Last month, I recently had the opportunity for a business trip to
Seattle, Washington. So, I decided to
travel by car, and enjoy the scenic views along the way. It would also give us a chance to take along
our Italian Greyhound dogs since the city of Seattle is a pet friendly
city. According to Yahoo maps, the drive
would be about 800 miles and take 12 to 13 hrs. non-stop.
We researched hotels in Seattle and was pleasantly surprised
to find out that large hotels like Westin, Kimpton and others were all pet
friendly, and our dogs could stay in our room with us. The Westin had a great promotion, and because
we are Starwood club members, this was a great choice. We
also decided to stop in Portland, Oregon overnight, and we also had lots of hotel
choices to pick from so we decided to stay in the Jantzen Beach area at an Oxford
Suites Hotel.
Well, we finished our travel plans and a few days before, I
changed the oil in our SUV, checked the water, windshield fluid, and tire
pressure.
Everything was all set.
The morning of our departure, I got up at
5am, loaded the car, made breakfast and fed our dogs.
I decided to check the car one more time, and
to my horrified surprise, I had a flat tire in the garage.
HOW COULD THAT BE????
Well as I said before expect the unexpected
when travelling!
So, I pulled out my electric air pump, filled the tire, and
we departed.
It was a beautiful sunny
day and I hoped the weather would hold for the entire trip so we could enjoy
the scenic views along the way. .
I
stopped at the gas station a few miles away, and the tire was holding the air
pressure perfectly.
I decided, I would
take it easy, drive slow and check the tire often……and off we drove to
Interstate I-5 North bound which would take us directly to Seattle.
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| On our Way |
Along the way, we saw a huge golden eagle soaring along the
fields near I-5.
This was a good omen
for the “soaring eagle traveler”!!
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| Golden Eagle in Flight - Courtesy of Wikipedia |
Once we drove passed Sacramento, CA and about 1/3 the way to
Chico, CA, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain lightly.
I stopped multiple times and checked the tire
pressure, and the front tire was rock solid.
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| KoKo & MayMay resting in the back seat being good puppy dogs |
By the time we arrived in Chico it was cold, very windy, and
a light drizzle.
The dogs did their
business but wanted the warmth of the car so after filling the tank with gas,
we headed North.
By the time we passed
the city of Redding, CA and approached the Shasta National Forest, and Lake Shasta,
it began to rain steadily with bursts of heavy rain.
It rained most of the way to our first stop
in Portland, OR.
Look ...... A touch of blue sky ahead
While we saw a little
of Lake Shasta, unfortunately, we did not get much chance to see Mount Shasta,
or any other mountain heading North such as Mount Jefferson, Mount Hood, Mount
St. Helens, Mount Rainer, etc.
When we
started approaching the Oregon Boarder and left the Mount Shasta National
forest, the rain stopped momentarily at the Weeds Rest Area, and we were able to stop at a rest stop
and let our dogs take a walk and chase a large group of sea gulls.
As we passed Medford and Grants Pass, Oregon, we found the
small town of Canyonville, OR with a large Indian Reservation Casino along I-5
called Seven Feathers Casino.
Another good
omen…at the front of the casino is a huge statue of a bald eagle that looked to
be over 15 feet tall or more.
We decided
since their resort was pet friendly we would stop there on the way back to California.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a side note, I have a small collection of casino chips
from around the world approximately 500 or so chips.
So, I had to visit the Seven Feathers Casino
and buy some chips from one of their gaming tables.
I decided I would try to find other casinos
like this along my trip since there are many Indian reservations in Northern
California, Oregon and Washington.
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| Some of the Casino chips I collected on my trip |
I have casino chips from over 150 different casinos from
over 60 cities and 10 countries around the world. More than 75% I have visited over the many
years of my travels, and the rest I have either received from friends with a
few I have purchased from other collectors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We made it to Portland, Oregon and got a nice rest and some
great food.
