Barcelona - Part 2a - Introduction to Barcelona

Continued from Part 1 - Overview

Introduction to Barcelona

The old city (including the Gothic Quarter and El Raval) is the roughly pentagonal area northwest of the port.  It's a very dense old area of narrow streets and alleys originally defined and enclosed by medieval walls.

Northwest of that is Eixample (it's the area that looks like a waffle iron when viewed from above). It was conceived by Ildefons Cerdà in the mid 1800's, arguably the first instance of modern urban planning - "urbanización".  It's one of the things that most attracted me to visit Barcelona. It remains my favorite area of Barcelona - and where obviously we would stay.

To grasp the history of Barcelona's urban form (beginning with the Romans) see this article.

Like all modern cities there has been a love-hate relationship with cars.  Like cities around the world, Barcelona is trying ways to alter the old auto-orientation of the 20th century to improve our cities, our safety, our human relationships, and the world. Vox ran an excellent 5 article series here.  It works better when residences are within a 15 minute or 20 minute walk of most of the shops and services they need daily, like in Spain.

Hint: Throughout the blog, click on photos to enlarge them, and don't miss the links to additional info.

Above: Photo of a 1901 Map of Barcelona shot at an exhibit at Recinta Modernista de Sant Pau

Above: Aerial view of Barcelona today (from Google Earth with annotations added)

Legend for maps above & below
          #1:  Where we stayed (Casa Mathilda)
          #2:  Gaudi's famed La Sagrada Familia
          #3:  Recinta Modernista de Sant Pau (the early 1900's hospital by Domènech i Montaner)
          #4:  Parc del Centre del Poblenou (Where we saw a local castell  -  what's a castell? see here)
          #5:  Gaudi's Casa Mila (La Pedrera - The Quarry)
          #6:  Entrance to Diagonal Metro Station (serving 3 major metro lines)

Below: Detail of Eixample near where we stayed  (from Google Earth with annotations added)

Where we stayed

Below is a typical street scene in Eixample, one block from where we stayed. Typical of much of Eixample: the octagonal intersections (often used for parking), treed streets, dense 6 or 7 story buildings, bike lanes often provided, and the ubiquitous  motorbikes.

On the photo's right is a neighborhood restaurant/bar that we frequented. We tend to eat a bit earlier than many Spaniards, so I'm not sure how typical this was, but we found this throughout Spain: many times when we entered the tables were bare like in a coffee shop or bar, but as soon as it was apparent that we were ordering dinner, table cloths and dinner settings were whisked onto our table.

We're not in the habit of drinking coffee and sitting to have a conversation after dinner. A number of times we seemed to get a subtle reaction from the waiter when he asked it we'd like coffee and we'd decline, almost a feeling somewhere between not understanding why and disappointment.

(Perhaps partly because of that?) we found in several neighborhood restaurants in Barcelona (but not elsewhere in Spain) an after-dinner complimentary aperitif was sometimes provided.  Each time the waiter would proudly present it, show us the bottle, and describe it (usually in Catalan or Spanish) while pouring us a drink. Without exception the aperitifs were some of the best we have ever had - I wish I could understand Catalan or Spanish to have learned more about the aperitifs.

A half block from where we stayed, in the opposite direction from the above, was the Avinguda Diagonal, one of the wide boulevards that dissect and connect the city, with roadways for through traffic separated from secondary roadways for local deliveries by treed park-like medians with wide sidewalks including space for biking or rolling.

Incidentally, the building in the background is lesser-known but a masterpiece by Josep Puig i Cadafalch: Casa de les Punxes,  (You'll notice that throughout this blog I often focus on things that most of the guidebooks do not address.)

Two blocks from where we stayed was the intersection of two of Barcelona's major boulevards: Avinguda Diagonal and Passeig de Gràcia, and also the location of the Diagonal Metro Station, which we frequently used.  See the amazing amount of different kinds of traffic here (pedestrians, bikes, scooters, motor bikes, & buses) on my youtube video here.

The Passieg de Gràcia was one of the main ways to walk from our accommodations to the heart of Barcelona at Plaça de Catalunya (~1.6 km, 20 minute walk), or to the harbor via La Rambla  (~3 km, 35 minutes)

We had a very delightful stay at Casa Mathilda. It was one floor above street level a multi-floor building. The owner and staff were delightful - they treated their guests like friends.

Usually we don't use cabs much, and on this trip we walked or used transit everywhere. But we did splurge on cabs between the airports or train stations and our accommodations; we had enough, when a bit younger, of schlepping luggage around by foot or on transit. The owner arranged cabs for us, and they were obviously familiar. When we arrive he knew the entrance door's passcode, squeezed us and our luggage into a small gated open elevator like in a classical French movie, and bounded up the stairs beside it, getting to our floor before we did. He, the owner, and we had an chat like old friends. When we left to catch our early flight a different cab driver was waiting in the breakfast room drinking coffee

Our room was delightful, opening onto a terrace in the back, overlooking the typical Eixample area at the center of the block, enclosed by the surrounding buildings.

Biking in Barcelona

The first morning, bleary-eyed from our flight, we rushed to the Metro and bought a T-10 ticket for 10 rides, and hurried to our scheduled 3-hour bike tour with Andre at Bamboo Bike Tours.

I enjoy getting introduced to a city on a bike - one sees and senses so much. (Plus, Ginny and I try to bike a far amount at home, and I work with some groups promoting "active transportation" in Seattle.)  And the people who lead and go on bike tours are invariably interesting.

I had researched various bike tours on the web, and quickly honed in on Bamboo Bike Tours. I especially liked that their tours were not large. Although it was not strictly a private tour, it was only Andre, Ginny, and me

We had corresponded before and arranged to vary their typical tour: we weren't interested in seeing the normal sights (we'd see most of them in the succeeding days), but I was very interested in seeing Barcelona's bike facilities, especially their Superblocks, which turn car-oriented streets into people-oriented places where cars still allowed, but restricted.

