ups has it really been a week

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN.....

Thu 29 / 07

We decided to do some culture and head for SAM - Seattle Arts Museum - where there is a Kurt Cobain and Andy Warhol exhibition - very good except the last room of the Kurt exhibit focuses on his suicide with drawing of the house/room ...all a bit too gruesome / death - cash cow opportunist for my liking - very much enjoyed the bleak photos of industrial / run-down Aberdeen slide show that is on though (the place where Kurt grew up)

Andy Warhol has mostly the screen test films which i've already seen but i still enjoy the one with Lou Reed cause he can't keep a straight face!.... next where off to Pike Place for some food and on Rich's (Christine's friend) we have a lurvely slice of local pizza!.. it's all a bit hectic and busy so we retreating to the very dodgy (in a good way) Lava Lounge for some beer and chat and get a lift back to University District which is nicely chilled out - we spot a couple with takeout bags in the lift and head for their recommended Thom Thai noodles - very spicy but sooooo good!

Sat 31/07

Big Parade Day !!! people start lining up their chairs at 11am - (parade starts a 5pm) - this is tourist day for us (well me - Jo manages to avoid most of it) i head off for Library first which is super modern .. did I mention i took the monorail - $2 for about 3min ride - last time i was on a monorail I was ten - then on to the Music Experience Project which has a most excellent history of guitar section and not so great North West Passage which doesn't really go into much detail though i does have the original lyric sheet for LUMP and some broken instruments et al... there is also a Jimi Hendrix section which is pretty neat - then there is the interactive section with instruments and recording booths and lots and lots of excited teenagers so we leave them to it... there is also a room full of computers with preloaded interviews /mini-documentaries which is quite handy for wasting another half hour or so - overall not really that great - the National Centre for Pop Music in Sheffield (now sadly closed down) was better I reckon.....

there is also a Science fiction museum attached which i have quick walk through but I fail to get excited about the startrek models et al... though an R2D2 provokes a little smile

then on to the space needle and after 1hour wait (it's Saturday after all) i get to enjoy some great views over the city...

we escape the crowds and make us of the free hotel bikes and head over to Gastown park all the way the Freemont!!

Sun 01/08

back for the Sunday market to Freemont to stock up on some food before the next Greyhound Bus trip down to Portland - nicely small and relaxed compared to Seattle - and full of brewery pubs (we managed only two that night) followed by triple vodka / cranberry by gas-fired campfire style outdoor fire posh thingy courtesy of our boutique hotel (yes we splashed out!) just google Modera Portland and prepare to drool!

Mon 02/08

walk around Pioneer Square where there is a Farmer's Market -Strawberry Pie Forever! then we head up the Portland Tramway (bit smaller than the one in Jasper) it only takes you up to a hospital and you can't get out at the the top....but the views are lovely nonetheless - we head to Pearl District, then on to Music Venue area but no good gigs to be had on a Monday night and that lovely posh hotel is waiting for us soo...............

Tue 03/08

off to airport to pick up our hire car and Jo braves the 3-5 lane Freeway!! we reach the coast about 1 1/2 hours later and stop off for lunch at the very cute coastal town of Cannon Beach then on to Lincoln City...

Wed 04 /08

first stop is Cape Foulweather and yes i'm afraid we finally get bit unlucky there a clouds hanging all along the coast but still pretty dramatic!! - we see the Devil's Punchbowl and the Newport Lighthouse and stop off in Florence (roughly 5000 miles from the one in Italy) then on to Reedsport for yet more pie for Heike (this time cherry flavoured) ... the extra calories are needed though to climb the Oregon Dunes (massive! forget Sylt - the small island off the German coast near Hamburg) we find a lovely motel overlooking Port Orford Bay and for all you music buffs the owner is the dad of Port of O'Brian's drummer's girlfriend... oh and there are two deer grazing outside our window

Thu 05 / 08

another foggy start along the coast - we bypass the Fake Dinosaur and Giant Paul Bunyon and his Blue Ox and the Trees of Mystery and opt for the natural beauty of Peter's Point and the Wedding Rock instead - the sun comes out as soon as Jo starts driving as we do the scenic 31mile drive through the Redwood Avenue of Giants - Jeremy Clarkson eat your heart out- we end up in the Garberville Motel - another classic, pretty small town with an excellent pizza place !

Fri 06 / 08

we leave the 101 and head for highway number one and boy does this one make you dizzy!.. everyone along this stretch seems to make a living out of woodcarvings!!..Fishermen, Bears, Shreks.... we have lunch in Mendocino (East of Eden was filmed here as well as Murder She Wrote !) sadly the clouds are still looming - we nearly run out of !!!- thank God there is a petrol station in Fort Ross - then a quick stop at Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock's Birds was filmed) but we decide to head inland for some much needed sun ... we stop a church and schoolhouse in the next town of Sebastopol and we pretty certain the famous attack of the schoolchildren was filmed there... we end up in wine country Sonoma - a place called Petaluma (we didn't plan on coming here but hey this is a road trip!)