For those people interested
in visiting Oregon, I lived there on two different occasions and there are
great things to see and do in Oregon.
My top things to see in Oregon (Not in any special order):
1.
The Lodge on Mount
Hood:
Built in the late 1930s, this National
Historic Landmark sits at an elevation of 5,960 and is famous from the movie “The
Shining”.
Awesome winter skiing.
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| Courtesy of wikipedia |
|
2. Sun River Oregon: Majestic views at a great Resort with
golf, fishing, canoeing, and much more.
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| Sun River Resort Courtesy of tripadvisor.com |
3.
The Annual Cannon
Beach Sand Castle Tournament (Next Contest is June 21, 2014). Many master
sandcastle expert teams and over 7,000 visitors in 2012.
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| Above three photos courtesy of cannon-beach.net |
4.
Sand Dune national
Park: Rent sand dune buggies or 4 wheelers and explore over 19000 acres of sand
dunes.
The park contains the tallest sand
dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet (230 m) from the floor of
the San Luis Valley on the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, covering
about 19,000 acres. Researchers say that the dunes started forming less than
440,000 years ago.
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| Courtesy of Wikipedia |
5.
Salmon, Rainbow Trout
and Steelhead Trout Fishing: Fabulous fishing in Oregon’s many rivers including
the Willamette, Wilson, Deschutes, and many more.
6. Oregon County Fair: Visit the 45
th annual fair
in July 2014, with hundreds of world class entertainers and performers, hand
craft artisans and gourmet food creators lining up to provide, once again, an
experience unequaled in the festival world. This fair is located in 280 wooded
acres west of Eugene Oregon.
Courtesy of Oregon County Fair
7.
Hood River
windsurfing: world class windsurfing and competitions including Hood River’s
annual June “Gorge Windfest” competition.
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| Courtesy of mileslight.com |
8. White Water Rafting in Oregon Rivers: Oregon offers some
of the best white-water rafting in the country; the mighty Rogue River is a
thrilling ride. Several outfitters offer trips along this frothy, 215-mi river
in the southwestern part of the state. Other excellent spots for rafting
include the Deschutes River in Bend, and the Clackamas and White Salmon rivers
near Portland.
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| Courtesy of Wikipedia |
|
9. Crater Lake: In summer this 21-square-mi lake is southern
Oregon's foremost attraction, and its encircled by a well-maintained 33-mi
road. At 1,943 feet (592 m), it is the deepest lake in the United States, and
the seventh deepest in the world.
 |
| Courtesy of traveldee.com |
|
10.
Columbia River
Gorge:
The 75-mi section of the
breathtaking Columbia River that extends just east of Portland to The Dalles
provides some of the most stunning scenery in the Pacific Northwest.
 |
| Courtesy of Wikipedia |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We departed Portland bright and early heading over the Columbia River bridge on I-5 North.
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| Crossing the Columbia River into Washington State |
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| MayMay is enjoying the ride and the scenery |
After sporadic rain and cloudy conditions, we arrived at the
Westin Hotel in Seattle.
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| We arrived at the Westin Seattle |
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| Taking the elevator with MayMay & KoKo up to our room at the Westin |
That night, we went to dinner with one of our clients and
his wife (Rick and Kari) to a simply wonderful restaurant in the Queen Anne
district in Seattle. According
to Wikipedia, Queen Anne Hill is a neighborhood and geographic
feature in Seattle, Washington, northwest of downtown. The neighborhood sits on
the highest named hill in the city, with a maximum elevation of 456 feet
(139 m). It covers an area of 7.3 square kilometers (2.8 sq mi),
and has a population of about 28,000. Queen Anne is bordered by Belltown to the
south, Lake Union to the east, the Lake Washington Ship Canal to the north and Magnolia
to the west.
We traveled from the hotel to the restaurant in style…. A
black Hummer3 SUV.
