Back to May 22nd. After spending the night at Holiday Inn Express in north Vancouver, WA. I didn't remember that it was going to take so long to drive north to Mt. Vernon, and I had not anticipated such heavy traffic until I got to Seattle. But the traffic was very heavy all the way up. And then there is road construction.
My luck, the first thing I came to was another "cone zone". They are everywhere.
Rolling hills, lots of trees, and traffic.
Once very common on highways in the Pacific Northwest, I only saw these two logging trucks on this entire trip.
And the logs are skinnier and shorter. When I was growing up we would see logging trucks with just one tree taking up the entire load. Those trees are long gone.
If you look at a map of Oregon you will see a lump sticking up into Washington right on the coast. This is because the state borders follow the Columbia River which suddenly changes directions flows north just beyond Portland. This allows ocean going ships to travel way inland (this is at Kalama) and they can be seen from the I-5 all the way up to Longview, WA.
It is startling to see these big ships so close. The hills you see in the background are in Oregon.
I stopped for gas at the first Arco station I saw and then stopped in Napavine, WA, where I saw a Starbuck's sign. Guess I am just a Starbuck's junkie!
The area around Tacoma was particularly slow due to road construction.
Going under an overpass and seeing the Tacoma Dome off to the left.
First sight of Seattle.
And the speed restriction zones.
...Slower..
...Slower....
Sometimes the traffic opens up and you never know why.
Then the Express lanes peel off to the left and the roadway goes down.
And down, under the city of Seattle.
And comes our on a high bridge over some body of water. At the time I came through there were only a few cars and mostly big trucks.
Further north I can see another snow capped mountain. I tried looking it up on the road map, but the print is so small I can't read it!
And then the traffic picked up.
They do have an advanced public transportation system up here. Double decker buses are not something I see much in SCalifornia. Have I talked too much about traffic on this day's travel? That is what was most prominent and I needed to keep my eyes on the road so couldn't do much photography off to the sides. The journey was twice as long and, I think, the traffic was at least twice as bad as driving from Placentia to San Diego. On a Friday afternoon!
I love this old tree that is found in a rest stop just before reaching Mt. Vernon. You can read its story below. I enjoy stopping to see it when I drive up here.
It came to this location in 1971.
This map shows its journey.
A roof was added to protect it from the weather.
I asked this guy's wife to take my picture to demonstrate just how large the tree stump is.
One awesome remnant from the forest that once covered this country.
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1 comment:
Wow! It I get up that way, I'll visit this stump! A very special piece of Washington!
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