While we're getting introduced to Barcelona, I should introduce you to Ginny and me, and to our great guide Andre.

La Rambla 

After our bike tour we had lunch then explored La Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia while we walked back to our place.  I guess it's because it's so famous that crowds of people congregate on Barcelona's La Rambla. We personally preferred the Rambla del Poblenou, which we discovered several days later - it's more subdued and neighborly - I'll have photos of it later in the blog.

Part way up La Rambla we detoured to the Plaza Real to see Gaudi's first commission - by the city for the design AND installation of streetlights - see the story here.

The afternoon was getting along, so we began hurrying to Casa Batlló to get there in time for our scheduled entrance. Casa Vicens, Gaudí's very colorful first building, isn't far off La Rambla;  I regret that we didn't have time to see it.  In a city as interesting as Barcelona, unfortunately, one has to make choices.

The Bone of Contention

We walked up La Rambla and over to Passeig de Gràcia thence along it to the Block of Discord where 3 former mansions were designed by 3 of Barcelona's leading Modernista architects. All 3 seem to be trying to outdo each other with somewhat discordant styles.

Look at the crowd!!!

When we were there the crowd below (on the Block of Discord) was typical of major sites, especially in Barcelona but also throughout much of Spain. Ginny and I usually like the ability to be spontaneous and not to schedule ourselves tightly on trips. But we had been forewarned by most of the guidebooks to obtain timed entrance tickets months ahead.for many things. We were thankful that we did. We never scheduled more than 2 things a day, and left as much between them as we could. That allowed for enough flexibility, while avoiding standing in interminable lines or worse, learning that no more ticket slots were available.  Maybe in the new normal after things open back up, at least at first, the lines wan't be a long (that cuts both ways: slightly more enjoyable experience but less $ coming in to the tourist industry and Barcelona - it will really be needed).




Casa Lleó i Morera by Domènech i Montaner is the first we came to. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public, however it has an excellent website.  On the website is a video I particularly like that shows both the history of Barcelona and the house itself, with lots of attention to the house's exquisite details.  Often the craftsmen who are the creators of the details, and upon whose collaboration the Modernista architects depend, are overlooked. This website gives the craftsman their due credit here.

Casa Amatller by Puig i Cadafalch is next on the block, immediately adjacent to Casa Batlló.
It's open on guided tours only. There is so much to see in Barcelona and so little time that it's one of many things we had to forego until our next visit. But it, too, has an excellent website that shows its history and its details well.

Casa Batlló by Antoni Gaudí is next up the street. It was built for the textile manufacturer, Josep Batlló, who "bought a modest building with the intention of turning it into something spectacular. Not only was this building located at the heart of Passeig de Gràcia, but it was also on the same block as Casa Amatller and Casa Lleó i Morera.

"Many say that Gaudí was delighted to accept the commission for the pleasure of sharing space with the best architects at the time: Domènech i Montaner (creator of Casa Lleò i Morera) and Puig i Cadafalch (creator of Casa Amatller).

"The result? Three unique modernist buildings created by the most important architects of Modernism and competing to be the 'most beautiful' construction. That is why, in reference to Greek mythology, they are popularly known as 'the bone of contention'". - from an excellent summary of the architecture variously known as Art Noveau or Jugendstil or Modernism or Modernisme: "Barcelona and Modernism" on the Casa Batlló website.

A photo of Gaudí from the Casa Vicens website.

Gaudi's collaboration with craftsmen is apparent throughout, including wood, glass, tile, metal, and other media. It was the era prior to air conditioning; he and his team included in all of the windows ingenious methods of openings for ventilation that were both beautiful and functional..

The building is centered by a central skylight-topped light well that serves dual purposes: it allows light to penetrate the building the building while importantly serving as a ventilation shaft.
The tile work respects the need for light: it's darker at the top where the slight is intense and becomes lighter towards the lower floors where the lightness in needed.

The importance of the light well is apparent from a Google Earth aerial view.  The basic form of the building is a long rectangular shoe box tightly hemmed in by its neighboring buildings, New York brownstone style. Without the light well the center would be dark and poorly ventilated.

image from Google Earth

At Casa Milà  there is an exhibit explaining Gaudi's work (I'll get to that in a successive part of the blog). It has a floor plan of Casa Batlló (above), a drawing section through Casa Batlló , and a model of a section through the light well of Casa Batlló (second below).

The back isn't as elaborate as the front, but is worth seeing, as is a glimpse of a water feature in its garden:

The roof, especially its chimneys, is very fanciful,  (but not as elaborate as at Casa Milà (Le Pedrera) which will be in a latter part of this blog).

.

We'd had a long tiring day, so we trundled home for dinner and sleep (is that where the green turtle-like things above were also headed?).

And another introduction to Spain

On a following night, one of the staff at our accommodations encouraged us to have dinner at one of her favorite small restaurants beside Plaça del Sol, in Gràcia about 1 km north of our lodging. So we walked to it along Gràcia's narrow streets (a cross between those in the old part of the city and Eixample).

That introduced us to one of our favorite things about Spain: the neighborhood plazas where residents gather to eat and socialize.  The adjacent buildings were filled with restaurants and tapa bars, each of which had some umbrella tables at the edge of the plaza. They were filled.  Many 20 somethings and young families sat cross legged on the pavement picnic-style. There was a small playground in one corner and kids mingles with each other playing there, or running through the plaza.  We were instantly in love with it. The current lockdowns must be hard for the Spanish to adjust to. We, like everyone, look forward to the return to better times.

To return to Part 1 - Overview of the trip, click here.
Continued in Barcelona - Part 2b - Exploring - click here

Seattle to Alberta in Winter

Damn it.  I would have used the stronger F word, but didn’t feel quite that strongly about it.  We awoke in our Seattle home to heavy rain and wind.

