Washington State

Mt. Rainier, a defining symbol of the Pacific Northwest

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It is sixty miles from Seattle, closer yet to Tacoma and is the prominent feature on the horizon of this part of the State of Washington. Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma, is an active volcano in the Cascade Range.

I took this pic from the highway near SeaTac Airport

Mt. Rainier is believed to have had some minor eruptions between 1820 and 1854, but these might have been merely rockslides or ash and pumice falls. Geologists think the most recent major eruption was in 1450 AD/CE.

Another view of Mt. Rainer (courtesy Alaska Airlines)

Mt. Rainier is 14,400 feet high and is is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous lower 48.  The threat of eruptions is real, and evacuation drills are in place for the immediate vicinity. The biggest threat is from lahars, volcanic mudflows that form when the glaciers melt. These volcano spawned mud slides destroy anything in their path.

Washington State Ferry between Kingston and Edmonds

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The Washington State Ferry System operates across the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea using 20 different terminals. These terminals are ports for the largest ferry system in the United States. Some of the ferries take vehicles, some are for foot travel only.

Waiting in line to get to the terminal

Ferry is approaching the dock, back left

 

 

 

 

 

 

During our recent road trip with family we traveled extensively on the Olympia Peninsula in the western part of the state.  We reached the port of Kingston and prepared to take one of the vehicle ferries on a 30 minute trip across Puget Sound to the port of Edmonds.

We were the first car to board the ferry

Lots of seating in the passenger lounge on the upper deck

 

 

 

 

 

We had a two hour wait to board the ferry at Kingston. It seemed like the wait on the road was not long, and we were actually first in line to board as we wanted easy elevator access to the passenger lounge.

This is the second ferry that runs the Kingston/Edmonds route

Downtown Seattle, 27 miles off, Space Needle far right

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rather short voyage was interesting. The scenery was something to see, not what landlocked Hoosiers are used to, that’s for sure. The Seattle skyline on the horizon was impressive, with the well recognized outline of the Space Needle visible 27 miles from our vantage point in the middle of Puget Sound.

Back in Austin and the sunshine

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Sher and  I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Seattle with our daughter, son-in-law and grandson for the past 3 weeks. On our way out there, we flew Delta from Austin to Seattle with a layover in Salt Lake City. Scroll though our blog for recent posts about the highlights of our Seattle trip.

Real winter in Seattle 2020

Before we left someone commented that we were nuts going to Seattle in January. Guess they were right as we were snowed in for three days the first week we were there. Seattle does not have the road equipment to handle snow! Oh, and Seattle maintained its reputation of rain, fog, rain, fog and more rain. We witnessed the sun one day, I should say about 3 hours, while we were there.

Returning to Austin we had the de-ice process at Cincy airport on a heavy frost morning

This is the first time in over 10 years since we have traveled by air. (You know, with an RV you don’t need planes!) Next time we fly we’ll have one large suitcase to check and each of us will have a small carry on bag. It was a pain carting those “carry on” size suitcases and stuffed smaller bags around. Coming back we flew Delta from Seattle to Cincinnati for crying out loud. Now I know what they mean when they say “red eye” flight. Left at nearly 11 pm, got into Cincy about 6 am. Got in to Austin about 10:30 am.

Welcome home!

Once in Austin, we got back to the La Hacienda RV Resort. Got the RV out of the storage yard, parked in our new site, hooked up the utilities and got things somewhat back to normal. My were we tired! Got carry out fast food for supper. We’ll hit the store next day. It was good to get back to our RV.

Mōksha Indian Cuisine in Bellevue, Washington

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A delightful chicken and veggie platter

Mōksha Indian Cuisine is located in downtown Bellevue at 515 Bellevue Square. Sher and I dined there with our daughter and son and their families. It was listed as one of the Top Restaurants for 2013 by the Seattle Times, and our experience there sure showed why it made that list.. The restaurant uses local ingredients when possible. The menu has a wide variety of entree choices that will satisfy the most discriminating diner. The Tandoor Chicken plate had an exquisite taste prepared in a 500 degree traditional oven, with the chicken morsels bedded on onions and green peppers. The Three-Bean Makhani Daal, vegetarian, was a delicious presentation of chick peas, kidney beans & black lentils, stewed with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, chiles & spices. I loved both of those dishes. All the food was excellent, the service was nearly perfect and the atmosphere was very comfortable. We absolutely loved the meal, and shared several different dishes family style. We would highly recommend Mōksha Indian Cuisine.