I apologize for the posting delay; I spent several days sorting and editing photos and then several more days trying unsuccessfully to upload them. This weekend we also went on a short overnight boat excursion with some friends on another sailboat from the marina. It made for a beautiful night on the Stono River and an even more beautiful morning, but left the blog on hiatus.

I’ve decided to break the telling of our trip into three parts because that is how the trip actually broke down. The trip began in Seattle, where we arrived in the evening just in time for dinner. We stayed with one of Brian’s friends from New Zealand whom we had stayed with on our last visit to the Pacific Northwest. For Brian and I, this visit really seemed like an extension of our visit two years ago, when we traveled by train from Vancouver to Seattle, rented a car, drove from Seattle to Portland, then farther down through the Willamette Valley, the mountains to Crater Lake, and then back up along the Oregon coast. That trip we had every intention of making it down to Northern Cali to see the redwoods, but ran out of money before we could make it that far.

This trip we stayed one night in Seattle before heading out to the Gorge and one night after the Gorge. I have to say that I fell in love with Seattle during our first trip, and this second trip completely confirmed my original thoughts. I would certainly like to live in this city at some point. Of course both times Brian and I visited Seattle in August when it was warm and beautifully sunny, which is somewhat of a rarity there, as you have probably heard. Although I am pretty sure that I could handle the gray for a year or two, especially since Seattle boasts a healthy cafe culture.

Apparently, according to our friend, it really doesn’t actually rain much, but rather is more likely to be cloudy with light mist or drizzle. The land with its hills and lush vegetation is very beautiful, and there are a great number of islands to explore by boat as Seattle sits adjacent to a bay, which is connected to the Puget Sound. It is close to Vancouver and Portland, the mountains and the sea, and also situated next to the Olympic National Park, a peninsula with one of a handful of temperate rainforests in the world. I love the smell of the forest there, cool and refreshing, and standing amidst the giant Douglas fir trees.

This trip, I was able to get an idea of what the eastern part of the state looks like, which I found contrasts the lush coastal corridor. The Gorge Ampitheatre is located about two hours east of Seattle on the Columbia River Gorge. The state becomes quite dry once you cross the Cascade Mountains and the lakes east of the city. The Gorge is dusty with small desert shrubs and vegetation, but beautiful just the same.

We arrived late the first night, having stopped for groceries and camping essentials along the way. The sun had already set and Phish was already playing their first set as we pulled into our campsite, Wild Horses (which I recommend to anyone camping at the Gorge Ampitheatre). When we finally made it to the theatre, it was dusk. I think we must have been pretty jet-lagged as the first show was somewhat of a blur. We sat up high, took in the awesome light show on stage, and watched people throwing around glow sticks in the front.

The next day we hopped a ride to the larger campsite adjacent to the theatre, where friends of ours from Charleston were camping in a VW camper. It was extremely crowded and dusty, but they had an amazing view of the Gorge and an easy walk to the theatre. We managed to get to the show early that evening, with a perfect view of the sunset. You can see from my pictures that it was gorgeous. Brian and I found standing room close to the stage, which was the place to be. Our experience the second night was a contrast with the night before, so it was great that we were able to see Phish play for two nights instead of just one. We danced, threw glow sticks, and thoroughly enjoyed the performance, acapella and all. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, as it was my first Phish show (I think I expected something a little more wild and crazy), but the show was quite polished.

Originally we had planned to go on a river float on Saturday before the second show, but instead we stopped on the ride back to Seattle. We rented tubes, threw on our bathing suits, and jumped in the water with a couple of beers. It was amazing. Cold, but not too cold, the water was extremely refreshing and full of spawning salmon. I saw about 50 or so swimming around underneath my tube, a couple of very large dead fish along the bank, birds darting overhead, and a baby otter running along the shore of the river. It was stunning, probably one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an air tight bag to throw my camera in, so you will just have to take my word for it.

Stay tuned for Part II: Yosemite and the Bears!