Seattle is fantastic!!!
Had a free hot buffett breakfast, which was amazing! You could have had anything you wanted. Burgers, sausages, waffles, pancakes - the lot!!
Took the car back, we've driven 1732 miles since L.A. in two weeks. Then went for a walk round pioneer square and the old parts of Seattle, which was very cool. Felt like something out of Bugsy Malone!
Went to the aquarium and saw a massive Octopuss being fed. They've build a salmon ladder that winds around the building and are breeding salmon here in the hope that when they releaese them they will return to spawn in the aquarium and climb the ladder! That would be a sight to see!
Saw river and sea otters and some massive seals. I feel sorry a bit for seals, they look like they've been bred between a fish and a dog!!!
Then we walked round the piers and had fish and chips, they still call them fish and chips not fish and fries!! Had a canny view over the bay of some black snow capped mountains - wonder if they are the rockies!!
Had a look in this pub that had a brewery in the middle of it.
When we were walking round in the afternoon we saw a proper stand off between the cops and some bad guys. There were 8 police cars surrounding a truck, blocking off the whole road. All the rozzers had their guns out pointing at the truck. I thought we were witnessing the capture of Bin Laden for all the fire power they were brandishing!! Then this vagrant looking fella slowly steps out of the truck and got handcuffed, then his mate got floored and cuffed. It was like something out of Bad Boys II. It took 16 coppers and 8 police cars to arrest 2 old codgers. Never found out what they had done - bet it was just speeding or something!!!
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
SEATTLE
Turned our heals to Portland and drove further north to Seattle. Arrived mid afternoon. Got a cheap deal in a quality inn right next to the space needle.
Walked downtown and had a nosey round Pike market which was canny good and round a bit of the town. Nearly every street has a Starbucks on it. The most we counted from a single standing position was 4 Starbucks in our field of view. There must be 1000's of them here!! Its ridiculous! I wonder how people decide which on to go to?
Walked around and found the Greyhound station and bought some tickets to take us across the Caniadian border and to Vancouver, as we're dropping the car off tomorrow.
Then it was Guinness O'Clock, found a canny bar with a very genourous happy hour on so we made the most of Seattles hospitality!!
Walked downtown and had a nosey round Pike market which was canny good and round a bit of the town. Nearly every street has a Starbucks on it. The most we counted from a single standing position was 4 Starbucks in our field of view. There must be 1000's of them here!! Its ridiculous! I wonder how people decide which on to go to?
Walked around and found the Greyhound station and bought some tickets to take us across the Caniadian border and to Vancouver, as we're dropping the car off tomorrow.
Then it was Guinness O'Clock, found a canny bar with a very genourous happy hour on so we made the most of Seattles hospitality!!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
GANGSTER TRIPPIN'
The shouting from next door, we think, was coming from a drug dealer and his clients. Seriously this place is unreal. Heather woke up at 2am and didnt sleep the rest of the night due to people visiting our narcotic neighbour every 20 minutes throughout the night, strobing passed the gaps in our door. They played music all night, there was a constant chopping sound and there was a very heated argument outside our door between the drug barren and a woman. Then someone started crying from the drug den and then the sound of violent vomminting! You couldnt make this stuff up man!!!!!
We're supposed to stay hear for another night - Nuts to that!!!!! - At first light we're gone!!!!!!
The sun came up with no conclusions!! So we packed up, shoved our key card under the reception door, sacrificed the $40 we'd paid for tonights stay, no doubt old 40 stoner has already eaten them dollar notes by now anyway and then you couldn't see our heals for dust!!!!!!!
Drove around for a while and checked into a travelodge at 10am and went to sleep.
Afternoon came and we had a bit more of a look round Portland. I'm indecisive about Portland, I really wanted Portland to be a highlight of the U.S. I'd looked forward to seeing it so much as Ive a couple of friends who love the place. May be another visit one day is whats needed? or maybe I'd created an idea of Portland from other peoples possitivety and enthusiasm who knows!!
Funny how you quickly build up prejudices against a place after one experience, maybe the phrase 'first impressions count' is true? Well here's hoping that Portland will look more favourably on me second time round!
We're supposed to stay hear for another night - Nuts to that!!!!! - At first light we're gone!!!!!!
The sun came up with no conclusions!! So we packed up, shoved our key card under the reception door, sacrificed the $40 we'd paid for tonights stay, no doubt old 40 stoner has already eaten them dollar notes by now anyway and then you couldn't see our heals for dust!!!!!!!
