Slept in late then after breakfast we headed off to find the 'Hop On Hop Off' trolley tour of Vancouver and got a trolley driver who didn't know the city and could barely speak English so we hopped off really quickly at the first available stop and had a coffee in the Pacific Centre before we hopped back on again. This is shot from our coffee spot. From here on we discovered that Vancouver is also a beautiful leafy city and very livable with apartments and community gathering places scattered about all over town.

Spotted this roof and figured it had to belong to the Fairmont Family and yes it is the Fairmont Vancouver.

A busy Container Port was also part of what we saw.

A view to the city from Stanley Park which was a beautiful spot with magnificent trees including some massive old growth trees, rose garden and yacht clubs. Very picturesque.

An example of an old giant still surviving.

The entry to China town, the second largest outside China apparently with the first being in San Francisco, at least according to our driver.

A nice spot on our tour and the site of an early saloon in the town. We decided we might walk back to here for lunch as there were lots of eating spots and people but then the skies opened up so we headed across the street instead.

Bits and Bobs:

Some quirky stools in the 'Back Forty' across the road from our hotel.

We had a ferry to catch this morning so decided against our breakfast choice of yesterday morning and as we headed for the car park we were glad we had. The thumbnail shows that not only were people lining up inside but outside as well.

We had a spectacular ferry ride from Schwartz Bay Ferry terminal to Vancouver City on British Columbia Line. A very smick operation, very organised with minimal turnaround times. Impressive. Too many shots of water and tree covered islands to even begin. I was glad to see we had emergency back up if it all turned pear shaped.

Same company boat heading back to where we had come from. We had just negotiated the narrow passage they are heading for.

The blurb on our accommodation said 'in the Stadium district' and this is the Stadium across the street from our Inn. We were blown away by the volume of music before the game of football began but it's a great atmosphere in the community.

Just up the hill from our Inn is this Library (the round building).

And the open space beside it is undercover from the surrounding wall across the open space. A reminder of the ferocious cold / wet / snowy weather encountered here.

Bits and Bobs:

Hope there was nobody in here when this got blown / knocked over.

Norm spotted this out the front of a pub type restaurant.

And this is a serious mobile B-B-Q at the same place. Wood fired.

Last two Night's Accommodation:

Hotel Rialto, 653 Pandora Way, Victoria BC V8W 1N8

Happy to report we have had a nice stay for Norm's birthday in Victoria. The Hotel was lovely. Generous space in the room and bathroom (junior king suite) comfortable bed, nicely furnished,  shower, as in real shower not over a bath. Yummy restaurant on site. Included wifi, continental breakfast and discounted parking and hot breakfast if wanted. Complimentary cheese plate in the restaurant (delicious) and happy hour each day with discounted drinks and tapas menu. Staff welcoming and helpful. Amenities generous and very nice. A bit more expensive than some we have stayed at but loved it.

We started the day with a sleep-in until 9am lled John's Place above in the thumbnail. The walls were covered in posters and signed photos from all sorts of music stars and sports people since the 50's and they have a music bingo 7 - 9pm every Monday. The breakfast was delicious and the place was jam e atmosphere was 

m here we headed ed in rs though a very nice and stately suburb.

Then it was off to Fort Rodd where we explored the Batteries constructed in 1895 and 1896 and used up until after the end of World War II. From here we trekked out to the Fisgard Lighthouse which was the fist lighthouse on the Canadian Coast and was manned until 1926 and is now a Museum as well as a lighthouse, It was great to be able to explore it.

A view across the bay to the Victorian Container Port. 

From here it was off to the world famous Butchart Gardens developed in the remains of a disused quarry. WOW!!!!! It was a spectacular display of colour, sculpture, alternating themes and luscious foliage of every colour and shape imagineable. It somehow seemed fitting to be in this lovely space on Normie's birthday, his Mum would have just loved it and oh so many of the flowers we saw we recognised from her gardens over the years. This is the first shot next to the car park .

A view of the Sunken Gardens.

One of many beautiful walkways.

The totem poles.

A shot in the Japanese Garden.

And another.

We decided to grab a look at the beach on our way back to the hotel and this is one shot in Oak Bay.

We also drove around in pursuit of some spectacular real estate in the Oak Bay Municipality and saw some crackers in the Uplands and Wedgewood Point areas. It seems weird to me to see such lush growth both in trees and flowers in a coastal area. This is not the best one by far but is more a shot of the ever patient Norm who said 'You just lead and go where you want' I think he regretted it by the end of the day.

We ended our day with the most delicious Chinese Dinner we have had in a long time and this is a shot of the Chinese gate / entry to Chinatown in Victoria and our restaurant is to the right of the gate.

