Portland & Seattle

November 5 (Seattle) - We woke up in the lovely city of Seattle at Patt's beautiful house (a friend of my father). We checked out the newspaper for some free excitement. We then headed over to the area of Fremont Ave to a wine tasting and looked at the infamous sculptures of the artsy city of Seattle. It is just the prettiest place. We then headed back to Patt's for some dinner before taking off to the Paramount Theatre to see a comedy show. The show headlined Norm McDonald and had 3 other comedians. The first 3 were pretty funny but Norm came on and sounded like he was definitely on something because every word was slurred and half his jokes made no sense. But it was still funny to laugh at his craziness which made it a great night. Not to mention the delicious buttery popcorn I got. mmm mmm mmm. We then attempted to learn the bus system of Seattle and about an hour later (it should be a 15 minute drive), we were back at Patt's.

November 6 (Seattle) - We went to Pike Market which is the COOLEST place I have ever been. Its a huge market where the first Starbucks originated - which, by the way, they have not changed one bit since its opening. I knew I liked this place but it really hit me when I saw the "HAND MADE CHEESE STORE" OMG, what could be better? For those of you who know of my love for cheese, I was in heaven. We got the "worlds best" Mac & Cheese which really was the worlds best. We then walked past a bakery with the best smell and the biggest line I have ever seen. We waited for about 30 minutes for these delicious pasteries. This market had the coolest little vendors and it is where the famous video of those men throwing the fish around was created. Definitely giving this place a 10/10.

November 7 (Seattle) - We decided to "ride the duck." It is one of those tour buses that turns into a boat and takes you around the city. I actually learned so much about Seattle. I sadly think I know more about Seattle than Toronto. Did you know that the average Seattleite (yes that is what they call themselves) buys 3.5 cups of coffee a day AKA spends $3,000 a year on coffee? NUTS. Did you know that Seattle has 412 Starbucks. WOW. It was a really cool tour that taught me a lot of things about this awesome city that I would have never known. After the tour, Eric and I decided we were starved. We headed over to the port to get some fresh fish. We went to a restaurant called the Crab Pot. Everyone MUST eat here! Let me give you a visual. They cover your table with paper and give you a bib and a hammer. Your seafood comes in a bucket and they dumb it on your table with some corn and potatoes and a bowl is put on the floor for all the shells and you just go for it. We orded king crab legs and they were to die for!! We left at about 4:30 and the line to this place was out the door. Sooo amazing!! Id have to say it was probably the best restaurant I have ever been to.

November 8 (Portland) - We woke up and packed up our stuff to continue on our journey. Our first stop was Mount Saint Helens. It is a volcanoe that erupted in 1980 and left a HUGE crater in the mountain. We then drove on to Portland and ate our good ol' tuna sandwhiches we had packed ourselves then continued to Washington Park. It is a stunning park in Portland that has so many things in it. We went for a little walk and visited the holocaust memorial which was a really sad but amazing site. After the park we decided that in the pouring rain, we were over Portland so we headed over to the tax-free outlet malls for a little brousing then went to Newport, Oregon and set up camp in the parking lot of our good old friend Wal Mart for another great sleep in the car.

November 9 (Portland --> San Francisco) - We woke up at 7 am, went to Wal Mart to wash up then started the long drive to San Fran. We got lost a few times, took a few detours and drove through miniscule roads in the rain, dark and fog but after about 13 hours, we finally made it! Phew. We checked into our STUNNING hotel - The Fairmont. It is without a doubt the most stunning hotel I have ever seen. WOO HOO. Off to bed in our awesome king size luxury bed. Nighty night!