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Aberdeen to Rockaway Beach We left Aberdeen fairly promptly. It was a place to stay which was appropriately timed for leaving Seattle in the afternoon. In all fairness, it’s an industrial town as far as I could see. The only seafood restaurant in close proximity was the Breakwater Seafood & Chowder House on Wishkah River which offered an undisturbed piece of Halibut and some greens, which was very tasty.  Were it not for the driving wind, abandoned harbour, homeless people, and screaming kids it could have been paradise. We stayed at a motel for the evening and then threw our suitcases and backpacks into the back of our Mazda 6 and headed off for the West Coast. We noticed our first Tsunami evacuation sign on the way out of town. It only dawned on us at this stage that we were on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and it made sense that there would be such repercussions in the case of earthquakes and tremors. It was the first of many signs on our trip down the coastline....

That’s correct. And I would do it again. Were it not for Colin having family in Penticton, we would almost certainly never have happened upon this lake-straddled little gem of a holiday town. We really found it to be a special place.  There are two main routes in from Vancouver, Canada, which is basically South and North. On the suggestion of the hotel driver from Vancouver, we opted for the slightly longer but more scenic route, being the Northern one. I’m glad we did, because I’ve yet to think of a view more spectacular than the Okanagan Lake on arrival as the sun is preparing to set. Penticton is basically situated in the lower half of the Okanagan Valley between the Skaha and Okanagan Lakes, with a channel joining the two.  Okanagan Lake What better use for a channel than to float down it on a rubber tube? Penticton is the Floatie Capital of British Columbia, as a street banner so claimed. This was of course, the first on our list of things to do.  ...

Food. Lodging. Macdonalds. Wendy's. Starbucks. Subway. Lodging. Subway. Food. Denny's. Wendy's. Lodging.. Such was the signage on the way to Vancouver from Seattle on the I-5. Americans must be well fed and well rested. I'm sure it makes a difference because drivers certainly came across less frantic, from a passenger's perspective anyway. Both Colin and I thought it was a better idea that he drive to start with. Until I had to give him directions that is. My forte I believe lies in keeping him hydrated throughout long trips. The Peace Arch border crossing into Canada was my first drive-through passport control experience. There was a 50-minute delay or so due to heavy traffic returning from Seattle after the weekend, but it was an absolute pleasure not to have to get out of the car, have everything searched or to have to fill out any forms. The border is also beautifully maintained and so arriving in British Columbia was a most pleasant experience, and it only s...

Seattle. Place of seagulls and no accommodation. I should give Seattle more of a chance because it’s one of the places I was always curious about. Perhaps thanks to watching countless episodes of Frasier in my youth. Nevertheless, the space needle and coffee culture were enticing to me, and I'd never met anyone who had been to Seattle before.  Seattle Waterfront My first impression of the grungy town, aside from being grungy, was slight panic due to the lack of affordable accommodation on the go. We later found out that there was a huge baseball game on between Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners at Seattle’s Safeco field. It was also the start of Seafair 2015 which is a huge annual festival running over several weeks and the grand parade was scheduled to kick off that weekend, in the middle of the city.  World travelling note No. 1: look out for large sporting games and annual festivals. I thought I had done that, but due to our rather ambitious itinerary I th...

Having arrived fairly early at the station, you have about half an hour to 45 minutes to board the Amtrak Empire Builder train from Chicago to Seattle. The waiting area is scattered with all sorts of people. Old, young, single travellers, couples, foreigners and a few Amish families.  We left our large suitcases at the bottom of the double decker train and took backpacks up. Luckily I was super sorted and had a packing cube with the clothes and toiletries I needed for two days. We humans need surprisingly little to get by comfortably. Top of that list is a bed that you can lie down flat on, and a shower with sweet Mary Jesus soap. We were so comfortable tucked into our little pod which had a space for everything; chargers, lights, luggage, coat hangers, face clothes and drinks holders. The windows cannot be opened. You can only pull the panels out in the case of an emergency. Having found out there’s no wi-fi, we considered this an emergency but refrained from defacing the...