We had been planning to leave today on a mid-winter drive from Seattle to Alberta, Canada and back for Christmas as we had done many times over the last 30 years.  Although the storm was going to make the drive harder, it was going to make the drive more youthfully adventuresome.

First, a few things you need to know about weather in the U.S. northwest and western Canada.

Weather

It’s well-known that Seattle has many cloudy, grey days and that on many of those days it rains.  But it’s usually only a piddle; some light rain periodically throughout the day  …  only sporadic and gentle, not a downpour.  More annual rainfall occurs most every place east of, and including, Houston, Tulsa, and Kansas City, throughout most of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and most areas east and south of there, including the entire east coast … even at Mar-a-Lago. 

Click on any image in the blog to enlarge it

The map is from an article "Seattle Is Far From America's Rainiest City" by John Metcalf in CityLab comparing Seattle's weather with the rest of the US, (located here).

In the northwest weather tends not to change much from south to north.  The weather between Eugene, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and Vancouver, British Columbia is remarkably similar. But it changes dramatically from west to east, and from low elevations to high mountain passes.

West of the Cascades it’s usually mild; the countryside is dense with fir trees or green farmland, cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than east of the Cascade Mountains.  East of the Cascades the countryside is much drier with vast dry expanses, much warmer in the summer and much colder in the winter.  The reason:  a number of mountain ranges separate the mild west coast from the dryer and harsher interior.  One of Seattle’s best weathermen describes the mountains’ impact on weather, described here.

In the northwest storms tend to move from southwest to northeast.  The drenching windy downpour suggested that we’d have a stormy trip on our northeastward journey.

Our Route

There are essentially 3 routes to drive from Seattle to Calgary, Alberta, and a few alternatives.

 From Google Maps (c) - Click on any image in the blog to enlarge it

Option 1 – Via Trans Canada Highway: 
The most well-known route is the Trans Canada Highway through British Columbia, taking Highway 5 through the Coquihalla Pass to Kamloops, thence Highway 1 to Revelstoke and Roger’s Pass in Canada’s Glacier National Park (not to the confused with the US Glacier National Park in Montana), thence through the Rockies to Banff and Calgary.  In general, according to Google Maps, it’s about an 11.5 hour drive (wheels-turning, not including stops) – 1,082 km = 672 miles.

Option 2 – Via Cranbrook:
Our preferred route, and the one we planned to take this trip:  I-90 eastward from Seattle through Snoqualmie Pass, through Spokane to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, thence US 95 to Cranbrook, BC then via BC’s and Alberta’s Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass, thence up either Highway 2 or 22 to Calgary.  According to Google Maps, it’s about a 12 hour drive (wheels-turning, not including stops) – 1,142 km = 709 miles.

We prefer this route under most circumstances.  For the most part he road is as good or better than the Trans Canada.  Long stretches are on the I-90 freeway through the flats of eastern Washington.  Both routes have long stretches of two lane highway that passes through many small towns, but it’s less heavily trafficked than the Trans Canada, and has far less trucks and congestion to contend with.  Especially in winter, it is far less susceptible to major snow storms or avalanche events than is the Trans Canada in the Coquihalla Pass or Rogers Pass east of Revelstoke.

Option 2A - Kootenay National Park:
Sometimes Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass at the BC/Alberta border can be frightfully (dangerously) windy.  At such times, or just for the mountainous scenery, it’s better to take Highway 93 from Cranbrook through Kootenay National Park and Banff to Calgary, even though that route is through a higher mountain pass.  That isn’t much different from any of the other options: about a 12.4 hour drive, 1,146 km = 712 miles 


Option 3 - Montana: 
This is a great route for a more leisurely drive or vacation.  A few times, for a change of scenery we’ve taken this route :  I-90 from Seattle to St. Regis, Montana thence MT 135, MT 28, & US 93 to Kalispell, Montana, thence through the US’s Glacier National Park to Browning, MT, thence north to Calgary and Banff.  It’s only a couple of hours longer, about 13.4 hours per Google Maps, 1,392 km = 865 miles.  

From Google Maps  (c)

During a leisurely vacation the highlights of the Option 3 - Montana route could include:

Wallace Idaho – an historic silver mining town filled with 19^th century buildings.   http://www.wallaceidahochamber.com/  It is a center of many outdoor activities, skiing in the winter (at Silver Mountain and Lookout Pass) and especially bicycling in the summer – see the many bicycle trails here https://friendsofcdatrails.org/. Two of the area’s more famous bicycling trails are the 15-mile-long Hiawatha which includes 7 old railroad trestles and 10 tunnels http://www.ridethehiawatha.com/ and the paved 71 mile long Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes that follows an easy railroad grade. https://friendsofcdatrails.org/trail-of-the-coeur-dalenes/

Flathead Lake, Montana – said to be the largest natural freshwater lake in the US west of the Mississippi http://www.visitmt.com/listings/general/lake/flathead-lake.html

Kalispell and Whitefish, Montana –year-around active resort and tourist towns thriving on their surrounding scenery and recreational activities. http://www.explorewhitefish.com/

Glacier National Park, Montana – http://www.visitmt.com/glacier.html famous for its scenery, its Going To The Sun highway (closed in winter), and its hiking and cross-country skiing. In the past we’ve stayed to cross-country ski at the Izaak Walton Inn at the US 2 summit – a former railway bunkhouse for rail crews, since transformed into a not-too-rustic lodge http://www.izaakwaltoninn.com/

Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta http://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/waterton/info which, together with Glacier National Park, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site, Alberta, an historical site with a small but excellent interpretive center on the Native American Indians and their relationship with buffalo http://history.alberta.ca/headsmashedin/

Highways 22 & 40 – Backdoor to Banff  In the summer a slow but scenic way to get from the Glacier-Waterton Parks Area to Banff is via Alberta Highway 22 (through rolling hills at the foot of the Rockies, Cowboy Country with large cattle ranches to Longview ... See Trip Advisor review  here ), thence highway 541 (closed in winter) which leads into the Rockies, eventually becoming highway 40 through the Kananaskis Country https://kananaskis.com/ … a backdoor way to Banff.  You should take more than a summer day to enjoy it.

