After our gastronomic morning we drove inland to Portland. We had hoped to couchsurf again but the person we’d messaged hadn’t bothered to respond, so we ended up in a hostel instead, which luckily had 1 room left. It wasn’t a great hostel though: the receptionist decided to spend 10 minutes on the phone in the middle of check-in explaining to someone other places they could stay as the hostel was full on the requested dates – so rude!; parking was near on impossible and we ended up 3 blocks away having driven round for 30 minutes trying to find somewhere; the bathroom situation wasn’t good as the only 2 toilets in our building were in with the showers so every time you needed to go you could guarantee someone was having a long shower - Le Roux even had to get dressed and trek outside to the other building in the morning!; and they rented out the kitchen and dining area in our building for meetings so we couldn’t get in there to cook. I would not recommend the HI Portland Hostel at all!
As Portland is known for its microbreweries, Le Roux was pretty keen to try some local beers so we checked out a local bar and after our parking nightmare, we justified a few drinks! Later we headed back to the hostel to eat our way through a few of the treats we’d bought in Tillamook – the blue cheese dressing was so good we managed to get through half of it in one sitting! The pate we’d bought in the supermarket was really delicious too and made a nice change as we’d not had any since we’d been away - surprisingly it isn’t available in most shops in the US, let alone in South and Central America! In fact a few weeks later in Washington a shop assistant we asked didn’t even know what pate was!?!
We didn’t stay long in Portland as we’re not really city fans, but we did stop in at Voodoo Donuts, a Portland institution, on the way to the Columbia River Gorge. We’d been recommended this place by a couple of people and given my love of all things sweet and cakey, it was a must. The queue was out the door that Sunday morning and so we knew we were in for a treat. The shop is filled with spooky voodoo related accessories and the names of the donuts fit in with this theme and so you can’t work out what flavour they might be. We’d decided to get just 6 rather than a box of 13 (how restrained were we?!) and with the help of the server we picked out the Bacon Maple Bar, a Voodoo Doll, a Portland Cream, a Diablos Rex, a Grape Ape and one more I can’t remember the name of. Needless to say they were all delicious and over the next day and a half we scoffed them all!
The weather was not going our way and as we headed out of Portland the clouds came in and the rain began. This meant that when we reached Columbia River Gorge we could barely make out the scenery from the various viewpoints. We used the bad weather as an excuse at one place to grab a coffee and tuck into a couple of our donuts while we waited for the clouds to clear a little.
Luckily over the course of the day the weather improved and we walked up to see the Multnomah Falls, which were nice, but not Iguazu! We ended the day at a town called The Dalles further along the gorge where we found our cheapest motel yet – a steal at just $50 including tax! It was actually a lot warmer and sunnier here as we’d travelled across the Cascade mountains and were now in a semi-arid area. After being cooped up in the car we decided to go for a walk to find some wine, beer or cider tasting. It turned out the wine place in town had closed down due to divorce so we ended up in a friendly local bar which let us taste a few of their wines and beers for free – very generous! We then followed this up with some cider tasting at another place they recommended – not a bad afternoon’s work!
The next day we drove further down the gorge before crossing over to the Washington side, our 6th American state so far. As the weather had remained good we got some lovely views across the river as we headed back along the north side to Vancouver, Washington to visit one of Le Roux’s internet friends, Tammy. She was a little surprised to see us, but we had a nice chat and got some photography tips (she’s a professional photographer) before continuing our journey to a campsite near Mount St Helens.
Having studied the volcano in geography at school I was really interested to see it and refresh my memory of exactly what happened. The visitor centre was excellent with a film as well as a very informative exhibition, so we spent quite a while there understanding how the whole eruption played out. Unfortunately for us we were there too early in the season to be able to drive all the way up to the last look out point as the road was still covered in snow, but we drove up as far as we could and got some great views across the valley to the volcano.
