Re: [Leica] Travel to Wash. State

["David Medley" <dmedley@whidbey.net>]

Neal,

 In May we get hot, cold, wet, dry .......... and,  oh ya ....... it is a
bit unpredictable.

Travel anytime over the mountains can be a bit "iffy". Bring a light foul
weather jacket, a waterproof hat  and a good pair of shoes that can stand
to be wet and something warm. Once you get over the mountains you will
still run into weather once in while.

How much time do you have?

I would consider leaving Spokane on Hwy. 2 to Wilber.
From Wilber, take Hwy 174 up to Grand Coulee.
From Grand Coulee take Hwy 155 to Okanogan.
From Okanogan take Hwy 20 all the way across the North Cascades Hwy to
Interstate 5.

The North Cascades Hwy was just opened a couple of weeks ago and is a
magnificent road. There will be snow and mountains and all of the stuff
that we try to keep to ourselves and away from the rest of the world. There
are a number of small towns along the way. Some are cute on purpose and
some are real places but they all are fun.

When you reach Interstate 5 you have a decision to make. Head North to
Vancouver or cross the interstate and come down to my place on Whidbey
Island for a cup of coffee, dinner, whatever. Sorry, but you will miss Tom
Cruise and Nicole. They are shooting part of a movie this week and soon the
whole damn world will see what we want to keep private.
Coupeville,  where I live, is on the East side of Whidbey Island, tucked
into a little piece of salt water called Penn Cove.

If you head to Vancouver you will see one of the best large towns in North
America (IMHO) Check out china town, the parks
planetarium, etc., etc. It is a great place to leave the car and take the
public transportation system. Seattle should have
been so smart .............. but they will never learn and will live with
gridlock for the rest of their lives. There is so much in Vancouver that it
is best to stop at the visitor's center as you pass customs,  play tourist 
and pick up some brochures. So much depends on your interests, but
Vancouver has it all.

If you decide on the cup of coffee ...........Well, then you have other
options. After you leave my place you can travel about 3 miles and take a
ferry across Puget Sound to the town of Port Townsend and the Olympic
Peninsula. Here you will find Olympic National Park with its rain forest,
mountains and a wonderful coast. I spent about 10 days out on Cape Flattery
last year on the Makah reservation and things have not changed much over
the years. They do have a wonderful new museum that shows off the culture
and history of the area in a grand style.

If you don't want the big city of Vancouver or the remoteness of the
Olympics I might suggest you look into Victoria BC 
on Vancouver Island. Victoria is a great walking town and again, like
Vancouver, they have a marvelous public transportation system. You really
don't need a car unless you want to venture out of the populated areas.

Take a look at an atlas and then e-mail me privately with your questions. I
have all of the biased answers you can handle.



Cheers,
David Medley
Whidbey Is.   WA
USA
dmedley@whidbey.net

- ----------
> From: Neal Findley <nealfindley@worldnet.att.net>
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: [Leica] Travel to Wash. State
> Date: Sunday, April 05, 1998 11:10 AM
> 
> Perhaps one of the Washington state Luggers can advise me, 
> .....tend to photograph (shoot for Alan) :) some of the NW
> scenics with Leica M's of course- Any suggestions for things that are a
must
> to see?
> Thanks for any advice as always.
> -Neal