From Bogotá we flew into Fort Lauderdale and onwards to Los Angeles. We almost missed our connecting flight, as we left 40 minutes late in Bogotá and it took a long time to clear customs and baggage inspection. Right after we entered the plane, the gate closed, and off to LA we went.
We spent the night in Los Angeles Airport, before taking an early morning flight to Seattle, where we met up with Herta’s parents and drove to Portland.
Portland, OR
The first thing we did upon arrival in Portland was catching up on sleep - our close to 24-hour journey left us very tired. The next day, we opted to first explore the Multnomah Falls and Mount Hood National Park, both located an hour or two outside Portland.
The bridge in front of the falls and the moss on the trees makes for a very scenic surrounding. From there, we drove a little further towards Mount Hood. This mountain is visible from Portland, and even in Spring is still full of skiers. The view from the top made the trip very worthwhile.
On our second and final day in Portland we visited the city itself. Portland is a rather small city that is easily explored on foot. We made a stop at the iconic food trucks for lunch, and afterwards went for a walk near the waterfront. The city is nice, but at the same time there does not seem to be too much going on.
Vancouver
The drive from Portland to Vancouver took us nearly a day, as we made a stop at the Pacific coast before heading north. This stop turned out to be rather useless; despite the sun the wind made it uncomfortable. When arriving in Vancouver, however, the sun made it a very warm welcome. We spent two days exploring the city and its waterfront, which turned out to be quite nice as it was full of runners, bikers, and pedestrians.
Just outside the city the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Stanley Park on the way are great places to visit. Also, about one hour outside of Vancouver, in New Westminster, we stopped at the Dutch Shopping Center to stock up on Dutch treats and enjoy some great cheese with Dutch rusks. A great way to end our visit to Canada.
Seattle, WA
We ended our visit to the Pacific Northwest where we started: Seattle. We stayed in Seattle for four days, which turned out to be plenty. Seattle is the birthplace of tons of businesses, like Amazon, Boeing, Starbucks, and so on. The major highlights of Seattle are the Pike Place Market, Space Needle, and the car museum located in Tacoma.
Another sight worth visiting is the cities underground, which resulted of a city-wide fire in 1889. During the rebuilding phase, the local government raised the street by one level to improve the infrastructure, causing the bottom floor to become below street level. Nowadays, large parts of these underground spaces are still in use, yet others are long forgotten.
The ten day visit to the Pacific Northwest flew by. We visited the three major cities in the area, but other than that had only little time to explore the surroundings of these cities, like the Olympic Park or Mt. Rainier around Seattle.
