Washington – part I

 

We came to Washington mostly by chance, the two grandmothers and I. Me and my grandmother used to travel a lot together. My boyfriend’s mother loved to watch our photos, but one day, she got cross (in jest) and complained how we never take her along. So I asked her, where would she like to go – and she said to Canada! We never gave it a second thought; we simply bought the airplane tickets and went! After travelling two of Canada's territories we spent the time left to visit the state of Washington.

 

 

It turned out, yet again, that the best way to travel is by having your own car at your disposal. You can rent it at the most varied places (at the airport, in larger cities and so on) and the prices are completely acceptable (usually lower than European prices). For renting a larger car or an off road car for two weeks we had to pay about 500€. I usually book a car in advance using the www.alamo.com so a car was waiting for us at the airport. But as we got there and saw all these comfortable American cars, we quickly decided to change the vehicle for a bigger option, so the grannies could travel with more comfort. Traveling by car always spells out freedom for me, as I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, can stop when and where I want or even sleep in the car. 

 

 

The biggest surprise was at the Canadian US crossing, where we arrived late in the evening. It was pitch dark outside, when we drown down the almost endless wide straight road, leading to the small crossing. The wooden building of the border control was straight out of a movie. There was a cold wind outside but inside was a dim light and nobody in sight. All of a sudden an officer with a hat on came to check our papers. When he saw us and our papers, and realized we were foreigners, he coldly invited us to park the car and enter the cabin. We didn’t know why, but were soon in a middle of a real life interrogation. We sat next to each other in uncomfortable chairs, with a very strict and serious officer opposite us. As he was looking at our documents and checking something over the computer, we were curious to see the inside of the wooden cabin we were in. It was a simple, wooden structure, with a few stuffed animals. It was cozy, warm and nice. After a few minutes of browsing the computer and turning the pages of our passports the officer finally started speaking. His first question was about the combination of travelers. He could not, for the love of god, understand how a young girl would be traveling around with two grandmothers. As I explained our connection he could not understand, how come my boyfriend was not along for the trip. I’ve explained how his work does not allow him to take enough time off, but he just couldn’t understand it. When he probably gave up on us, he gave us a smile and wished us a pleasant journey. And a pleasant journey has begun with this unique experience at the border crossing. It was similar returning from the US back into Canada, where we even caused a traffic jam at the border crossing.

 

I always wanted to see the western part of the US, probably because I loved the old Western flicks as a child. As the state of Washington is to the very north-west of the states, it was a place I wanted to visit. The state ends out with the Pacific coast with many islands. The biggest city of the state – Seattle – and the state capital Olympia are both on the coast. You can also go and visit the famous national park Olympic National Park. As we all love unspoiled nature, we headed to see the park, while we were in Seattle. We had high hopes and expectations, but the weather would not cooperate, although bad weather is rare during late summer. We still got to enjoy pristine nature and a walk in the forest full of gigantic cedar trees. The visitor paths are neat and nice and you can walk around them with an umbrella as well. If the weather were better, we would have seen the high hills, but the cloudy foggy conditions didn’t let us. Disappointed at the weather we continued northward. The state features more natural parks and you should try and visit at least a few of them, like the Mount Rainier National Park or the famous mountain roads Mount Baker Highway and North Cascades Scenic Highway. As with most states, it’s easy to find a place to sleep. We recommend you to sleep in Hostel Seattle. 

 

 

But, I still haven’t seen the American west I got to love in the movies. The buildings, the landscape, the people… everything was different. And I finally got to experience the feel I was looking for in the town of Winthrop, which is the only place in the state of Washington that still represents the authentic feel of the gold rush and the cowboys.

 

I guess nobody would ever think of looking for a Bavarian town on the pacific coast of the continent on the opposite side of Atlantic to Bavaria. The town of Leavenworth is a typical Bavarian town with balconies to yodel on and everything. But instead of white sausage you’ll get a peanut butter flavored ice-cream.

 

While watching many Hollywood movies, we simply sigh “oh, those Americans.” But the reality is not much different from the movies as we got to see in the world famous city of Seattle. There’s a lot of glamour on one side, with expensive cars, nice and tall skyscrapers, and young girls following every fashion trend. But on the other hand, there were groups of colored people looking at you with suspicion, the way too many fast food restaurants with overweight people, and a homeless beggar you can run to on every step, asking people for help. In order for grannies to experience the part of America they hear about, but cannot experience, I took them to a typical fast food restaurant. They each ordered their menu and when we got all the food, we realized the three of us could share two menus and it would have been enough. A typical menu costs 5$, which is cheaper than a comparable offer back home. While sitting there, I watched the local with curiosity, seen them gobble down unhealthy fat food and many ate unusual huge quantities of it. It’s such fast food joints that are like a beacon for the overweight Americans we think of back home. We were all stunned by this realization, as we always thought the image of something like that was exaggerated and could not be true. As we had a lot of food left, we took it with us and gave it to the first person begging on the street. And we didn’t have to look far, as he was standing right outside the door. The old man was surprised and very thankful for the food we gave him, as he was used to beg from people going in and out, but usually only got change. The people of big cities seem to live from day to day, rushing smilelessly up and down the streets as if they’re scared of something, as if they don’t trust anybody coming their way. This feeling was only confirmed, when the nice guy at the motel warned us, not to walk along at night through the center of Seattle. We got the same warning from the guy collecting parking near the very center, where we decided to rather spend the night in the place next to the motel and not explore the city. This was a sharp contrast to the countryside of Washington state.