Bits and Bobs:

Wihout doubt the prettiest trash bins I've ever seen. One guess where they are. 

We had a lot more low key day today after a big one yesterday and started by catching a ferry to Bainbridge Island instead of riding for a long time in suburbia to get to the same point. This is a view beside the ferry port as we left Seattle.

And a container port hard at work as we left.

We had a lovely ride though cool, rugged up a bit more and wound our way through dense leafy Forrest. Beautiful. One of the bridges we crossed. This is also a drawbridge but we didn't need to wait for any openings.

A view behind the ferry as we left Port Angeles and headed for Victoria.

We have been impressed at the level of green/ ivy, ground cover, gardens and wildflowers along the freeways but were blown away with how pretty Victoria is. This is a celebration of colour on a street corner.

And this is the entry to a market / foot street which again had lots of colour.

Bits and Bobs:

A couple of road signs we have seen today:

1. SLOW VEHICLES MAY USE SHOULDER DAYLIGHT HOURS ONLY. 

2. At the top of the hill / where the shoulder narrows - END OF SHOULDER NOW.

3. ILLEGAL TO HOLD UP 5 VEHICLES - USE SLOW VEHICLE TURN OUT.

All good options but as at home often the 'slow' vehicle driver doesn't consider themselves to be driving a slow vehicle. Ah well.

Mmm. A little bit of competition happening with photo opportunities.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Warwick Seattle Hotel, 401 Lenora Street, Seattle WA 

What a lovely welcome spot to pull into after a big day! Welcoming and helpful staff, lovely room and facilities. Generous and good quality amenities, comfortable bed, on site restaurant, food delicious, Yay. Internet and on site parking available at cost. Great feel to the place.

Well we have had a great 'ride day' with winding roads through dense forest and beautiful sweeping corners and little traffic until we got closer to Seattle this evening and then it was definitely FULL of traffic....very very SLOW traffic. A disappointing 'photo day' between the weather turning very foggy heading toward the coast and a big number of kilometres which needed to be covered to get to our destination. This one is of a group doing the rounds of the brewery's by pedal power last night (we dined at one which was yummy) and as they left Norm said 'Righto I want to see you blokes smoke em up when you leave' which got a laugh and one of the group asking something to which another of the group said 'you know, crocodiles, dingos'. Ha ha. 

And on our way back to the hotel this is Powells Books said to be the largest book shop in the world with new and secondhand books and books no longer in print, awesome. Could have spent hours here.

We decided we would like to see the Pacific Ocean from the east side and we didn't see much of it for the fog. This is part of the bridge (approximately 4kms long all up) which crosses the Columbia River at it's mouth. Huge areas of mud flats here, and signs along the highway saying 'Tsunami Hazard Area' I guess because of the fault line down the west coast, the high tides and the big mud flat areas. Once we were north of the bridge and heading inland I saw a sign saying 'Tsunami Evacuation route'. All a bit sobering really. After we crossed the bridge we had a choice to turn right to 'Dismal Nitch' or left on Highway 101 which we did, soon after we did there was a sign up to 'Point Disappointment', mate whoever named these places was having a bad day....or a foggy one like us. 

A bit further north we thought we would try and find some water and found a little fishing port at Ilwaco.

And beyond here the shore was spectacular with cedar trees right down to the shore and islands among the mud flats. Without the fog this would have been awesome.

Getting closer into Seattle we started seeing Mount Rainier in the distance but it was a struggle to get a shot so have settled for a combination work / scenic shot here.

We got in just after 7pm and after dinner headed out for a brisk walk.This is a reflection of one of the many apartment building's on our walk.

The mountain skyline across the inlet.

The Seattle Space Needle from directly underneath.

Last Night's Accommodation:

The Mark Spencer Hotel, 

Nicely maintained little hotel. Comfortable 'Junior Suite' but the two rooms made things a little cramped. Beautifully comfortable bed. Generous amenities. Included wifi (not sure about parking - didn't need it). Included continental breakfast and tea and coffee through the day as well as drinks in the evening. Guest laundry, staff really helpful and good value all round.

We had a lay back day today. Left the bikes to be serviced in a shop last night which was great of them. There had been a misunderstanding with the booking so they weren't booked in but they took them anyway. Phew, so all praise to Pro Caliber, 10703 NE 4th Plain Blvd, Vancouver WA www.procalibervancouver.com 

A quirky shot of a sculpture Norm came across today.

