have our quarters for the night.
Skyline Seattle from Space Needle
Market downtown
Ulli is looking for....
Friday, September 11, 2009
We clearn out the VW bus, transport everything into the cellar. While Elke cleans the bus I gather everything together that’s needed for the auctioneers. At 1 p.m. we drive to Hannes Hase’s workship. At 2.30 p.m. we head towards Tacoma, with Hannes leading the way in his VW bus. The traffic becomes heavier and heavier, despite five lanes in our direction. More and more cars are racing with us in a southerly direction. It’s very unpleasant to drive in such traffic — and in such heat because we have to drive with the windows down! The 50-kilometer stretch between Seattle and Tacoma seems endless, the last few kilometers are only stop-and-go. After one hour we reach Cascade Auctions. We speak briefly with Neil Barrett, give him the key and papers, that was it! We bid adieu to our faithful VW bus. Hannes decides not to return to Seattle on the interstate, but to take the ferry from Tacoma to Vashon Island and from there with the ferry to Seattle. We find that an excellent idea. But this stretch is also heavily traveled. It takes a while before we can make it through Tacoma and reach the ferry at Ruston. The ferry from Vashon Island brings us to Fauntleroy at 6.30 p.m. At 8.15 p.m. we arrive at Anthony’s Restaurant in Shilshole Bay, to which we have invited Paula and Hannes.
Elke cleans the bus
Good bye
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Seattle. Beautiful summer weather. Elke begins packing. Eventually everything has been sorted out, stowed away, taken care of. At 2 p.m. we take the bus downtown; we want to buy some last gifts. It takes us a good half-hour to get there. The heat is almost unbearable, and then my left ankle begins to cause problems again. We don’t find the gifts we’re looking for. In the market hall Elke buys some cans of oysters, too expensive, as we later find out. Back at the bus terminal the pain in my ankle has become much worse. At 6.30 p.m. we arrive back at the Hases. Hannes makes an excursion with us to Magnolia, where the rich citizens of Seattle used to live. From here we enjoy a beautiful view of the downtown area and of Mt. Rainier in the distance.
Hases's house with grapes
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Seattle. Our last breakfast with our hosts. We bid adieu to Paula and Erika at 11.15 a.m. Hannes drives us to the airport. Shortly before noon Hannes drops us off at the Lufthansa terminal. We have to repack and rearrange our luggage, as there are quite strict restrictions for what can be checked in and what can be carried on-board. For the check-in the maximum weight is 23 kilograms, otherwise a lump sum of $150 must be paid for the excess weight. The carry-on bag may not weigh more than eight kilograms. After some repacking we’re able to satisfy both weight criteria. Passport inspection. At 1 p.m. we are in the waiting lounge, gate S11. We board our plane at 2 p.m. Seat 44E, at the aisle. We have a ten-hour flight ahead of us. The scheduled take-off time is 2.40 p.m., but we must wait because, as the pilot informs us, the wind has changed, and we will fly in southerly direction. At 3 p.m. the Airbus A340 takes off from the Seattle airport. We’re airborne and heading back home.
Boarding Airbus
In 1833 Wied wrote: “Already on September 11 the twenty-one men of the fort carried the boat that the carpenter Saucier had built for me down to the Missouri River…. My pilot was Henri Morrin, from the company at the fort, and our crew was made up of three young and inexperienced Canadians, Beauchamp, Urbin und Thiebaut, who actually were not suited for such a journey. I decided to depart on September 14.”
Journey in the interieur of North America
