Gay dads 🌈 😎
Saying farewell to Diana and Gordon (for now) at the Pinnacle Hotel, Ben, Alex and I head across town in a newly acquired Jeep. It’s a newer model than the one we had for camping with a giant screen in the front, though it does not have an extendable tent on the roof 🤷🏻♂️
We make our way over to meet Ben (another one) and Jen, a couple that Ben and Emma met on a skiing holiday many moons ago. We pick them up, along with the kids and we’re on the road heading back towards the USA. Alex and Emma travel with Ben and Jen while it’s the rest of the boys in the big Jeep.
There isn’t much to report along the way, Ben and I have a good catch-up while the boys mostly behave themselves in the backseats. Emma helpfully messages from the car ahead that Ben and I look like a couple of gay dads with our matching sunglasses, cruising along in our Wrangler. I think she’s just jealous of us riding in the cool vehicle!
Having ignored the sign in the car rental shop that read “Don’t cross into the USA” we’re slightly nervous about crossing the border. Anxiety levels increase as we’re told to pull over for further processing. Luckily it’s nothing to do with the car and more to do with the complications of where we’re from and where we have travelled in the last few weeks. With a surprisingly joyful border guard helping us through the process, we relax and are soon across the border back into the US of A.
Our Airbnb for the night is literally just across the border. Emma has a quick joyride in the Jeep, and I have a quick game of table tennis with Matti before being summoned to the kitchen. After a few hours in the car and only a small lunch, a few hangry bears have appeared, so Alex, Jen and I head out to the nearest supermarket.
We return with handfuls of pizzas, snacks and beers while excitedly being told we HAVE to see the ‘bunker’! It’s hard to describe the utter madness that exists underneath this lovely and normal looking house. That is until you descend down into the depths. It’s a labyrinth of corridors, doors – some of which are locked and have strict instructions not to open them; some of them are giant metal blocks like the vaults in a bank, huge areas for passing the time while the bombs drop, and some rather questionable rooms that look like something straight out of The Silence of the Lambs. Strange to think what would convince someone to build a shelter like this. According to a video shared by the owners, they built it all single handedly in fear of a devastating war that never came. It’s super creepy but the boys love it and get lost in the corridors and tunnels like a giant game of hide and seek.
New Frontiers
In the morning, after a few more games of ping pong and a big breakfast, it’s back on the road again. Ben has discovered that the roof can be detached from the Jeep and to the boys delight they can travel with the roof off today. We continue our journey south and stop for lunch at an old frontier town called La Conner.
After lunch we have a bit of a wander around the small town. Ben and Jen buy a washing powder that apparently lasts for a whole year… They somehow find a way to make this two hour trip each year to top up on this magical washing powder, it must be good! A few of the group get ice creams, including huckleberry flavour, and it’s a race against time to eat them before they turn to liquid on this warm afternoon. Alex opted out of buying an ice cream but is delighted to polish off all of the unfinished treats from the others. Buzzing with sugar, we explore an art gallery and then a giant antiques shop selling all sorts, from a Zoltar fortune teller machine to vintage Playboy magazines!
We hop back in the cars and drive across to Fidalgo island. Here we take a short hike to a stunning viewpoint where we can see many islands, some of which are in the US and others belong to Canada. Slightly confusing geographically but it makes for a great view. I teach the boys how to make a cairn from loose rocks with relative success.
Our accomodation this evening is the appropriately named Auld Holland Hotel, featuring a large windmill on the roof and various other Dutch paraphernalia. The rest of the group go for dinner in the nearby Mexican restaurant, but Alex is feeling a little poorly so we stay in the room watching a marathon omnibus of The Office, and eating the leftover pizza from the night before.
Ferry and fog
Our journey today involves crossing the Puget Sound (a fancy name for a bit of water left behind by a glacier) over to the mainland. The geography is pretty wild around here, worth a look on Google Maps, search for Port Townsend to see what I mean. We have not reserved a space on the ferry and with a warning that it could take up to six hours to find a space on one we nervously set off. There isn’t any room on the first ferry we see but luckily they think they can get us onto the next one. We have some time to kill so we explore the nearby beach and hunt for crabs under the rocks, play the shuttlecock game from Vietnam and even bring out Wilson the beach ball for some keepy uppy. Matti throws himself around all over the sandy beach desperate to keep the ball in the air, you have to admire the dedication. It’s soon time to board the ferry and we spend most of the short journey surrounded by fog, eerie!
