Time to complete the Bucket List

We went on the Portland downtown walking tour today which started in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

As our guide said, Portland, the city of roses, is not very innovative in naming its places so, Pioneer Courthouse Square was in front of, you’ve guessed it, the Pioneer Courthouse.

The Square has been a controversial issue in Portland and had only finally been built in the 1980s with the help of public donations. Those donating had their names immortalised on the floor of the square in the bricks.

Unlike most cities in the United States, the blocks of Portland are small so walking from 1st to 10th is not too arduous. The centre of the downtown area was moved from beside the Willamette River, further south and at that time the sidewalks were altered so that they were wider. This gives Portland a feeling of not being crowded even though there were many locals and tourist in the downtown area. Compared to London, it was pleasant not having to dodge around people.

As part of a regeneration plan for the city, builders are charged a 2% levy to support the arts, which has resulted in many sculptures being erected on buildings and along the streets.

We visited the Portland Centre for performing arts, the Oregon Historical Society and the City Hall. In the middle of the downtown area near City Hall are park areas which were originally separated so that the women had a park and the men had a park for recreational purposes. The reason for this was that in 1800 there were 12 men to each woman so this gave the women a bit of breathing space from male harassment.

Around the downtown area are themed litter bins with even a litter bin that has a solar panel to help recycle the trash that is put in it. There were charging points for electric and hybrid cars which were free to charge if you paid to park there.

The area by the river is now the Tom McCall Waterfront Park with the original buildings (that were occupied when the river was used for commerce) having been knocked down. Between 1st Avenue and the waterfront park is Portland’s, and probably the world’s, smallest official National Park which is literally a few feet across called the Mill Ends Park.

Portland downtown is nice and worth visiting although it does seem to have a very high number of homeless people on the streets. The city also stretches across the river and the total population is circa 650,000.

For those who saw the recent BBC show by Louis Theroux about polyamory, our walking tour guide was surprised that Portland was such a hotspot and thought that this was more likely to be practiced down the coast in Los Angeles or San Francisco. We were kept well away from the strip clubs, mentioned yesterday, on this tour. In fact the town has a very pleasant look and feel about it. There is also quite a lot to do on the outskirts, but we must move on. Tomorrow we are on the road again on our way to Depoe Bay on the Pacific Coast.

Rather than drive a direct route from Mount Rainier to Portland, some 135 miles, we decided to take in some scenery on the way. The Windy Ridge Viewpoint sounded attractive and seemed around half way to our destination. What we did not anticipate was that this site was up some very long and windy roads taking us a good few hours to reach. But the journey was worth it.

Windy Ridge has an elevation of 4,200 feet above sea level and looks out over the devastation caused by Mount St Helen’s volcanic eruption on 18 May 1980. The north face of the mountain collapsed sending searing avalanches of hot rock, gas, pumice and ash, killing everything in its path up to 17 miles from its centre. An estimated 520 million tons of ash spilled out from the volcano, enough to cover a football field 150 miles high. An ash cloud circled the globe for 15 days. Homes, bridges and roads were destroyed. Towns further afield were instantly put into darkness, and people lost their lives including David Johnston, a geological survey volcanologist who continued to take readings of the activity seven miles away at his observation post. Following the disaster and in recognition of his dedication an area was named after him, Johnston Ridge.

The Mount St Helen’s National Volcanic Monument, in which Windy Ridge stands, was established by Ronald Reagan in 1982 as a place for research, education and recreation as a result of the devastation caused. Today much of the land has been left as it stood after the eruption, while other areas are gradually being replanted. What surprised researchers was how nature has managed to re-establish itself. Some of the evergreen trees managed to survive having been buried under snow. Its Meta Lake was covered in ice at the time which protected its ecosystem. On slopes facing away from the eruption some plants and animals were protected by ridges and snow, all of which helped recolonise the landscape.

Our many photos taken today show some of that devastation as well as breathtaking views, making the extremely long detour (doubling our mileage) a trip worth taking.

