Reset search
Rambling North AmericaRambling North America
SatelliteEdit route

Rambling North America

July 2017 - January 2018
A 182-day adventure by Rambling Bears Read more
  • 208footprints
  • 3countries
  • 182days
  • 1.5kphotos
  • 0videos
  • 45.7kkilometers
  • 21.6kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 1

    Leaving Australia - stage 1 Honolulu

    July 27, 2017 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    The same procedure as always when going overseas - the train down to Sydney and out to the airport. It was a red-eye flight to Honolulu and we arrived in Honolulu earlier on the same day than when we had left home. No dramas at immigration. We got the 6 months we wanted but it was fortunate that we had a return ticket out of Honolulu next year. We checked into our hotel at midday but it was another three hours before our room was available. By then we were the walking dead and needed no makeup to look like the zombies we felt. Unpacked basics and crashed for the next three hours. The lead up to this trip has been a difficult one but we made it. Woke up in time for dinner at Goofy Cafe - organic and delicious!Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 2

    Stopover Honolulu

    July 28, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    The zombies awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well....... maybe not quite but refreshed we were and ready for an easy day before moving on tomorrow. Beautiful sunny skies ideal for a swim and a stroll down past Ala Wai Boat Harbour, Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and onto Waikiki Beach. In the evening we headed back down to the beach to join the hordes that had come to watch the Friday night fireworks display. I will never grow tired of watching fireworks.Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 3

    Honolulu to Seattle

    July 29, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Another big day on the road or more accurately, in the air. Checked in at Hawaiian Air at one Terminal then walked and walked and walked across another Terminal to our departure gate. Had we known the distance involved we definitely would have got the shuttle. Not good for Neil's leg! No meal on the plane as there were no vegetarian options and there are no options when booking flights with Hawaiian Air to give a food preference or special food needs. Definitely a negative for flying with them if you are not a carnivore. Most other airlines we have flown with have a vegetable/meat choice during flight or the option to choose when booking. Enough whinging. The flight otherwise was good. No one more whinge - no in flight entertainment in economy unless you pay ....... this is not a budget airline.
    Arrived at 10.30pm in Seattle and luckily there was a bakery open in baggage claim with very nice veggie wraps. So we didn't fade away after all. Then followed marathon walk number 2 for the day. Up elevators, out of the airport, across a massive carpark, follow the signs, follow the signs to the elusive light rail. Finally it materialised and we on our way to Capital Hill, Seattle, arriving at midnight. Outside the station we searched for the taxi rank that we assumed would be there outside a station but no there wasn't one. Enter stage left the helpful station cleaner who went and found the taxi number off the security, rang the taxi company and generally saved our day. Midnight found us lumbering up numerous steps to our Airbnb studio then promptly hitting the sheets.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 4

    Seattle - Settling In

    July 30, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Anything can look great on the internet but fortunately for us our cute n cosy studio is that and more. The yard though overgrown and wild because Sue Ann is away on her summer holidays is amazing - fruit trees, berry bushes, herbs, flowers, statues and cosy nooks to sit and chill out in.
    We woke up late, helped ourselves to some goodies that our host Sue Ann had left us then set out to explore our neighbourhood, have a coffee and find a grocery market. Such a pretty neighbourhood, leafy and green, up hill and down dale.The coffee- strong and the muffins - delicious. Lastly the supermarket - how civilised- a fully organic supermarket with an amazing range of food. Fully laden we trundled home. Time for a rest - enough exploring for the day as Neil's leg has had enough, too much walking in the last two days and aching. We will see what tomorrow brings.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 5

    Seattle - Rest n recharge the batteries

    July 31, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Neil's leg is sore. We have walked a lot in the last few days and his leg needs a break. Can't push it at this stage of our journey if we want to last the distance. We are here, hopefully, for the long haul so rest day it is. I have a good book to read, The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher, so rest we will. Further exploration of Seattle can wait until tomorrow.Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 6

    Downtown Seattle

    August 1, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Travelling is such a breeze with Google Maps. How did we ever manage pre iPad/mobile phones? When it is time to go in to town google the directions to the destination, choose the way you're going to get there and Bob's your uncle. The hardest part? Which side of the road do we stand on t get the trolley. Just kidding - but is the opposite side of the road to what we are used to.
    Business first. We have decided to get an American sim for the time that we are travelling so with research done and a company chosen we went into their shop and did the deed. Next stop off to Wells Fargo to change our Aussie dollars into US. Hadn't realised that Wells Fargo was a bank (hadn't really had the need I guess). Just knew the name as being the stage coach company back in the days of the Wild West.
    Now to play the tourist - Pike Place Markets. It was just after midday at this stage and we decided to grab a sandwich perhaps and coffee. Of course every tourist and local in the near vicinity had the same idea and it was wall to wall humanity. Exit Pike Markets and go somewhere less crowded. Once refuelled we strolled down to the waterfront and explored the markets on our way back up. The markets are on maybe five different levels. Nowadays small tourist shops are on the lower levels and the produce and flower markets on the upper level. The shops are cute and good for browsing but is was the produce and flower area that I found the most interesting, The highlight - fish throwing! We were in a prime spot for watching the activity and also right in line for a fish in the face had one of the guy in front of me missed. Luckily he hadn't.
    We are blessed with the weather at the moment. Seattle is experiencing a heatwave and the weather is glorious.
    Love Seattle. It is positioned a lot like Newcastle with the hills rolling up from the harbour but of course it is Newcastle on steroids with massive skyscrapers and on a grander scale.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 7