Port Townsend is another town full of character. Originally built with the intention of being the main port in the North West it had to reinvent itself and is now a bustling tourist attraction. I’m sure the ferry route has massively helped keep this place going. We find a nice spot for lunch overlooking the waterfront while helicopters, boats and planes dart around.
After a good look around the place we divide and conquer. Alex and I will go with BenJen to the supermarket to stock up for a night of spag bol, homemade garlic bread and wine. While BenEmma will entertain the kids and meet us at the hotel. Ben W has found another amazing hotel, this time by the waterfront at Potlatch. We settle in to the spacious rooms and get ready to relax. Only then do we notice the advertised ‘kitchenette’ is infact just a microwave and a coffee machine. It might be difficult to cook a spag bol for 8 people with just a microwave and no crockery. There’s a brief panic before we remember how resourceful we can be in times of desperation. We hunt around the property for anything else we can use, and finding a communal room with an electric hob and one giant pot we know we’ll be able to cook something up! Through a lot of scavenging, innovation, borrowing and begging we somehow end up able to throw together a pretty decent spag bol. Eaten on borrowed plates and with disposable cutlery I’m reminded WAS a good idea to carry around for weeks on end!
Some of the group are brave enough to go for a swim in the chilly water, Alex and I have had quite enough of that and instead watch from the shore. There’s a beautiful sunset and we can spot otters (or seals we’re not sure) pottering about in the water. Afterwards we have a few games of cards and polish off whatever booze we had left.
Sleepless in Seattle
Our destination this morning is the big city of Seattle. We arrive to the deafening sound of fighter jets flying over our heads, the already loud sound of sonic boom amplified by the many tall buildings around us. We say our goodbyes to Ben and Jen who are not only kind enough to drive the Jeep all the way back up to Vancouver, but offer to host us for the final night of our trip in a couple of weeks time.
Alex and I head over to check-in at our dodgy motel in close proximity to the airport. The man behind the counter immediately treats us with suspicion and says our booking was canceled. Great. In fact our initial booking attempt was automatically cancelled and we rebooked instantly. But they’ve perceived it that we’ve cancelled three times… Long story short after a bit of faffing around they say they’ll “sort something out” and we nervously leave our bags behind the counter. While all of this is going on there’s an argument between the receptionist and a guest about the room smelling of smoke, she (missing the point entirely) says it isn’t smoke but just “a lot of weed”. We can’t wait to come back later on for what is bound to be a wonderful night’s sleep 🤔
Leaving that chaos behind us, we rejoin BenEmma and their boys and head into the heart of Seattle and what’s it’s most famous for… The Needle. Though as we noticed upon driving into the City, the once super tall Needle is now dwarfed by the myriad of skyscrapers built in recent years. Once again there are some hangry bears amongst us so Ben and I try our first McDonald’s in America. I must say it’s quite disappointing, over £10 for a very average burger and fries with a drink. Like a lot of things recently, the price has shot up while the quantity and/or standards remain the same. I do however get to try root beer for the first time and quite like it, despite the similarity to the taste of toothpaste. At this point, Alex, Ben and I head to the Museum of Popular Culture and spend a couple of hours perusing the exhibitions of music, Seattle culture, sci-fi and fantasy.
After the museum we regroup with BenEmma and the boys. Alex and Emma are keen to take the elevator up the Needle and check out the view from the top. Having seen a similar view in Tokyo for free, I pass on paying nearly $50 to repeat the experience. Ben and I take the boys to a nearby playground and are quite entertained watching them climb and scramble up the nets and ladders which look far too big for them!
Once the girls are done checking out the views from the Needle, Ben and his family head to their dodgy motel while Alex has one more tourist attraction to cover. The glassworks by the artist Chihluy, over to some pictures to explain why…
Finally after a long day of touristing we take the monorail back across town to our motel. They have found a room for us and after a quick bite to eat at Denny’s diner we see what kind of room awaits us. It’s not as bad as feared, with a 2.3/5 rating on Google we feared the worst. It is very basic and not overly clean considering the $95 per night fee but it’s fine, and the proximity to the airport is the main reason we booked it. We have to get up at 5am and I don’t think either of us sleep particularly well… But now it’s finally time for the luxury part of our trip with Princess cruises land and sea tour!
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Adventure – Creating a spag bol with a few challenges. Road trip with friends and family.
Excitement – Getting to visit Seattle, cool place. Playing on the beach while waiting for the ferry. Fighter jets roaring above us in Seattle.
Trauma – Motel from hell. Alex feeling a bit worse for wear.
1 Comment
Good times. Lovely photos and account of our little mini adventure 😍