Polson to Seattle

Polson, MT to Seattle, WA
 
After breakfast at the Red Lion Inn in Polson, MT we loaded the bus and headed west to Seattle. We drove the back roads of Montana with its rolling hills, and pastures of cattle, horses and bison. The scenery soon changed as we drove along the Paradise to St. Regis Scenic Highway. The views were gorgeous as we followed the Clark Fork River as it meandered through the mountains and lodge pole pines. Many passed the time gazing out the window, while others slept. We soon crossed into Idaho and were greeted with views of beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene. A quick rest stop was made here where everyone had a chance to stretch their legs. The movie, “Blades of Glory” entertained us as we continued on our way. We stopped for lunch in Ellenburg, WA where there was a variety of restaurants for everyone.  After lunch we watched the movie, “Sandlot.”
 
We arrived in Seattle mid afternoon, making a quick stop at our hotel to meet Bob, our driver into the city. We boarded his bus and off we went to downtown Seattle. Bob provided us with a lot of information about the city, pointing out landmarks such as Century Link Field (Clink), Starbucks headquarters, the location of the Grey's Anatomy hospital, Pikes Place, as well as the Space Needle. It was evident in Bob’s enthusiasm he was very proud of his city, and was eager to show it off!
 
While downtown we toured the Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP). The exhibits and architecture of the building were fascinating. The building itself is shaped to resemble a smashed guitar (that supposedly was something Jimi Hendricks was known to do to his guitars while on stage). Mills said, “it’s so retro” when she saw the unique purple building. Special features in the museum included tributes to local Seattle natives, Jimi Hendrix and the music group, Nirvana. There was even a room dedicated to Prince, which included his outfit from the Purple Rain Tour. There were interactive exhibits where we could play different instruments and create our own videos. Lolly said, “it makes me want to be a music producer.” Many also enjoyed the Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy and Indie Games exhibits. The girls particularly enjoyed the fashion exhibit. Estelle  said, “the flower arrangements on the models in the museum were stupendously placed.” Everyone enjoyed browsing through the gift shop buying t-shirts and mementos to bring home. Olivia summed up the experience by saying, “MOPOP makes my mind pop!”
 
Driving back to our hotel we were treated with a beautiful view of Mt Rainier (which Bob told us on average can only be seen about 79 days a year).
 
We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn which will be our hotel for the next two nights. Free time was given for everyone to have dinner on their own around the hotel. We were soon off to bed to rest up for a full day of sightseeing in Seattle on Sunday!
 
Ashlie