Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time. TRIP REPORT

[DLfan4]

Day 7 - New Years Eve in my favorite city..... continued

We were spending New Years Eve (daytime) in my Favorite city..... San Francisco !! We drove up into San Francisco along the coast. (Skyline Blvd/ Upper Great Hwy).
We then took Point Lobos avenue along the coast, and passed The Cliff House.


We then drove through the Sea Cliff area, where there were beautiful homes, and then took Lincoln Blvd through the Presido towards our first destination, The Golden Gate Bridge. But as we got closer to the bridge, the area was blocked off, and there was no place to park. It was busy with lots of people! We didn't stop. We followed my cousin and he took us down Presido Parkway, we turned onto Crissy Field, then onto Mason. There was huge parking lot, with lots of places to park. ( i think it was free parking but i could be wrong). He was taking us to someplace called Torpedo Warf. It was not crowded, just a handful of people. Many of them fishing. We saw a man who was catching crabs off the pier.

But the best part of Torpedo Warf, was this view!!


And this view too :



After the bridge we we to our next destination, which was the Palace of Fine Arts. I LOVE this place, it is so beautiful. We parked on baker street and then walked around/through the Palace. The architecture is amazing.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 7 - New Years Eve in my favorite city..... continued

We then drove/toured through the city. We were going to drive down Lombard, if it wasn't too busy, but as we got close we noticed that the line up was blocks long. So we skipped Lombard. We went to park in a parkade on Beach. Then we walked down Jefferson /Embarcadero to this place:


We passed the Boudin Bakery, and they had this cute wreath made with bread dough:



We were headed to Pier 39:



We looked around at some of the shops. They have a neat store called Lefty's which carries all left-handed items. (for example a notebook with the coils on the right hand side ).
We went and saw the Sea Lions on the pier, stopped for some mini donuts at Trish's Mini Donuts and left the Pier.

There was going to be a New Years Eve party on the Bay with fireworks etc... so we wanted to get out of the area as it was getting very busy.
Leaving San Francisco we headed back to my cousins taking the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge to I580.

My cousin made delicious Chilli for dinner, and we had alot of snacks that we bought at Costco the day before, chatted and watched netflix. We were getting up early the next morning, so we celebrated New Years Eve @ Manitoba time (10:00 California time).
Where were we headed the next day (New Years January 1st)? stay tuned to find out.


Favorite part of Day 7 - Us spending New Years Eve with our Cousins. Showing my girls my favorite City, San Francisco. (Favorite place we visited was the Palace of Fine Arts.)

Favorite food of Day 7 - Cousin's Chilli was delicious. (favorite snack was the chocolate covered gummy bears we ate for New Years Eve)

My Tips and Lessons Learned -
- Park at Torpedo Wharf to get great views of the Golden Gate Bridge, lots of parking, and no crowds.
- try to do Lombard street earlier in the day.
- check the weather, and if its windy do not go to Santa Cruz, as the boardwalk will be closed.

 

[Jaina]

So much fun! My husband I visited San Francisco for our 10th anniversary a few years ago and had such an enjoyable trip! I don't remember if you said before; have you visited the Disney Family Museum at the Presidio? It was really cool!

 

[DLfan4]

So much fun! My husband I visited San Francisco for our 10th anniversary a few years ago and had such an enjoyable trip! I don't remember if you said before; have you visited the Disney Family Museum at the Presidio? It was really cool!

Hi Sara, No we have never been to the Disney Family Museum yet. There is just so much to do, we need another trip.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 8 - Drive to Seattle on New Years Day

We got up and said our good-byes to our Cousins, then head on our way out on the I5 about 8:00 am. We had a quick stop at McDonalds for some coffee to go.
As we past Sacramento, there were lots of orchards along the way.




Edit Post by DLfan4
We drove through Shasta State park.



I took many picture of Mt Shasta.






We stopped for gas at Yreka California, and picked up some fast food to go. We were getting close to Oregon.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 8 - Drive to Seattle on New Years Day..........continued

We entered Oregon about 12:30 . We run into a bit of fog along the way, there was an air advisory. But then it lifted. The drive was beautiful.



