DAY 18 was both good and bad. We were behind schedule, although that is a loose idea. The good totally outweighed the bad and the unfortunate changes led to us getting back on schedule.

We were going to tour the Albeni Falls Dam, but talking to a ranger we found out since they were short staffed, they didn’t have anyone on until much later in the day. We couldn’t wait 5 hours, so we moved on. We then stopped at another welcome center in Kettle Falls, WA and it too was closed for the day. Hmmmm! We were then off to North Cascades National Park.

Once at the park we saw more amazing views and waterfalls. We were also met with intermittent rain, so we chose to forgo any lengthy hikes. It was still a great day in the park and allowed us to recoup some time. Another unfortunate thing was that I just missed the visitor center so I was not able to get a park map and the stamp that indicates the date I visited. Oh well, it just goes to show I’ll have to visit again.

We got through the park and headed to Seattle. We arrived at the Seattle Space Needle with plenty of time to make it to the top. It was still light out when we got there and nice and dark when we left. This was all in the span of one hour. Despite the cloudiness, the view was great! The glass floor gave a great perspective of how high up in the air we really were. I should mention the walk up to the elevator up had a timeline indicating the stages of construction and what was going on during that time. There were also 3D printed replicas of the base and tower construction to give a more up close look at it.

Once finished in Seattle, we headed to Muckleshoot Casino as a place to stay for the night . . . and yes a little gambling. I walked away $2 in the hole . . . but that provided me with a good half hour of fun. I think of it as the camping fee. I hope to get an early start to get the tailpipe fixed. We’ll see what the morning brings.