Images from Hello World and annakaiser.net.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
October 3rd
I awoke in Minnesota not long before we arrived at Minneapolis Amtrak station. The lights and buildings looked very familiar yet forane to me after living in such a natural world. I was instantly energized and excited to see Erik and tell him all about my travels. Not long after I stepped off the train did I see him walking towards me. I was home.
October 2nd
I awoke as the morning greeting was announced. We had left Washington the previous night, gone through Idaho and were now making a station stop in Whitefish, Montana. If only Ricci was back from Korea I would have been more than willing to stay awhile before heading home. My legs were awfully cramped and it sure felt good to climb off the train awhile and walk around. I watched the sun rise over the mountain and the land was reviled. This was going to be an exciting travel day!
-Whitefish, Montana.
-Train at dawn.
-Mountain goat sculpture at the train station.
-Leaving Whitefish.
-I sat by the interesting white haired lady.
The train makes stops ever half an hour or so but only for a minute or two and then were off again. The conductor always announced the station stop so I could keep track of were we were on the train map and watch for historical landmarks and such. Glacier National park was breathtaking. This was truly the west, the mountains here looked much different from those in Alaska.
We road along and at times it feel as if we were riding on the edge of the mountains itself. The view from high above was spectacular as you would see the landscape and few scatted houses below. In the late morning I decided to check out the observatory car which is almost completely windows. In this car is where I saw a bull elk very close to the train. I was so shocked to see such a majestic animal in the wild with no fences. As we began to Leave Glacier National Park the landscape began to flatten and North Dakota drew near. Miles and miles of fields. I viewed prairie dogs, mule deer, pronghorns, raptors, bison and coyotes. Once in a great while a town would appear out of nowhere feeling very out of place. I really enjoyed this stretch of land that other people dread. I had never seen anything quite like it and it was exciting for me, exceptionally the opportunity to view so many creatures of the plains.
-In the observatory car.
-Look at those mountains.
-We were pritty high here. What a great view!
-Montana's mountains definitely have a different look than Sitkas.
-Leaving Montana's mountains.
-A South Dakota town in the middle of nowhere.
-Miles of flatland speckled with livestock.
-The Little Rockies in the background.
-Old train depots lined the edge of the tracks.
-I thought these square bales piled in square piles were interesting.
-Only clouds in the sky.
Tonight I was awfully hungry and sick of eating out of my diminishing snack bag. I figured I would treat myself to one good meal aboard the train. I reserved a 5:30p.m. dinner slot and could barely wait for the minutes to tick by so I could fest on my order, Bison Meatloaf! When the time came I walked to the dinner car was seated next to a man who looked homeless and could barely talk. Across from me was a young couple no older than myself. It was a tad uqward but I didn't mind much, I wanted to eat. The meal was great and it only set me back $20.00! It was worth it.
After dinner I saw the most beautiful sunset ever. I'm not sure if it seemed more extravagant because I had been living in Sitka for so long where there aren't many clear nights or if North Dakota's sunsets are just that amazing. The color was intense with nothing in the foreground to block the view. What a perfect ending for my last night on the train.
-Whitefish, Montana.
-Train at dawn.
-Mountain goat sculpture at the train station.
-Leaving Whitefish.
-I sat by the interesting white haired lady.
The train makes stops ever half an hour or so but only for a minute or two and then were off again. The conductor always announced the station stop so I could keep track of were we were on the train map and watch for historical landmarks and such. Glacier National park was breathtaking. This was truly the west, the mountains here looked much different from those in Alaska.
We road along and at times it feel as if we were riding on the edge of the mountains itself. The view from high above was spectacular as you would see the landscape and few scatted houses below. In the late morning I decided to check out the observatory car which is almost completely windows. In this car is where I saw a bull elk very close to the train. I was so shocked to see such a majestic animal in the wild with no fences. As we began to Leave Glacier National Park the landscape began to flatten and North Dakota drew near. Miles and miles of fields. I viewed prairie dogs, mule deer, pronghorns, raptors, bison and coyotes. Once in a great while a town would appear out of nowhere feeling very out of place. I really enjoyed this stretch of land that other people dread. I had never seen anything quite like it and it was exciting for me, exceptionally the opportunity to view so many creatures of the plains.
-In the observatory car.
-Look at those mountains.
-We were pritty high here. What a great view!
-Montana's mountains definitely have a different look than Sitkas.
-Leaving Montana's mountains.
-A South Dakota town in the middle of nowhere.