We slept in this morning, counted the achy bits (many and varied) then headed down for breakfast and to do some washing and upload the photos onto the blog since the internet wasn't behaving last night. This is a fountain Norm found along with some people cooling off in it.

I went and got my hair done this afternoon and Norm went in search of the 'Voodoo Donuts' store which is apparently world famous and he likes donuts. This is the store he found.

This is what he found around the corner when he went looking for the door and while he might have to queue for work purposes at times, he doesn't queue for fun so he kept walking.

And in Norm's travels he also found China Town.

The thumbnail shot is of Mount Hood which we spotted yesterday and loved that we were getting closer and closer as we retraced the steps of the emigrants. 

We headed out early and steadily climbed up into the Tygh Valley to retrace the trip of the emigrants on the Barlow Trail to Oregon City where they could register their land claims so even if they peeled off before that final destination if they wanted to claim their free land they had to somehow make their way to Oregon City to do that.The ride was through gently undulating to quite steep ascents and descents and sweeping corners with miles and miles of wheat ready to harvest until we got into the Mount Hood National Forest when the wheat was replaced with cedar forests. In sight of the forest we called in to see the White River Falls which were impressive.

This is a shot early in the day looking at Mount Hood from afar.

And one getting close to up close and personal as we trekked the Barlow Trail.

We enjoyed a deliciously cool and fragrant ride through the forest and decided to head to Timberline Lodge which we visited in 1998 when we were in Portland. Not surprisingly this is right on the timberline on Mount Hood and there were heaps of people visiting today including many people who were skiing and snow boarding. This time we climbed up the stairs to go in the front door, last time we walked in off the snow which was over 12 feet deep. This is one of a number of Lodges which were built after the great depression as a means of developing the infrastructure and giving a living wage to many people, craftsmen and artists who built and furnished the buildings. 

Check it out::

http://www.timberlinelodge.com/lodging/?keyword=hotel%20mt%20hood&gclid=Cj0KEQjwopOeBRC1ndXgnuvx8JYBEiQAq4RPtzva8S6z_5ofszE-1NrOzLcoezg2NXZv4_bV1QifbGMaAv1l8P8HAQ

We visited the final Oregon Trail Interpretive Centre in Oregon City which we had visited in 1998 which was where our interest started. We were intrigued to hear that the Centre was closed through the GFC and only been reopened for a year.

The map of the trail.

And the sign to make it official.

We caught up with an old friend Max Keogh who moved to the USA some years ago and told us where to find the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum where the 'Spruce Goose' is housed and having seen a documentary on it we headed off there and were blown away with the plane and the sheer scale of it.  Here we are under the wing of the huge timber plane.

One of the museum buildings. Wish we had  more time available to check out all that was on offer but we really only came to see the Spruce Goose. We could easily have spent all day there.

Check it out::  

http://evergreenmuseum.org/the-museum/aircraft-exhibits/the-spruce-goose/

Last Nights Accommodation:

Cousins Country Inn, 2114 West 6th Street, The Dalles, OR 97058

Good decor and well maintained building and surroundings, huge number of rooms in 4 separate buildings. No elevators but not a drama. Comfortable bed. Good sized room and good amenities. Included parking and wifi with a discount on biscuits and gravy in the morning, west country fare but not for us. On the outskirts of town but on-site saloon and full restaurant so no walking for dinner. Yay. Great food and good value as is the accommodation.

After collecting a tourist guide from the hotel we decided to strike out off the track to check out Pilot Rock. We were told it was impressive and a nice ride. It was a pleasant ride through open grassy hills with lots of sweeping corners and no trees to speak of so visibility clear for many corners in advance at times but instead of a Devils Tower type arrangement we expected to see, this was in fact Pilot Rock which a very forgetable town was named after.

o 

Not all for nothing, Norm spotted this sign which reminded him of the 'Indian Lake' song.

However.......the ride from here to Heppner and back into Lexington was an absolute blast! We climbed up and down mountains with magnificent sweeping views down valleys and threaded between great valleys with rugged rocky outcrops and found one switch-back after another. This 'No center stripe' sign intrigued me, surely the people who did paint the sign could have removed this and many others saying the same thing and then we came upon the truck doing the painting.Ha ha.

On top of the world and looking back down the valley on the way to Heppner.

We came across a collection of apparently abandoned timber barns and outbuildings. The big one literally built into the side of the hill. Clearly this is not in tornado alley or they would have disintegrated long ago.

The Heppner Court House. We thought it was abandoned with the barricade across the door but the cupola and clock has only recently been replaced after being repaired and they are still making sure it is secure before it is removed.

Main Street. It appeared to have been a grand town which has it's challenges as a lot of rural and regional towns here and at home have.