Near Valley Rogue State Park:




Near Sexton Mt Pass:



Near Myrtle Creek:





Just before Portland:




We stopped for Gas in Portland, and then stopped into a Fred Meyers (grocery store) and got a bunch of Healthy snacks. A tray of mixed berries, a tray of mixed melon slices, a tray of apple slices and a few boxes of crackers to nibble on.

I think we entered Washington state around 5:00.

We arrived at our friends house, in a community north of Seattle, around 8:00 pm. My friend "L" made us all some yummy homemade mini pizzas, and we sat around and chatted.

My Favorite part of Day 8 - Seeing our good friends in Seattle.

My Favorite food of Day 8 - The home-made mini pizzas

My Tips and lessons learned -
- Take lots of pictures along the way, and tag or name the pictures with the location.
- Getting fresh fruit trays for snacks is a great healthy option.

 

[DLfan4]

FYI: For those of you who have been following my trip report. I just edited my Day 1 entry and Day 2 entry to add "My Favorite part,My Favorite Foods, and Hints and Tips" section for those 2 days.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 9 - Visit Seattle

We got up and our friend "L" made us a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and sausage patties. After breakfast the kids played ping pong, while the adults went for a walk with the dog around the neighborhood. We then headed out to downtown /waterfront Seattle. We parked in the Pike Place parkade.


Our first destination was the Space Needle. But to get there from our parkade, we wanted to take the Arweg Monorail. So we walked to the West Lake Station and purchased an all-day pass for the Monorail. We rode the monorail to the Space Needle.


It was busy, but not overcrowded. We were able to get in right away. We headed straight to the top floor. The top floor has an outside deck. There are glass partitions that lean at an angle, and glass benches to sit on. When you sit and lean on the bench you lean back. It is a bit scary leaning back.

The glass partitions and glass bench:



The views from this outdoor deck are breathtaking. The deck rotates around the Space Needle, but it is very slow. We walked around the deck to take picture from every view. Seattle is a very pretty city.








Then we went to the lower deck. This deck has a glass floor!! I was a chicken and it took me awhile to step onto the glass floor. The kids had to convince me to step onto the floor. But once i did i was glad, it was a pretty cool view.



Then we went back down the glass elevator to the main level. They had a huge gift shops. We spent alot of time looking around. DH got himself a keychain, the both DD1 and DD2 got a Space Needle pin each. I realized that I had not yet bought myself anything from the trip, so I looked for something to buy, and I found a really nice dressy type of short sleeved shirt.

There was also a free Virtual Reality experience. It was a Virtual Reality Bungee Jump off the Space Needle, so the kids all got inline to do that.

Then we headed out of the Space Needle and back to the Monorail. Beside the Monorail station there was a cute popcorn cart, so "L" bought a couple bags of popcorn for all of us to share, then we headed onto the Monorail station back to downtown/waterfront.

We got off the Monorail at the West Lake station again, and saw a store called Candy Tyme. it had alot of bulk candy, and you pay-what-it-weighs. They also had a bunch of neat candy to purchase as well, including some Harry Potter Candy. We bought a couple bags of bulk candy ( our bag had mostly chocolates, our friends had mostly gummies).

.


We then headed to our next destination in Seattle. Where did we go next? stay tuned to find out.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 9 - Visit Seattle ....Continued.

After the Space Needle and the Monorail back, we headed to the famous Pike's Place Market. This is a huge farmers market with yummy Fresh Fruit, beautiful plants, Fresh Fish & Seafood, gift shops and more.




We shopped around a bit, checking out the market.



At one of the Fish Markets you "catch your own fish". When you go to buy a fresh fish, they have a routine where they throw the fish at the customer, who "catches" their own fish. When we were there there was a lady who did this.






My friend "L" was planning on buying a fresh salmon for dinner, and cooking it on the BBQ for us tonight. YUM! But, instead we all decided to go somewhere to eat. Where did we go? stay tuned to find out.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 9 - Visit Seattle ....Continued.

Next we left Pikes place market and headed to The Miners Landing. Miners landing is the pier that has the giant ferris wheel at the pier. They also have some shops and restaurants.









We had told our friends how much fun we had at The Kick'en Crab, and said it would be fun to do that with them. Our friend "G" told us there was a place similar at the Pier down the street at Miners Landing.
We were headed for a late lunch/early supper at The Crap Pot.


