While in Everett, and before heading back to the central Seattle Metropolitan Area, I decided to do one more tourist activity up north, and selected the Schack Art Center.
Admission to the art exhibits was free, and it seemed like they made most of their money off classes that they offer. Unfortunately, there were none available at the time that I visited, though I was still able to peek in and look at glassblowing equipment.
Afterwards, I snapped some photos of my favorite art pieces.
Since starting my road trip and living out of hotel rooms, I generally roam around to wherever has the most affordable hotel rates. This methodology recently brought me to Everett, Washington, a city inside Snohomish County on the northern end of the Seattle Metropolitan Area.
For one of my tourist activities, I decided to explore Jetty Island, an island about a thousand feet (a little over 300 meters) off the coast of Everett. Jetty Island is a popular tourist area, and it recently opened up for tourism via the passenger ferry.
After parking my truck at the lot, paying a few dollars for the ferry ride, and making it onto the island, I started my hike by heading north.
There was a short trail that had been cleared, but in general, hiking was fairly difficult because I was part of some of the first batches of tourists arriving on the island for the season. I ended up being one of the trailblazers flattening wild grasses under my feet to form a path, or climbing up fallen tree trunks in areas where the grasses were too tall.
Continuing off the path and into deeper vegetation led me to a swampy area.
Eventually, it became a bit unmanageably muddy and difficult to proceed, so I retraced my steps for a little bit, then started heading towards the beach.
On the beach, I saw some sea foam that was a lot more colorful than I’m used to seeing—it was a rich tan color, as opposed to off-white like I’ve seen before.
The shoreline also had a lot of random tree stumps.
As expected, there were also plenty of shells. This one had an ornate, purple, stone-like substance on the outside.
I eventually made it to the northern tip of the island, where I saw a flock of seagulls perched on some rocks.
After looping around and continuing on the east shoreline, I saw more seagulls, and even a few seals.
There was a row of rocks surrounded by upright logs; I’m not sure if this was intended to be a path at some point, but the rocks seemed far too slippery to be reliably safe, so I continued trailblazing through the grassy area.
I have pretty bad eyesight, so I didn’t realize this at the time, but when I was browsing through the photos I took, I noticed something in the corner. Upon zooming all the way in, I discovered a colony of seals poking their heads out of the water.
Jetty Island is known for being home to a lot of bird species, so I saw a lot of loose feathers lying around. I came across one that was sticking upright out of the sand, which I found intriguing, so I reached down and picked it up… then proceeded to immediately regret doing so. I stabbed it back into the sand and took a picture of it, pretending like it had never left the ground…
After making a figure 8 and making a long trip down the west coastline, I walked past the more popular beach area, then came across a flock of geese taking a dip in Possession Sound.
Even further south, I noticed a wrecked and abandoned ship.
Eventually, I made it all the way to the southern tip of the island. If I was a risk-taker, I could’ve continued further south on the tree trunks and rocks, but after slipping and falling on rocks at Sacred Cove Beach in Rancho Palos Verdes, California earlier this year that left me with a painful bruise that lasted months, I decided that just taking a picture would suffice.
This southern tip also had a lot more algae than other areas of the island. I found it very intriguing that algae in moderate volumes would make it look goopy.
Overall, my adventure across the island was a little over four and a half miles (7.39 kilometers) and took over 2 hours due to taking many stops from photos and navigating carefully through the wilder areas. If you like exploring nature, this is a great trip that you can knock out in one day.
If you just want a day to relax, there is a nice beach not too far away from the ferry unloading zone where you can enjoy the sand and water. If you’re a birdwatching enthusiast, it is definitely worth heading to the northern part of the island, bringing a lawn chair or something to camp out, and watching all the interesting species on the island.
On my way back from Canada, I re-entered through Idaho and drove across through the panhandle for my second visit to Spokane, Washington. I had a great time exploring downtown Spokane during my last visit, and this time, I decided to visit Manito Park, about a mile south of Interstate 90.
I parked in the northern-most lot northwest of the roundabout connecting East 18th Avenue and South Tekoa Street, then started walking around Mirror Pond. Most of the paths were paved with asphalt, but there were a few dirt trails around the northwestern area of the park.
The northwestern area also had the Lilac Garden, containing, as you may have guessed, lilacs.
Next up was Rose Hill.
After Rose Hill, I crossed West 21st Avenue and looked at some of the flower arrangements east of Rose Garden Path.
South of this was Duncan Garden, a manicured garden with a very pleasant display of flowers and trimmed shrubs.
The steps going up from Duncan Garden led to the Gaiser Conservatory.
The Gaiser Conservatory had two sections, with the one to the east having a more humid environment.
The west side of the conservatory was drier and featured vegetation you’d see in an arid climate.
I continued my walk down south near the playground and kickball field, then circled back around through the picnic area to where I had parked. Back by the pond, I saw some ducks waddling around in the grass.
