America

On arriving in LA  after 30 hours travelling from Australia we started the next part of the journey which was another 35 hour train and bus journey north to Seattle. We started off by getting the  bus to Bakersfield. 

Los Angeles, Hollywood, view from the bus

Our first stop was Bakersfield which  was a thriving town , we then transfered onto another bus to Sacremento. We still could not believe how much  luggage we had and of course the fishing rod and container.  Our luggage had reduced in size significantly from Australia as we managed to sell all of our camping gear on the last day in Australia, another Gum tree success.

Steve at Bakesfield  station

We had a 6 hour wait in Sacremento, so we had a walk out into the city.  It was very modern with lots of shopping malls.  So we went to a pub and had sampled their  stew  which is someting we had not eaten for a while as this sort of food did not suit the climate in Australia and we were now feeling the pinch of the cold air.  We arrived back in the station and decided it was time for a quick nap while waiting for the train, we had now been awake for more than  40 hours with still a long journey to go. 

Viv cat napping in Sacremento station.

Our train arived a midnight, we were so pleased that we had booked a cabin, it was fairly small but we didn't care as  our heads hit the pillow and didn't here a thing until 7 hours later. We woke up and could not believe our eyes when we looked out of the window we were now  in Oregon and it looked like winter wonderland.  What a contrast from Australia and  LA.

View from the train Oregan

View from the train Oregan

View from the train Oregan

The Starlight train was excellent value, as it was all inclusive. We actually  thought we were only getting an evening meal so it was a nice surprise.  Our 'cabin' was cosy clean and comfortable (a total contrast to the trains we had been on in China)  The chairs folded down into a bed with a bunkbed on the top.

In our cabin on the train

We were also both surprised to get  complimentary 'cheese and wine' tasting,  the produce cam  from California, Oregan and Washington,  this was a  really nice touch.

Enjoying the wine tasting on the train.

Our journey ended in Seattle where Viv's sister Jacqueline and husband Michael picked us up from the station and took us to their new home in Snowqualmie, which is surrounded by hills and pine trees and it is  pretty impressive. They have a beautiful place overlooking pine forests.  They ften see deers and bears from their balcony.

Jacqueline and Michaels house



View from the balcony



One of the local deers

 

Jacqueline and Micahel took us on a 30 minute drive into Cascade Mountains  which had an unbelievable amount of snow at Alpental ski resort. We had already booked Whistler but we are sure we will still get another chance to ski here as well.

Apental ski resort.

Apental ski resort.

Each night  in Seattle we visitied  various bars around the Snowqalmie area and the Snowqalmie casino.  Both nights were good,  it was  an especially a  great night at the casino with  fantastic food.

Steve impressed how the barmaid carried four pints without a tray

Our plan was to only stop for the weekend in Seattle in the first instance, then go to Whistler Skiing  and then return to Seattle for week prior to going to Mexico with my sister and brother in law.

It took us six hours to eventually arrive in Whistler Canada by train.  We were both really excited as we had been looking forward to exploring these very famous ski slopes.  Our hotel, Le Chamois was in a perfect location right at the bottom of the lift to Blackcomb mountain, The studio apartment had a great view to the ski slope too.  It had lively bars and resturants around it to so we knew we would be there for a good time.  The skiing conditions wee  the best we had ever seen.

There were so many slopes catering for all levels of abiltiy,  nice long runs so that you were not spending so much time on the lifts.All the runs  were  really quiet too we enjoyed the ease of moving round the two mountains as the Peak to Peak gondola joins Whistler and Blackcomb mountains together.    The weather was also kind to us we had perfect conditionas all week. It was a great experience for both of us.  after having  much coaching fom Barbara and David Cox and Elayne and Gerry Bird, it started to click for both of us, even though Viv started to suffer with shin bang.

Photos above are all on Whistler and Blackcomb slopes

Since ariving back form Whistler our hosts have really looked after us showing us many of the sites of Seattle, such as the Space Needle,  Pike Place New Market and the first original Starbucks coffee house. We also visited the house boats on Union lake.  However the weather has continued to be unseasonalby cold and for the last week the snow has become a very dominant feature.  We ventured out in Jacqueline and Michael's jeep one day and also managed to get a short walk where we came across two deers. Again  this area is also well  known for its black bears and cougars, but luckily so far we have not come across any.

House boats on Union lake

Tomorrow on 16th we fly to Mexico with Jacqueline and Michael. Even though we have been in the USA for two weeks we are both now ready to once again catch some sun as we have had a very cold (compressed) two weeks,  which  hopefully for us will be  our mini winter.