SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, IDAHO, MONTANA!

(Double-day post; check out below this one) 

Tofino was our furthest western stop. Our whole journey so far had slowly been leading us there, and once there, it was time to return east. My first post was called “There and Back Again.” Well, we completed the ‘There’ part, now it’s time to tackle the ‘Back Again.’

Seattle: the birthplace of grunge rock, home of the Mariners, the Seahawks and the Supersonics, home of Frasier and the first Starbucks, where Tom Hanks couldn’t get any sleep, where Grey hooked up with McDreamy, where it rains for a good part of the year.

We arrived in rain and left in rain. In between, we strolled around in the rain. And oh boy, what rain there was! We wandered through Pike Place Market and saw the famous fish stand where the big fishies are thrown back and forth. Across the street is the first ever Starbucks, founded in 1971 believe it or not; the logo is slightly different, a little more monstrous with more nudity. We also checked out the wacked out gum wall: basically as it sounds, a back-alley wall covered in gum. 

The 'Gum Wall': Modern Seattle Piece of Art

We didn’t visit the Space Needle due to the cloudy nature of the day, so we ventured to our hotel where he got dried up and hit the sack early.  

Next day we drove 1000 km or so from Seattle, Washington to Belgrade, Montana (which is slightly outside of Billings). In between Washington State and Montana, we skipped across the state of Idaho. I thought Idaho was the home of potatoes, but all we saw were Rocky Mountains; maybe the potato fields are to the south. Finally, we said goodbye to the Rocky Mountains which have been on the horizon, figuratively and literally, for quite some time now. Back to the plains and hills for us.

Our flight for Malaysia is on Nov. 13 at 12:30am-ish. We aim to be back in Elmvale, Ontario (north of Barrie) on Nov. 5, which would give us a good week of rest before we left. Other than Chicago, there aren’t many stopovers between Belgrade, Montana and Elmvale, Ontario. We plan to stop in at Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, and the Field of Dreams though.

Welcome to the Wild Wild West! No, not that horrible Will Smith movie, but the rolling plains from many a good western of old. Megan dislikes westerns, but I plan to convert her to a classic few: Unforgiven, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Pale Rider, Little Big Man, Ride the High Country, yes, even Blazing Saddles. She does love the Doris Day movie Calamity Jane after all, and isn’t that a western…? To Deadwood we go! To the Black Hills of South Dakota!