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Sep 3 Monday Glacier National Park (US)

32º    240 km    route: 
This morning started good after breakfast. We won playing in the local gas station scratch lottery: $1! Unfortunately the ticket cost $1, result: $0. We drove into Glacier National Park, but now to Logan’s Pass where we saw Bighorn Sheep (see pictures). After a lunch and a ranger presentation we went for a hike up to the Hidden Lake. During this (uphill!) trail we met several mountain goats. These really are beautiful animals. The hidden lake was gorgeous but hiking to the lake would take another 4 hours with a similar elevation difference. No way. We walked back and drove to Kalispell (took quite a while). Parts of the road had fallen into the valley so only one lane was available. Back at the hotel we had dinner at the North Bay Grill (again). Very good food!

Location: Kalispell  (statistics)
Hotel: Hampton Inn Kalispell
Dinner: 406 Bar & Grill (”very” nice!)
Glacier National Park
Hiking: Hidden Lake Trail (460m elevation, 5km)
US-93N Kalispell Shopping area

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Sep 4 Tuesday to Moses Lake

30º   route   570 km  route:
This morning we had breakfast in the hotel, got a fresh bag of ice at the gas station and drove off to Moses Lake. Even though this is not a particular exc iting route we enjoyed the views. Roads were good and the views were ok.
Once we arrived at Moses Lake we were scared. The only decent place we saw was “Papas Casino & Sports Lounge”. Oh my $(£”. This place however turned out to be pretty good! We enjoyed ”great” burgers, played pool and tried out the Bowling.

Location: Moses Lake (statistics)
Hotel: AmeriStay Suites
Dinner/Entertainment: Papa’s Casino, Sports Lounge & Bowling
Destination: Moses Lake (of ”all” places we had to end-up here ;-)

Sep 5 Wednesday to Olympia

23º   route  420 km  route:
Early in the morning we headed for the nearest Starbucks (which appeared to be 300 meters (1000 feet) away from the hotel) for coffee and breakfast. After about 1.5 hrs boring road we saw signs for the Snoqualmie Falls. Pretty impressive! Of course we found a Starbucks and  got Lunch at Subways. On the road back to the highway we found signs for “Model” homes for sale. Of course ;-) we were interested and got the full tour in very nice homes.
Finally we made it back on the highway and drove to Olympia. After 1 hour we only could think of one word: “hippy town”
Dinner was ”very” good!

Location: Olympia (statistics)
Snoqualmie Falls
Entertainment: Quadrant Homes Washington (checked out new houses in the woods, close to Seattle)
Hotel: Phoenix Suites
Dinner: Basilico (very good food!)
After dinner fun: The Royal (very good service, great atmosphere)

Sep 6  Thursday – Olympia National Park

22º      route     20 km
Today is an actual ‘holiday’. No obligations, nothing we ”have” to do so we went shopping and saw a movie. (this is actually nice during a holiday – not having to do anything) <grin>

Location: Olympia (statistics)
Hotel: Phoenix Suites
Shopping: Westfield Shopping (huge!)
Movie in the Century movie theatre:  Superbad (imdb:8.4)
Dinner: Dockside Bistro (picture)

Sep 7  Friday – Seattle

20º        220 km   route: 
2 minutes in Seattle and my wife has spotted 5 Starbucks shops.. Yeah, I will ”have” to stop at one of them. Right after the Starbucks tour we took the “Seattle Underground Tour”. Very interesting to ”see” and hear about the cities history. Quick lunch across the Smith Tower before we went up to the 42nd floor for an amazing view of the City. Interesting fact is that the elevator motors are the ”’original”’ ones! They just added a bunch of electronics
Next stop was Pikes Place Market. This is a very busy market with character. Everything is being sold and most of the salesman try to make a little show out of selling something simple as a fish. Very nice! After this stop we headed back to Olympia.