We arrived at our
destination, the Toulouse Petit Kitchen & Lounge.
This cool and trendy neighborhood features many eclectic
restaurants, bars, and boutiques, a must stop on your next trip to the Seattle
area. The Toulouse is owned by Brian
Hutmacher and also owns the Mexican style restaurant Pesos Kitchen & Lounge
which is right next door.
The ambience of this restaurant is spectacular.
The large windows bring in lots of light and
as the sun goes down the hundreds of candles encircling the room and the
artistic glass lighting sparkle with magic.
The Toulouse has a phenomenal New Orleans inspired menu.
Mr. Hutmacher hired executive chef Eric
Donnelly who produces the menu that features:
·
Twenty Seven (27)tantalizing items to choose from on their three course Prix
Fixe Menu including items such as:
o
Cauliflower & white Truffle Soup w/ Dungeness
Crab
o
House made Boar-Garlic Sausage with Tomato-Basil
jam
o
Savory Crawfish Beignets with red Pepper Jelly
& a spicy Louis sauce
o
Cajun Meatloaf with a Smoky Tasso-Black Pepper
Demi
·
Eight (8) wonderful Toulouse salads such as:
o
Marinated Rabbit Salad with Asparagus, Treviso
and Pistachios
·
Three (3) soups including:
o
Crispy Fried Chicken Gumbo soup
·
Five (5) Chilled Seafood Appetizers & Four
(4) Charcuterie items including:
o
Sashimi Tombo Tuna Crudo with wild Arugula and
Fennel Salad
o
Rustic duck and wild Boar Terrine
·
Twelve (12) Seafood Small Plates Including three
Oven Roasted Oyster offerings
·
Seven (7) delectable Curiosities including:
o
Caponatas Bruschetta with Prosciutto San Daniel
·
Five (5) tonight’s Cheese Selections
·
Eleven (11) tempting Pasta, Gnocchi &
Risotto entrees such as:
o
Braised Rabbit with Leeks and Prosciutto over
Fresh Pappardelle with Sage
o
Fennel Braised Pork Shoulder Sugo with Housemade
Ricotta Gnocchi and Sage
·
Fourteen (14) savory Meat and Poultry entrees
including 3 USDA Prime Steaks such as:
o
Grilled Spring Lamb Chops in a Tuscan Marinade
with Herb Roasted fingerlings
o
Slow Roasted Duck Confit with Lentils de Puy, thyme
and Bacon Lardons
o
Lagniappe Rib Eye Steak
·
Nine (9) Specialty Steak Preparations
·
Nine (9) Vegetable and side offerings
·
Seven (7) Seasonal Seafood Preparations
·
Eleven (11) French Quarter Seafood Standards
·
And more……………. I am so hungry just reading their
menu!
The Service is great, and the food comes to the table at a
very reasonable rate.
All items we were
served were cooked to perfection, and we all agreed that we had to come back
for more, including our guests Kari and Rick that come here often.
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| Kari & Rick enjoying the great food! |
Our awesome waitress, Angie Wilson did not only a super job
at taking care of us, but she was very willing to share some information about
the owner and the restaurant.
Thank You
Angie!!!
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| Our super waitress Angie Wilson |
I must say that for my worldwide travels over the decades, I
have enjoyed well over a thousand different restaurants, and this ranks in the
top 50 of my most favorite and delightful dining experiences!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well the next night we decided to gather a little larger
group of six of us and try another Seattle favorite. Who could refuse a Steak and Seafood
Restaurant right on Elliott Bay at Alki Beach in West Seattle, facing the
Seattle skyline at dusk, and enjoy a tremendous meal! Well our clients suggested Salty’s Restaurant
and they hit a home run in my book!
Salty’s is owned by Gerry and Kathryn Hilger Kingen. In 1969, Gerry purchased Red Robin from the
original founder and grew the business as a successful franchise enterprise and
then sold a controlling interest in the company. Red Robin later went public in 2002.