Drove around for a while and checked into a travelodge at 10am and went to sleep.
Afternoon came and we had a bit more of a look round Portland. I'm indecisive about Portland, I really wanted Portland to be a highlight of the U.S. I'd looked forward to seeing it so much as Ive a couple of friends who love the place. May be another visit one day is whats needed? or maybe I'd created an idea of Portland from other peoples possitivety and enthusiasm who knows!!
Funny how you quickly build up prejudices against a place after one experience, maybe the phrase 'first impressions count' is true? Well here's hoping that Portland will look more favourably on me second time round!
AND ME GUN GOES 'CLICK CLICK'
Set off early and drove on through Redwood lined rally roads which then turned in to Alpine country roads with weird steaming trees. It was like the trees were making clouds and slowly letting them rise out of the forrests to the sky! Beautiful drive!
Arrived in Portland mid afternoon and found the motel that we'd booked and that when things turned a bit surreal!!
The motel was about 2 miles from downtown Portland and I wouldn't be exagerating if I described it as a gang-land ghetto griefhole!! It was the most scared Ive been in all my life. It was in a neighbourhood, that the 40 stone owner and the LL Cool J cleaner told us not to walk down all but 1 single street that surrounded the motel otherwise we'd be caught up in gang affairs and not to be outside after dark - great!!
We're booked in da hood for two nights as well - gutted as we'd heard loads of great things about Portland.
LL Cool J showed us to our room and rambled on about gang violence and about how he grew up on the street in stereotypical gangster gutter chat. LL gave us some towels with suspicious brown stains on them!! The room is filthy aswell, with a carpet of multicoloured hairs in the bath and on the floor. But the crowning feature of the room is that there is a half inch gap around the door frame that leads straight to outside. Just enough room for a beady eye and the cold steel barrel of some hommies piece!!!!
Now I admit that sometimes Im prone to exaggerating but this time Im not. Ask Heather. It was so ridiculous I kept expecting Hommie Beadle to pop out with a stuck on goatee beard and a microphone disguised as a semi automatic weapon and say it was all a prank!!!
We locked our bags to the only thing that was bolted down which turned out to be the furry toilet and went to ask how to get into town so that our jugulars stayed in tact. The 40 stone woman said she used to walk in to town when she was younger - yeah right!! she hasnt walked anywhere!! Ever!!! She may have laid on her back and had someone roll her into town but never physically walked. LL Cool J told us how to avoid the gangs and which bus to get and what hand signals would get us through certain check points!!! So off we went out into Gang Land!!!
We had to walk about 15 minutes before reaching the tram (or trolley in gangster) after that Portland is really nice but before that it was terrifying - run down, derelict buildings, young lads hanging about starring - not good!
The centre of Portland is cool man, its got a bit of a punky atmosphere. A million miles away from the Gangster Paradise where we'll be sleeping for the next two nights!!
Spent a few hours in town then before the sun went down we headed to the motel. Picked up some booze en route to make sure we slept. Watched a bit of tele, got our selves drunk enough to block out the screams in the street and the shouting coming from next door!!!
Arrived in Portland mid afternoon and found the motel that we'd booked and that when things turned a bit surreal!!
The motel was about 2 miles from downtown Portland and I wouldn't be exagerating if I described it as a gang-land ghetto griefhole!! It was the most scared Ive been in all my life. It was in a neighbourhood, that the 40 stone owner and the LL Cool J cleaner told us not to walk down all but 1 single street that surrounded the motel otherwise we'd be caught up in gang affairs and not to be outside after dark - great!!
We're booked in da hood for two nights as well - gutted as we'd heard loads of great things about Portland.
LL Cool J showed us to our room and rambled on about gang violence and about how he grew up on the street in stereotypical gangster gutter chat. LL gave us some towels with suspicious brown stains on them!! The room is filthy aswell, with a carpet of multicoloured hairs in the bath and on the floor. But the crowning feature of the room is that there is a half inch gap around the door frame that leads straight to outside. Just enough room for a beady eye and the cold steel barrel of some hommies piece!!!!
Now I admit that sometimes Im prone to exaggerating but this time Im not. Ask Heather. It was so ridiculous I kept expecting Hommie Beadle to pop out with a stuck on goatee beard and a microphone disguised as a semi automatic weapon and say it was all a prank!!!
