Portland

Jul 29th. Sunday is a day of rest so I am leaving the car where it is parked and going on a wandering tour around Portland. I head to see Chinatown (well the gate actually) and then head to the market at the waterfront where I sample a local 'delicacy' - Elephant Ears (Actually like a flat doughnut type batter with stuffings put inside - nice and healthy yum). After that I head to the heart of the city - Pioneer Square which has an old courthouse as the centre which is now surrounded by shopping centres. After that I head across the river to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Invention) where there is an old submarine that you can have tours around - quite cool actually and some of The hunt for Red October was filmed inside the torpedo room. After that I head to the cinema to see Sunshine which is a cool film and then generally relaxed for the rest of the day. It is Sunday after all.

More Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

Carrying on into the Gorge, I check out Horsetail falls and then hike up to Ponytail falls which is cool as you can walk behind it. I have a look at Bonneville dam and a bridge along the river but am getting a bit tired. The final stop is the spectacular Wahcleela falls which is probably the most dramatic falls with the volume of water going over it.
Pictures (Left) Ponytail falls, (Right) - View from behind the falls, (Bottom) Wahcleela falls

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls

First up is the Bridal Veil falls which is quite a nice 2 tiered falls, then next is the huge Multnomah falls - the top tier is 500 odd feet and there is a great bridge over the bottom section. It is impossible to get all the falls in a photo and there is a hike to the top of the falls as well which I do but the view is a little disappointed - I guess I have been spoilt recently but I wanted to look directly down the waterfalls like at Yosemite.
Pictures (Left) - Bridal Veil falls, (Right) - Multnomah falls, (Bottom) - View from the top of Multnomah falls - cool

Columbia River Gorge

Jul 28th. I leave the drop outs behind and head towards Portland - before I check in to where I am staying, I am going to carry on east from there and drive into the Columbia River Gorge along America's first scenic highway. The road heads up onto the side of the gorge giving great views - shame the weather is overcast - at least it isn't raining. Along the gorge are lots of waterfalls, a dam, fish hatchery and various State parks. It will keep me busy for the rest of the day at least and then I get Sunday off from driving which will suit me down to the ground.

The Goonies

After cruising up the Oregon Coast, I find myself in Astoria which is at the mouth of the Columbia River. There isn't a lot to this town but one major fact. The legendary kids film 'The Goonies' was filmed in this place. I remember the film from when I was young and can remember some of the scenes around town. I go and have a look at the house that they lived in which is up a hill and there is a cross bridge where 00-negative does his death slide thing from. Cannon beach where I was earlier was also the setting for where the Pirate ship sails from. The place I am staying (last minute thing as where I wanted to stay was full) appears to be a flop house where strange people live. Can't wait to get to Portland where I am staying in a proper hostel. At least I have a TV to amuse myself - the local cinema is still showing Pirates of the Carribean 3.

The Oregon Coast

I carry on up the Oregon coast and check out the many places to see as I go. I head up Cape Perpetua for some spectacular views of the coast and also have a stroll through a spruce forest. The sun is out and it is a nice temperature as well, I carry on up the coast and stop at various overlooks and head to Cannon beach - a popular holiday destination with the locals but also pretty spectacular as it has some large rock formations just off the beach as well - the largest of which is called Haystack rock. I take my flip flops off and wander on the sand to take a closer look at the rock - it is home to lots of bird life who sit on the rocks. After this I head north to Astoria where I am staying for the night. There is a cool 4 mile bridge here which crosses the Columbia river into Washington state.

Sea Lion Caves

Jul 27th. I head up the Oregon coast today and the first stop is to see what is meant to be the biggest sea cave in the world and there is a sea lion colony there as well. There are quite a few on the rocks outside making quite a racket (and smelling of fish) and then I descend the elevator!! to the cave. It is not the greatest view point but there is some sea lion action on the rocks but taking photos is hard as no flash photography is allowed (don't want to scare the fishy smelling dudes). The coast line itself is cool - very rugged and rocky - felt a little like NZ for a moment.

Eugene

Well after my day on the volcano I drive a long way south to where I am staying in Eugene - A small student town in Oregon. The place I am staying is meant to be OK during the summer months but when it is slow it gets taken over by locals who need somewhere cheap to stay long term. Shame that there appeared to be no travellers there, only some hippie types who seemed a bit odd. Thankfully it is only a pit stop so I got out of there as soon as I could (and unscathed).

Random Animal Pictures #52

Chipmunk munching on a leaf in Mt St Helens NP.