-Miles of flatland speckled with livestock.
-The Little Rockies in the background.
-Old train depots lined the edge of the tracks.
-I thought these square bales piled in square piles were interesting.
-Only clouds in the sky.
Tonight I was awfully hungry and sick of eating out of my diminishing snack bag. I figured I would treat myself to one good meal aboard the train. I reserved a 5:30p.m. dinner slot and could barely wait for the minutes to tick by so I could fest on my order, Bison Meatloaf! When the time came I walked to the dinner car was seated next to a man who looked homeless and could barely talk. Across from me was a young couple no older than myself. It was a tad uqward but I didn't mind much, I wanted to eat. The meal was great and it only set me back $20.00! It was worth it.
After dinner I saw the most beautiful sunset ever. I'm not sure if it seemed more extravagant because I had been living in Sitka for so long where there aren't many clear nights or if North Dakota's sunsets are just that amazing. The color was intense with nothing in the foreground to block the view. What a perfect ending for my last night on the train.
October 1st
I made sure to get up early today so I would have plenty of time to explore Seattle before hopping on the Amtrak. After grabbing some breakfast I headed out in the direction of the Space Needle. October isn't exactly the tourist season and there wasn't to many people around in that area. It was fun simply checking out the town. The weather was similar to Alaska's, less rain that day but it was hard getting used to all the traffic noise.
-The Space Needle.
-Fresh vegetables for sale at Pikes Place Market.
-Seafood, yum!
-The citie of Seattle. This direction is facing both the Seahawks and Mariners Stadiums which are right next to each other.
-Seattle wildlife.
-I think we need some raptors here to control Seattles large pigeon population.
I had to check out of my room by 11:00 a.m., luckily the Green Tortoise Inn had an area where I could store my bags until I left for the Amtrak station. My train didn't leave until 4:45 so I had all afternoon to continue my exploration. This time I headed in the opposite direction of the Space Needle and found myself in the Seattle Underground area of town. I had no idea what the Seattle Underground was but had heard allot of visitor at the Raptor Center talk about how interesting it made their visit to Seattle. I found my way to a Seattle information stand where the man pointed me in the right direction of the S.U. tour building. The attraction sound pretty cool so I decided to do it.
-Where I stayed in Seattle.
-I just love the walrus crest on this building.
-What was the artist who carved this thinking?
I'm going to describe The Seattle Underground the best I can. So back when the people of Seattle first built the town they made the mistake of constructing all of the buildings on tide flats. As a result the town was constantly being flooded. They began to move and build up earth onto the tide flats to try to stop the town from being washed away. They continually did this with the idea of building up the ground level. Then one day I believe a carpenter left a pot of glue on the stove unattended which stared a fire and burned down the entire town! The people of Seattle now had to decide whether to rebuild the town or build up the ground level and then rebuild. The shop owners were pretty concerned about getting their businesses up and running right away. So it was decide to rebuild the town and then build up the earth around the building after the construction was completed. They piled the earth so high in the town that it covered the first two stories of the buildings.
So the tour of Seattle Underground was a journey two stories below the cities surface. To begin our tour we entered a random gated door on the bustling streets of historical Seattle. Once underground you could actually see the front doors and windows of the once first stories. Old signs, furniture and other artifacts littered the tunnels and walkways. Two of my favorite stops on this 90 min tour was the old bank vault and the opportunity to stand underneath the street skylights. I'm very happy to have gone on this tour. I learned allot about the towns history in a rather short period of time and would recommend anyone visiting Seattle to check it out.
-Tour intro. That guy was awesome!
-In the Underground.
-The group moving onto the next location.
-Street Skylight. You could see the shadows of the people walking above.
-In the Bank Vault.
-After the tour I grabbed a cup of coffie at the underground coffie shop/bookstore that inspired the set on the television sitcom Frasier.
-Walking back to the hostel on the Waterfront.
After returning to the hostel I called a cab and was on my way to the train station. I was so excited for the trip home it was ridiculous. The Amtrak station was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't help but to wonder around with my mouth hanging open. Everyone from the Amtrak employees to the people boarding the train were so nice, helpful and talkative. This experience was much different from the airport where people are rude, pushy and uptight. I over heard many stories of people's travels and adventures while standing inline to board the train.
-Dosen't this lady look like Adrian from Rocky?
-At the train station. She that guy in the far left corner? I later ate next to him on the train.
-Kaiser Street?
