Tuna
Friday 15 March 2024
Another transit day where we headed north to Seattle. There is massive freeway all the way (Interstate 5) and it varied between 2 to 6 lanes of traffic with speed limits varying from 50 mph to 70 mph. However, most of the time to locals tend to drive constantly at 75+ mph and the trucks at nothing less than 65mph. We found our happy speed within that which varied from 50-78mph depending on the situation.
The Albatross mentioned a few days ago that Mount St Helens is in this area. Cool, but also cool that it wasn’t erupting. An hour’s north of Vancouver we scooted off the freeway to check out the Visitor’s Centre (5 miles down the road) and to see if the road up was open and actually worth going along. The Visitor’s Centre was beside a small lake that boasted lots of birds and wildlife, but I think most of them were snuggled up at home in the warmth. But it did have a stunning view of Mount St Helens, another gorgeous snow-capped mountain. It is obviously not being any type of active at the moment due to the amount of snow that was covering it.
We chose not to drive up there as it would have been about a 2 hour round trip. Back on the freeway and then a quickie off the I5 to have some lunch. From there it was just over an hour to Seattle back on the massive I5. When we neared Olympia the number of cars and trucks increase but then lightened for about 10 miles before plunging us back into 6 lanes of fast traffic interspersed with some off ramps at a standstill. It was kinda fun driving, despite the every now and then a truck not dealing with the windy and straying outside of its lane into mine.
The drive over the West Seattle Bridge was easy with a great view over the major dock areas. We might find a spot later sometime next week to watch the big boats go in and out.
We have a nice apartment in West Seattle with a great view of the setting sun.
Time for some planning on what we are going to do for a week here in Seattle.