Tonight we are in Portland and getting ready for a walking tour of the town in the morning.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

We walked with giants today or at least under them at the Mount Rainier National Park. The 1.2 mile Grove of the Patriarchs’ trail leads visitors through one of the least arduous walks within the park. Giant trees, many 250 feet tall and some considered to be 1000 years old, tower above hikers. The tallest include Douglas Firs (named after Scottish botanist and plant hunter David Douglas); the Western Hemlock conifer; Red Elder with its attractive ash grey bark; and Cedars. Adding to the attractiveness of this trail is the crystal clear mountain waters of the Ohanapecosh river. Again we will let the photos do the talking.

Incredibly tall trees, and …

Mount Rainier National Park is huge, comprising almost 400 square miles, 97% officially classed as wilderness. Visitors can drive through the park (a $30 car charge lasts a week), call off at various visitors’ centres, picnic, stop off for photo opportunities at designated areas and trek along the many trails designed for all levels of fitness, including mountain climbing. The glacier-covered Mount is actually a volcano and when covered in cloud or not, offers many opportunities for photographers.

Tomorrow we head 150 miles to Portland. All I know about it comes from Louis Theroux’s TV programme last week where he focused on polyamory. I shall let you look that up, but basically the consensual sharing of partners. It seems Portland is the capital of this way of life, and also is said to have the largest number of strip clubs per capita in the country.

It is not everyday you meet someone who has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest. And it is even more rare to meet the climber who holds the Guinness World Record for climbing Everest in the fastest time. So one can appreciate how rarer still it is to have met the man who has also climbed Everest 15 times. Nepalese Sherpa Lhakpa Gelu broke the record in 2003, climbing the south side.

We had spent the morning driving 94 miles from Seattle to the Mount Rainier National Park to spend a couple of nights close by at a really nice wooden lodge with all mod cons. We decided to drop in at a local restaurant and upon leaving enquired why there were references to climbing Mount Everest and various clothing and equipment. It was then that the quiet and unassuming restaurateur told us that he had climbed Everest. When I asked how long it had taken, he was exacting with his timing – 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. Lhakpa Gelu now lives in the US, keen that his children grew up with a good education. The life of a Sherpa is dangerous, and the more climbs that are carried out, the greater the dangers. It was an incredible chance meeting and without taking the opportunity to speak with others one never knows what interesting encounters one can have.

Our afternoon was spent in paradise. This could mean anything in this state with cannabis and marijuana being legal but actually, for us, it involved a visit to an area within the Mount Rainier National Park, named Paradise. And if this really is paradise there are parts of it I could happily spend an eternity in. Walking amongst wildflowers, looking at the incredible mountainous views and watching wildlife we had not seen before (including golden mantled ground squirrel, marmot and ptarmigan) were favourites. But if paradise is so darned hilly I want escalators added. Huffing and puffing up the mountainside only to climb down before going up again was not the gentle three hour stroll I was anticipating… but the views were incredible. We shall share some of the photos with you.

Our timing coincided with an abundance of wild plants in flower

Tomorrow we spend more time in this beautiful park.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

Our main focus today was the Pike Place Market, about 10 minutes walk from our hotel and close to the waters edge of Elliott Bay. We had booked a culinary walking tour, which we find is a good way not only to learn about local cuisine, but also cultural and historic aspects. It is also good to meet tourists from other countries, and on this occasion there were 16 of us from different parts of America and from Holland.

Our introduction to the day was quite a shock. Our meeting point at Post Alley was in the middle of ‘Gum Wall’. This comprised two walls of the alley being covered in various colours of chewing and bubble gum. Whilst colourful from a distance, close up was the ugly truth of how it was formed.

We were told that the concept of sticking used gum to this wall started in the 1990s when patrons of the market theatre, in this stretch of Post Alley, were asked not to bring gum inside the building. Hence, they stuck the offending items on the wall outside before entering. A trend started for this behaviour. Coins were even placed on the top of each piece of gum at one stage to add a shiny finish, before someone came along and prised off the ‘lolly’. Attempts have been made to remove the offending items over the years, but as soon as the gum is removed, more gum is placed. It is now considered a tourist attraction.

