We arrived into Seattle, Washington from Bend, Oregon exactly four weeks after we departed Charleston on our cross-country drive. The 328-mile (538 km) drive from Bend brought our total driving distance to 5,157 miles (8,299 km) across 14 states (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington). The trip was a real success—we very much enjoyed the sights and stops along the way, and Spitfire did remarkably well both traveling in the car and adapting to each new hotel room en route.

When we left Charleston, we were planning to return to Dirona near the end of July. But James had recently stepped into a new job that was proving to be harder to do remotely. So partway through our road trip, we decided to get an apartment in Seattle. To add to the excitement, we rented it sight unseen while on the trip (well, we did see on-line pictures), and took possession five days after arriving in town. When we moved from our house in Seattle onto the boat back in 2009, we sold all our furniture and didn’t keep anything in storage. So we’re starting completely from scratch in the new apartment.

We’re living in the same neighborhood, Belltown, that we lived in before leaving Seattle in 2012 on our trip around the world. Bell Harbor Marina, where we lived aboard for nearly four years, is less than a mile away. It’s nice to be back in familiar territory, and we’re loving the downtown lifestyle with dozens of restaurants within walking distance.

Below are highlights from July 6th through 29th, 2021. Click any image for a larger view, or click the position to view the location on a map. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.

7/6/2021

Mt. Hood Position: 44°50.32’N, -121°23.22’W 11,249 ft (3,429 m) Mt. Hood dominates the skyline as we drive north from Bend to Seattle on the final leg of our trip.

Columbia River Position: 45°35.36’N, -122°32.75’W Crossing the Columbia River from Oregon into Washington, the 14th and final state on our cross-country adventure. On our Columbia River trip nine years ago, we docked Dirona on Government Island, just visible in the distance at right.

Tacoma Dome Position: 47°13.89’N, -122°26.46’W The Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA is a popular venue for concerts, trade shows and other events. Completed in 1983, it’s the largest arena by volume in the world with a wooden dome.

Seattle Position: 47°33.02’N, -122°18.89’W Arriving into Seattle at the end of our road trip. Over four weeks we traveled 5,157 miles (8,299 km) across 14 states: South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. We had a fabulous adventure and really enjoyed the chance to see some parts of the US that we’d been wanting to visit for a long time.

7/7/2021

Ballard Insulation Position: 47°39.69’N, -122°22.32’W Dropping off the old exhaust cladding at Ballard Insulation in Seattle to get a replacement made.

Mail Position: 47°36.22’N, -122°20.13’W Picking up our mail from the UPS store in downtown Seattle. Because we already ordered a lot in Charleston, we didn’t have as much compared to other summers.

7/10/2021

Peter & Laurie Position: 47°40.61’N, -122°24.60’W A visit with Peter and Laurie Hayden on their beautiful new Nordhavn 68 Tanglewood at Shilshole Bay Marina. It was great to see them both again and catch up. We haven’t seen Peter since Amsterdam in late 2019 and Laurie since we were in Portsmouth, NH with Dirona in 2016. And Tanglewood is a truly spectacular boat.

Leif Erikson Position: 47°40.79’N, -122°24.35’W Statue of Viking Leif Erikson at Shilshole Bay Marina. According to legend, Leif Erikson sailed from Trondheim, Norway in the year 1000 on his historic voyage to reach North America. The statue was erected here for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and in 1997 the Leif Erikson Society of Seattle gave a replica to Trondheim to honor the thousand-year anniversary of the city’s founding and Erikson’s epic journey. We saw that replica while visiting Trondheim in 2018.

7/11/2021

Apartment Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W When we left Charleston on our road trip to Seattle, we were planning to return near the end of July. But James recently stepped into a new job that’s was proving to be harder to do remotely. So partway through our road trip, we decided to get an apartment in Seattle. To add to the excitement, we rented it sight unseen while on the trip (well, we did see on-line pictures). We just took possession today and here are enjoying the view from the balcony. We’re living in the same neighborhood, Belltown, that we lived in before leaving Seattle in 2012 on our trip around the world. Bell Harbor Marina, where we lived aboard for nearly four years, is adjacent to where the cruise ship in the background is moored. It’s nice to be back in familiar territory.

7/12/2021

Moving From Hotel Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Today we moved everything from the hotel room into the new apartment. We’re still making good use of the LL Bean XL rolling duffle bags we bought to carry parts back to Dirona on return trips to the US. With the mail we’d picked up at the UPS store, we had four full bags to tranport, plus Spitfire and “Kitty Central“.

Spitfire Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Spitfire checking out his new digs. In the hotel rooms we stopped in on our drive across the country, he acclimatized to the rooms in about 10-15 minutes. In the larger apartment, it took him a couple of days of continuous inspection before he felt comfortable. We could tell he was nervous because he slept in his carry bag instead of in his bed.

Sunset Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Sunset over the Olympic peninsula, viewed from our new apartment. Just left of the cruise ship at center is Elliott Bay Marina, where we kept our previous boat for nine years.

7/13/2021

Mattress Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Today our first piece of furniture arrived: a mattress. When we moved from our house in Seattle onto the boat back in 2009, we sold all our furniture and didn’t keep anything in storage. So we’re starting completely from scratch in the new apartment. We really wanted to spend the night here last night, but we only had bedding and no mattress yet. So we slept on the floor with some towels for padding in a bit of a throwback to college days.

7/16/2021

Spare Cat Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Even in the apartment we have a “spare cat“.

Patio Furniture Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W We’re slowly building up some furniture—we have deck chairs now.

7/17/2021

Living Room Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W We’ve got some living room furniture on order, but right now are making do with a couple of Chill Sack bean bag chairs and a box for a coffee table. The bean bags are actually working out pretty well. But we are looking forward to getting a sofa and table :).

7/24/2021

Tools Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W We of course don’t need nearly as many tools in an apartment as on Dirona, but a few are nice to have. Spitfire, sleeping in the background, has zero interest.

7/29/2021

Elliott Bay Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W View to Elliott Bay from our apartment on a sunny morning. The Port of Seattle is at far left, our last Seattle port of Bell Harbour Marina is at center in front of the cruise ship, and Elliott Bay Marina where we moored our previous boat is at far right. In the distance is West Seattle at center and Bainbridge Island at right, with the Olympic Mountains beyond (click image for a larger view).

Bed Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W We now have a bed to put our mattress on.

Dining Room Table Position: 47°37.00’N, -122°20.55’W Our dining room table also arrived today. We’ve only got two chairs for now, the rest are coming later. And we don’t yet have any place mats or dishes (we’re still using the ones from our road trip), but we’re making progress.

Click the travel log icon on the left to see these locations on a map, with the complete log of our cruise. On the map page, clicking on a camera or text icon will display a picture and/or log entry for that location, and clicking on the smaller icons along the route will display latitude, longitude and other navigation data for that location. And a live map of our current route and most recent log entries always is available at mvdirona.com/maps.