Pictures of Alberta Highway 22 - The Cowboy Trail

Our Trip

As always, prior to a winter driving trip, we prepped the car.  Checked that the antifreeze was good for minus 40F. (In Alberta it rarely gets that cold, but temperatures in the minus 20-30F range aren’t uncommon( and indeed, a low of minus 27F (minus 35C) occurred in Red Deer, Alberta on Christmas Day while we were there).

Although I had about 4mm of tread left on my old mud and snow tires, that’s getting pretty minimal for use in snow and on ice, so I got a new set of Mud & Snow (M&S) tires.  If one lives in Alberta or eastern Washington or eastern BC, it’s normal to get a set of winter tires and change them out in the summer.  However, IMHO full-on winter tires don’t work well in the rain of western Washington, the soft cold-weather rubber in them wears poorly in Seattle's warmth,  and they are a needless extra expense.

Although my car is all-wheel drive I threw in my chains. In any case, it’s important to check what various jurisdictions require.  Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta and Idaho all have different requirements on whether or not and when full-on winter tires or mud and snow tires or chains are required. British Columbia's requirements for full-on winter or Mud & Snow tires are here and yes, sometimes they do check and will ticket if your tires don't comply. At least my mud and snow tires and the chains that I carry (but which I’ve never had to use on my all-wheel-drive car) meet the requirements in all 5 jurisdictions. (Before I had all-wheel drive I froze my fingers often enough putting on chains.)

When we woke up to the rain we fired up the computer for the weather report and the Snoqualmie Pass road report;  I-90 over the pass was closed because of the number of spinouts and truck crashes, but was expected to open in an hour or so. We decided to chance it;  we finished packing the car and were off.

By the time we got to North Bend, 30 miles from Seattle, the last town before I-90 begins its long climb to the pass, I-90 had been opened but was again closed due to collisions and spin outs.  We stopped for lunch … by the time we were done the pass reopened, so off we went again.

I-90 is one of the easier ways across the Cascades – a 3-lane freeway each direction through Snoqualmie Pass.  Because its one of the easier routes it’s crowded with trucks and with many drivers and cars not experienced nor equipped to drive in snow.  (When given the choice I prefer driving over more severe mountain passes where the drivers are more likely to be prepared and experienced.)

One of the problems at Snoqualmie is that on the west side it usually starts as rain and very gradually turns to snow at higher elevations, and often one is met by the worst of all possible conditions: a mix of freezing rain and snow, with ice imperceptibly on the roadway.

People tend to underestimate the difficulty of driving in those mixed rain/ice/snow conditions. It's much more dicey than driving through many inches of fresh snow.

In the mid 70’s I was driving my old chevy van full of guys on a cross-country ski trip from Vancouver BC.  The freeway there is straight for miles until near Abbotsford there is a long sweeping curve.  It was just before daybreak; the temperature was hovering around freezing.  The freeway didn’t seem or look slippery, so like everyone else I was going at or slightly above the speed limit.  I had noticed that there was a bit of freshly laid sand on the road … a good warning.  Just before the big curve there was an exit – which the sand truck had obviously taken.  I took the clue and gradually slowed (didn’t use brakes).  As we approached the curve we could see the taillights in front of us spinning in “playful” loops.  When we got to the curve there were dozens (probably an exaggeration) of cars having spun out into the adjacent field.  Since we had all just finished a mountaineering first aid course we stopped (*very carefully* parking outside of what seemed to be the common spinning trajectory).  While we were out checking on people (all were OK, but some shaken) we kept an eye on the headlights coming down the freeway.  You could see a few cars slowly slowing in advance … you knew you didn’t have to worry about them spinning into you. But most didn’t slow down … and we’d quickly dart for cover.

Although the I-90 freeway didn’t seem slippery, the readerboards were lighted saying “Chains required on all vehicles except AWD”.  Although the road looked deceptively safe, because of the amount of traffic everyone was going slow.  We passed lots of trucks and non-AWD cars with just normal summer tires trying to make it without chains – and they could make it – unless they stopped or unless they skidded or unless they had to brake.  A fair number of those were crashed, or stuck having slid in the snow, or stopped unable to move without traction.

But we finally made it over the summit.  On the east side of the pass it was colder but the roads were alternately dry or had just a bit of dry snow … easy driving.

In the wide valley east of Snoqualmie Pass, near Ellensburg, and again in the flat farming country east of the Columbia River one passes large metal and or plastic sheds storing bales of hay.  Because of the combination of climate and soil type, this area produces a tremendous amount of unusually nutritious alfalfa that is exported world-wide.  Some of the facilities have signs in Arabic; their hay is flown to Saudi Arabia and other mid-east countries to feed, amongst other animals, race horses.  It is one of the many examples of US agriculture relying on exporting into a thriving world trade system.

One of my favorite parts of the drive is near Vantage where I-90 crosses the Columbia River.

To the river’s west a long twisting canyon with a steep grade leads down to the river.  Near its western top are miles of windmills and amidst them, a roadside rest area.  One summer we had stopped there.  We noticed an information sign about the Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility & Renewable Energy Center nearby.  https://pse.com/inyourcommunity/ToursandRecreation/WildHorse/Pages/default.aspx  (Not open in winter).  Including the drive to it and wandering around and taking one of their tours it had taken 3 or 4 hours, but was well worth it.  It was amazing getting up close and personal with the windmills. To quote from its webpage: “Set high on a ridge, the Renewable Energy Center provides an up-close look at the facility’s 149 wind turbines, as well as 360 degree views of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and the Columbia River Basin.”  

