Well, we made it. We last saw saw an ocean when we crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and from Chincateague Beach, both on June 10th. Today, August 6, almost 2 months later, we got our first view of the Pacific Ocean at Ocean City, Washington. A cool, overcast day but still a momentous day for us in our little RV.
We've seen quite a few roadside chain saw wooden statuary artists. Most of them are quite impressive. It looks like some even used Mark as a model!
Quinault Lake has LOTS of activities to offer for tourists – this is the busiest sign of its type we've seen so far.
Quinault valley is home to 6 "champion trees", some World record and some US record holders.
The Olympic Rainforest receives about 12 feet of rain per year! The tree roots are very shallow as they do not need to burrow down to get the moisture they need. Therefore they tend to be top heavy and are prone to falling. The downed trees, as well as felled tree stumps, serve as a water and nutrient source so seeds that fall on them can root in the rotting wood. These "nurse logs" and their adopted children make for intriguing tree structures.
We'd heard that Fork Timber Museum was great and it was – well worth the price of admission.
On a whim we decided to drive up to Neah Bay. Ozette is the most NW town in the contiguous United States. It was a rainy, cool day, typical weather that the Olympic peninsula is famous for. What a great drive along the rugged coast to the Makah Indian Reservation! In spite of the rain we could even see Vancouver Island, Canada across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We paid a visit to the outstanding Makah Museum where we learned lots about these Pacific Northwest natives. An archealogical dig nearby has uncovered many artifacts that were buried in mud 500 years ago, showing what life was like before the white man arrived. See http://makah.com/.
Can't leave the yard art and roadside fun out of the mix.
After parking atop the windy, pot-holed, cliff-hanging Elwha Valley road, we trekked another few miles to the natural hot springs. Do they always smell like sulpher?
Our last two days in the Olympic National Park were also the most outstanding. We once again drove up a long, steep, windy road in 1st gear to the overflowing Hurricane Ridge parking lot and found a spot. There were lovely trails and we happened upon the news that an astronomer would be giving a talk and allowing visitors to look through his two telescopes at 10pm. While waiting for this to start we spent a romantic hour on top of the world, watching the sunset with another great view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
After getting up close and personal with Saturn's rings and Titan, one of his moons, we looked at other astronomical features like galaxies and shooting stars. We were also treated to a surpise visit from the International Space Station which whirls around the earth so fast, we saw it twice!
We spent the night in the car park at Hurricane Ridge along with one other couple in a camper van at the far other end of the parking lot. We rose early in the morning (at sunrise - yawn), walked the trails again (this time we had them all to ourselves), then sat drinking our coffee watching the light change and shift on the glaciers as the sun rose slowly in the sky.
We dragged ourselves away from this magical place at around 10am as the new batch of day tourists started to arrive.
Our last stop in the peninsula was at Port Townsend, a great Victorian town on the water famous for it's wooden boat centre. We sat and watched small sailboats zipping around the foggy bay along with the massive ferries heading back and forth to Seattle.