Salty’s, according to their website(http://saltys.com/seattle):
"One of the World's Great View
Restaurants"™ You'll love our sweeping views of Elliott Bay and the
Seattle city skyline, like no other restaurant in Seattle. Enjoy award-winning
Northwest Seafood & Steak Cuisine and Five-Star Diamond Award friendly
service. Voted Best Waterfront Restaurant in Seatte and Best Sunday Brunch in
Seattle year after year on Seattle.Citysearch.com.
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| Front Entrance |
From the minute you walk in to this restaurant, you will
find the staff friendly and very interested in providing you great service from
the time you arrive until to the time you depart this fine establishment.
This is a well trained staff that makes you
feel at home.
The atmosphere is
spacious, wide open with 180 degree view of Seattle.
The vibrant decorations throughout makes it a
fun and enjoyable place to eat, but the food is simply wonderful.
From our table, the large windows afford us great views of the Seattle skyline at dusk.
The following is just a sampling of what our group had for
dinner, and our server did a wonderful job with her attentive service of our
needs:
Fried Calamari and Coconut Shrimp for Appetizers
Caesar Salad with baby
shrimp
Filet Mignon
Bering Sea King Crab
Legs
Grilled King Salmon
Daily Special
After dinner, we had the distinct honor of meeting both Chris
Darst, Salty’s General Manager, and later before we left, Executive Chef, Jeremy McLachlan at
our table.
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| GM Chris Darst in center (3rd from left) |
We all had a delightful meal and a great time, including our
partners (from left to right), Susan, Rick, Rich and Rick.
I know on my next trip to the Seattle area or to one of
Salty’s other location areas, I will make a point to stop at Salty’s for
another fine dining experience.
Bon Appetit!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we prepared to leave Seattle, we drove around town to
explore some of the sites.
We found
Pikes
Place Market.
According to Wikipedia, “Pike Place Market is
a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington,
United States. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest
continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States.”
We walked the market with our dogs, KoKo and
MayMay, and enjoyed the sunny day in Seattle.
At the market, we walked the busy aisles filled with people, and then we bought our favorite fruit, Ranier Cherries
for our ride back home.
We also walked
around the area to see street artisans and explore the small shops.
Across the street, they have a great bakery,
Le Panier with fantastic baked goodies!
We also stopped by other stores including Seacut (Seattle Cutlery) and of course a Starbucks.
Even KoKo pointed out a small organic cookie
shop so I bought peanut butter cookie and we shared it with our dogs.
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| KoKo wants a cookie.....she love Peanut Butter cookies! |
As we headed South on I-5, I decided I would stop along the
way at the Indian Casinos near interstate I-5 and collect chips from those
casinos. From Seattle to our home
destination, I collected almost 40 chips from more than 15 casinos and poker
rooms to add to my collection. And the best part, I actually sat down at 3
different casinos with table games, and won anywhere from $40.00 to $200.00+,
including the Seven Feathers Casino in Canyonville, Oregon, where we stayed
overnight.
Along the way, we had great views of most of the mountains
such as Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainer, Mount Hood and Mount Shasta.
As we traveled I-5 South, the road goes
approximately 180 degrees around Mount Shasta.
Our first good views did not show the peak well since there were clouds
just near the top.
As we encircled the
mountain we had plenty of great views of the peak.
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| Mount Shasta |
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| Mount Shasta |
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| Mount Shasta |
Our Italian Greyhounds were very content traveling with us,
sleeping in their beds in the back seat.
Occasionally, they too wanted to see the sites.
Here is MayMay enjoying the view in downtown Seattle.
We arrived home safely, and we thoroughly enjoyed our
trip. The business portion was
successful, and the drive gave us many opportunities to see and enjoy the
Pacific Northwest that only a drive along interstate I-5 affords you.
From the Soaring Eagle Traveler, Safe travels!
Edward C.