Having come to terms with this, we headed with our food guide Joseph to a variety of food companies, mostly long-established family businesses. The market itself has quite a history having been in continuous operation since 1907 and in 1971 the seven-acre site was given official recognition and protection as a place of historical standing. Some changes have been made over the years, and especially to the wooden flooring which was becoming dangerously worn. To address this, sponsors were called upon to help replace the flooring with tiles. Each tile under the feet of today’s visitors has a sponsor’s name on it. Bizarrely, as John looked down he saw a sponsor with the same surname as his. What were the chances of this, especially for quite an unusual name?

We walked on, and found out that more than 300 companies and stall holders work out of this site. We tasted food from just a few each, it seems, has an interesting history. These included an 80 year old fish company whose owner set up the idea of ‘the flying fish’ whereby he threw fish through the air to a colleague at another part of the stall to speed up the sales transaction. We witnessed this today and by lunchtime there were so many onlookers that customers would find it hard to purchase. It was great for marketing, but we doubted the actual benefit for sales.

We watched cheese being made in big ‘baths’ at Beecher’s where we were able to taste 2 day old cheese curds; an 18 month aged hard cheese with a nice nutty flavour, and a really nice cheese sauce with pasta. The crowds lining up to purchase the cheese even at 10 am stretched right up the street, and this seemed to be typical of many of the most respected stall holders. The line outside Pike Place Chowder having clam chowder as one of its most popular dishes, stretched up the road and around the corner.

Starbucks too was popular with its shop in the marketplace considered its first outlet, but we were told this was in fact its fourth, but hey, who wants to disappoint the happy tourists taking their selfies outside?

My favourite of the day was Chuckar Cherries, whose owner inherited 8,000 cherry trees. Having such a number there was a need to find a way to preserve the fruit, but the aim was to do this without additives. A way was found, and today the company provides so many lovely and unusual cherry products many coated in chocolate, some with nuts, and with wine. From having a simple but quickly perishable fruit the company has developed an interesting and unusual range. Sadly it is not available in the UK, so we will just have to enjoy them while we are here!

Tomorrow we hit the road, heading to Mount Rainier.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

We were up early this morning mainly due to the effects of -8 hours time difference.

As we are in the home town of the US aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, we had booked a Boeing Factory tour to the nearby Paine Field. The tour consists of firstly visiting the ‘Future of Flight’ building next to the Boeing facility and then going with a guide to the largest building by volume in the world, where four types of Boeing aircraft are assembled.

The ‘Future of Flight’ exhibition tracks Boeing’s roots from 1916 all the way through to their more recent space work.

We then went on the 11am tour with 49 other people in our coach and another coach with the same number. We did not expect that the Boeing Factory tour would be so popular with more than 100 people going on just the 11am tour in two groups. Tours ran through the day.

Unfortunately, for health and safety reasons, Boeing does not allow any personal items such a phones and cameras to be taken on the tour so no pictures.

We visited the B767 and B747 assembly lines first. To get there, we all got off the bus at one end of the assembly building and walked through part of the many miles of tunnels Boeing has underneath and then went up in a lift to a viewing gallery overlooking the assembly line.

The B747-8 and B767 aircraft are now only made in freighter configuration which is no doubt very useful for one of Seattle’s other major residents, Amazon.

We then got back on the coach to travel to the far end of the world’s biggest building by volume, to visit the B787 and B777 assembly lines. Our guide extolled the environmental virtues of the B787, Boeing’s aircraft made of composite materials rather than aluminium, and we saw some freighter versions of the B777 on the assembly line.

Our guide had mentioned that Boeing was currently testing the new B777x and we were lucky enough that it was on the Paine Field runway right outside the Future of Flight building when we got back from the tour.

I bet some of you are wondering what our Boeing guide said about the recently grounded B737 Max aircraft. For those unaware of the story, the ‘Max’ is a new version of the very successful B737 aircraft for which Boeing currently has hundreds of orders but tragically two have crashed over the last few years and the aircraft type is currently grounded by the US Federal Aviation Authority.

Our guide, right at the beginning, said that there may be some things he was not allowed to talk about, so he didn’t. The only thing he said about the Max was that it was not assembled at this facility but at Renton, nearby.

If you are in Seattle, the Boeing Factory tour is worth going on and we were informed that it started when the first aircraft was made in 1916.