Those windmill blades are a lot bigger than they look when installed on the windmills

About 2 miles east of the river is the Wanapum Viewpoint and Columbia River Scenic Overlook (for westbound traffic) https://inspiredimperfection.com/adventures/wanapum-viewpoint/ and the separate Wild Horse Monument Scenic Viewpoint for eastbound traffic. They’re closed in winter, but we often stop in other seasons for a quick view and to stretch our legs.  It’s well-worthwhile to get out of the car and walk along its short trails to the edge of the eastern beginnings of the Columbia River gorge.

Photos from an earlier summer trip.

Most of our drive today and the first half of tomorrow’s drive would be through the remnants of some of the largest and most violent floods in the modern earth’s geologic history: the Missoula Floods (plural).

Click on any image in the blog to enlarge it

The Columbia River Gorge and almost all of Washington east of it had been transformed and shaped by a series of massive floods with amounts of water 60 times the flow of the Amazon River racing up to 50 miles per hour.  It left massive rock coulees and strange landforms throughout the region - an example is at Sun Lakes - Dry Falls State Park (Its website is here) where there are dry cliffs from a waterfall five times the size of Niagara Falls.

The map above is from, and a good explanation can be found at, the website "Glacial Lake Missoula and the Ice Age Floods" by the Montana Natural History Center, which you can find here.

But enough geologic history.  It was getting dusk when we entered the flat farmland east of the Columbia.  Between George and Moses Lake, during the Christmas season for 20 miles or so the farmers move their summer sprinkler systems to near the highway to support the lighted displays of “Country Christmas". 

Yes, the reflections and glare from the road are from ice

From the Columbia River eastward for a hundred miles, through the area of the massive Missoula floods,  is a vast flat agricultural area that grows a tremendous amount of alfalfa, dry grains like wheat, and potatoes.  It’s always been a puzzle to me. The area is one of the politically redder, minimal-government areas in Washington, with its votes split between either the tea party or the traditional mainline GOP.  But it’s a traditional high-country desert with a sandy soil, sparse native grasslands, and sage brush.  The only reasons farms can exist in the area is the federal-government-created Grand Coulee Dam and its Columbia Basin Irrigation Project bringing water to this parched land.  And part of the reason the farms economically thrive is from the federal government’s farm subsidy programs.

Because of the dams on the Columbia River, the area is rich in electricity supplied by government projects.  That has allowed the major towns of the Columbia Basin region like Moses Lake to thrive with Google’s, Apple’s, Microsoft’s, and Amazon’s huge cloud server farms, and other high-tek industries like Germany’s BMW’s carbon-fiber plants in Moses Lake and Moses Lake Industries’ high-tek materials innovation and production plants.  I’m puzzled why the politics of the area is so enamored with ways to limit the hand that has allowed it to thrive.

The heritage of the area is farming-community-conservative.  Many of its settlers came from the Dakotas with heritage stretching back to immigration in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s from the steppes of eastern Europe like Bessarabia in what is now Ukraine and Romania and parts of Russia.  Near the center of the area, between Moses Lake and Ritzville, the Mennonite Country Auction has been held for the last 41 years each October to raise money for the Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) worldwide relief efforts that “include providing material aid, such as wheat, beans, clothing and medical supplies to meet emergency needs, and agricultural development and water conservation projects to improve life in communities around the globe.  [This] sale has contributed over $1.5 million to MCC over the past 38 years.”  The hand-made quilts auctioned here are phenomenal, each representing hundred of hours of care-full work. https://www.mennomennonite.org/650-2/

Normally we speed through the area and make it all the way from Seattle to Cranbrook, BC in one day, even in winter – normally a 7.5 hour drive.  But because of the Snoqualmie Pass slowdowns and the icy roads we made it only as far as Spokane that night.  The next morning was sunny and icy cold.  There was little snow in Spokane, but the reports were that there had been lots of snow a bit north towards Cranbrook.  So we relaxed in the morning and started late, about 10, to give the roads a chance to thaw a bit and the road crews to do their plowing and sanding.

North of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho US 95 makes its way past the dense traffic of suburban sprawl, and past the sprawling thrill-rides and roller-coasters (plural) of the Silverwood Amusement Park, into farm land.  Driving north of Sandpoint (a tourist town on a major lake and next to the Schweitzer Mountain ski resort) the farms become sparser and the intermittent stands of trees gradually become forests.

In all of eastern Washington pickups seem to outnumber cars.  Continuing north on US 95 the pickups seem to get bigger, with bigger wheels and more muscular tires, many with snowplows mounted on the front.  This is self-sufficient backwoods country (and unfortunately a haunted by a few neo-Nazis and white supremacists).

North of Bonners Ferry the highway begins climbing into the mountains towards Canada.  Idaho does a good job of keeping the highway plowed … and they use lots of de-icing chemicals on the road.

There was only a 3 car wait at the remote Eastport / Kingsgate border crossing into Canada.

From the border highway BC 95 continues north through mountains and then for many miles (13 km’s in Canada) alongside Moyie Lake to today’s destination, Cranbrook.

In BC and Alberta roads are maintained differently than in Idaho.  Often, instead of trying to keep the roads bare by using de-icing chemicals, and risking frozen black ice overnight, in the BC mountains the roads are kept plowed but leaving a layer of snow with sand used sparingly.  I drive differently here.  When there’s wet snow, like over Snoqualmie Pass, everyone keeps their wheels in the two bare strips created by the traffic’s tires – less likely to lose control when the tires get grabbed by slippery slush or wet sticky heavy snow.  But on dry “Compact Snow and Ice” (the description that appears often on road reports), depending on conditions, I keep my wheels to the side of the most worn tracks - tires tend to kick sand out of the tracks which then tend to be more slippery.  Just to the side of those tracks the sand tends to accumulate and the texture of the snow and ice tends to be more comfortably “grippy”.