Even with partly cloudy skies, it was still pretty sunny and got pretty warm. I think Manito Park would be a great place to find a spot in the shade and relax if the weather is nice, and a pleasant (and free) place to go for a walk if you like looking at flowers.
If you’re caught up with my other blog posts from Canada already, then you probably easily picked up this sentiment, but the Canadian leg of my road trip has been my favorite segment so far. Pretty much everything Canada has been a stellar experience, but I decided to highlight some of the things that left a lasting impression on me. (Note that these are in no particular order, and they’re not my favorite things—they just happen to be things that stuck in my memory.)
British Columbia Highway 5 (also known as the Southern Yellowhead Highway) and the Trans-Canada Highway, starting from Hope and ending in Calgary, is my favorite location of all time. The quality of scenery on this stretch of highway exceeds what you would see in even some of the best National Parks in the United States, and this scenery is literally just hugging the road on all sides, everywhere.
I’ve noticed that Canadian people are noticeably nicer and have a strong sense of community—sort of like my experience in Montana, but to an even greater degree. People I’ve spoken with through random encounter on the street or while hiking will greet me as if we had already known each other for a long time, and opt for some more meaningful, relevant conversation as opposed to filler small talk.
On average, I’ve noticed that Canadian people are more physically attractive. It seems like Canadians care more about maintaining their health and appearance. There are still obviously some plump people in Canada, but I don’t recall seeing a single person throughout my entire stay in Canada who I would consider as obese… which is a dramatic difference from when I visited the southeastern United States, where literally over half the people I encountered appeared to me as unmanageably obese.
I am a huge fan of Diet Coca-Cola and would say it is my favorite beverage (along with Coca-Cola Zero) if you exclude just plain water. A lot of people claim they are cola enthusiasts, but when they do blind taste tests, they can’t tell the difference among different kinds of cola. Well, I have done blind taste tests, and have been so accurate as to even be able to point out when my friends were trying to trick me and mixed half Coca-Cola and half Pepsi into a single cup. With that claim of “expertise” having been said, I think Canadian Diet Coca-Cola tastes significantly better than that of the United States. I am not really sure exactly why that is, but it just leaves a cleaner, crisper aftertaste. I think that it’s because the sweetener might be different, but I’m not certain; all I know is that I definitely like it better.
Throughout my travels, I’ve managed to earn Ambassador Elite status in Marriott’s Bonvoy loyalty program, which entitles me to free upgrades and a lot of special treatment. However, because I am specially eligible (unrelated to the standard loyalty program) for a pretty substantial discount off regular rates, I generally don’t mind if I don’t always get the best upgrades or the best perks in the United States—I’m already very thankful that Marriott allows me to travel full-time at an affordable rate. However, in Canada, every single hotel I stayed at honored the full benefits of my Ambassador Elite status, gave me the maximum available upgrades, provided me with over-the-top welcome gifts, and overall just had stellar service that dwarfed what I came to expect from United States hotels.
The absence of firearms in Canada was a bit strange at first. I obviously left my gun in the United States, as I did not have the credentials to carry it with me into Canada, and I kept doing double-takes for the first week or so while I was still accustomed to not having a firearm with me. However, people in Canada just don’t really act suspiciously in general, and I never really felt that I was ever in a situation where I would even potentially need a firearm. Eventually, it felt a lot more peaceful after getting getting used to it.
Compared to the United States, Canadian drivers are a lot more reasonable and drive in a much more predictable manner. I’m used to driving in a very wide variety of conditions, from bustling, aggressive cities all the way to quite literally the middle of nowhere surrounded by wild grasses, and I’d say that the median driver in Canada is about the equivalent to the median driver in Utah, a state which I’ve spoken highly about in the past about how great their drivers are. On a related note, there is an overall lower travel speed on Canadian highways, so I actually ended up getting better fuel economy by not having to keep up with the flow of traffic at 85+ MPH (137+ KPH) like in the United States.
With those general thoughts and impressions out of the way, here are some leftover photos I had from Canada that didn’t fit in with any of my previous blog posts.
The first is the Canada Border Services Agency checkpoint in Abbotsford, British Columbia, across from Sumas, Washington. I had to drive quite a bit through what felt like local roads in order to get here. I decided to enter through Abbotsford instead of Surrey because I skipped Vancouver, as a stay in Vancouver was a bit too expensive due to tourism picking up for the summer.
My first overnight stop was in Kamloops, British Columbia. I got a nice, upgraded corner suite on the top floor of the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Kamloops, which had a nice view of the mountains.
My next overnight stop was at the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Revelstoke, where again, I got a nice upgraded suite on the top floor, and again, with an amazing view of the mountains.
My longest stop was in Calgary, where I selected the Element by Westin Calgary Airport. I got a great rate, and it had a convenient central location in Calgary. I got upgraded to a corner studio on the highest floor with a great view of both downtown and the suburbs, and their hot breakfast service had recently been reinstated, so I was able to get a different fresh dish every morning. There was plenty of space, there was a wired Internet connection available, and the sink even had a water filter built into it. I don’t think I could’ve asked for a better place to call my temporary home during my stay in Calgary.