In the afternoon we walked to Chihuly Gardens next to the Space Needle viewing platform. We had heard of Dale Chihuly because of his exhibition of glassworks currently running at Kew Gardens (until 27 October). As we were in Seattle it would be an opportunity to see some of his diverse fine artworks at his own venue. These are exhibited both inside the buildings and in the gardens. Highly complex procedures are used to create his works, and it is testament to his skill and creativity that his glass installations are exhibited in more than 200 museums worldwide. We will let a few photos do the talking.

And we could not go to these gardens without visiting the viewing decks of the Space Needle. Built in the 1960s, it was well worth the visit as it gave quite a different impression of Seattle. From the ground the view is of busy roads, high buildings and ongoing construction, but from the tower much water can be seen at Lake Union and Elliott Bay, and there is much more greenery than imagined at street level.

Tomorrow we go on the ‘Food Tour’ around Pikes Place Market to sample the best of Seattle’s cuisine.

Copyright: Words and photos John Cruse

He’s a little shy but we felt it is an appropriate time to introduce everyone to Little Ted. He’s been travelling with us for four years and always gets into our photos, but to date he has been low key when it comes to social media. The thing is, he made such a hit with the BA staff today that we thought it was time to introduce him and share the photos with you.

The crew on the flight from Heathrow to Seattle were so taken by him that they took him to visit the cockpit and meet the Captain and First Officer, tour the First Class lounge and they even made a Superhero Ted outfit for him while he was away from us. They also showered him with a range of gifts and gave him his own travelling logbook.

I was a big hit with Customer Services Manager Shelagh

This is me with Simon and Nichola. We are on first names you know

Time to take control of the controls

I am now the proud owner of my Skyflyers logbook and 100 years BA celebration badge. Even my mum and dad don’t have these

So what did Little Ted make of all this fuss? He confided: “I had a super time away from my parents. I think I should travel First Class in future. The BA staff have given me a taste for it.”

Will you grace our travel blog with your presence in future LT? “Hmmm, that depends on what exciting plans my parents have for me. I am new to this social media thing, so it also depends on how many ‘likes’ I get for my appearance today. Do you think they will like me mom?” I’m sure they will love you Little Ted. Goodness, we haven’t even reached the US and he is taking on Americanisms.

Meanwhile his mum and dad had a good trip out, despite the threatened strikes and are much looking forward to their days in Seattle before heading to the west coast and south to San Francisco.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

It is said that lightening does not strike twice. I shall let you into a secret. It does!

Those who have been watching our blog over the past year will recall that our historic trip to the area we had read so much about – the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic – was abandoned after 24 hours afloat. We had hit the rocks – quite literally. Years of searching for such a trip, to follow in the wake of Sir John Franklin and his lost ships the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, had ended as soon as we had completed the mandatory safety procedures.

This was rather more realistic to the fate of Franklin’s ships than we had anticipated. Franklin set sail from England in 1845 and never returned. His ships were not found until 2014 and 2016, with the help of the company we were due to sail with. Our grounding resulted in the Canadian Coastguard sending a Hercules aeroplane on a 9 hour flight to locate us, and a sister ship coming to the rescue taking the crew 24 hours to reach us.

But we got back safe and sound apart from the obvious disappointment. Endless email exchanges over the months followed and we managed to reschedule the trip for this month. A big sigh of relief all round, for us, the organisers and agents who had their work cut out sorting this logistical nightmare – and they did a fine job too.

We geared up for our adventure again… until we received an email a month ago to be told that two of the company’s leased ships had been withdrawn by order of the Russian Government, and would not be sailing. More logistical nightmares for the companies and us.

Our flights were booked. If we cancelled we would lose them. Do we cut and run or see what we might do to salvage the situation? We chose the latter, flying to Seattle and returning two weeks later. But what to do in between? An impromptu trip to the Destinations Show earlier this year had resulted in us talking to US travel expert, Vacations to America. A call to this company helped secured a trip we probably would never have planned. A route was drawn together in a matter of hours to fit within our fixed flights.

The result… we will be driving 1,200 miles from Seattle to San Francisco covering some beautiful landscapes, national parks, coastlines and small towns, before flying back to Seattle for our scheduled flight home.

