Saturday 17th June – The Dalles to Eatonville - continued

From Troutdale we went back onto the Back onto the I-84 and it had suddenly become quite crowded as we were now on the outskirts of Portland. We went north on the I-205 and then the I-5. The traffic delays that our satnav had flagged up earlier had disappeared by now. We continued north as far as the Mt St Helen’s Visitor Centre but went a short distance west to Castle Rock, a small town, where we found a small cafe and had an early lunch. This was a good move as there turned out to be not much food available on the road to Mt St Helens itself. We started by going into the visitor centre watching a film and looking at the dramatic series of photograph and other displays about the explosion/eruption of 1980. We started to get a feeling for the immensity of what had happened.

We then made our way along the WA-504 stopping at only a few view points and going as far as the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Centre run by the Forestry Service. All the way we saw a constant stream of cyclists returning towards Toutle - the ladies in the cafe had warned us about this cycle event.

At Coldwater Ridge the display was really good explaining about the recovery from the devastation and what was now happening to the woodland and rivers, whereas the previous centre had concentrated more on the explosion itself.

We decided it was now time to start heading for tonight’s motel so returned down the WA-504. The satnav took us on a series of side roads including the WA-505 before getting us to the US-12 at Ethel. It was then eastwards along the US-12, then north on the WA-7 to Eatonville. We stopped once at Mossyrock Dam for pics and then we went into the nearby town of Mossyrock. We were uncertain as to whether we would find a reasonable place to eat in Eatonville on our last night or whether breakfast was included so we shopped for both.

Needless to say when we got to Eatonville we found that breakfast was indeed included and there was a restaurant right next door to the motel and two others in the town, one of which was open. Unfortunately we’re on the first floor which meant Les carrying the luggage upstairs, but on the other hand the room is very nice and has everything except enough spare power outlets.

Having sorted the luggage and had a cup of tea we checked-in online for our flight and Les went to reception and printed off the boarding passes.

We then strolled to the adjacent restaurant, Bruno’s. It’s a bit of a classic American small town bar/restaurant with several TV screens all showing different sports. However, as usual staff were very accommodating and we had a very nice meal with Les finishing the holiday with a large steak. We’re pleased to find that like last night they do mashed potato - so much nicer than chips (fries)!!

Back to the room to download photos and prepare for tomorrow’s departure. The rain had arrived when we left the restaurant and the forecast is for it to last all night. It won’t necessarily be raining tomorrow but our chances of seeing a great deal of Mt Rainier look slim. We took the opportunity to email the pics of the Chenoweth signs to Barry & Nancy.

Sunday 18th June – Eatonville to Seattle airport

We’d planned for this to be a relatively restful day before our flight, but in the end it all got a little bit stressful.

We didn’t rush first thing and made our way down to breakfast around 8.30, by which time light drizzle had started. Last night and this morning the lady running the motel had been stressing how great their breakfasts were, but to be honest it was the usual mix, and not as good as quite a few others we’ve had in terms of choice.

After eating we were pretty well ready to leave straight away, having ‘flight packed’ on Friday night when leaving The Dalles. The weather was light rain with low cloud, so we knew we had no chance of seeing Mount Rainier. We pottered back to Elbe in the hope of a ride on a steam train, but it was Fathers’ Day and they were running ‘specials which involved a long stop with a barbecue before the return journey. In the middle of taking photos we got into conversation with a Dutch couple. They had been here for four weeks doing roughly the same as us, but had had bad weather all the time. They couldn’t believe some of our photos, and we realised how lucky we have been.

We started heading for the National Park, but stopped at Ashford for a coffee. Some local workers from the Park joined our table and we had quite a long chat. One of them was Spanish and we talked about Madrid and Barcelona.

Carrying on up the road we reached the Park and went in. After a few miles we realised that we were really wasting our time, as it was too misty to see anything from any viewpoints, so we turned round and came out. We were aiming to be at the airport for 2.30, and the satnav showed that we could do that easily, including a lunch stop. As we went along however it started coming up with traffic warnings, and our arrival time started going back. When we got to Graham we decided to have quick comfort stop and then carry straight on having our bananas and apple juice as we drove.

Bad luck on Les, whose turn it was to drive. We crawled and stopped at every traffic signal through Graham and Pullayup. Eventually we got onto a freeway but it was no better, stop start for miles. Have to say the satnav was absolutely accurate in terms of the location of the delays. It was only when we got onto the Interstates that traffic became free flowing. The last bit was a nightmare with complicated junctions, and we seemed to double back on ourselves a few times. It was an enormous relief when we finally got to the car rental return.

We needed a shuttle bus to the terminal, where we went up two floors to the check-in. We were able to get upgrades to Premiuim Economy.  From check in we went straight through security. It was fairly well organised and there weren’t huge queues. The man who checked our passports and boarding cards actually wished up happy birthdays. The screening was a tiny bit chaotic as the instructions about what could go together in a tray were a bit confusing. We’d actually been given priority clearance but of course this didn’t work as Les’s replacement knee set off the alarm as usual. There was a quite delay while they organised our belongings and gave Les a very thorough pat down check. Eventually we were through and we then had to get a shuttle train to our gate. This involved going down two floors taking a short train ride and then coming back up two floors into the terminal. This is quite busy but there are several food outlets but less shopping than Heathrow. Just the Duty Free and a newsagent.

We had a quick snack and then Anne checked out the shops while Les started typing up the diary.

As we’d upgraded to Premium Economy with had priority boarding. Very comfortable front seats with loads of leg room. Plane left gate on time and uneventful 8hr 20min flight back to UK, landing at 11.40am. We even managed a reasonable amount of shut-eye. We were first off the plane and after what seemed a mile long walk, we were through immigration and picking up our cases from the belt.

Joyce & Bruce had just parked so we met them in car park. Extremely hot - 30C - but the car was cool. We stopped at Fleet and ate in a temporary building as they have demolished the fire-damaged services and are rebuilding. Diverted on to A303, due to a problem on M27 and home via Salisbury at 3.30ish.