If you missed my video of the Astoria bridge (6 minutes across!) I wanted to add a photo because the river crossing is just so long, so huge, it's hard to believe it is a river. The Columbia river, the wavy edge between WA and OR. Pure terror to drive across when it goes straight up at the end.
Coos Bay, OR had a cafe open for breakfast where we had burritos lovingly made. We were surrounded by Bible verses and there was a game section with Christian monopoly. Can you believe it, a Christian cafe?
There was an old fashioned candy shop with caramel apples and cotton candy and fudge. I had to get fudge because it does not exist in Germany. That little brick of fudge cost 4.50$!!! But it was so rich and buttery I could only eat one bite. Later I shared it with my mom and step dad and we all enjoyed thin slices. Ice cold paper thin fudge is awesome!
I'm eating Tzizzlers right now, the final ones, how I love those things. I also love Red Vines (the candy most shown on TV/movies) but I couldn't find small quantities of them. I remember bringing them back to Germany and J's sister shouting, "This is disgusting!" when she tried them. Black licorice is a thing here, red is not.
The Carson Mansion is the most pretentious building I've ever seen outside of Disneyland. It's one of the most photographed buildings in the world. There are at least 4 balconies in this photo: ) I loved it when we got home, my step dad had been there and remembered it. My step dad is not doing well, but in the time we were there he was able to give up his oxygen machine. What a huge relief for us, and for him.
After all the elk warning signs, we finally saw a couple herds browsing in two locations on the Redwood Hwy. Unbelievably, the car in front of us just slowed to a stop. I mean, fully stopped, he just sat there blocking traffic. This is not the first time we've observed Americans stopping their cars on the road for no good reason. The other time it was in Bellevue, we wanted to cross the street and a car just stopped for us to cross regardless of no crosswalk at all.
Our hotel in Eureka had a funny old fashioned notice on the door, asking us to kindly report any misbehavior in their staff, and offering to take any of our valuables in their fire-proof safe. I was so tempted to ask them to take my laptop as a valuable, knowing that there is no way they actually have a safe for common use. I had to look up the word "valise" - hm! The second thing on the door was the escape plan from our room. As a former tech writer I had to "kindly report" it. It was written completely backwards, with so many problems I wrote a freaking list. (1. There are two room 219s? 2. The 100 level rooms were actually downstairs, not the ones across the aisle from us. 3. The entire map was backwards/flipped. In reality we were on the right side of the image, not the left as indicated.)
I need to repeat that I've never smelled so much marijuana in public places in my life. Later someone told me that Eureka is a hippie town. Yes, but also Oregon, the entire state.
Did you know there is a difference between a Redwood and a Sequoia? I am so ashamed. But then saw several Sequoias in Washington state on return!
Holy crap they also exist in Germany.
Question for my fellow Washingtonians - is the proper term for Puget Sound "estuary"? I have been describing it to Germans as a fjord, because I didn't know another word for it and that is one the Germans know. My sister corrected me that fjords have cliffs on all sides.
Well I just asked J what the German word "Aestuar" means and he doesn't know. So, if Germans don't know the word, I'm stuck at describing it. Also, I think esturary is kind of ridiculous considering the size of Puget Sound (the 2nd largest estuary in America). You've seen the images. It's not a "river's head" as my German dictionary describes estuary.
I'm watching Young Sheldon again right now, I keep giggling, it's so funny. There was this one time when he said, "Radio Shack - it will always be there for me." or something and of course we know RS went away, out of business. Well guess what - I saw one in California!
3 comments:
Hi Lytha,
Glad you had such beauty on your trip, all the best to your family.
Puget Sound is a...wait for it...sound! Hee hee, it's right there in the name, but good luck translating that. A vast inlet, maybe. A sound is both deep and wide, and I agree, Puget Sound defies description when you try to describe the surroundings. I get homesick every time over here in North Carolina when I see your pictures. Thanks for sharing!
Deb
We now call Puget Sound "the Salish Sea" which is both historically and grammatically more correct. It is technically an estuary, but so is the swampy 3 acres of heron nursery next to the old Kenmore Library.
There are two sequoias and a redwood growing in the yard here at Haiku Farm, and Monica has 250 "ancient seedlings" in the greenhouse right now: Giant Sequoias, Coast Redwoods, Bald Cypress, and even some Meta-Sequoias. That was her Covid project last year. She sold a bunch of baby trees ("teeny giants" - they are between 1/2 inch and 2 inches tall at present) at the recent art show in town. We can give you some if you think you can transport them safely/legally back to Germany. (It might be easier to buy seeds....) https://bit.ly/3zL4wYJ
Udeb, I get homesick when I look at my pictures too: ( It is nearly impossible to describe to Germans, you're right. I'm gonna keep saying Fjord because that is a word they know.
Aarene, Salish Sea sounds great. I mean, it's mostly salt water right? Wait til you hear my story of the stolen Totem Pole (not in Pioneer Square!). So I always thought that huckleberries only grow out of cedar stumps but I saw them growing out of sequoias and the sequoias really did look similar to cedar (the bark). I bet they're related. I've never seen any type of cedar tree in Germany. There's no way they'd let me import/mail plants. That's what those sniffing dogs are for. That's cool that you have both "california giants" in your yard (and greenhouse!). The Germans call those trees "mammoth trees."
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