So lightening does strike twice in theory and we are hoping it will not be accompanied by a thunderbolt in the form of the threatened Heathrow strikes this week. We will keep you posted.

We went to prison today. Dartmoor. Luckily our ‘porridge’ was short term, a few hours. Others are not so fortunate. This was Dartmoor Prison Museum next to what was considered the most notorious prison in the UK. Famous residents have included Frank Mitchell the Mad Axeman, and George Haigh the Acid Bath Murderer.

Our first sighting of Dartmoor was a large grey granite building in the distance, somewhat uncomfortably situated within the beauty of Dartmoor’s National Park with its rolling heather-clad hills. First thoughts were of a Victorian workhouse.

It started life as a site to house prisoners of the Napoleonic War (POWs) who were being accommodated offshore on prison ships. When the conditions were considered unacceptable it was decided that a prison should be built and Dartmoor was ideally situated near the sea. Some prisons throughout the world have been built by inmates, but this was not the case with Dartmoor which involved local contractors. The prison we see today started life in 1806, but it was not until 1850 that domestic convicts were housed. This was because until this time many of our convicts were sent to Australia and other far off lands, but when such countries started to refuse to take any more, alternative solutions had to be found.

Stories of riots, great escapes and contraband abound. During a 1932 riot the governor was reported to have said: ‘This class of prisoner here is the worst I have ever had to deal with’, largely as a result of disagreements between two gangs.

One of the well publicised escapes was that of Frank Mitchell the Mad Axeman. He was sprung from prison with the alleged help of the Kray twins, but once outside was found to be ‘Too hot to handle’. His tall size made it difficult to disguise him. It is reported that he was very quickly despatched (within 11 days of his escape). His body was never found and lack of evidence resulted in no charges.

Today Dartmoor is a category C prison, for inmates not considered a high escape risk. It was downgraded from category B (high escape risk) in 2001 because permission to improve security was refused at this Grade II listed building.

What surprised me very soon on arrival at the museum was the examples of inmate creativity. When incarcerated creative work seems to be a form of escapism. Way back in the times of the POWs, prisoners were creating small domino sets from beef bone; bracelets from human or horse hair; and boxes from cut paper work. Today this continues with paintings, woodwork and metalwork. Unfortunately, some are creative in other ways. Many examples of weapons were on display and escape items such as the knotted sheet.

One exhibit was the smallest working mobile phone I have ever seen, about 2.5 inches long and less than an inch wide. It is described as being appropriately shaped to be tucked away in the smallest of orifices. Various seller websites describe it being able to clear ‘the BOSS chair’. The Body Orifice Security Scanner is in the shape of a chair, upon which prisoners sit in order to detect drugs and metal in bodily parts others would not care to probe.

Images today are limited as photography inside the museum is prohibited for security issues. However, I am sure there are many inmates who said upon leaving: ‘You’re welcome to HM Prison Dartmoor ‘.

Copyright: words and photos: Sue Barnard 2019

**A technical hitch yesterday may have led to duplicate emails. Apologies. We don’t know if it was a web issue or a slow WiFi problem. Formatting was also affected. The correct view can be seen on the following link: https://timetocompletethebucketlist.com

Our visit to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Rosemoor garden today was timely. Yesterday saw the launch of a new section within the site and it was impressive to see it in all its glory.

The Cool Garden has been introduced to provide visitors with ideas of how to work with nature, and in this case water. Devon is often affected by heavy rainfall so it is appropriate that this topic is being addressed at Rosemoor.

The design, by Chelsea gold medalist Jo Thompson, takes an abundance of water through the garden via falls, to attractive rills and onto teardrop-shaped pools. What is lovely is its pristine look, with lots of cleanly cut slate walls, clear water falls, and plants in colourful bloom. We were particularly impressed by the permeable resin-bound gravel walkways. If water falls on the firm, flat path it simply seeps through. How it does this is a mystery as the paths look solid.

The planting is in cool whites, blues, yellows and greys. This is in sharp contrast to the nearby ‘garden room’ of hot colours. But we will let the photos do the talking.

However, our favourite plant name for the day is:

Copyright: words and photos, Sue Barnard 2019