This is a full service restaurant. They have lots of seafood and non seafood plates. But we were there for the Seafood Boil.


We ordered 2 orders of the "Westport" seafood boil to share. (Dungenous crab, Snow crab, Shrimps, Clams, Mussels, sausage, Potatoe and Corn cobs. ) As well everyone ordered a bowl of Clam Chowder, and the kids also ordered an order of Calamari and fries to share.


The seafood boil was good, but not as good as the one at the kick'en crab. I think the main difference was that the kick'en crab boil came in a bag with lots of this yummy sauce, where the Crab pot was on the dry side. Needed the sauce!

Besides the spoons for the soup, we didnt get any cutlery. We just received a wooden board, and a wooden mallet to crack the claws. We had fun sharing the meal with our friends.


After our meal, we went to the "2nd most germiest place in the world". Where is that? Stay tuned to find out.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 9 - Visit Seattle ....Continued.

We went to Post Alley, which is an alley behind Pikes's Place Market.



Why did we go to Post Alley? We went to see their famous landmark, The GUM WALL. Yes you read that right, GUM WALL. This Gum Wall was at one time listed as the "2nd more germiest tourist spot in the world." (only second to the Blarney Stone). While this may be the germiest, because of all the colors, it actually is kind of pretty. It has been used a a backdrop for many weddings over the years. The Gum Wall was also was featured in the move "Love Happens" with Jennifer Aniston.










After that we walked around and took some pictures of the city, and found the original ! ....... The original what you ask? stay tuned to find out. ( hint hint What is Seattle known for)

 

[DLfan4]

Day 9 - Visit Seattle ....Continued.

We walked around and took some pictures of Seattle. It is a very beautiful city.


We found an antique store and checked it out.


We stopped at a Starbucks and got some coffees/iced coffee. There was no line-up at this location
Then as we were walking down the street from Pike Place Market back to our car my friend "L" took us to the Original !



This sign still has the original logo on it. This place was Packed! I am glad we got our Starbucks Coffees at the other location instead. But it was very cool to take pictures with our Starbucks coffees in front of the original location.


Then we headed back to our friends place. We were still full from The Crab Pot meal, so we just has some snacks and played some games. It was a fun night.

My Favorite part of day 9 - The Space Needle. The views were amazing.

My Favorite food of day 9 -The breakfast our friends made us was great. but We also enjoyed The Crab Pot.

My hints and tips from day 9
- Take the monorail to the space needle. Get a full day pass so you can ride to and from. Its fun and you dont have to worry about parking at the space needle.
- While the Space Needle is pricey, it is worth the price IMO, especially is this is your first visit to Seattle.

 

[DLfan4]

The next day (Day 10) is our last day and Seattle, and our last real day of the vacation, as Day 11 and Day 12 we are driving home. So what did we do on our last full day in Seattle? Stay tuned to find out.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 10 - Mukilteo and more

We had breakfast at our friends place and then drove north to the city of Mukilteo. Mukilteo is a located on Puget sound, and is directly across from Whidbey Island.

We were planning a hike on the Japanese Gulch. We parked our cars on the side street near the Japanese Gulch South trailhead, at the Mukilteo Community Gardens.
For more information , and the history of the Japanese Gulch trail visit:
https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/japanese-gulch



It was a great day for a walk. The Japanese Gulch trail was beautiful. We took alot of great pictures.














We did the trail all the way to Lower Japanese Gulch trailhead. Then we walked down Mukilteo lane toward the Ferry terminal.



We were getting cold and hungry, so we decided to go have some lunch, and had the best fish and chips ever! where did we go? stay tuned to find out.

 

[Jason2015]

Ivar’s?

I’ve enjoyed your trip report and it’s been fun seeing the Seattle part as I’ve moved to the Eastside a couple years ago.

 

[DLfan4]

Ivar’s?

I’ve enjoyed your trip report and it’s been fun seeing the Seattle part as I’ve moved to the Eastside a couple years ago.

YES. Ivar's in Mukilteo.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the trip report.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 10 - Mukilteo and more... continued


After the hike we were cold, tired and hungry. We decided to stop for lunch at the famous Ivar's Mukilteo Landing Restaurant.






