Denver to Vancouver Summer 2019

12th August 2019

Another early start - this time to go to the Space Needle. A friend who had visited recommended going early - and you know the early bird catches the worm.

The Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair—the Century 21 Exposition whose theme was “The Age of Space”. Located at Seattle Centre, the Space Needle stands at 605’ tall and is one of the most photographed structures in the world. The basic Space Needle tower was completed in December 1961, eight months after it was started. In keeping with the 21st Century theme of the World’s Fair, the final coats of paint were dubbed ‘Astronaut White’ for the legs, ‘Orbital Olive’ for the core, ‘Re-entry Red’ for the Halo and ‘Galaxy Gold’ for the roof. The Space Needle’s chief engineer had also designed rocket gantries for NASA.

We had beautiful blue skies this morning, so it was a great time to go.

We battled through the free breakfast crowds at our hotel and then walked downtown to catch the monorail. We actually could have walked to the Space Needle, but arriving by monorail, as the crowds would have in 1962 seemed far more romantic a notion! We felt like the Jetsons as we boarded the monorail and 3 minutes later we were at the needle.

The first sight of the needle is a little like meeting the Eiffel Tower for the first time. It stops you in your tracks - firstly because of the height of it, but also it’s 1960s/futuristic style. I can imagine that in the 1960s people really were thinking about living in space and this would have fitted the bill perfectly.

It also used to have a revolving restaurant at the top, which I should imagine was a real treat. The outer rim of the restaurant revolved, making one complete turn each hour. In the words of the Seattle Times - “a tiny one horsepower motor, guaranteed not to ripple a martini, will move the turntable'“. Guests had a round cocktail menu with the sights of the skyline printed on the back so that they could know what they were looking at.

We walked straight up to the ticket office, bought three tickets and within minutes we were in the lift.

The lift whisks you up to the top viewing gallery where you can go outside and walk around (safely behind glass) or you can walk around the inside if you are not so fond of heights. Amazing views across Seattle.

Once you have seen these views, you can walk down a level to where the old restaurant would have been. The revolving floor still exists and works, but has now been replaced by glass so that you can see straight down. After a few tentative steps, it actually feels okay to walk on.

Now we had been up the needle around 90 minutes and the crowds were arriving, so it was good to be here early. We walked through the gift shop (still only squashed pennies and postcards allowed) and Andrew and Oli tried virtual reality bungee jumping from the top of the needle.

Next to the needle was the MoPop Musuem - a museum celebrating pop music and culture. We thought we might give it a look, but were a bit put off by the price. We aren’t particularly mean, but having just spent $100 on the Space Needle we baulked at paying that again just for something to do. Another reminder of how lucky were are to live in a city where all museums and galleries are free,

So we did what we do best - we walked (or mooched as we like to call it). Just taking in the sights and sounds and smells. We went down to the harbour for lunch again, strolled through the Pike Place Market, and then walked back to the hotel to collect our bags.

We are now setting about leaving the US and our sixth state on this trip. It’s been wonderful. A bit tiring in parts, but we all seem to be coping.

This part of the journey had caused me much angst over the last month. For two reasons, which I will come to. When trying to plan how to get to Canada from Seattle, we had three options - Amtrak train to Vancouver (my vote), a plane to Vancouver (expensive) or a sea plane to Vancouver Island (Oli and Andrew vote).

We wanted to visit Vancouver Island, as when researching the trip it looked so beautiful. A ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island takes 90 minutes, so given the time we have, it seemed best to get there direct if we could.

Andrew had always wanted to take a sea plane, when as a small boy he used to read Tintin. This Tintin love has been passed on to Oli, so they were very keen to follow in the young detective’s footsteps.

So the first reason for the angst was - a sea plane? Me? No thanks. I don’t really like the idea of a small plane above sea. But how could I deny Andrew this opportunity? So I agreed, and had fretted about it ever since.

Second reason - a sea plane has a limit of 11kg luggage per person including hand luggage. You find me a woman that can do 17 days with 11kg. Well, you found her. Minimal packing (one hoodie, one cardigan, two pairs of trousers, three tops, three dresses, five pairs of knickers, four bras, a pair of sandals, a pair of trainers and four pairs of socks) - which was actually quite liberating, and buying toiletries when we got to Denver and leaving what was left in Seattle. So not much shopping. My camera and laptop weight 3kgs of the 11kg! Anyhow, we did it - all of us. And only three washes of clothes. But we are pretty sick of what we are wearing!

We got to the sea plane terminal, which is literally on the main Union Lake in Seattle, and checked in. There was a little confusion over visas. You only need a visa to enter Canada from the US if you arrive by air. I had bought said visas, but hadn’t taken a copy. So there was a little bit of can we fly or can’t we? Eventually we were cleared to fly. Took my mind off the sheer terror of the plane though. We were called to board along with our seven fellow passengers and the pilot took us to the jetty. The bags are very cleverly stored in the floats of the plane and we all got on. One seat either side. The pilot showed us all of the emergency exits and started the engine. VERY noisy, and we were soon speeding along the water and within seconds we were flying.

We did a few leans to one side as we got out of the bay, but soon we were high and flying over Seattle.

So that was goodbye to America. No line in the sea to say ‘this is the border - thanks for coming’.

There were a few bumps of turbulence, but nothing a grip on my shoulder from Andrew sat behind me didn’t fix. Within 35 minutes we could see Vancouver Island, and it’s capital Victoria.

The landing was great - a bit like watching a duck land on a pond. A big splash but not a massive bump. All in all, a thrilling experience. I am pretty sure we were lucky that the weather was so good, and that there were no big bumps.

The lovely man at customs rolled his eyes at me about the visas, but wished us a wonderful trip and welcomed us to Canada. We are in Canada!

We caught a taxi to our hotel - the Hotel Zed - another 50s motel that’s had a retro face lift, and rested before going to dinner. Pasta tonight.

A short walk with an ice cream for Oli (Andrew and I skipped the ice cream as we’ve grown rather a lot), and a walk along the harbour.

Tomorrow we can explore Victoria a little more, but for now, it’s over and out. Just goes to show that pushing yourself out of your comfort zone usually pays off.

Please see below a footnote from Oli. The hotel has two old typewriters, which he has wanted to try for ages, so he spent some time tonight typing his own account of the day.