Mount St. Helens

Jul 26th. I head south from Seattle and drive down the Interstate till I get to the turn off for the active Volcano called Mt St Helens. This volcano is actually in the process of erupting at the moment but not in a dangerous way. It is the site of a massive eruption in 1980 though which blew off the top and side of the mountain. Click here for more info and pictures of the eruption and what it looked like before. The weather isn't looking good as it is really cloudy so I wasn't expecting much but as I ascended up to the Johnson Ridge observatory I suddenly get above the clouds and the first glimpse of the volcano is fantastic. The thing that strikes me is the devastation that still abounds here and also the regeneration as well. It is a fantastic landscape and the power of the eruption was enormous. I watch the very informative film at the observatory and head out on a trail to get a better view of the Swift Lake. The lake is much changed now and is still full of logs from the landslide (The biggest landslide in human history) when the mountain blew itself up.
Pictures (Left) - The Volcano - note the steam at the top is from the current eruption, (Right) Look closely at the trees that were blown down like matchsticks on a ridge higher and about 6 miles from the blast, (Bottom) Swift Lake as it stands today - the logs are scattered in it

Seattle

Jul 25th. Today is my full day to soak up everything Seattle has to offer. I t is a really cool city with a great atmosphere - the only down side to the place is that it is responsible for Starbucks. I think the place has more coffee shops than I have ever seen before and people wander the streets with their Moca Choca Latte Frappacino's or whatever they are called. Anyway - I head to the iconic building of Seattle, The Space Needle - It isn't particularly big but still looks cool - I head to the top (the elevator is on the outside which is great for Vertigo sufferers but the views on the top are cool. The city is quite compact and you can see the sounds and also mountains nearby. The best view is of downtown as you can see Mt Rainier in the background. I then head to the Science Fiction Museum which is actually quite good and has some cool stuff in it - a lot of costumes worn in various movies/TV series - my favourite was Greedo from Star Wars - Legend. I then have a wander into the market area and the harbour front followed by the shopping districts. I decide to go and watch a film - Sicko by Michael Moore - excellant and well worth watching. The evening is spent eating a big burrito and relaxing. Shame I am not staying here for longer although I am coming back for 1 night before heading to Canada.
Pictures (Left) - The Space Needle, (Right) - View of downtown with Mt Ranier just visible in the haze, (Bottom) - The Sci Fi museum

Heading to Seattle

Jun 24th. It is time to say goodbye to San Francisco, I drive to the airport and drop off my rental car - it has served me well over the 22 days I have had it. The mileage total is 3700 miles - not bad considering I did very little or no driving on certain days as well. I check in and then head off to the security gate where my bag causes some puzzled looks from the X-ray person. I had left some groceries that I didn't use up in it so I had to give up a tin of tomatoes and one of tuna as well (possible blunt instrument?). A major loss was the tub of Vegemite which I may not be able to replace as well in the US. I did manage to remember to hold up my shorts when I took off my belt although I was tempted to waddle through the metal detector with shorts around my ankles as my belt had to be X-rayed. Even my flip flops had go through the X-ray machine as well. Anyhow, I boarded the flight and as we were approaching Seattle there was a majestic sight - Mount Rainier is enormous and is Volcano standing on its own and covered in snow and towering above the clouds.

San Francisco Giants 2 - Atlanta Braves 4

I got myself a ticket to see the San Francisco Giants at one of the best ballparks in the US - A T&T park which is right on the harbour side. The main reason for coming was to see Barry Bonds who is about to make history by breaking Hank Aaron's home run record. He is a controversial guy and was implicated in the BALCO drugs scandal but has never tested positive. Anyway there was a special atmosphere here - Bonds needs 2 to tie the record. Every time he went to bat everyone stood up and the atmosphere was electric and you could feel the buzz and anticipation. It was really great to be there although Bonds went 1-3 with a walk and no home runs, it was a decent game. I was sat next to some people from Virginia - Val and Casey with their 20 month old boy Reilly who was determined to get me to wear his mums watch and his dads watch at the same time and was pointing out all the flashbulbs and fireworks in the distance as well as the birds. Pictures (Left) - Overview of the park as the sun sets, (Right) - Bonds at bat with John Smoltz pitching, (Bottom) - Scoreboard.

Angel Island

After escaping from Alcatraz, I continue with a tour around Angel Island which is the largest island in the Bay. It is now a nature reserve but used to be a big army base and has some really old Civil war buildings on it as well as gun batteries but there to protect the harbour. There were some quite good views from around the island and there are quite a few deer there as well. The picture is of a neighbouring island with the small touristy town of Sausalito in the distance.

Random Animal Pictures #51

Seagulls enjoying the breeze by Alcatraz. Zoom in to get a good look at the picture - nice action shot.

Random Animal Pictures #50

Mum and chick Seagull. Growing up on Alcatraz must be a tough start to life.

Cell Block Tour

Some pictures from the Cell blocks themselves. Left - Prison Row, Right - The cell that the prisoner escaped from using spoons to widen the grill. Bottom - The kitchen - note the special rack to make sure the knives were all accounted for (wonder why!)