We locked our bags to the only thing that was bolted down which turned out to be the furry toilet and went to ask how to get into town so that our jugulars stayed in tact. The 40 stone woman said she used to walk in to town when she was younger - yeah right!! she hasnt walked anywhere!! Ever!!! She may have laid on her back and had someone roll her into town but never physically walked. LL Cool J told us how to avoid the gangs and which bus to get and what hand signals would get us through certain check points!!! So off we went out into Gang Land!!!
We had to walk about 15 minutes before reaching the tram (or trolley in gangster) after that Portland is really nice but before that it was terrifying - run down, derelict buildings, young lads hanging about starring - not good!
The centre of Portland is cool man, its got a bit of a punky atmosphere. A million miles away from the Gangster Paradise where we'll be sleeping for the next two nights!!
Spent a few hours in town then before the sun went down we headed to the motel. Picked up some booze en route to make sure we slept. Watched a bit of tele, got our selves drunk enough to block out the screams in the street and the shouting coming from next door!!!
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Set off from San Francisco heading north to Portland, Oregon, 710 miles away. We're giving ourselves 2 days to get there.
Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge , which was class, then headed north on the smaller 101 in favour of going through the Redwood National Park and to pass more of the California coast. It was a canny drive up that road, we passed the rugged west coast and snaked through alpine and Redwood groves. The Redwoods are freakishly big, like something out of Jurassic Park. Also this is Big Foot country, there has been over 50 sightings of him in these forrests, We didnt see him but we did see a not so brazon racoon - it was dead by the side of the road and its black and white stripes had started to fade - must have heard Shearer was in charge of Newcastle!!!!
Pulled over in the Redwood Park which the road winds through and saw a tree, whose trunk was 22 foot wide!!!!
Drove 360 miles today and reached Crescent City, a small town with nothing but motels in it, 100's of them. So we had no probblem finding somewhere to sleep. About half way to Portland. We'll cross over into Oregon first thing tomorrow. Another 350 miles to Portland!
Crossed the Golden Gate Bridge , which was class, then headed north on the smaller 101 in favour of going through the Redwood National Park and to pass more of the California coast. It was a canny drive up that road, we passed the rugged west coast and snaked through alpine and Redwood groves. The Redwoods are freakishly big, like something out of Jurassic Park. Also this is Big Foot country, there has been over 50 sightings of him in these forrests, We didnt see him but we did see a not so brazon racoon - it was dead by the side of the road and its black and white stripes had started to fade - must have heard Shearer was in charge of Newcastle!!!!
Pulled over in the Redwood Park which the road winds through and saw a tree, whose trunk was 22 foot wide!!!!
Drove 360 miles today and reached Crescent City, a small town with nothing but motels in it, 100's of them. So we had no probblem finding somewhere to sleep. About half way to Portland. We'll cross over into Oregon first thing tomorrow. Another 350 miles to Portland!
BATTER UP
Had a lie in and caught the free breakfast again and signed up for $5 dinner. Caught a train out of San Francisco in to Oakland. Got off at the Oakland A's collesuem stadium and followed the crowd to the ticket office to get some baseball tickets.
We got some really cheap tickets in the bleachers which were canny good seats. We went into the ground, got bag searched, then a military style ticket check, then a steward woman said something about chewing gum. SO I offered her some, trying to wind her up, as I thought she was telling me to get rid of mine but she was actually asking if she could have some, so I gave her some and asked her how to get to the bleachers. When she found out it was our first baseball game and that we were from Eeeeennglaaaaaaannnd!! She got dead excited and bullied this chap into giving up all this Oakland Athletic merchandise!!
We found some seats facing the batter. The pitch was smaller than I thought it would have been so we were quite close to the players. Before the game started everyone stood for the national anthem and put there caps on their hearts and belted it out with tears in their eyes. It was little league day so there were loads of hyper kids that got in free so the park was pretty full - canny little atmosphere!! It was a great afternoon, the sun was shining, the crowd were well up for it and I didnt have the foggiest clue what was going on! The game lasted about 3 hours and between the two of us we sort of worked out what the rules were! I'd definately go again even though no one hit the ball out of the park!
Caught the BART back in to San Francisco late afternoon and headed back for our $5 food which was amazing: Pork loin with loads of veg and loads of salad - Bargain - just hope to pig didnt having the sniffles before it was killed!!!!