We headed back though Echo and Hermiston to cross the mighty Columbia River having been told it is a nicer ride on the Washington State side of the river. These are the bridges which cross the river at Umatilla and once we we crossed we found the temperature dropped when we were close to the water and the whitecaps on the river confirmed the wind was blowing across the water from the south which I guess explained that.

The ride was indeed spectacular with steep grassy hills with rugged rocky outcrops and cliff faces and the massive river winding it's way down on our left with an occasional vineyard and orchard as well. When we were in Portland in 1998 we were told the Columbia River discharges more water into the sea each year than the sum total of all rivers in Australia. Don't know if that is right but even if it is only close it's awesome. It is the border between the States of Oregon and Washington and makes the 'Mighty Murray' look a bit of a trickle between New South Wales and Victoria! We stopped at a quirky collection of buildings, bits and pieces and 'shame file yards' in Roosevelt and had a delicious burger and plank fries (huge). These were the 2 bikes there when we got there and ours.

These belonged to a group of friends heading east for 10 days on their first day out. Reminded us of the Tassie Tigers from the Traralgon Easyriders who went to Tasmania with us. Missing you guys and enjoying so many rides you would all love!

By the way, we had some rain spots and strong winds complete with black skies and lightening in the distance as we headed for The Dalles this afternoon and could see rain sweeping toward Mount Hood standing in all it's snow covered glory. It is snow covered all year but was shrouded in fog the whole time we were in Portland last time we were here so couldn't see it from a distance, only up close when we drove up to the Lodge where 'The Shining' was filmed. We enjoyed the weather cooling down soon after we got in this afternoon and heard on the TV weather a short time ago that it had cooled down to 102 F! 

It should also be said that the farther north we travelled the more we were grateful for the cloud / smoke cover. There have bee many wildfires in Washington State over the last week so reduced the sun penetration somewhat.

Even though we weren't right on the official 'Oregon Trail' we were pleased to see things honouring the emigration and the settling of the land we passed through with signs where we crossed trails as well as an Oregon Trail Library in Heppner and a Memorial with a wagon and a windmill in Lexington. Looked good.

Bits and Bobs:

A quirky stool (and company to chew the fat with) in The Dalles at our Inn.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Oxford Suites Pendleton, 2400 SW Court Place, Pendleton, OR 97801

Good decor and well maintained building and surroundings and an elevator tonight. Yay. Comfortable bed. Good sized room and good amenities. AC, swimming pool, gym, included parking, wifi, hot breakfast. On the outskirts of town so a bit of a hike to dinner so we ordered a pizza. Better than going back out in the heat so worked well.

We headed off for a short day's travel today which was just as well as the temperature was supposed to be very high 90's and ended up reaching 103 F. Felt like we were in an oven by the time we got in.

Our first stop not far up the mountain was at the Hilgard Junction State Park not far out of La Grande which was on a spot the emigrants travelled through. This must have felt wonderful for them to be in a pine forrest with grass underneath for the livestock. 

It felt good to be amongst the tall trees but it wasn't without it's trials for the emigrants, see the board we saw on site.

We peeled off the Interstate again to find the 'Deadman Pass' and we had also previousy read that because of the height and weight of the wagons with the centre of gravity so high that the wagons used to go straight up and down hills so they wouldn't tip over, hence the combination in the previous board rather than tackle hills on an angle less steep. The hills they encountered to descend the Blue Mountains were massive so we can well understand the name given to this area. This is a view from a lookout before we began to descend.

A view from Emigrant Road, also called Poverty Flat Road to Interstate 84.

And continuing down again and you can see the Interstate as it descends into Pendleton, also a good looking biker on his way down the Pass. Once we were down on the flat we were literally surrounded by miles and miles of golden wheat fields ready for harvest for as far as we could see all around us up until the surrounding mountains which seemed to totally surround us.

We enjoyed the Museum in Pendleton, they had a good coverage of the Oregon Trail emigrants but aso the growth and change in the Pendeleton area itself. This is a shot of a log cabin (and barn) moved from out of town. We were blown away to hear that the cabin had been lived in by the owner and his family until 1960, and then used for another 30 years as stockmans quarters. The part we enjoyed the most was of the changes emigration brought to the area with increasing agriculture and use of water with irrigation which led to the demise of salmon populations with the destruction of the flow for salmon to return to spawn. Local efforts have now overcome this providing salmon ladders where there are dams and allocating more water to maintain flows and the salmon are returnng and increasing. Well done!

And finally, this is a Railway Express Agency exhibit but we loved the timber seat at the front. Beautifully built and the shape was magnificent.