One lady I remember in particular was in her 60's . She had bought a unlimited train pass where she could ride around for two weeks. She had purchased this as a birthday gift to herself and was making her way around the United States in twelve days. She was quite a trooper, ridding coach with nothing but a hiking backpack.
-You can see the lady I'm talking about here with the backpack and the snow white hair.
Once on the train I found a seat next to a plug in, which was rare. I quickly covered up the outlet with my belongings as other people scurried around peeking in between seats to locate one. I was lucky and had no one sitting next to me for the first few hours. That changed as the time past but as stops were made people hoped off and shortly after the lady next to me found her own two seats. I sprawled out that night and watching the world pass by until darkness fell.
-The view out of my window leaving Washington.
-The Space Needle.
-Fresh vegetables for sale at Pikes Place Market.
-Seafood, yum!
-The citie of Seattle. This direction is facing both the Seahawks and Mariners Stadiums which are right next to each other.
-Seattle wildlife.
-I think we need some raptors here to control Seattles large pigeon population.
I had to check out of my room by 11:00 a.m., luckily the Green Tortoise Inn had an area where I could store my bags until I left for the Amtrak station. My train didn't leave until 4:45 so I had all afternoon to continue my exploration. This time I headed in the opposite direction of the Space Needle and found myself in the Seattle Underground area of town. I had no idea what the Seattle Underground was but had heard allot of visitor at the Raptor Center talk about how interesting it made their visit to Seattle. I found my way to a Seattle information stand where the man pointed me in the right direction of the S.U. tour building. The attraction sound pretty cool so I decided to do it.
-Where I stayed in Seattle.
-I just love the walrus crest on this building.
-What was the artist who carved this thinking?
I'm going to describe The Seattle Underground the best I can. So back when the people of Seattle first built the town they made the mistake of constructing all of the buildings on tide flats. As a result the town was constantly being flooded. They began to move and build up earth onto the tide flats to try to stop the town from being washed away. They continually did this with the idea of building up the ground level. Then one day I believe a carpenter left a pot of glue on the stove unattended which stared a fire and burned down the entire town! The people of Seattle now had to decide whether to rebuild the town or build up the ground level and then rebuild. The shop owners were pretty concerned about getting their businesses up and running right away. So it was decide to rebuild the town and then build up the earth around the building after the construction was completed. They piled the earth so high in the town that it covered the first two stories of the buildings.
So the tour of Seattle Underground was a journey two stories below the cities surface. To begin our tour we entered a random gated door on the bustling streets of historical Seattle. Once underground you could actually see the front doors and windows of the once first stories. Old signs, furniture and other artifacts littered the tunnels and walkways. Two of my favorite stops on this 90 min tour was the old bank vault and the opportunity to stand underneath the street skylights. I'm very happy to have gone on this tour. I learned allot about the towns history in a rather short period of time and would recommend anyone visiting Seattle to check it out.
-Tour intro. That guy was awesome!
-In the Underground.
-The group moving onto the next location.
-Street Skylight. You could see the shadows of the people walking above.
-In the Bank Vault.
-After the tour I grabbed a cup of coffie at the underground coffie shop/bookstore that inspired the set on the television sitcom Frasier.
-Walking back to the hostel on the Waterfront.
After returning to the hostel I called a cab and was on my way to the train station. I was so excited for the trip home it was ridiculous. The Amtrak station was absolutely beautiful and I couldn't help but to wonder around with my mouth hanging open. Everyone from the Amtrak employees to the people boarding the train were so nice, helpful and talkative. This experience was much different from the airport where people are rude, pushy and uptight. I over heard many stories of people's travels and adventures while standing inline to board the train.
-Dosen't this lady look like Adrian from Rocky?
-At the train station. She that guy in the far left corner? I later ate next to him on the train.
-Kaiser Street?
One lady I remember in particular was in her 60's . She had bought a unlimited train pass where she could ride around for two weeks. She had purchased this as a birthday gift to herself and was making her way around the United States in twelve days. She was quite a trooper, ridding coach with nothing but a hiking backpack.
-You can see the lady I'm talking about here with the backpack and the snow white hair.
Once on the train I found a seat next to a plug in, which was rare. I quickly covered up the outlet with my belongings as other people scurried around peeking in between seats to locate one. I was lucky and had no one sitting next to me for the first few hours. That changed as the time past but as stops were made people hoped off and shortly after the lady next to me found her own two seats. I sprawled out that night and watching the world pass by until darkness fell.
-The view out of my window leaving Washington.
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