Cranbrook is our usual overnight stopping point between Seattle and Alberta.  Unfortunately, the drive coming and going doesn’t leave much time for exploration, and so far, we’ve just done one-night-stands there.  But hopefully before too long we’ll stay longer for more explorations around Cranbrook.

One thing that I’ve wanted to do is to visit the Cranbrook History Museum (Its website is here) which includes the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel  which, according to its website, contains:

“a collection of 28 railway cars of which 17 are currently available for tours to the public. Highlights of the collection include the 7 cars of the 1929 “Trans-Canada Limited” (a classic “Jazz Era Art Deco” design), 2 cars of the 1907 “Soo-Spokane Train” (a deluxe example of “Edwardian Art Nouveau Elegance”), and the 1927 executive night car “Strathcona” which has housed many VIP guests during its time in service, including Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Winston Churchill.

The current collection of rail travel cars, the largest in North America, is in a process of continued restoration that will take decades to complete.”

Because of our short drive today I’d hoped to have a chance to see it. But alas, because of the heavy snow the previous night, its parking lot was unplowed and it seemed closed.

We stayed in one of our favorite motels anywhere … we’ve stayed here on every trip through the area since we found it: The Lake Elizabeth Lodge.  http://elizabethlakelodge.com/  It’s unassuming … it probably would typically be considered a 3 star motel, but its quality is definitely 5 star … its rooms are well appointed and comfortable and is the cleanest place I’ve ever stayed.  It was built in stages planned and overseen by a local family between 2006 and 2016 and is personally run by them.  It’s on the south fringe of Cranbrook, immediately adjacent to, and with rooms overlooking, a wildlife refuge lake.

We headed into the center of town where we usually go for dinner, the Hideout Restaurant and Brewhouse (it seems like it’s one of the go-to special restaurants in Cranbrook – its brewhouse half is definitely filled with locals).  It was dark and snowing heavily, but that didn’t discourage the Christmas-time ice climber from climbing the town’s 4 story clock tower.

We were wondering if with the fresh snow we should stay in Cranbrook for additional day.

Timing is everything in winter, and its important to be flexible with your plans and to avoid the worst storms, taking advantage of lulls between them. … Before going to bed, and again when we got up, we did the most essential thing during a winter trip … we got on the computer and checked both the weather report and the road reports.

Both highway 3 to the east through Crowsnest Pass and highway 93 north through Kootenay National Park were open and in “good winter driving conditions”.  But.  The areas around Crowsnest Pass were being hit by 100 km winds (a not-infrequent occurrence).  An easy decision ... we’d take the other way: highways 95 & 93 through the higher, more snowy Kootenay National Park.

We purposely left a little late for the road conditions to improve and drove through Cranbrook it its northern edge where we stopped at the place we always have breakfast, the ABC Country Restaurant.  Although TripAdvisor reviews for it are mediocre, we’ve always enjoyed breakfast there.

17 km north of Cranbrook we drove past Fort Steele Heritage Town (http://www.fortsteele.ca/), another place around Cranbrook that remains a place we should stop at some time.  For 127 km north of there the highway follows the broad Kootenay Valley, hemmed in by by rugged mountains, past the resort of Fairmont Hot Springs, to Radium Hot Springs. (There are lots of hot springs in the area, both in public natural settings and in well-tended resorts.)  Radium Hot Springs lies just east of the town along highway 93 - http://www.hotsprings.ca/radium-hot-springs – when not pressed for time it's great warming in the expansive outdoors spring-fed pool while watching snowflakes falling through its steam.

As usual, just south the town of Radium Hot Springs, we started looking for the big horn sheep that inhabit the area. (A youtube video is here)  We didn’t see any until we got to the very center of town, where a big buck sauntered across the road right at the intersection of highways 95 and 93.  He ignored the traffic signal, but the drivers didn’t ignore him.

We filled up with gas - the next services were 135 km away.  And we bought another bottle of window washing fluid ... in snow country other vehicles kick up a surprising amount of  a mix of snow, sand, and mud ... the last thing you want is to be driving behind (or passing) an 18 wheeler with a windshield that you can't see out of. 

Highway 93 through Kootenay National Park (See link here)  is frequently interesting, both for the scenic views and the wildlife.  Unfortunately, on this trip it was snowing and the clouds had the view socked-in.

One summer just east of town we came across a portable readerboard warning “Grizzlies ahead – do not stop”.  Several kilometers further, at a viewpoint, we came across an assortment of cars stopped, so of course, we stopped too … all were watching a female grizzly with 2 cubs only a couple of hundred feet away.  It could have been an extremely dangerous situation;  no one was venturing beyond a foot or two from their open car doors … risky if the bear attacked.  If you’re out hiking and a grizzly charges, you’re screwed; they can run 30 to 35 miles an hour. (Watch youtube video here)

Last winter we were driving along highway 93 westbound on the inevitable “compact snow and ice” in a line of 4wd pickups and SUV’s.  Most probably had full-on winter tires with better traction than my semi-old mud & snow tires.  They were driving a bit faster than I was comfortable with, but I was keeping up with them.  I’m not sure why.  A moment of inattention?  A mixture of my foot increasing or decreasing throttle combined with a moment of the tires slipping on ice?  Our rear end started trying to get ahead of our front end and our momentum was towards a snow bank.  I was surprised that my wife just very calmly said “oh no.” Somehow, when we were about 45 degrees to the road, I was able to steer (actually, oversteer) the front end the opposite direction, keeping ahead of the rear end.  We fishtailed the other direction.  A few fishtails in opposite directions gradually decreased until we were recovered straight again.  45 or so years ago when in my 20’s, I’d played with friends doing doughnuts and practicing skidding in a snowy parking lot.  Had that helped?

