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Pacific Northwest 2012 – Day 2

After the exhausting day yesterday, we slept in and by the time everyone was ready to go, it was just about 11 am. Jonathan had to work, so he was staying behind at the hotel so Daniel and I headed out east to North Bend WA. I wanted to visit some of the Twin Peaks sights I visited back in 1994 and Daniel wanted to see the Nintendo of America World Headquarters. Our first stop was at Tweede’s CafĂ© which was the filming site of the RR Diner in the show. Last time I was here, I just took a photo but didn’t go inside. I had a great French Dip and our server was super nice. I took some discreet photos and then we stopped at the post office so Daniel could drop off his postcards and then we headed back through North Bend down to Snoqualmie. It sure seems more developed than I remember!.

We stopped at the scenic overlook for the waterfalls and discovered they were mid renovation on the path to the bottom and the scenic overlook. I managed to get some photos and a magnet and then we headed to the Nintendo HQ in Redmond. Sadly, the Nintendo HQ did not have a cool merchandise shop and I was surprised to discover that it was almost completely surrounded by the Microsoft Campus. Daniel got his photos and we were back on the road.

We headed back into Seattle and we headed across a bridge where I was expecting a toll booth, but I guess they just mail you the toll so I’m sure at some point Hertz is going to send me a bill. Sorry!

We then did a scenic lap around Green Lake and then headed back to the hotel where we crashed for a few hours. After a rest, we headed off to the Mariners game. I really wanted to go to the game since I’ve always admired SAFECO Field since it was built and they were playing the Oakland A’s. A funny thing happened on the way to the game – we missed the turnoff and decided to go to Portland Oregon for dinner! The conversation was like this: Daniel: We should have gone to Portland for dinner. Josh: Do you want to go to Portland for dinner? Daniel: Yeah! Josh: OK, we are on our way!

It was only 160 miles to the border so with the ‘what the heck’ mentality, we headed down I-5. It took a bit longer than expected due to the low speed limits in Washington and some random slow traffic. But overall, it was like driving to Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo from LA.

Once in Portland, we did a scenic lap around downtown before deciding to pick up some world famous Voodoo Donuts for the trip back. The main shop downtown was packed so we decided to hit up the second one a few minutes outside of downtown. We then had a quick bite to eat and for the fun of it, I texted my friend Kris who lives in Portland near Reed College to see if he was around. He didn’t answer so we went by his house and took a photo of his front door and sent it to him. That is what people get when they don’t answer texts! Getting late and a bit tired, we headed back to Seattle.

Halfway home, Kris responded and was disappointed he missed us, but thankfully we will see him in October in LA when he comes down with his family for his wife’s performance. The trip back was much faster thanks to the lateness of the hour and by 130 in the morning we were back in bed at the hotel. Total time of the trip was 7 hours. Not a bad side trip for a day.

What was really surprising is that the Chevy Cruze was getting great gas mileage and only when we were on final approach to our exit in Seattle did it ask for some gas. So despite the fact I’m not a fan, much kudos to the Cruze for the excellent gas mileage! Tomorrow we will fill it up and head off to Vancouver BC with a stop at the Boeing plant in Everett, WA to see some big planes up close!