Location: Seattle (statistics)
Hotel: Phoenix Suites
Destination: Seattle
Via: Jamba Juice (Capitol Mall)
Tour: Seattle Underground Tour (very nice!)
Lunch: xx
Sightseeing: Smith Tower
Market: Pikes Place Market (wikipedia)
Dinner: Falls Terrace Restaurant

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Sep 8  Saturday – Olympic National Park

23º           680 km    route:
That’s a lot of miles! At the end of the day however I would do it all over again. For about the 17th time this holiday I thought:

“I could spend 1 week here”

First stop was Hurricane Ridge. So beautiful. If you’re from Europe: compare it to one of the best Swiss or Austrian Alps pictures you’ve seen.
Second stop: Hoh Rain Forest. RAIN FOREST?? Yes, Rain Forest. Unfortunately it was not easy to capture the incredible sights on camera, but I’ve tried my best.
One thing I always wanted to do: Eat at Taco Bells. Don’t ask why. I have done it (probably the last time, even though the food was fine).

Hotel: Phoenix Suites
Destination: Olympic National Park
Breakfast: McDonalds (bleh)
Hurricane Ridge
Hoh Rain Forest (National Geographics)
Dinner: Taco Bell

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Sep 9  Sunday – to Amsterdam

26º           8.100 km   route:
Feeling a bit sad. Our last day in the US. Relaxing & taking our time to pack our bags. Drove to the airport where we returned the rental car (you should have seen the look on the rental-ladies face when she asked “Almost 4.000 miles, is that correct sir!???” <grin> YES </grin>. After check-in we went to the international terminal. Unfortunately there was one option for lunch: Burger King. Ahh what the h$£”. This is our last day as ‘Americans’ so lets keep those triple-ultra-stacked-burgers coming!
The flight wasn’t that bad, but sleeping was difficult. (even though we had the huge seats).
Back in Amsterdam we were picked up by a friend. Home sweet home.

Almost 3 weeks of relaxing, enjoying all of the beautiful things that nature has to offer. It was a moment where I realized that we’re just tiny little ‘nobodies’ on planet earth. Nobodies who ”are” capable of messing up things big time. Ask yourself: how do I ”contribute” to this world.

Enough of that: Let’s get the laptop connected to do emails – I love my work.

Lunch: Burgerking
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Seat: 1e / 1f  (yes, ONE e and ONE f, that’s business class!)
Arrived in Amsterdam on Monday September 10th

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Aug 30 Monday Banff National Park

25º    160 km   route:
Hurray, another day in Banff! Today we decided to explore the ”’Lake Louise”’ area. In the morning we did some shopping and got ice & drinks for the Cooler in our car. The lunch at Lake Louise was magnificent. After a 20km drive we arrived at Moraine Lake. You see pictures of Moraine Lake and you think “sure, they put ”the” best picture ever in this brochure”. Not true! It actually ”is” as beautiful!.

At “Moraine Lake” we met another couple and an old women who wanted to do the same trail. ”You can only walk in groups of 4 or more people because of the bears”. The hike was great and the older women kept going and going. If we only had half the energy she had at her age we would be happy!
After the hike we had a drink at the lake and we drove the older lady back to her hotel where we had another drink. She was one interesting and enjoyable person!
Back in Banff we had a great Cheese Fondue dinner at a Swiss/Italian restaurant.

Location: Banff
– Lake Louise
– Moraine Lake & Valley of the Ten Peaks
Hike: Larch Valley Trail (nr 43, elevation 600 meter, 6km)
Restaurant: Ticino Swiss / Italian

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Aug 31 Friday to Jasper National Park

15º        300 km    route:
Checking out of the hotel today. We have a 300km trip to Jasper ahead. The weather looks very nice, but expecting some rain in the PM. After our first 10 stops to take pictures we drove on to ”’Mistaya Canyon”’. This shows you the power of water: a 20 meters deep canyon carved out by glacier water, very impressive.
Our next (lunch) stop was at the ”’Columbia Ice fields”’. This is a >250 square km ice field of which we visited one glacier. The tour was a great experience and we were able to fill up our empty water bottle with real glacier water ;-) (So typically Dutch!)
As we had to move on to Jasper we stopped at a few other sites like Athabasca falls. By the time we arrived in Jasper it was raining and we quickly checked into our hotel.