They have an outside take out section and a nice table service restaurant inside. We went inside to eat and were given a table by the window, which was great.
We all got either a bowl of clam chowder or Fish n' chips. I ordered the Fish n' chips, but asked it there was any other alternate for the chips. They offered me sauteed spinach. The fish was the best deep fried fish we ever had. Very tasty and extreamly juicey/moist. The sauteed spinach was tasty, but everyone said the chips were also great. I was cold and ordered an Ivars coffee, which was a coffee with whiskey and some baileys, it was very tasty. The meal was excellent and the staff were very friendly.
Ivars menu can be viewed here: https://www.ivars.com/locations/mukilteo-landing






The view from our table was great. We got to see Puget Sound, and Whidbey Island in the distance, and also got to watch the Ferry come and go right outside out window.







We also made some new friends. However our new friends were a bit rude and stared at us the whole time while we ate, especially that one on the left. lol.



We toured the waterfront area a bit more after we ate. Stay tuned for some pictures of Mukilteo.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 10 - Mukilteo and more... continued

After lunch the moms and kids went sightseeing, and the dads hopped on a bus and went back to get the cars.

While we waited for the dads we checked out the Mukilteo Lighthouse park and Mukilteo beach.
The light house was closed, so we could not go in, but we were able to tour the grounds.












Then we walked along the beach and picked up some seashells. It was a windy day, so we were surprised to see Kayakers and windsurfers out.




Once the dads came back with the cars, we headed back to Ivars to the take-out window. Some had hot chocolate and some had ice cream.

On the way back to our friends place they took us on a tour of the area that they live in.

Our friend's neighbour came by to meet us. We all played cards and talked, and the kids played some games.

We were tired, but the kids had one more place they really wanted to go that day. Where did they want to go? Did we go or did we stay home? Stay tuned to find out.

 

[DLfan4]

Day 10 - Mukilteo and more... continued

Back at our friend's house, they made us an amazing BBQ'd steak dinner. Yum.

Our friend's girls still had 1 more item on their list of things they wanted to do with our girls on our visit. They wanted to go swimming at a salt-water pool. So after dinner we headed to Bothell Washington. We were heading to someplace our friends called "Anderson School". So thought at first it was going to be a school with a pool in it.


But we were actually going to "McMenamins Anderson School" which is a Resort that used to be a Junior high school, that was converted into a fancy Resort with hotel, pool, movie theatre, Brewery, live music shows and many restaurants and bars.



The salt water pool is in a seperate building and is called "North Shore Lagoon swimming Pool".


The kids paid $6 each use the pool since we were not from Bothell. However, Hotel guest and any resident of Bothell can swim here free of charge.
The pool has a Tropical theme, and even has a Tiki Bar on the 2nd floor, that has a room where you can overlook the pool.

The Pool is inside the building, however, it is considered an "outdoor" pool. The reason is because the windows do not have any glass ( they are open air) and the skylights do not have any any glass ( open to the sky).


Because it is "outside', we parents actually kept our jackets on. The kids said the water was super warm. They loved the pool!!
While the kids were swimming it started to rain down onto them(from the skylights) in the pool. They thought that was cool.



While the dads stayed and watched the kids, the moms went to tour the resort.

I LOVED the tiki bar on the floor above the pool. The decor was very cool.

This room overlooks the pool area:




This light is part of the bar and is made from a vine:
\


We then walked around the resort. There were mutliple buildings, and each were a different resturant, bar or a theatre. They had patios with fire pits in a pretty courtyard. it was a very cool place.



For more information on the North Shore Lagoon pool, and the Anderson School resort :
https://www.mcmenamins.com/anderson-school/north-shore-lagoon-swimming-pool

After swimming for about 1.5 hours it was time to go home. We went to bed right away as we were leaving early the next morning.



Favorite part of Day 10 - For the Adults the hike on the Japanese Gulch; For the kids the North Shore Lagoon pool.

Favorite food of Day 10 - The Steak dinner at our friends house was amazing. And Ivars fish was the best fish we ever had.

My hints and tips from Day 10 -
- if you plan to hike the trail, park at the south end, then take a bus back from the north end.

 

[Jaina]

How interesting! I've never seen an indoor/outdoor pool like that!