Eventually we got through the pass and onto the Trans Canada freeway between Lake Louise and Banff.  It was barely snowing there, but the road was still covered by wisps of dry blowing snow.  Although there were 2  lanes going in our direction, as usual in bad weather, the traffic was mostly flowing as one lane with the outside portion of both lanes slippery and only partially clear.

The arched bridges in this photo are animal bridges, built as a landscaped and planted way to allow animals to cross the freeway within Banff National Park.  It’s safer for both animals and drivers, and helps animals maintain their essential migrations.  Washington State Department of Transportation is currently installing a similar crossing on I-90 in Snoqualmie Pass.

After leaving Banff  the highway quickly leaves the Rockies and enters what Canadians call "The Prairies" - the vast area extending eastward from the Rockies and their foothills through Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

In the foothills looking west to the Rockies during last year's trip

The radio was describing the phenomenal amount of crashes Calgary had experienced the previous day during a heavy snowstorm.  But by the time we went through Calgary the main roads and freeways (many named "Trails" in Calgary) were well plowed and sanded and fortunately, traffic was lighter than usual.

East and north of Calgary it's grain, cattle, and oil producing country. 

The prairies are sparsely populated, with groups of planted trees flagging the location of the scattered farm houses.  Winds tend to blow the snow from the fields and roads until the wind hits an obstacle, where it deposits deeper drifts.

At one farm some of their straw rolls and straw bales had been fork-lifted into place to create a Christmas teddy bear.  Since rolls tend to be 4 to 5 feet in diameter and can weigh 500 to 1,500 pounds depending on its contents, and the smaller of the rectangular bales can be 36 " x 14" x 18", I'd guess that the bear was about 12 feet high.

The Christmas week in Red Deer was cold, varying between 0 F (minus 17C) high to minus 27 F (minus 32C) low.  But it was relatively dry, with only periodic snowfall.

We kept watching the weather report to time our drive back .... we left a day or two before the next storm was to hit.

Little wind was predicted, so we returned to Seattle via our favorite route: Alberta Highway 22 (the Cowboy Trail) and Highway 3 through the Crowsnest Pass.

To See Snow Country in Winter

A quintessential Canadian experience is to visit in wintertime (but be prepared for cold and snow). The way to get up close and personal with it is by driving ... BUT ... unless you are experienced and competent at driving in snow, and unless the vehicle is properly equipped for snow, for the safety of yourself and others who you may skid into, DON'T DO IT.  Other ways of seeing Snow Country exist.

For the intrepid who are willing to put up with the discomfort of a long bus journey, there are Greyhound busses (infrequent and subject to disruption during winter).

A much more comfortable trip is by train, although part of the trip will be overnight. Via Rail Canada operates The Canadian between Vancouver, Jasper, Edmonton, and Toronto, but only twice a week during winter. (2018 schedule here)  Amtrak operates The Empire Builder between Seattle, Montana, and Chicago daily (Its 2018 schedule here). Unfortunately the luxury train-cruise, The Rocky Mountaineer, from Vancouver to Banff and Calgary doesn't operate in winter.

One of the best ways is to fly to any of the many ski resorts - most have an airport nearby and various shuttles to the resort. Some of the larger resorts have more than enough activities and things to do to keep even non-skiers interested and busy for days. (Notably: fly into Vancouver and take frequent bus shuttles to Whistler, or into Calgary and take frequent bus shuttles to Banff and Lake Louise, or fly into Kalispell and take shuttles to Whitefish and Glacier National Park.)

One of the most quintessential Canadian winter experiences is to take the Sundog Shuttle along the Icefields Parkway near the crest of the Rockies between Jasper and Lake Louise/Banff. (See their website here)  As always in the mountains, you are at the mercy of the weather. It can be cloudy and/or snowing so that you can't see much of the scenery, and sometimes the road is closed by storms or avalanches. But if you luck out you'll get an experience you'd usually only get in places like Switzerland.

Update Feb. 5, 2018: Don't take driving in winter conditions lightly, and don't push or overestimate your and your tires' abilities. Within the last week or so there have been several deadly crashes on BC roads on "compact snow and ice": http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hwy-3-closed-1.4518447 and  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/coquihalla-highway-reopens-northbound-after-tour-bus-crash-1.4519359

Update Feb. 14, 2018:  Unusual things can occur in winter, such as rescuing a moose stuck upside down in snow. See the CBC story here

Update Feb. 25, 2018: More of the reasons to be respectful of winter driving: 2 dozen people were injured in a crash between 2 buses, 2 semi-trailer trucks, and two other passenger vehicles on the Coquihalla on the main route from Vancouver BC to Alberta: See news story here

30 Days Down Under - Part 8 - Auckland

Our Introduction to Auckland

The two hour flight from Queenstown to Auckland went by too quickly ... we spent the time with our seatmate, a young guy from Belgium, showing each other photos of his two week adventures on the south part of the South Island and some of the highlights of our trip.  We put our phones away, said our goodbyes, and made our way to our B&B near Mount Eden in Auckland.

The summit of Auckland's highest point, Mt. Eden, was about 1.7 miles from our bed and breakfast so we wandered over and traipsed up to see its view of Auckland - and its volcanic crater (Te Ipu-a-Mataaho - “The Bowl of Mataaho”). It's a simple bowl covered by grass, a part of which is seen here from a high point on its rim.