Two 'Must Sees' the hotel told us about which sounded good were the Underground and the Woolen Mills. Unfortunately the Underground which was litrally underground was where Chinese immigrants operated providing food and entertainment for earlier settlers. Sounded good to me, would have been cooler down there than above ground today but all tours were booked today and none tomorrow. Then we went to the Woolen Mills but found they don't have tours on the weekend. Ah well, we checked out the shop and bought some belts (see below). The Mill has been operating since 1910 and continues today. They use mainly American Indian prints which are beautifully colourful and as well have lots of beautiful cotton towells and rugs and lots of clothing, homewares and all sorts of decorator items as well as an outlet shop.They have branched out well to stay relevant. Good to see. Obviously have their patterns patented.

Another thing Pendleton is famous for is their Rodo, which was established the same year as the Woolen Mill so the area must have been doing well. This is in front of the Rodeo Centre.

Bits and Bobs:

A shot for my haidresser Jenny S, found this in the Pendleton Museum. Electric hair rollers from the past. Imagine carrying all that around in your car!

A quirky stool we found in a little local display where we watched a video of some awesome saddle work by an old guy who was recognised by the Smithsonian Institute as an Artisan. Can't take a shot of the saddles but can of the stool.

And a souvenir purchase for us both from the Pendleton Woolen Mill.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Best Western Plus Rama Inn & Suites, 1711 21st Street, La Grande OR

Good decor and reasonably well maintained building and surroundings. Comfortable bed. Good sized room and good amenities. AC, swimming pool, gym, included parking, wifi, hot breakfast. Walked a short distance for dinner. Staff very helpful. On the outskirts of town but handy to the interstate so suited us. No elevator so a lug up the stairs with cases.

The thumbnail shot is of a replica of the Old Fort Boise which looked okay from the outside but since it didn't open until 3pm and we were there at 10.30 am we didn't see inside.

In our efforts to stay off the Interstate we got a bit off the track and found the little town of Vale where we had a coffee. This is a shot along one of their main streets and you can see part of a mural to the right tracking the development of the area. The one you cannot see to the right is Chinese people on a gold site called El-Dorado Ditch, the next cattle men, the next more intensive farming / agriculture and the last sheep with their shepherd. Along the bottom are heaps of people in multiple national dress costumes so obviously a tribute to those who settled here from many other countries. Looked good. 

From here we headed back on track and checked out the Farewell Bend State Park where trails separated away from the Snake River and looking at the steep dry hills still looked like hard work to me. The only advantage I could see was a bit easier access to water and the sagebrush wasn't as prolific or as tall, which was apparently shoulder high when the emigrants made their way west. 

When we finally got to Baker City we discovered why some months ago when we tried to book a bed here we couldn't get one. The 'Hell's Canyon Motorcycle Rally 2014' was in full swing. This is an annual event. Here is a shot along one of the main blocks in town, motorcycle parking only. 

And another.

One thing they had there was a 'bike wash' named 'hog wash' since nearly all the bikes were Harley Davidsons and these were some of the girls I thought were doing the washing as they were at the site when we spotted it, turns out they were just walking through and turning lots of heads. A bit cheeky you might say. Lots of bike dealers there and some awesome prices offered. 

We checked out the Museum in Baker City which had a number of Oregon Trail artefacts and then headed for the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Centre just out of town at Flagstaff Hill. It was done really well with life size diarama's and lots of exhibits. This was a view from the site and the sandy trails are wagon ruts and there were many all around the area and clearly visible from up on the hill. This area is where the emigrants got their first site of the Blue Mountains in the distance letting them know that their long journey would soon end in the Willamette Valley.

Bits and Bobs:

By the time we got to Baker City we were both hot and grumpy and got some lunch as a priority. After we had lunch and were walking along the street looking at the bikes Norm said "Ah so that's where it landed", I asked him what he was talking about and he pointed to the above. Ha ha.

One for the Shame File (at most a third of what was there) on the Hell's Canyon Road Flagstaff Hill as we headed for the Interpretive Centre.

We saw a lot of bull at the Interpretive Centre.

Last Night's Accommodation:

Oxford Suites Boise, 1426 S Entertainment Avenue, Boise ID 83709

Very nice decor and well maintained building and surroundings. Comfortable bed. Good sized room and good amenities. Separate bath and shower. AC, included parking, wifi, nibbles and drinks in the evening, full hot breakfast. Walked next door for dinner, one of many choices close by. Staff very helpful. On the outskirts of town but handy to interstate so suited us. Slightly more expensive than the last couple of nights but still good value.