2018-07-14 Washington State Trip - Day 8

Jack and Amy's Trip to Washington State

Day 8 - Saturday, July 14th, 2018

Cap Sante Park Sunrise, Downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market,

Seattle Monorail, Seattle Center, Chihuly Glass Museum,

Pacific Science Center, Space Needle, Seattle Museum of Pop Art,

Discovery Park, West Point Lighthouse

Jack and Amy do the Tourist thing in Seattle Washington

For our last morning in Anacortes, I made one last trip to Cap Sante Park to capture the sunrise!

Sunrise from Cap Sante Park

 Sunrise from Cap Sante Park

Since this was a work trip for Amy, I had all week to do the things that I like to do.  So for our last day in Washington, I let Amy choose what she wanted to do.  So we decided to spend the day in downtown Seattle.

We started out at Pike Place Market.

Amy at Pike Place Market

From there we took the Monorail down to the Seattle Center which is the location of the 1962 Worlds Fair.

The Seattle Monorail

Amy on the Monorail

Amy has a fascination with Chihuly Glass, so we visited the Chihuly Glass Museum and Gardens.

The Chihuly Glass Gardens

 The Seattle Space Needle viewed from the Chihuly Glass Gardens

 Inside the Chihuly Glass Museum

 Amy at the Chihuly Glass Museum


We also visited the Pacific Science Center where took in a 3D IMAX movie.

 Getting Blown at the Pacific Science Center

 Inside the Pacific Science Center Butterfly House

This is the 3D IMAX movie we saw

 And we just couldn't visit Seattle and not go up to the top of the Space Needle!

Jack and Amy Space Needle Selfie

 Me inside the Space Needle Observation Deck

View from the Space Needle

It was a crystal clear day which supposedly is quite rare for Seattle, so I believe all 5 million people living in the Seattle Metropolitan area decided to head outside and swarm the city!

 Waiting for the Monorail to arrive

Since neither of us likes crowds, we had seen enough of downtown Seattle after our trip up the Space Needle!  Since we still had some time to kill, we decided to check out a couple of local parks including Discovery Park which on a clear day offers up some fantastic views of Mount Rainer.

view of Mount Rainier from Discovery Park

 view of Mount Rainier from Discovery Park

Discovery Park also contains the scenic West Point Lighthouse.

 The West Point Lighthouse at Discovery Park

Eventually we made it to the SeaTac airport where we witnessed one last Washington Sunset before heading home on the Red Eye!

 Sunset from the SeaTac Airport

We had an awesome week in Washington State!

My complete set of photos from our final day in Washington is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157671749571278

2018-07-13 Washington State Trip - Day 7

Jack and Amy's Trip to Washington State

Day 7 - Friday, July 13th, 2018

Cap Sante Sunrise, Deception Pass State Park

and various views of Mount Baker from Anacortes

View of Mount Baker from Anacortes

For today, I decided to return to Deception Pass State Park and hit some of the trails I didn't get to on Wednesday.  But first, I started out the day with another nice sunrise from Cap Sante Park!

Sunrise from Cap Sante Park

 Sunrise from Cap Sante Park 

Sunrise from Cap Sante Park 

My first hike of the day would be the Hoypus Hill area of Deception Pass State Park.  Much of this area is an old growth forest!

Deception Pass

 Cornet Bay

 Wildflowers along the trail

 The Slug Slough Trail

Giant Slug along the Trail

I also included a little side side detour to check out Ala Spit!

Ala Spit

Ala Spit

Ala Spit

Ala Spit

Rocks on a Bench - Ala Spit

Overall, I hiked about 12 miles.  Here is the GPS track from my main hike of the day.

 GPS Track - Hike #1

Click here for interactive link

For my next hike, I headed on over to a different area of Deception Pass State Park to hike the Pass Lake Loop, Ginnett Trail, and John Tursi Trail.

GPS Track - Hike #2

Click here for interactive link

Pass Lake

 View from the Trail

 View from the End of the Trail

Cool Mine Tunnel

The skies were crystal clear and I was really hoping to get an open view of Mount Baker, but this one was the best I got.

I was really hoping for a more open view than this!

So after my hike, I decided to take advantage of the clearest day of the week to find some good views of Mount Baker!

View of Mount Baker from Anacortes

View of Mount Baker from Anacortes

View of Mount Baker from Anacortes

View of Mount Baker from Anacortes

For Dinner, Amy and I decided to do some Restaurant/Bar Hopping.  We were told that we had to try the Clam Chowder at A'Town Bistro.  So we started there!

I have never paid $17.00 for a bowl of Clam Chowder before, but I have also never had Clam Chowder with about 2 dozen clams still in the shell!  This was more than enough for (2) people and probably the best Clam Chowder I ever had!   Well worth the $17.00!

Eating Clam Chowder at the A'Town Bistro

A perfect ending to our final evening in Anacortes!

Our hotel for the week - The Majestic Inn

The complete set of photos from Day 7 of our Washington Trip is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157696346230592

2018-07-12 Washington State Trip - Day 6

Jack and Amy's Trip to Washington State

Day 6 - Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Cap Sante Sunrise, Anacortes Community Forest Lands,
Whistle Lake, Heart Lake, Kiwanis Waterfront Park

Bastion Brewing Company and La Conner Brewing Company

An Owl hanging out in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands

For today's hike, I decided not to leave the island.  The Anacortes Community Forest Lands offers up over 50 miles of hiking trails which I decided to explore.

But first, a quick trip to Cap Sante Park for Sunrise!  A beautiful moment with just me and the Deer!

Cap Sante Park Sunrise

 Cap Sante Park Sunrise

Nice Rack!

 view of downtown Anacortes from Cap Sante Park

I decided to start my main hike of the day from the Whistle Lake Access with no definite route in mind.  Compared to my previous days hikes, the photo opportunities on this one were rather unexciting.  However, the trails were nice and well maintained which made for some very enjoyable hiking.

 Whistle Lake

 View from the Trail

 View of Sugarloaf Mountain

Heart Lake 

Heart Lake

Fishing on Heart Lake

Heart Lake

 Hootie!

I ended up hiking almost 15 miles.  Here is the GPS track of my hike.

GPS Track from my hike

Click here for interactive link

Afterward, I had a little bit of time before Amy was done with her work day, so I decided to check out the Kiwanis Waterfront Park which is about a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

 Kiwanis Waterfront Park

Eagle Art at Kiwanis Waterfront Park

Once I met up with Amy we decided to check out the town of La Conner, WA stopping at a few breweries along the way!

 Enjoying a flight at the Bastion Brewing Company

Amy at the Bastion Brewing Company

Enjoying a flight at the La Conner Brewing Company

 The La Conner Waterfront Area

Another Awesome Day in Washington State.

My complete set of photos from Day 6 is posted here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8146392@N05/albums/72157697838799931