We're from the Pacific Northwest, so are used to volcanoes. Oregon has about 19, the State of Washington about 10 ... many of them are high, snow covered and glaciated peaks. In the state of Washington four of them are considered amongst the potentially most dangerous in the US, with one, Mt. Rainier near Seattle, in the Decade List - considered amongst the 17 potentially most destructive volcanoes in the world. (See comments about Washington volcanoes here)

Auckland dwarfs the US Pacific Northwest (in numbers, not at all in height). Auckland has between 49 and 53 volcanoes in its immediate area!!! Whereas in the northwest many are spectacular - high glaciated peaks, the ones around Auckland are much more mundane - many are barely noticeable and many have been quarried into oblivion.  One of the differences between the two areas: in the Northwest the most likely next eruptions will come from one of the existing peaks likely after warning by rumbling quake series, whereas in Auckland the most likely next  eruptions will come from a new location without  much warning   See about Auckland volcanoes here

One day we spent many hours in the Auckland War Memorial Museum - a bit of a misnomer ... it's a great collection of Maori, cultural, and natural  history, amongst other things. And it has a series of exhibits on volcanism, earthquakes, and the pacific rim ... wow, I had known the area of New Zealand was very active, but had not understood how very geologically active it was. A good article on Auckland's volcanoes is by the Ministry of Civil Defence here.

Amidst the displays was a section describing the volcanic (and earthquake) risk in Auckland and the rest of New Zealand. It also described the extensive planning that the government of New Zealand has instituted and the insurance for both earthquake and volcanoes that the government provides.  It puts to shame Seattle's lack of planning, and the paucity of reasonably affordable disaster insurance available in the US. Imagine: a nation that plans ahead of time to take care of its populace! New Zealand.

Click on any photo in the blog to enlarge it

Maori

It was the Maori and Pacific Islanders exhibits at the museum that attracted us the most.

Here's a model in the museum picturing a prototypical Maori Pa.  The Maori were competitive and warlike, with tribes fighting tribes and building pa's - fortified settlements for protection.  Mt. Eden in present-day Auckland was once a terraced and fortified pa.

The Maori were quite the opposite of the aboriginals in the Australian outback who were peaceable.

Perhaps when people are faced with a harsh environment in which survival is difficult, they are more humane and understanding of others' needs to endure and survive, than when they are in a fortunate environment that is plentiful, where they can afford the luxury of competition and greed.

Maybe that's why many people undergoing hardship tend to be so willing to help their neighbors and others.

For the most successful of the Maori's they could afford large storehouses like the one (from a fairly late vintage) in the museum.

Te Ara is an excellent site for New Zealand's history, culture, and politics including that of the Maori's, at https://teara.govt.nz/en You could (should) get lost for months exploring it in much more depth than I could ever manage.

Maori masks, carved in wood or soapstone, were used to honor the dead; they reproduced the ta moko - the markings - that had adorned the ancestors.

For a fascinating read see the story of Whakairo - Maori carving here.

And for an even more fascinating read, see the story of Ta Moko, Maori "tattooing" here. The word "tattooing" is a bit of a misnomer. The technique used was not at all like a modern day tattoo, nor did it feel as gentle as tattooing when it was applied.  The grooves were chiseled into the skin using chisels producing deep incisions in the skin rather than the pinpricks of modern-day tattoos.  I wonder how popular tattoos would be today if the same methods were used.

If (when?) I ever get a tattoo I'd pick a Maori design, at least as close to one as Maori traditions allow. But I certainly would not want it done the Maori way.

Other fascinating articles about Maori culture are about Maori kites here (yes, they flew kites), and their religion here, and what some Victorians would prudishly call their morals here (the latter being very apropos to same sex marriage that the people of Australia just voted 61.6% to 38.4% to allow.)



The museum also contains exhibits of polynesia and the Pacific Islands, to which New Zealand is bound both geographically, historically, and culturally.

New Zealand's population as of 2013 was 74% European, 14.9% Maori, 11.8% Asian, and 7.4% Pacific Islanders. (per Wikipedia)

And with that, we're off to an island.

Train to Waiheke Island

Early one morning it took us only a little over 10 minutes to walk from our B&B in the Mount Eden neighborhood, past Eden Park (Auckland's major stadium where the All Blacks play - that rugby team is New Zealand's pride - their stuff is sold everywhere in NZ, just simply everywhere, you can't escape it) to the nearby Kingsland rail station.  There are convenient, new, clean, fast trains roughly every 20 to 30 minutes to Britomart, the major downtown rail station at the harbor.

Like in Sydney, a massive rail terminal and pedestrian precinct was under construction along the harbour.  Somehow we found our way through the construction (the wayfinding sucked in comparison to Sydney) to the old but classic brick Ferry Terminal building.

From there we caught Fuller's ferry for its 40 minute trip to Waiheke Island. It gave us a good view of downtown Auckland and its ferry terminal - a scaled down version of Sydney's Circular Quay.

(map from Open Street Map under its open license)

Our destination was to visit a close friend who lives on the far east side of Waiheke Island in her family's home, which the family had first built in about 1900.  At that time it was exceedingly remote - the only way to the home was by boat or horseback (or trekking) from the western end of the island .

Waiheke Island is undergoing a quick change - our journey the length of the island was a journey through that change. The ferry docks near the western end of the island.  That end seems a bit like Sausalito or Tiburon on the north shore of San Francisco bay - manicured, pleasant, with any property likely costing a fortune. Taking the road eastward one passes a mix of exurban sprawl - remaining older homes and stores, many seeming from the 50's and 60's when lots of young people were living cheap away from the city, amidst many new and obviously expensive houses and condos.

As the road proceeds west it becomes a bit more rural, with several wineries set amongst their vineyards - a favorite Auckland destination for a day of sipping wine. Eventually the main road comes to Onetangi Beach. From there smaller roads continue east to a mix of parks with popular day hikes and various rural properties, both old and new.

Throughout the island there are frequent views over the multi-fingered coastline and its  inlets and bays.

The view from our friend's yard's gate. The house was down a path about 50 yards from the end of her shared rough drive, which required a 4 wheel drive steeply wind its way up to the road.