Even 30 years on you can still see the path of the mud and ash flow down the valley, which is quite eerie. We saw a herd of elk grazing in the valley as well as nearly running one over on the road as it saw us coming and then decided to cross! We decided to stop for lunch at one of the view points and we cooked up beans on toast while looking out across the valley to the volcano. I have to say that despite Heinz being an American company, you cannot actually buy proper baked beans here – everything available in the US has brown sugar or molasses in it which makes the sauce way too sweet – I can’t wait to have proper English baked beans when I get home!
Having soaked up all the volcano information and scenery we could, we drove across to the Olympic Peninsula. There appeared to be plenty of state campgrounds marked on the map so we headed towards Lake Quinault where there were a few to choose from. However, yet again we were thwarted by the seasonal opening schedule as none of the campgrounds were open yet despite it being mid May! We managed to find a private RV park and the lady kindly allowed us to camp there for half price. It was a beautiful spot by the lake and we were the only people there, nobody else being crazy enough to camp yet! There was a nice bar restaurant place on the site so we headed over for a drink to warm up after a delicious dinner outside of salmon, hollandaise, mash and broccoli. Overnight it started to rain so our tent was nice and soggy for packing up the next morning, but luckily there was a shelter under which we could make breakfast so we at least stayed dry.
The road loops around the peninsula so we headed westwards to the Hoi Rainforest, one of the few temperate rainforests in the world. Funnily enough it was raining even more up there! The drive through the forest was lovely with the trees covered in moss and lichen giving them a spooky look, and we saw some black tailed deer up at the visitor centre.
Given the weather we weren’t feeling inclined to do a long walk so we hopped back in the car and headed off to the hostel recommended by the book – it was definitely not camping weather! The hostel was not open until later that day, so we stopped in at a café down the road for a coffee and got chatting with the lady there. We mentioned that we were going to stay at the hostel and she said that others who had stayed there had come in to buy cleaning supplies before they would dare to sleep there! Apparently the guy was now managing the place on his own and standards had slipped somewhat. That was enough to convince us to drive to Forks further down the road instead where there were a few clean motel options instead!
Neither Le Roux nor I have been gripped by the Twilight phenomenon so we were totally unaware that this was the town where all the books had been set. Every place in town had signs and memorabilia around indicating its link with the books. When we checked into our chosen cheap motel, the old lady recognized my English accent and started asking me about the Royal Wedding. I had to stop myself chuckling when she asked if I saw them often!
Our next stop on the loop around the Olympic peninsula was Port Angeles, the largest town in the area. On the way there we’d stopped at yet another big tree, this time a giant cedar, and we did a walk to a waterfall in order to stretch our legs. Having got some photography tips from Tammy we decided to try out the smoky water technique by slowing the shutter speed. We ended up with a reasonable picture for our first effort, although a tripod would have improve the result as the camera needs to be dead still. We had lunch in the picnic area nearby but the grey jays were a little too friendly as they were eyeing up my French bread, so it was not a relaxing meal.
Again, on arriving at the hostel mentioned in the book, we discovered it was closed until later in the day. We were going to wait, but as the coffee shop nearby was closed too we gave up with that plan and found ourselves another cheap motel. We were keen to have some more Dungeness crab and as we were near the spit of the same name, we thought we should be able to find it at a reasonable price in town somewhere. However, our bad luck continued as it wasn’t crab season, so no crab for us! We instead headed to the Bushwacker restaurant for some steak. We both had the prime rib which was nice, but the highlight was dessert. The peanut butter cheesecake has won awards and with good reason – it was so light and tasty and I am desperate to find the recipe!
Our final stop in Olympic National Park was Hurricane Ridge. It was still many feet deep in snow at the top and pretty cold, but it was actually quite a clear day so we got some nice views across the Olympic mountains. On our way back down we stopped to cook up some brunch at a warmer viewpoint looking across the Juan de Fuca Strait to Vancouver Island.
As we were cooking our full English breakfast on our camping stoves, the grey jays started collecting in the tree next to us. Uh oh. This did not bode well after our experiences at lunch the previous day. The birds were fearless and even when we stamped our feet and waved our arms around they weren’t phased. The worst point came when I was eating my breakfast and was being dive bombed by one particular bird who was very interested in my piece of toast! We ate quickly and headed on to Port Townsend.