Location: Jasper
Hotel: The Whistler’s Inn
Mistaya Canyon
Athabasca Falls
Columbia Icefield (oppervlak 250 square km!)
Columbia Ice fields Tour (fantastic tour on the Glacier)
a couple of other falls

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Sep 1 Saturday to Kalispell

27º       730 km    route:
Today we had a long drive from Jasper to Kalispell. Fortunately we only had a 30 minute delay at the US Border. Driving through Jasper NP , Banff NP, Yoho NP and Kootenay NP provided an excellent driving environment. Incredibly beautiful nature!
When we arrived in Kalispell we got upgraded at the Hampton Inn. Great room! Living room with fireplace, kitchen, dining area and a huge bedroom with large jacuzzi ;-) !

Location: Kalispell (statistics)
Hotel: Hampton Inn Kalispell
Yoho National Park
Kootenay National Park
Dinner: Sizzler (don’t ever go there – McDonalds on steroids)

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Sep 2  Sunday – Glacier National Park (USA)

31º            160 km    route:
Because of the long drive yesterday we decided to take it easy. First stop: nearest Starbucks (which is ”never” difficult in the US). Then we did some shopping and drove off to Glacier NP.
On our drive to the Lake McDonald Lodge we had a traffic jam. 12 cars in front of us a Dodge Minibus (Mercedes) ran off the road (driver had a seizure). Fortunately the driver was ok. At Lake McDonald we enjoyed a guided boat tour in nice sunny weather.

Location: Kalispell (statistics)
Hotel: Hampton Inn Kalispell
Glacier National Park
Lake McDonald
Glacier National Park Scenic Boat Tour
US-93N Kalispell Shopping area

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Aug 26 Sunday Mount Rainier (4400m)

30º    350km   route:
Day 5 and we realized that we got used to the 9 hours time difference in 2 days ;-). Today we drove to the Safeways to get a sandwich (Safeways is the luxury version of Albert Heijn). The sandwiches were eaten outside the visitors center of Yakima. They gave us good information (and had a sunny terrace). The trip to Mount Rainier was going to take 1.5-2.0 hours: true! What an amazing views.

When we left Yakima we saw Mount Rainier: unbelievable. Ofcourse 1.5 hours later we saw there was ”ONE” cloud sitting right on top of Mount Rainier ;-)

On the mountain we went into the visitors center and learned about the history of Mount Rainier. After lunch in a restaurant we were invited to a guided hike up the mountain. Our guide, a ”real” ranger, knew a lot about the mountain and had a good way of telling us about it.
The return trip was beautiful and we had a very nice dinner at Yakima’s Olive Garden.

Location: Yakima (statistics)
Hotel: Hilton GI Yakima
Mount Rainier National Park
Restaurant: Olive Garden

2007-26 Mount Rainier

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Aug 27 Monday Kelowna Canada

21º      560km    route:
Today we will drive up to Kelowna which is more or less between Yakima and Banff, where we will stay for 3 days. Our trip to Kelowna led through Grand Coulee which has one of the largest dams in the US. The road towards Grand Coulee was very beautiful and reminded us of the ‘deserty’ environment in Nevada, Arizona and Utah.
One of our worries was going to be the Canadian border. This turned out to be fine (30 minutes wait). Driving into Canada shocked us. “80 km/h” and “60 km/h” signs were everywhere. Man, do those Canadians drive slow! When we found the hotel it was overbooked. Fortunately they moved an existing reservation to a different hotel and gave us a 2-floor suite ;-)

Location: Kelowna
Hotel: Ramada Lodge Kelowna
Grand Coulee Dam

2007-27 Kelowna

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Aug 28 Tuesday to Banff National Park

15º      500 km     route:
Today we had a 500km trip through one of the most beautiful parts of Canada. Our original time of arrival was going to be 17:00, but after 20 stops to take pictures we arrived around 21:00 ;-)

Location: Banff
Hotel: The Juniper Lodge
Mount Revelstoke National Park
Glacier National Park
Yoho National Park
Dinner in the Hotel restaurant (Muk-a-Muk)

2007-28 to Banff

Aug 29  Wednesday – Banff National Park (BC, Canada)

21º            60km    route:
Today we checked out the Visitors Information Center to decide on what to do. This resulted in 2 hikes. The first one, in Johnston Canyon, was excellent. Beautiful canyon. In the afternoon we did the Hoodoo trail. As part of an experiment we got a cellphone and GPS antenna. During the hike the phone started tell us about the environment, history and geography of the area we were in. More info:Art Mobile Lab

