Woke just after 7 & it's not raining YET. Cloudy & grey though.After we'd packed we walked up to the small harbour to see the seals on the pontoons. Some were swimming around in the sea & they were all very noisy.
We set off on our trip to Eugene & stopped at an old town called Bandon on the way to stretch our legs & have something to eat. What a great place, really friendly people & all along the front there were large carved sea creatures & hand carved benches dedicated to people. No graffitti or damage to anything - wonder how long they'd have stayed that way in the UK?
We went into Lloyd's Old Town Tavern & had hot sandwiches with THE MOST DELICIOUS CRISPS I've ever eaten (& I've eaten a few!) They were freshly made by the chef. I've been spoiled now.
On the rest of the drive we went through the most picturesque scenery yet, forests often going right down to the sea, rivers, creeks & lakes all along & the coastline was amazing. Everywhere is so green too, they say they have a lot of rain but it's stayed fine for us.
Another stop on the way was at Winchester Bay for an icecream. The woman in the shop wasn't as friendly as the ones in Bandon.
By some fluke, as we'd gone a different way so the instructions didn't match up to the way we drove in, we found our hotel & checked in, this time the girl was lovely & friendly but we didn't have a coffee/ tea maker, never mind it's only for 1 night.
Did the ironing & watched an old Judy Garland film on the tv.
Day 53 Eugene to Portland, Oregon 06.06.12
Had a very disturbed nights sleep as some sort of horns / blowers kept going off all through the night. When we went down for breakfast I asked the guy on the desk & he thought it might have been the trains but said he didn't hear anything. He wasn't very friendly or chatty at all! For the 2nd morning in a row we've had no cereals - it must be an Oregon thing! Set off at 11.00am as we've only got 130 miles to go so we need to stretch out the journey. Never mind stretching out the journey - we stretched my stomach again with some strawberry puppies from Denny's!
Carried on to the Aladdin Inn in Portland & put the heating on. It's hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago we were roasting & now it's COLD!
We did have a laugh at the tv - it was made in february 1987! We've chucked out newer ones than that.
Had some sad news today - My Ex Father in Law, Arthur passed away today. He was in hospital & will be sadly missed by many people.
We lazed around & then popped out to Starbucks for a hot drink, no coffee / tes making facilities again.
Day 54 Portlant to Seattle 07.06.12
Woke to rain this morning & it's cold again. Breakfast was basic to say the least & we packed up & left about 10.00am. The girl on reception wasn't very pleasant either.
On the way it rained so much we could hardly see where we were going, & still some cars didn't have their lights on! We arrived at the Georgetown Inn just outside Seattle about 2.00pm & checked in. Nice room but again no coffee / tea maker! Starbucks opposite so guess we'll be going there again.
By about 4.00pm it looked as if the rain had stopped for a while so we braved it & drove into Seattle. Being unfamiliar with the roads etc it was a bit of an ordeal but we found a carpark right next to the space needle & the monorail. Had a look at the needle but didn't really have time to go up it & it was $20 each so got the monorail into the main bit of town. We'd been told to visit Pike Place Market which we did. It's a fish, fresh fruit, flower & craft market & was great to walk around even though by that time some of the stalls were packing up. The size of the fish & seafood & variety was amazing.
Then we walked to the waterfront but that wasn't anything flash & we had to make our way over a very busy road to get near it. Then we walked back to the metro station, had some food & got back on the train.
I have to say that the buildings were good to see & I kept trying to see if I recognised any from the tv!
Roy on a bench in Bandon Old Town
Will have lots to tell you next time as we'll be in Vancouver for 5 days.
TTFN xxx
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