Port Townsend is a lovely Victorian town with a nice atmosphere and interesting buildings. As the sun had finally decided to come out, we wandered around the town stopping in at various shops. We walked by the marina and came across a couple of happy fishermen who’d just returned from their trip with a large halibut – Le Roux was rather jealous! Having worked up a thirst Le Roux decided it was time to try another local beer at the pub, so we sat overlooking the water while supping our drinks.
We cooked dinner that night just behind our motel right on the water and Le Roux go talking to this homeless guy who had stopped there. He was a really nice guy, down on his luck and we ended up inviting him to join us for a dinner of chili and rice
It was now time to head on to Seattle and instead of driving all the way down and back up again, we decided to get the ferry across to the city from Bainbridge Island on the east coast of the Olympic peninsula. Bainbridge is a nice town and we wandered around the farmer’s market before stopping in for a spot of wine tasting at a place on the main street. The wine was a little disappointing, but it was a pleasant way to while away the time before our ferry left. We also found a nice spot on the beach to eat the rest of the chili before getting in line for the ferry.
The journey across went smoothly, although it was pretty cold out on deck so we took it in turns to bear the bracing winds for photos! Our first views of Seattle from the water were lovely as you get to see the Space Needle and the high rise buildings of downtown.
We’d decided to try couchsurfing again in Seattle and I have to say it was a fantastic experience. Chris was an amazing host and we had the best time with him during our stay in Seattle. (We messed up directions to his place though as I can’t get my head around the fact that there are so many roads with the same name with a little N, S, W or E at the end which means they are in completely different parts of town.) He made us feel very welcome in his lovely home and went out his way to help us with the hire car drop off and a tour around the city.
Now, you all know how important food is to me and how much I love cooking and eating good food. Well, in Chris we met someone who is even more passionate about it than me!! To say that we ate well while staying with Chris is an understatement. He is really into molecular gastronomy (scientific cooking like Heston Blumenthal) so we were treated to various gastronomic delights including: fresh spotted prawns and Dungeness crab with braised cos lettuce and blue cheese; feta with herby fava bean puree on crostini; sous vide veal cheeks with potato puree and chard; and pork belly with goose fat roasted potatoes & miso broccoli – all delicious and washed down with some lovely red wine. Chris also introduced us to the delights of raw hairy Hungarian pig fat which has been marinated in herbs. I know it sounds really odd and horrible, but wow, it is soooo tasty. A little sliver either on its own or on a crostini as an appetizer is seriously good!
On our city tour we stopped in at an independent coffee shop to sample the drink that Seattle is now famous for – it was much tastier than Starbucks! Although visibility wasn’t great we decided to go up the Space Needle anyway – the view was nice, but definitely not worth the $20 each it cost! Next we stopped off in the Fremont district for a sushi lunch and a wander around, before stopping at “the Troll” under the highway for a photo. We also took in Gas Works Park which had a nice view across the water to downtown and we wandered through the house boats which were featured in the film Sleepless in Seattle.
As the famous fish market – Pike Place – is very busy on the weekends we saved that for the next day and we enjoyed wandering around sampling various things such as hot smoked salmon, chili jellies, droewors (actually surprisingly good given it’s a South African thing), jams, honey, chocolate cherries and many more yummy things. It was all pretty expensive though so the only thing we bought was some of the salmon and a couple of droewors to keep Le Roux happy.
Right by the market is my Mum’s favourite kitchen shop ever, Sur Le Table, so we had to stop in there and see what all the fuss was about. It was a great shop, but given my luggage issues I had to walk out empty handed even though I was tempted by many gadgets and gismos! Le Roux however, found is new favourite thing in there – his travel cafetiere/mug combo which he can’t go anywhere without now! I have to admit I was tempted by one, but I’m not quite as much of a coffee fiend as he is, so I’ve been sharing his instead.
Our time in Seattle had come to an end and we were moving onto Vancouver, Canada. It was sad saying goodbye to Chris having had such a great time with him, but hopefully we’ll manage to meet up with him again somewhere around the world.
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