Location: Banff
Hotel: The Juniper Lodge *****
Hoodoo Hike (trail)
Johnston Canyon Hike (trail & info)
Dinner: Wild Bill’s Saloon (tip: never go there! )

2007-29 Banff

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This page contain information about our Holiday to the US in 2007. Destination: Seattle. ‘We’ is Martine and Dirk-Jan, living just outside of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Goal: Drive through the north-western part of the US and Canada
After checking a few websites there’s a good chance we will stay in Canada most of the time. We might not be able to visit Yellowstone National Park as this could add up to 1.500 km to our trip.
Based on the weather in Seattle and Canada we will decide what our next destination is. Right now it looks like we might be heading up towards Jasper National Park in Canada as soon as possible.

Transportation Air + Car

Schedule

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Or click the route part 1-4   /   part 2-4  /  part 3-4  /  part 4-4

Pictures

2007 US Seattle

2007-22 to Seattle

2007-23 Victoria

2007-24 Olympia

2007-25 Mount St. Helens

2007-26 Mount Rainier

2007-27 Kelowna

2007-28 to Banff

2007-29 Banff

2007-30 Banff

2007-31 to Jasper

2007-32 to Kalispell

2007-33 Kalispell

2007-34 Kalispell

2007-35 to Moses Lake

2007-36 to Olympia

2007-38 Seattle

2007-39 Olympic NP

2007-40 to Amsterdam

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Aug 22 Wednesday Seattle

23º        8.100km   route:
Today we arrived in Seattle and picked up our rental car. The hotel in Downtown Seattle is Vintage Park where we stayed for 1 night. After we arrived and settled down in the hotel we had to decide what the next destination would be. (based on the weather, planning, etc). The north-eastern parts of the US are not known to be very hot and sunny ”all” the time. Dinner first!

Destination: Seattle (statistics)
Hotel: Kimpton Hotel Vintage Park ****
Dinner

2007-22 to Seattle

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Aug 23  Thursday – Victoria (BC, Canada)

23º          350km       route:    
On our second day we had to do some shopping before heading to Victoria on Vancouver Island. First we went to Fry’s Electronics (), then to a premium outlet mall. We had to wait for 1.5hrs before we could get on the ferry. Victoria ”downtown” is very nice. Many shops, restaurants, bars, etc.

Destination:  VictoriaHotel: Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel ****
Fry’s ElectronicsPremium Outlets Seattle
BC FerriesIrish Times Restaurant
Butchart Park (did not make it)

2007-23 Victoria

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Aug 24 Friday Olympia (USA)

27º       400km
Day 3 –  Olympia – not Kamloops!
Today we were supposed to drive to Kamloops where I booked the Hampton Inn. Unfortunately we found that the weather was bad in Jasper until Tuesday. So therefore we decided to change the tour, go south first to visit Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier.
Getting out of Vancouver Island turned out to be not that easy. All ferries were full so we ended up on the BC Ferries towards Tswawwassen in Canada. From there driving south to Olympia was just 400km…..”’+ 3.5 hour wait at the Canadian border!”’ That was just horrible. At the end we arrived at the Ameritel Inn around 22:30.
Destination: Olympia (statistics
Hotel: Ameritel Inn Suites ***
Hotel: Hampton Inn Suites Kamloops(did not make it)

2007-24 Olympia

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Aug 25 Saturday Mount St. Helens

23º       520km
After a nice full American breakfast at the Ameritel Inn Suites we drove to the Mount St. Helens visitors center. After a great tour by an old man we bought a book and some other touristy goodies.
The drive up to the Johnston Outlook was amazing. When we first saw Mount St. Helens you realize something. The amount of force needed to blow up that mountain is ”unbelievable”. At one of the scenic viewpoints we met an American guy who had been there at the erruption in 1980. He had a lot of fascinating stories.
After Mount St Helens we drove to Yakumo. The second part of the trip, around Mount Rainier, was amazing. The nature was unbelievably extreme. Combined desert with vast rocks made this a very interesting environment. See pictures for more details

Destination: Yakima, WA (statistics)
Hotel: Hilton GI Yakima ***
Mount St. Helens Volcano
Beautiful 360 degrees panorama

2007-25 Mount St. Helens

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