Wednesday, July 3 It was sad to be leaving Mt. Rainier . . . but exciting to be heading for Mt. Olympus and Olympic National Park! We drove south and west over to Interstate 5 and turned north. After only 10 miles traffic backed up in the town of Chehalis. It was lunchtime, and we figured traffic would clear out if we stopped to eat. Inside the Jack-in-the-Box restaurant we heard there was an overturned tanker on the Interstate, and it would be blocked all day! REROUTE! The problem was that there was not a lot of route alternatives. And, everyone else was clogging up the ones there were! We drove WAY out of our way west on Route 12 (all the way to the coast) and then cut back east before getting, more or less, back on track. This little detour added 3 hours to our trip! Still, we arrived in Port Angeles at our KOA by 5:00. We were glad to have full hook-ups and all the other KOA amenities . . . but missed the deep-woods setting. We made the best of the situation by dumping the tanks, cleaning the trailer, taking showers, and even washing the dogs! Everyone went to bed clean, content and tired! Tomorrow we start exploring! Thursday, July 4th Today – July 4th– starts our 5th week of vacation! We started out in the morning to visit a fish market and got sidetracked when we saw a sign for Olympic National Park Visitor’s Center. It was only 9:30, but a lot of people (over 50) were lined up out the door and down the sidewalk. . . to get hiking and backpacking permits! We ran in and grabbed some park maps to orient ourselves, and decided we would come back later to see the exhibits and view the movie. On to the fish market! We went right for the King Salmon; at $20/pound it was more than twice as . . . “good” . . . as the Coho at $8/pound! We also bought two large Dungeness Crabs – considerably cheaper than what we have been paying at $10/each! We ran our catch back to the Silvermine, and set out again following the Strait of Juan de Fuca up to Cape Flattery . . . about 60 miles. Route 112 (The Strait of Juan De Fuca Highway) along the coast is wooded and only offers an occasional view of the water. Later, we read that the area is logged which accounts for all the different growth levels of the trees we saw, and some large sections where trees had not been replanted yet. The sky was overcast and the temperature hovered at 60 degrees. We stopped at several scenic viewpoints along the way. In the little town of Clallam Bay we stopped to eat at the Breakwater Restaurant. Tom had the Senior Fish dinner, and I had the Toasted Crab sandwich. During the last 12 miles of the drive, the trees thinned out a bit giving us nice views of the Straight of Juan De Fuca. The end of the trail was Neah Bay and the Makah Indian Reservation. The main street was blocked off for 4th of July celebration, and we skirted our way along secondary streets, and continued up to our final destination . . . Cape Flattery. We did the Cape Flattery Trail with the dogs! The sign said it was a half-mile long, but I think it was more than twice that. The sign also said it was "moderate exertion" and that was the truth. Some of the trail was a wide forest path ranging from smooth and easy to uneven with lots of root-ruts. Other parts were a boardwalk of planks -- with spaces between the boards that played mind-tricks on me, and caused the dogs to fall through! There were a few level places, but mostly the trail headed downward to the coast. It was a beautiful forest walk! That little walk took quite a bit more time than we thought it would . . . carrying the dogs on the boardwalks . . . stepping carefully on the downhill . . . resting on the uphill . . . and drinking in and capturing the beauty on the camera! We raced the Juan De Fuca Highway back towards Port Angeles and arrived at 6:00. It was a coolish evening, and the water in the big crab pot took forever to boil. Finally, at 7:30, we sat down for a delish crab meal. Nothing else! Just the crab . . . and plenty of butter.
We went to bed at dark, with the pop, pop, pop, of fireworks in the distance and two scared-to-death doggies in our beds.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |