All kinds of seafood and Seattle in the sun

The next morning (Wednesday) we got a chance to learn more about the growing, harvesting and processing of shellfish in Taylor Shellfish Farms in Shelton, a family operation since 1890 and nowadays the largest producer of farmed shellfish in the U.S.. Beginnings were humble: the great-grandfather began to farm Olympia oysters in the Puget Sound. Now they have their own hatcheries and nurseries, farms and oyster beds in different areas of Washington and B.C. as well as in Hawaii and in California, and they grow clams, oysters, mussels, and geoducks. China is their largest market besides the U.S. and they operate Oyster Bars in Seattle.

The company’s headquarters are huge: several buildings, large grounds, oyster shells where ever you look. On our tour we learned that the shellfish business seems to be all about location: every tideland has its own character: some are perfect for the original, small, but nowadays rare Olympia oysters; others make Kumamotos happier, and still others grow the most delicious Manila clams. One especially interesting, really strange looking clam (Muschel) is the geoduck (which is pronounced „guidack“) - see pic - it’s popular in Asia for sushi but the body is also good sliced and prepared as a steak. Apparently it just looks ugly but tastes delicious.

Don’t ask us about the specifics and looks of all the different oysters we saw, it got sort of confusing for people like us, not growing up with seafood. The biggest share make the common Pacific Oysters, which also come as „Shigoku“ or „thumbled oysters“ (they are moving in the water with the tides in their bags and grow differently). There are speciality oysters as Kumamoto, too. All of them are either sold in whole, on the half-shell (nitrogen frosted) or as shuck meat. Didn’t envy the guys at the lines, sorting, opening, cleaning or packaging the oysters and other seafood: it’s cold in the big warehouses, it’s wet, it smells and oysters don’t open up easily!

In the little store adjacent, we bought some smoked fish for our train trip (not produced by Taylor, but for them) and headed out to Seattle afterwards. We were fortunate and it took us only a little over1,5 hours to get into downtown. Our „room“ was ready, which in reality was a nice, large suite with a three-sided view towards Pike Place Market, the Puget Sound, Olympic Peninsula and Mount Rainier. What a nice surprise!

After returning our rental car at Sea-Tac Airport - we had driven about 2500 mi (4000 km) in total in 16 days - and after getting back to town by LINK, the local light rail system, we explored the city a little more, this time we weven had sunshine!

We visited SAM, the Seattle Art Museum (pic), Pioneer Square and, of course, Pike Place Market (pic), where we bought provisions: really good cheese from Beechers (produced in house!), donuts, Greek yoghurt, bread and fruit for our train trip. Since we had such great accommodations with such a spectacular view from the room as well as from the guest observation deck (pics), we returned to the hotel early in the evening. That was, when we finally got a view of Mount Rainier (pic), for the first time, as well as of the Olympic Mountains (pic) the next morning. We never before had such a good time in Seattle!

Guests of the Squaxin Tribe

We left Astoria on Tuesday morning after another delicious breakfast Elfi had prepared, and drove not quite 2,5 hours, mostly along the coast, to the Squaxin Island Indian Reservation south of Shelton/WA, again in pooring rain.
The Squaxin consider themselves as the native people of South Puget Sound, descendants of the maritime people and also known as the People of the Water. 1854 with the Treaty of Medicine Creek seven bands of indians, named for the seven inlets, were confined to the little Squaxin Island, 4,5 miles long and a half mile wide, without good drinking water. The number of island residents dwindled in the course of time and today nobody is living there anymore, but tribal members are spread out. In the last years lots of land has been purchased by the tribe and a thriving community has been established and Squaxin Island became one of the first 30 tribes in the nation to become self-governed.


We checked in in the Little Creek Resort & Casino (see pics above), an architecturally impressive building, modern and comfortable, with spa, pool, several restaurants and - most unique - original indian artwork (pic top left) everywhere!

Leslie picked us up to show us the reservation at 1 pm and we went for a little driving tour, including the golf course (with a great carved wooden pole, see pic), and ending up at the museum. The Squaxin Island Museum (pics) opened in 2002. The architecture is reminiscent of a traditional longhouse, the exhibition with its seven huge wall panels for the seven bands deals with seven different subjects, among them: origins, Indian shaker church, culture, education.

Besides a shop, a library and a gathering space there is artisan craftwork and arts of all kinds, mostly basketery, because that is what the tribe is especially famous for. After our lunch in the museum, extra prepared for us by the casino food & beverage department - "blue oysters" (grilled oysters with blue cheese and bacon bits), sockeye salmon with asparagus and wild rice and fry bread with honey butter as well as "Indian tea" (special herbs, leaves and huckleberries) - we were greeted with a welcome song by Jeremiah George (co-curator of the museum and artist) and got a tour then. We, also, met a very talented artist: Corey "Bear" O'Lague, a Quinault indian.

One famous event in the tribe is the Canoe Journey, which takes place since 1989. The Northwest Coast tribes of WA State and BC take part and are proud of their partly old wooden canoes (as to be seen outside the museum). In 2012 it was organized by the Squaxin tribe.

After a wine tasting at Walter Dacon Wines, famous for Shiraz, Leslie, representing the tribe and promoting tourism in the region, invited us to dinner in the Squaxin Island Seafood Bar in the hotel, a fun place with a long copper table (bar-like) where they served all kinds of shellfish by the pound, steamed or seared. Appetizers were oysters (kumamoto and pacific) on the half shell for Peter and Leslie, crawfish bisque for me, followed by half pounds of each: clams, shrimps and king crab legs (my favorite!) - well wetted in Washington Cabernet.

Astoria – Oysters, Coast Guard and a lot of rain

Astoria is a little harbor town of about 10.000 population near the mouth of the Columbia River. The city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor who founded the American Fur Company and then Fort Astoria at the site in 1811. The city has a deep-water port, where many cruise ships anchor, and is sometimes compared to San Francisco in regard to it's setting on hills.

The weather was horrible: rain, hail, storm, but good thing was, that both days, when we went on excursions, we had no showers and even partly blue skies and some sun!

After a late Sunday brunch (the clock was set forward because of the change to DST - daylight saving time - Sommerzeit) –, we drove up north, into Washington. Astoria/Oregon is just separated by a a steel bridge that spans the Columbia River. The bridge is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) long and was the last segment of U.S. Hwy. 101 between Olympia, Washington, and Los Angeles, California. We drove along the coast on Hwy. 101 to Long Beach Peninsula and up to the little town of Oysterville.

This area first of all known is for its cranberry fields (they apparently mostly produce for the company "Ocean Spray") and for its oyster farms (see pic with heaps of oyster shells piling up - wished we could bring home some for the garden!). Historic Oysterville, founded in 1854, is nestled into the Willapa Bay on the Long Beach Peninsula. Thanks to the oyster population it was once a boomtown and is now on the National Register of Historic places. Besides a cozy little old church (pic) there are many well preserved historic homes.

In the evening we were invited at friends of Elfi and Erhard (see pic), Kay and Art, and had a seafood feast there: Dungeness crabs with salad and cornbread and a huckleberry icecream tart as dessert. It was a litle work to crack them, but it was delicious!

Monday morning we drove again north to Ilwaco and Cape Disappointment, where the Coast Guard Station is stationed. "Cape D"
is situated at the mouth of the Columbia River and is the largest Coast Guard search and rescue station on the Northwest Coast. At the same time it is the site for the National Motor Lifeboat School, the only school of that kind in the U.S.


Thanks to Erhard, who knows all the important people in town, we had a tour with the lieutenant of the Coast Guard. He explained this branch of the U.S. military to us, showed us their five search and rescue boats (different in size) and we even got a chance to crawl into the interior of some boats. The boats are designed for operations in heavy surf conditions and are capable of being rolled over.


Also, nearby is the oldest lighthouse on the Northwest Coast of the United States, Cape Disappointment Light. This area is regarded as one of the most treacherous river bars in the world. Because of the large number of shipwrecks near the river entrance it is often called "The Graveyard of the Pacific." The old lighthouse is not accessible, but we were able to visit the current watch station of the Coast Guard (pic).

In the evening we had some more culinary delicacies at our friends' house: baked oysters, smoked oysters & shrimps as appetizers followed by clam chowder. Me, being not too eager to eat oysters, tried hard to be polite and tried them, but liked the clam chowder much better!

Warm Welcome in Oregon

What a pleasant Sunday morning we are spending right now at our friends' Elfi's and Erhard's beautiful home in Astoria/Oregon! After having driven about 550 miles (almost 900 km) in two days we were glad to finally have a "home" for three nights in a row! We arrived to Astoria, at the northern tip of the Oregon Coast (see pic), yesterday in the late afternoon, in the pooring rain, but the warm welcome of our friends compensated fully for that (as well as the fantastic king bolete (Steinpilz) soup, Elfi had prepared for dinner). This part of Oregon is blessed with mushrooms (and many other things) and the two of them are eager mushroom hunters.

We left Boise on Friday morning, again in the rain, and crossed the border to Oregon after about 50 miles. All of the sudden more fruit orchards came up. We stopped in Baker City (pic) - where we have been several years agon - and a couple of other places on the way, but due to the inclement weather, we arrived pretty early to our destination, Pendleton/Oregon.

We have visited the town at least three times before, among them once for the Pendleton Round-up, a rodeo and powwow - this was a special experience! Our first stop in Pendleton was at the Woolen Mill, famous for their colorful blankets, which are produced on the property. Since they are also offering second choice and underruns here for about half the regular price, we couldn't refrain from buying one. Not sure yet how we'll bring it home, though ...

On to Hemley's, another Pendleton institution, which started out as a saddlery and is now a huge western store with boots, hats, saddles, horse gear and other things Western riders can think of (pic). We were supposed to meet our friend Bobbie, the director of the Tamastslikt Institute (a fabulous Native American Museum) on the Umatilla Reservation at 3 pm, but she called and before the tour in the museum we got a chance to watch her work a 3-year old Appalousa colt, which was highly interesting!

In the evening we were invited to dinner in the Wildhorse Resort & Casino - where we were staying, too - and had a great meal in the Plateau Restaurant - smoked salmon soup, rabbit, dessert and good wine - with Bobbie, our other friend Michelle, and Bobbie's mom. Since our last stay in Pendleton the resort hotel has completely changed, a tower was added and the new rooms there are large, well equipped with microwave, coffeemaker etc. and tastefully decorated. We got a room on the 10th floor and had a great view, too.

Departed on Saturday morning, heading west, towards the coast, mostly along the Columbia River, as once, beginning of the 19th century, Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery did. We had rain most of the time during this technically wonderful drive, therefore we didn't stop as often as we had planned. Main break was at an outlet mall in Troutdale, closeby Portland, where we bought nice weather/rain-proof jackets at Eddie Bauer's for a good price (Oregon doesn't have sales tax!). We've been fools, bringing all the Alaska winter gear (which we didn't really need), but no rain jackets. Now we just have to figure out how to get rid of our winter gear, how to mail it to New York.

Farewell to Idaho

We are in Boise, the capital of Idaho. What a pleasure this morning not to have to pack and load the car for a change ... though, we had to get up early and skies were gray. We had a pleasant, sumptuous breakfast at Big City Coffee, a local fav, with Melissa (Boise CVB) and Andrea (Idaho Tourism): biscuits & gravy in different variations, enough to feed a whole family!
Well fed, we drove to the Old Penitentiary Historic District, with the Botanical Garden, the little ID Museum of Mining & Geology and the - unfortunately closed - ID History Center. The Old Idaho Penitentiary with its 30 historic buildings and exhibitions opened its doors in 1872 to be the home of the West’s most badly reputed criminals.

On to the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, established in 1985 as a small museum in the historic Cyrus Jacobs-Uberuaga House, a former bording house, where the basque sheepherders spent their winter. We got a tour in the museum and a good insight into the rich and colorful history of the Basques, their origins, and their life in America. Didn't know that there are so many basque communities in America! The center's purpose is to preserve and promote Basque history and culture, tere are language classes, dance groups and other cultural events, besides the Basque Club, the museum itself with artifacts and photographs and the nearby Basque Market, a shop with Basque delicatessen. Surprisingly, no other US state is more associated with Basque people than Idaho. They initially came to Idaho because of (silver and gold) mining and many stayed to become sheepherders, living outside most of the year (pic).

We walked over to Old Boise Historic District, which is adjacent to downtown with its State Capitol (see pic above) and 8th Street as its main and most vivid artery. Old Boise goes back to the founding of the city in 1863 and still shows a wide variety of historic building, e.g. the Good Templar Hall, the Telephone Building or the Pioneer Tent Building (1910), with shops, or the 1906 Boise City Turnverein Building.


The Boise Art Museum in Julia Davis Park on the banks of Boise River, was our next stop, showing a great collection of contemporary ceramics (pic) besides several changing exhbitions. Change of scenery, from arts to sports: Boise State University is famous for its college football team, the "Broncos". We visited their Hall of Fame and got a chance to see the famous "blue turf" in Bronco Stadium (pic). Also, of course, needed to visit the Broncos shop to get (another) baeball cap for Peter ...


The World Center for Birds of Prey operated by the Peregrine Fund is a little outside town, a unique indoor/outdoor educational center focused on raptors (Greifvögel). It also explains the local and global efforts of The Peregrine Fund and visitors encounter live California Condors, falcons, hawks, eagles, owls and other vultures from around the world in habitats and during live bird presentations. Especially peregrines (Wanderfalken) and condors, both until not too long ago highly endangered, are a main focus of the organization's preservation and breeding program (which takes place in large buildings apart from the visitors' area and are monitored closely). Also, the Archives of Falconery are adjacent and there is a trail for bird lovers. Walking it, we actually spotted a peregrine!

Edge Brewing Company - our last stop today, after a brief visit to the Morrison Knudsen Nature Center, was born by beer enthusiasts and passionate homebrewers Marcus and Sherry Bezuhly - owners of "HomeBrewStuff" - carrying all the necessary equipment to brew your own beer in the basement. Kerry Thomas is the Head Brewmaster and we met with Steve from Marketing who gave us a tour and tasting.

Edge is famous for its variety of IPAs, our favorite beer, and the Obligatory Double IPA (with 9,2 % alc.) was one of the best ones we ever had! Hate to say it, but, frankly, American beers in average are better and much more creative nowadays than German beers, and, if there are still people around drinking dishwater like Buds, Millers, Heinecken or similar, or if somebody is still suggesting, America doesn't have good beer: you are fools! Visit one of the many microbreweries, which are existing in almost every little town, no matter where, now, and you'll see yourself. Be adventurous as the local brewers are! The brewery was serving good food, too, and we had a Peanut Butter Bacon Burger and BBQ Chicken Wings after our tour and tasting.