Escape from Alcatraz

Jul 23rd. One of the reasons for staying a bit longer in SF than I originally intended was to get to go to Alcatraz and see the infamous prison island of Alcatraz - Home to such notable prisoners as Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. The tours are massively oversubscribed so I did well getting one. The island itself sits menacingly in the centre of the bay only 1/4 of a mile from SF harbour. The prison itself is really run down and is home to 5000 seagulls as there are no predators there. Walking around the island gives an insight into the place and what it must of been like when it was a prison - Being able to look over the harbour and see all the landmarks of SF just there but unreachable is torture in itself. I take an audio tour around the cell block and hear about escape stories, ex prisoners and some of the events that took place. There were only ever 3 escapees from the place as detailed in the Clint Eastwood film 'Escape from Alcatraz'. It is believed that the men drowned though and no trace of there bodies was ever found. The mugshot of Al Capone is amusing - he looks like Danny DeVito after snorting helium. His brain was rotted by syphillis by this time. A spooky and eerie place.
Pictures (Left) - View of the island just as we are about to dock, (Right) - The Welcome sign, (Bottom) - The lighthouse and US flag tower over the island.

Bringing Fiji Time to San Francisco

Jul 22nd. Talk about the power of the facebook community, A friend Petra from Austria who I met at Octopus in Fiji saw that my status said 'Sitting in a laundromat in San Francisco' and she just happened to be in SF as well so we managed to meet up on the 21st for dinner and drinks and then have a nice relaxing day together bringing the fabled 'Fiji Time' to the US. I have to say I had a hangover from the carafe of wine from dinner the night before and couldn't eat my breakfast so taking things slowly and not doing much certainly appealed. We had a wander around the farmers market at the Wharf and got some supplies for a picnic which we had at Golden Gate park. Then we went to check out the bridge which unfotunately was shrouded in mist but we drove over it to Sausalito which is a little touristy town on the other side and wandered around the place and had some ice cream. By the time we got back to the bridge we had jaw dropping views of the bridge bathed in sunshine which was fantastic. After this we went on a mission to find a Mission Burrito (Mission is the latino district in SF). We found a place which had a couple of mexican guitarists outside which is always condusive to getting a good Burrito and we weren't disappointed. The cost and size of it were fantastic too. After waddling back to the car it was time for a final cocktail at a swanky bar before Fiji time was declared officially over.
Pictures (Left) - Slightly foggy golden gate, (Right) - Sunny golden gate

Don't Do it

At various points there are emergency phones on the bridge and signs to try and stop people jumping. There are quite a few around the half way point of the bridge just in case someone changes their mind.

The Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco's iconic bridge and one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world is the Golden Gate Bridge. The name derives from the harbour and not the colour of the bridge. There are various view points of the bridge itself and you can walk/bike over it if you want to. It is 2 miles in length and is just a fantastic sight. It is sometimes shrouded in mist but this can lead to some great photos as well. I drove over the bridge several times and walked along it as well. It offers some great views of the city itself and sits there gloriously at the entrance to the bay.
Pictures (Left) - View from Fort Point, (Right) - The shadow of the bridge along the water, (Bottom) A classic view - the bridge in the afternoon sun - a gob smacking sight

Random Animal Pictures #48

There are 3 deer on the photo - can you spot Mum. The 2 fawns
are munching the park rangers lawn at Point Reyes.

Point Reyes Seashore NP

Jul 21st. I decide to head out of SF today and check out a park just to the north of the bay area. The drive out there (over the Golden Gate bridge) is nice but very windy which isn't great for the motion sickness sufferers. The lighthouse itself is a little disappointing and it is breezy and foggy - this place is described as the most windy and foggiest place in the US so I shouldn't of been surprised. There are some nice beaches along the way so the day wasn't wasted and I got to check out the Golden gate bridge.

The Crookedest Street in the World

This fabled street is part of Lombard Street - 1 block of it down a steep hill has loads of curved roads - it is a major tourist attraction and there is a big traffic jam as everyone wants to drive down the street. The street itself is a mass of flowers and colour. Only in America!

San Francisco

Jun 20th. I embark on a wander around San Francisco today with no real objective in mind. The city itself is remarkably walkable despite all the hills - it has a nice feel to the size of it as well. The one thing that strikes me is the amount of poor and destitute people all over the city. I haven't been in a city like it, but it still is a safe place - people will leave you alone if you don't bother them. I wander down into Union square then up a few hills to get a good city view from the Coit Tower which is perched atop one of the highest points of the city and I get to see the famous cable cars and hilly streets.
Pictures (Left) - Classic SF street, (Right) View of downtown from Coit Tower, (Bottom) SF Cable Car