On the border

Sometimes the accidental places you end up end up being the most special. We weren't planning on stopping in this little seaside town on the border between the US and Canada- but we are so glad we did. 

Anacortes is a sleepy little town on the US side of the border where my Dad's cousin Ros and her husband live. It was so lovely of them to spontaneously offer to have us stay, and we had such a wonderful, relaxing time with them.

Little bit colder than the beaches we're used to at home- but still beautiful!

Deer in the garden!

Such wonderful hosts and lovely people, thank you Ros and John so much for your hospitality!!

This was a little stop we made on the way back to Vancouver airport- where we were flying back into the States- next stop Vegaas baby.

We had some farewell Caesar's in the airport to say a final goodbye to our adopted home. I wish I could have one of those right now! <3

Keep it weird.

It feels a little weird writing this as it seems like a lifetime ago we were in the US, let alone Portland, which wasn't even the last stop... We got home a few days ago, and it really is lovely to be home. But it's also great to reminisce, so I'll do a few posts on the last couple of weeks before moving onto anything from here!

Portland was a bit of a random choice of city to venture to- we knew pretty much nothing about it, but it happened to be a cheap bus ride away from Seattle and we had some time left to explore the US, so we decided to give it a try!

I'm so glad that we did. Portland is like a smaller, cleaner, greener little brother of Seattle- a bit of a hippie town with a million pubs and bars, coffee shops and organic cafes, book stores and thrift shops. We wandered the city, drank coffee and beer, ate hot dogs and donuts, justified shopping despite absolutely no room left in our luggage, and admired the relaxed, clean, pretty Portland style.

Speaking of donuts- this was one thing we had heard of before we got there- the (somewhat) famous Voodoo donut shop- complete with a compulsory line out the door.

We gave them a try, (and of course Tim had the girlier pink and coconut-flaked one), and they were alright. Nothing spectacular (my lemon filling had a distinct artificial tang, and Tim's was dry, really), but there you go.

Tim being a creeper in the Tugboat Pub and Brewing Co, which was an adorable old pub with so much character and great beer, too. Plus we played cluedo- what could be better!

There was lots of awesome street art and sculptures

I mentioned before that Munro's books in Victoria was the best book store I had found up until that point.. well, that all changed when we found POWELLS. It is an amazing emporium of 3 levels and many many rooms of new and used books, with great displays, amazing prices, reading rooms and an amazing cafe. It was so awesome, I could have spent days in there.

See anything wrong with this picture? Tim grew rather attached to his mane-like lumberjack hat.

Then the time finally came. To say goodbye to our newfound lovely city, but most importantly- our awesome little travel companion. Gemma has since skipped, hopped (or maybe flown) over to Boston, Tokyo and now Brisbane, before eventually returning to her native kiwi home. It was a great adventure for those weeks with you, we miss you!! See you in NZ, friend. x

Gooey.

Our first stop on the West of the States was the funky, bustling little city of Seattle! We had three days and nights to explore- and I think we did a pretty good job.

We were staying on the west side of downtown, close to the famous space needle, which we wandered over to and took some very (not-so) serious photos with, then proceeded to the funky and rather odd looking EMP museum of music, sci-fi and pop-culture (above is a photo from outside it!).

They had some great music exhibitions on- I particularly loved the Jimi Hendrix one, which had displays of all his funky velvet, plaid and psychedelic costumes, crazy guitars and some very interesting interviews. The Nirvana and Seattle grunge scene exhibition was fascinating too- it was fun to see just how many great bands emerged from that era, how quickly it escalated, and how much the scene has changed since.

Then we moved on to the horror and sci-fi exhibits- here's a shot from the 'horror booth'- I was the poor victim and Tim was the scary villain. ;)

Here is Tim fighting off some mutant evil monkey space invaders in his cape and goggles- such a valiant superhero!

We also formed our own band, made a shadow-puppet show(with our own bodies) and learnt about the history of guitars. A pretty damn great museum, if you ask me!

We of course had to explore the famous Pike Place Market- one of the oldest public markets in the US, and a great place for trinkets, pastries, seafood and people watching!

Now this, my friends, is gross. And tacky. And kind of awesome. But, mostly gross. Haha- this is the gum wall at the Market Theatre in Seattle, completely covered in millions of brightly coloured, bacteria-crawling pieces of formerly-sticky chewy. Apparently theatre employees attempted to scrape all the gum off a few times, but eventually gave up and embraced it for what it became- a both 'ew' and awe inducing tourist attraction!

 We met up with the wonderful Penelope, my Mum's good friend's daughter, who I've known forever but not seen for a long time. It was great to get an inside scoop into what to do in Seattle, and see a long lost friend all in one- so lovely to see you, Pen!!

We also explored Capitol Hill- a more residential and rather awesome suburb overlooking downtown. Lots of markets, cute coffee shops, book stores and thrift shops- my kinda place!

We met my Dad's wonderful cousin, Ros and her lovely daughter Allie for a great lunch in a cute little place with awesome sandwiches, coffee and conversation! I'd never met Ros before, but heard a lot about her and it was great to see her in person! We even made spontaneous plans to visit her and her husband John in their coast house in Anacortes on our way back to Vancouver a few days later (I'll write about that next time)!

THEN WE MADE A VERY IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. Allie mentioned her school mascot, one which we had never heard of before; the Geo Duck (PRONOUNCED: GOOEY DUCK). This turned out to be one of the grossest, most pathetic looking creatures ever to grace the world with it's presence, so of course we had to go see one for ourselves when she mentioned the local fish shop would have them...

GIGANTIC CLAMS WITH MUTANT SLUG-LIKE THINGS PROTRUDING FROM THEM. Haha sooo gross/pathetic.. great discovery for the afternoon, in my opinion. Who would want a tough tiger or shark as a school mascot when you can have a mutant slug-clam??!?

For our last night we decided to go on a tour my Mumma recommended; of the historic, burnt down Seattle to be found underground! It was such an awesome tour- really interesting historically, and really different to most other walking tours we've been on. Our guide was really knowledgable and funny, and we had a great time exploring the tunnels that used to be the main streets of the city before the great fires.

We were told the place was very haunted. Judging by the scary man I found in my pictures.. I don't doubt it. ;)

P.S.. ABOUT TO FLY HOME AHH. I hope the storms subside enough to let us in!! x

Island Dreaming

Next stop on our way south was the sweet little island capital of BC- Victoria. A gorgeous little city filled with little cafes, book stores and markets.

On the ferry over!

 Parliament House

 Who's been there?!

 A TIME CAPSULE! So cool. Who knows what they will find in 2067!? Awesome.

 You can't really see this properly- but this man came through a park we were in and started whistling to the ducks, WHO ALL FOLLOWED him like little puppies!! About 50 of them all waddled after him, pretty cute.

 Nova Scotia pride! 

Munro's Books! Best book store ever (well.. actually, best book store I had found until this point... there was a very strong contender in Portland too.. for another post).

Victoria Market Place. It was really pretty around here, but the market was a bit deserted, even on a Saturday. I assume its a bit more bustling in Summer, but there was still a lot to see in the town even in sleepy Winter,

Next stop... across the border to the U S of A! Keep tuned in ;) x

P.S HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY! We've actually been celebrating in style in San Fran.. I'll write about it soon! OH AND WE GET HOME IN 4 DAYS WHAAAT?! There better be sunshine and lots of cuddles waiting for me. Yay!