We got some really cheap tickets in the bleachers which were canny good seats. We went into the ground, got bag searched, then a military style ticket check, then a steward woman said something about chewing gum. SO I offered her some, trying to wind her up, as I thought she was telling me to get rid of mine but she was actually asking if she could have some, so I gave her some and asked her how to get to the bleachers. When she found out it was our first baseball game and that we were from Eeeeennglaaaaaaannnd!! She got dead excited and bullied this chap into giving up all this Oakland Athletic merchandise!!
We found some seats facing the batter. The pitch was smaller than I thought it would have been so we were quite close to the players. Before the game started everyone stood for the national anthem and put there caps on their hearts and belted it out with tears in their eyes. It was little league day so there were loads of hyper kids that got in free so the park was pretty full - canny little atmosphere!! It was a great afternoon, the sun was shining, the crowd were well up for it and I didnt have the foggiest clue what was going on! The game lasted about 3 hours and between the two of us we sort of worked out what the rules were! I'd definately go again even though no one hit the ball out of the park!
Caught the BART back in to San Francisco late afternoon and headed back for our $5 food which was amazing: Pork loin with loads of veg and loads of salad - Bargain - just hope to pig didnt having the sniffles before it was killed!!!!
FAT SAMS DISCO
Went over to the Adalaide again for a free breakfast. Its really good for being free, as many bagals and as much toast as you like. Fills you up anyway and keeps you going till the afternoon.
Did our little trick of finding a bus route that goes round most of the city and stayed on most of the way round so we got to see a lot of the city in about an hour. Got off off near to the Golden Gate Bridge as we could and then walked through Crissy fields to the Bridge. We had an amazingly clear day, even if it was windy and freezing cold. So we got great views of the Bridge. It looks class like, its definately in the top 3 of my world bridge league tables.
It was chocka round the bridge with people having BBQ's in the parks and people playing on the beaches or jogging or bike riding. Canny little atmosphere round there!!
Ended up catching the wrong bus back into town and goodness knows where we ended up, but managed to find a train that took us back into town.
Went for a few drinks in this Irish bar where they had a band on, they were class! Just did covers but got everyone up!!! There was this woman about 40 years old dressed in white jeans and a white top who pimped her self for pints of Guiness! She'd dance and flirt with some old fat mand then get him to buy her a pint then go off with another greasy looking fella and get another pint!! Heather found her well annoying and kept refering to her as the Tart in White. She'd have vexed me aswell if she hadn't been so successful, she got bought pint after pint of Guiness. For a second I thought of giving it a go myself just for the pure volume of pintage she was getting - fair play. Then there was the 80's throw-back couple, they were class, they were middle aged and still dressed like they probably did back in the day. He was in a baggy black polo neck top and an over sized double breasted gret suit and Heather kept saying he looked like the cat who'd got the cream as he was so pleased with his dancing skills when A/C D/C got played! Top night like!!!
Did our little trick of finding a bus route that goes round most of the city and stayed on most of the way round so we got to see a lot of the city in about an hour. Got off off near to the Golden Gate Bridge as we could and then walked through Crissy fields to the Bridge. We had an amazingly clear day, even if it was windy and freezing cold. So we got great views of the Bridge. It looks class like, its definately in the top 3 of my world bridge league tables.
It was chocka round the bridge with people having BBQ's in the parks and people playing on the beaches or jogging or bike riding. Canny little atmosphere round there!!
Ended up catching the wrong bus back into town and goodness knows where we ended up, but managed to find a train that took us back into town.
Went for a few drinks in this Irish bar where they had a band on, they were class! Just did covers but got everyone up!!! There was this woman about 40 years old dressed in white jeans and a white top who pimped her self for pints of Guiness! She'd dance and flirt with some old fat mand then get him to buy her a pint then go off with another greasy looking fella and get another pint!! Heather found her well annoying and kept refering to her as the Tart in White. She'd have vexed me aswell if she hadn't been so successful, she got bought pint after pint of Guiness. For a second I thought of giving it a go myself just for the pure volume of pintage she was getting - fair play. Then there was the 80's throw-back couple, they were class, they were middle aged and still dressed like they probably did back in the day. He was in a baggy black polo neck top and an over sized double breasted gret suit and Heather kept saying he looked like the cat who'd got the cream as he was so pleased with his dancing skills when A/C D/C got played! Top night like!!!
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