Quick: Portland, and then Seattle

 Alright, so after far amounts of driving, I've got a couple cities that I went through these last 2 days.  I have condensed these two places into one blog because I have little time with the internet tonight.  I am pretty much power-walking the northwest corner :)

So, as I left northern California, I got to see my redwoods! As I drove the last part of the Pacific Coast Highway after dark, I saw huge towering shadows and made out the outline of those monstrous trees and was excited to actually see them the following morning.  So huge.  I did a coastal drive through Jedadiah State Reserve and loved it.

I got to Portland- I had no idea what a person does in Portland- and decided on the International Rose Garden.  Over 400 different kinds of roses in a series of gardens over acres and acres of land.  Luckily I got there just in time because the roses are due to be chopped for the winter on Monday!  Red, yellow, orange, white... I almost expected to hear "Off with her head!!" as I rounded the corner :)

I made my way over to the Hoyt Arboretum, which is an outdoor assembly of trees from all over the world.  I went through the maple tree section because it is said to be the prettiest in fall with the changes colors: reds, oranges, yellows... really vibrant.

After the sun went down, I walked through Chinatown and Old Town of Portland, and along the river for a bit to see the skyline of the city.  Chinatown was not so exciting- kinda small and blah.  Old Town has cool history with underground tunnels that were once used as way to transport kidnapped, drunken men for labor on ships.  That would have been a cool tour to take, if I got there early enough.  Creepy though.  The "shanghai tunnels." 

Left under the Aeral Tram and stayed on a friend-of-a-cousin-of-a-friend's sofa for the night, cuddled with her cats.  Some people (and cats) are just so wonderfully nice :)

Rose early to get a start on the drive to Seattle because traffic can be horrible on I-5.  My friend is stationed near there for the army, so I picked him up and dragged him to hike around the city in the rain.

 

 We saw the Space Needle (a bit smaller than I had expected), and then made our way to Pike Place Market.  It's a long assembly of shops and fruit stands, vegetable stands, seafood counters... really exciting area.  Awesome to just browse through everything. 

 Walked a little further to a park in Pioneer Square where large carved totem poles stand over you. 

The park is backdropped by the Smith Tower.  That was surprisingly pretty as dusk set in and the rain showered down. 

The rain picked up, so we turned back and grabbed a pastry from Piroshky Bakery along the way: apple cinnamon roll.  Real slices of apples baked into it... yum!

Then the worst part: battling the steep hills of the city (not like San Fran though) on the way to a traffic-filled interstate.