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North West USA

My two week trip across North West USA takes in famous cities along the West Coast, three national parks and some awesome back roads as I search for campsites. Yellowstone is truly astonishing and is accompanied by a camping culture (for tents, not those awful three story RVs) far better than any other country I've had the opportunity to explore. A mixture snow storms, wild fires and risk of grizzly bears swiping your picnic basket means the wild west clichè holds true.

Day 1 - Tuesday 12/09/17

The 10 hour flight from Gatwick to Vancouver goes by surprisingly quickly but the jet lag hangs around a bit too long. Leaving at midday London time to arrive at 2pm Vancouver time means I'm fast asleep by 8pm and awake at 5am the next day.

Accommodation - 6/10 - The St Clair Hostel is a great budget place to stay in Vancouver and offers private rooms at a good price.

Drink/Food - 7/10 - First craft beer of the trip at the The Lamplighter.

Activities - 4/10 - Exploring the city to fight off the jet lag.

Day 2 - Wednesday 13/09/17

An early start leaves me plenty of time of to explore the city and grab something to eat at Denny's before picking up the hire car just before midday. I head straight for the US boarder. This turns out to be a good idea as crossing the boarder takes nearly 2 hours. I wait in a queue of foreigners hoping they don't search my car. Not that I have anything to hide, I just want to get to Seattle! When my turn comes the officer is very friendly and decides my car doesn't require any investigation. He then directs me to the cashier who requests $6, on top of the $14 I've already paid for an ESTA, which is an additional charge for entering the USA by land. Back on the I-5 (interstate 5) I make tracks towards Seattle. I get my first glimpse of the space needle from the highway and it doesn't disappoint. A very impressive building. As I arrive at the hostel I realise parking is going to be an issue on this trip. An overnight stay at the car park across the road is almost as much as the hostel. The guy at reception suggests I wait it out for overnight parking on the street/meter which is free! Guys in my room are nice and the top bunk is comfortable but I need to keep moving if I want to beat this jet lag. I head straight for pike place market on foot just to catch the stalls closing up but I get the picture. As sunset is approaching the space needle is the next destination to check out. A ride to the top costs $22 and experience is well worth the price. At glass wall allows passengers to see over the city as they ascend. Once at the top the 360 degree view is excellent looking over Elliott Bay and neighbour city of Bellevue. The Seattle cityscape is shadowed by Mount Rainer which make it very impressive. Even more so when you discover Mount Rainer is an active volcano. I later hear from another traveller that there is a 50% chance of Mount Rainer erupting within the next 30 years. I'm not sure if this is true but the US government take the threat of an eruption very seriously.

Accommodation - 6/10 - HI Seattle is a nice place to stay but for my visit the crowd was not your typically hostel types. More middle age couples and parents/kids than 20 somethings looking to find themselves. The vibe of a hostel is more important than a comfortable bed and a decent breakfast.

Drink/Food - 7/10 - More quality craft beer!

Activities - 8/10 - What a great city, full of interesting sights, along with the homely feeling of being in a giant Starbucks.

Day 3 - Thursday 14/09/17

After the obligatory coffee from the chain coffee shop in city that started it all I drive on to Spokane. The Nitro brew is not great but finished by the time a reach a Walmart with plans to stock up camping food. The super market is huge and I find fresh fruit to be highly overpriced compared to England. So with a shopping Tolley full of incredibly cheap cake I continue the drive through central Washington arriving in Spokane by late afternoon. Spokane turns out to be a great stop over. The grand Riverfront Park contains a clock tower and oversized little red wagons shrouded by bridges at either end. A venture in to the town and find it stuffed with interesting bars. I first venture in to one containing arcade games, pinball machines and happy hour priced beer. There is a comedy club next door and I ask the barmaid for details. She tells me it's very good but also the owner is the owner of the arcade. Unconvinced I venture on to another bar which contains 51 beers on tap. I order the best pulled pork bun I ever eaten in my life and get chatting to some of the locals. Making my way back the motel I see another bar which is strongly packed for a Thursday and not very close to the town centre. I investigate and immediately run in to an Australian guy called Dave after he picks up my accent. Aussie Dave us on a similar trip but for much longer and much further. He started in Los Angeles and has been working his way up the West coast and no he's on his way to Yellowstone. We trade stories and agree to catch up in Yellowstone as our visits could overlap. There's a pub quiz and we both get roped in to joining. The requirement for a team name is the word "and" so we go for "Engl-and-Australia" which gets next to no applause so we immediately lose out the prize for best name. Finally we come third from the bottom but in a quiz containing many American football questions we are satisfied to come just ahead of two teams.

Waking up at the base of Humbug Mountain I pack up the tent and hit the 101 toward Portland. To make up some time I take the 38 across to the I-5 make the journey a bit quicker. It's not long before I arrive in Portland. I heard from other travels and TV shows it's a city full of hipsters. I feel like that is true. The Saturday market (also open Sundays) is full of quirky pieces of art and posh fast food. Food trucks have taken up permanent residency in a parking lot a short walk from the micro brewery block. Among all this locals can be seen cart literal carts full of used books to sell at Powell's book store. After an evening of excellent craft beer and excellent bluegrass music by Kendl Winter at Al's Den I retire to the hostel.

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Day 14 - Monday 25/09/17

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Day 15 - Tuesday 26/09/17

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