After spending a night at the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Lethbridge, I continued my way down south back home to the United States. I made my final Tim Hortons stop in Cranbrook, British Columbia, where I enjoyed a few Timbits with iced coffee and enjoyed the clear skies and mountain views.
I ended up running into some construction traffic during my final stretch southbound on British Columbia Highway 95, but the scenery was so nice that even traffic somehow became enjoyable.
As if acting like a harsh reality check, when I arrived at the United States Customs and Border Protection’s Eastport Port of Entry in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, the officer basically acted as if I was committing a crime by attempting to re-enter the United States—a polar opposite experience from when I entered Canada for tourism.
Having formerly been in law enforcement, his “angry for no reason” demeanor made me disappointed, as he was a great example of officers who leave a bad impression of law enforcement on the community and make it more difficult for everyone else in the field. It was particularly upsetting because I had spent the last few weeks being showered with kindness by Canadians, and it felt very unjust to have an officer with a bad attitude greeting these kind Canadians at the border.
Hopefully this port has a refresher course on community policing and public relations coming up soon.
If Canada was part of the United States and relocation logistics were easy, I 100% would move there… though I guess it wouldn’t be how it is today if it was part of the United States. I guess the next best alternative would be to move to Montana, which I may consider at some point. Or, another option could be to maintain United States citizenship and spend 51% of my time in the US and 49% of my time in Canada on visitor visas… though I imagine that’s a decision I would only make after I settle down with a wife.
Regardless, the point is, visiting Canada has opened my eyes up to many new possibilities. I was never really that curious about Europe, but after making this trip to Canada and traveling internationally for the very first time, I’m more interested in visiting other countries, in hopes of seeing things that I would have never imagined was possible just from my limited scope and understanding of the United States.
Considering that a majority of Tempo‘s new employees are in the Seattle Metropolitan Area and I’ve been spending more time here, I’m thinking I will seize any future opportunities to make more trips to Canada, considering how close it is.
After spending two weeks in Calgary, I started making my way back down to the United States. I wanted to break up the drive as much as possible, and I found a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Lethbridge, Alberta, so I decided to spend a night there.
The drive from Calgary to Lethbridge was only about two hours, and with the long days and late sunsets in the summer, I was able to go exploring during the evening of my arrival in Lethbridge. The thing that Lethbridge appears to be known for is the Lethbridge Viaduct, so I drove over and went for a short hike.
As I got closer to the viaduct, I saw an increasing number of teenagers loitering. At first I was a bit confused, but then I realized that, due to how the viaduct is a bit out of the way compared to the rest of the park, it was likely the “cool kids hangout spot” for the teens of Lethbridge.
After walking for a bit parallel to the viaduct, I connected onto Indian Battle Road South and saw a long flight of stairs leading to a gazebo at the top of a hill.
Of course, I went all the way up, my efforts of which were rewarded with vast, sweeping views of Indian Battle Park.
Overall, my hike was a little short of 2 miles (or a little over 3 kilometers). There were some smaller trails cutting through the center of the park, but I opted to stay near the perimeter with less shade coverage because I ended up with around eight mosquito bites.
A lot of Calgary’s interesting tourist attractions are either outside or involve some form of hybrid outdoors walking. Not wanting to lose all my exploration time to the relentless rain that has been pummeling (and on some occasions, flooding) Calgary since my arrival, I decided to find an indoors activity and stumbled across a music museum inside Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre.
One of the first sections by the entrance was closed due to a special event, but the rest of the museum was open. The museum was a fairly traditional mixed-media interactive museum, with a lot of displays, lots of audiovisual material, a lot of opportunities to go hands-on, and a lot of text explaining the history and science behind the various musical topics.
There was a little section about the early 2000s in a chronological timeline that featured Avril Lavigne, which I obviously got very excited about because of how obsessed I was with her as a teenager. It’s not often that Avril Lavigne gets an entire spotlight to herself, but then I realized and remembered that it was because she is Canadian and was born in Ontario.
Unfortunately, the day that I visited happened to coincide with what appeared to be an elementary or middle school field trip, so the museum was flooded with children the entire time I was there. This was unfortunate for some of the hands-on activities, as there were always kids occupying all the stations. When I did manage to find an open station to play a guitar, the guitar was greasy… so I promptly put it down, upon which a hawk-eyed little girl swooped in and immediately took my spot.
I definitely would’ve enjoyed the museum more if I had a bit more peace and quiet to thoroughly experience everything that was available, but it was still a nice visit, and definitely something unique and uncommon when it comes to topics of museums. Admission was “pay what you can”; I paid the recommended CA$15, but if you take a visit and have unlucky timing like I did, they would let you in for free for a subsequent visit to pick up where you left off.
