USA Holiday 3, October 16 (FIRE. WALK. WITH. ME)

Today was either going to be great or a complete disaster. The problem is that to get to the towns of Snoqualmie and just beyond to North Bend requires two buses, the second of which only runs once per hour, at best.

The first bus to the Issaqah Transit Centre was no problem, as it runs every 20 minutes from downtown and I only had to wait 5 minutes for it. From the transit centre, I must have written down the wrong departure time, as I had to wait more like 30 minutes than 15, but it probably didn't matter too much as the previous bus left way too early anyway.

Waiting around in Issaqah.

The bus finally arrived and I got off at Snoqualmie, with about a hour before the next bus comes that continues on to the final destination at North Bend. Snoqualmie is a pretty small town, so I just had a quick scan of what was around - a train muesum, tenpin bowling and some shops basically - before heading towards the falls. On the way was the log shown in the intro to Twin Peaks!

Arrived in Snoqualmie.

The log.

A close up of the log if you missed it the first time.

A collection of old or broken down trains.

Found the way up to the top of the falls pretty easily. Just at the top is a hotel called the Salish Lodge, the exterior was presented as one of the locations throughout Twin Peaks, only it was called The Great Northern.

The Great Northern.

The Salish Lodge and Spa.

The Snoqualmie Falls were a lot larger than I thought and the water spray coming all the way up to the lookout was pretty intense too. I stayed long enough to get some good photos then got out before my camera succumbed to water damage. The gift shop at the falls surprisingly did not appear to have any Twin Peaks stuff, but perhaps that is understandable when the show was cancelled about 20 years ago.

Snoqualmie Falls.

The top observation deck.

The lower observation deck.

Braving the mist.

A clearer view above the falls.

Ran back into Snoqualmie just in time for the next bus to continue on. The last stop was just past North Bend, at North Bend Outlet Mall, where they had another Nike Outlet Store! There was about an hour to use up before the next bus, so had a look inside, got a cheap shirt and then headed across to the Chevron petrol station. At the Seahawks game they said they sold souvenir cups there for a limited time, since they don't sell them at the stadium I suppose, but I could not find any.

Went into North Bend next to visit Twede's Cafe. In the show it's called the Double R Diner or something, but it's the same place. In the show they say it is famous for cherry pie, but I ordered some coconut cream pie instead, it was great. Got some photos of the place and again just in time for the next bus back to the transit centre, and then back to downtown Seattle. Everything went pretty much perfectly and as quick as possible, so that was great.

Mount Si possibly.

Some other mountain in the opposite direction.

Actually in North Bend, not Snoqualmie.

That's damn fine coffee you got here.

And damn good cherry pie.

That took up most the day, so the only thing left to do was to hike up to Kerry Park to catch a view of the city. By hike I mean walking up the street, but Queen Anne Avenue has a killer hill. There was already a bunch of amateur photographers staking out spots in the park, which is apparently the thing to do. It is pretty much the perfect spot, just far enough away to be able to view the skyline.

Kerry Park.

A similar view.

A better view from the east side of the park.