    Pioneer Square.

    August 2, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Another trolley ride. We are fortunate that where we are staying there are numerous trolley routes reachable within walking distance.
    The trolley rides are interesting - one to take you along different routes and see different neighbourhoods and two to people watch. You get to observe a slice of Seattle life- the good, the bad and the ugly. As we travelled along the streets in the downtown area, particularly under the massive bypasses, we witnessed the huge homeless situation that Seattle appears to be experiencing - tent cities in the dirt wherever a space large enough can be found.
    Pioneer Square - the oldest area in Seattle. Strolled the streets and alleys and went to the Klondike Museum. Very interesting and timely as we will be following the route of the gold miners up the inland assuage to Skagway.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 8

    Seattle to Bellingham

    August 3, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We were able to have a late checkout so after midday we headed to the Greyhound bus station at Stadium. As we had planned to taxi and lite rail it but then opted to save the hassle and taxi it all the way we arrived way too early. After we picked up our tickets we sat down for the long wait, whiling away the time in pleasant conversation with a young mum from Oregon.
    The coach was packed to the rafters, late leaving and headed into the afternoon exodus out of Seattle, bumper to bumper traffic all the way to Bellingham. With the heat of the day and the full nature of the bus what air-conditioning there was did not make it down to the back where we were sitting. Thankfully we were able to get the last two seats on the shady side of the coach. It was "a glad it wasn't me" moment when we arrived at the first stop in Exeter. A dozen people were waiting to fill the one vacant seat. The company had overbooked big time. I guess the unlucky eleven had to hope that there were vacant seats in the next coach due two hours later.
    The further north we headed the smokier it became. The mountains east of Vancouver around the Jasper and Banff areas are alight and the smoke is drifting south into Washington State.
    Two bus rides from the Bellingham coach terminal and we were at our accommodation for the night, Guesthouse Inn. Dinner was a delicious meal across the road at B'town kitchen and Raw Bar.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 9

    Wandering Fairhaven & Ferry Embarkation

    August 4, 2017 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Breakfast then taxi ride to Bellingham Ferry Terminal. After checkin we shoved our bags (literally - they were an extremely tight fit) into lockers and set off to explore Fairhaven, a historical town a short walk from the terminal.
    After deciding to have a late lunch/early dinner we chose to dine at a Mexican Restaurant. Our meals were delicious but massive. We easily could have shared and still not needed to eat for the rest of the day! Neil's was the world's biggest chimichanga.
    Waddling out of the restaurant we then needed to walk our meals off. Fairhaven is only a small town so it wasn't long before we had seen all there was to see. After an entertaining chat with some locals it was time to return to the ferry terminal, retrieve our bags and board the ferry, Malaspina, the first leg of our inland cruise - Bellingham to Ketchikan.
    This passage was booked originally for the Colombia but it was taken in for repairs and replaced with a smaller ferry. I am thankful that I booked a long time ahead as those who booked later on received emails informing them that they no longer had cabins and would need to bring a tent and/or sleeping bags to kip out up on deck or in the lounges. Another "glad it wasn't me" moment. Our two birth cabin was replaced for a four birth cabin so we were comfy.
    With no need for an evening meal I left Neil in the cabin to rest his leg while I explored the ferry like an excited child.    Read more

  • Rambling BearsRambling North America
    Day 10

    Ferry Life

    August 5, 2017 ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Slept like a baby with the hum of engines, a lullaby to our ears. We were both awoken in the morning by the regular blasts of the ferry horn as a thick fog had descended. Visibility was not muchhttps://findpenguins.com/3bnadkuqekswq/footprin… than the end of our noses so after breakfast it became a morning for rest. Neil's leg has been tested over the last week so a rest day is well in order. Thankful to the age of technology I have a range of lonely planets and novels to keep me amused for a while. Current novel - The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. Exercise for the day - circumnavigating the deck (8 laps = 1.6 kms or 1 mile). Not a great day for photos but the skies finally cleared late afternoon. Today's course was along the coastline of British Columbia, Canada.Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English