7/31 - Cape Flattery and Neah Bay

We chose Cape Flattery and Neah Bay today because it looked like the best weather forecast out of our three days here. It started out cloudy but turned into a beautiful day by the time we got halfway there. After doing the Cape Flattery trail we were very glad we hadn't done it on a wet day because the trail would have been dangerously slippery.

The drive out to the cape was 145 miles round-trip on a roller-coaster road......ups and downs and countless twists and turns.  The return trip, which was without any stops and included exceeding the speed limit at every possible opportunity, took about 1 3/4 hours. Lots of signs for possible washouts and slides showed the road takes a beating with the 9 to 12 feet of rain each year. The rainy season is October to May or even June when the weather is pretty miserable. We were told it rains sideways because the wind is so strong. Temperatures generally stay above freezing but with all that rain and wind it still sounds awful. Summers are very pleasant, though, with the average July high being 60 degrees. 

North coast of the Olympic peninsula about half way between Port Angeles and Neah Bay while it was still cloudy this morning. 

Our first stop was the Makah Museum in Neah Bay. It didn't look like much from the outside, or inside either as we entered the minimally-lit building and saw a wooden model of a Japanese sailing ship (which wrecked here and provided metal which the Makah made use of). However, it turned out to be a wonderful museum with excellent displays and information.  We ended up staying there a lot longer than anticipated. The museum's focus is on a Makah village which was buried and preserved in a mudslide between 450 and 550 years ago. It was rediscovered after a 1969/1970 winter storm uncovered part of it. Extensive archaeological work done over the next eleven years recovered 55,000 artifacts. One of the best of many good things that came out of the work was confirmation of the tribe's oral history. Unfortunately, photography isn't allowed in the museum so I couldn't get any pictures.

Museum doorway with Makah whale artwork. Whale-hunting was very important to the tribe.  Eight men in a 30' wooden canoe would hunt and kill a whale, then tow it back to land for everyone in the group to process and share. It was dangerous work which required a great deal of skill.

Neah Bay's fishing boats. It looked like there were more boats than houses. They were also in better shape than many of the houses.

The Makah Nation has inhabited the Olympic peninsula for the past 4,000 years. Tribal membership is now around 1,500 although it once had more than twice that number. The tribe was reduced to 654 people by the mid-1800's after thousands of their people died as a result of being exposed to European diseases. Tribal lands which once covered much of the Olympic peninsula have been reduced to the northwestern tip with Neah Bay being the center of activity.  The 2010 population of Neah Bay was 865 with about 30% living under the poverty line.  Fishing and tourism are what keep the area going, with sport fishing being very popular during the summer.

We had a very good lunch of fresh halibut at one of only two places to eat in Neah Bay. It's a bit of a stretch to call Linda's Wood-fired Kitchen a restaurant but it does serve food, mostly pizza but with a few other dishes on the side. It seriously doesn't look like anything on the outside but TripAdvisor has it rated at 4.5 stars so we decided we'd risk it. No wait staff.....the poor chef or cook, not sure which he would call himself, was trying to do it all. For a while his father, who appeared to be there just visiting with other locals, was sort of helping....taking a few orders, refilling the cooler with sodas....but he disappeared before we were through, so the cook had to also be the cashier and bus tables as well. By the time we left there were about ten other customers so the poor guy really had his hands full.

After finally getting done with lunch (it was not a speedy affair), we drove the remaining eight miles to the Cape Flattery trail. Cape Flattery is the northwestern-most point of land in the lower 48 states and, according to our campground's owner, is on many of her customers' bucket lists. The parking lot was full but we lucked out when someone left and we got their space.  

We started off down the trail....and I do mean DOWN....with both of us soon realizing that all this DOWN we were doing would inevitably turn to UP.  Jim has problems with both down and up, and I have problems with up, but we had spent the day driving in order to see the cape and it was a really big deal so down we went.  For 3/4 mile.  That doesn't sound like very far, and it isn't on flat ground, but coming back up for 3/4 mile is rather noticeable. We did get back up okay by making frequent stops, but my legs are still grumbling.

Part of the 3/4 mile Cape Flattery trail with a nice wooden walkway.

The museum manager told us the trail used to be ankle-deep in mud and a tangle of tree roots until they (he didn't say who but we think he meant the tribe) reworked the whole thing and built a walkway and overlooks. They also paved the road which had been miles of dirt and gravel washboard. He said the original trail and road were done by the military in WWII when they started to build fortifications around the cape which were never completed. A Japanese submarine regularly prowled these waters and sank ships going into the Strait.

The view from the overlooks is magnificent. I can't choose just one picture so here are a lot......

Cormorants hanging out on the rocks. Anywhere there's a lot of white on the rocks means a bird hang-out.

The ocean is constantly eating away at the caves. A sign at one of the overlooks says you can sometimes feel the ground shaking as waves crash into the caves underneath. The surf wasn't rough enough to feel it today.

We were lucky enough to see several whales from the point. I got pictures of three of them...probably two whales in three pictures. One was a gray whale but we couldn't identify the other. Too bad they aren't good enough to post.

Tomorrow we'll do the Hoh Rain Forest section of the national park. If it's drizzling or raining it shouldn't make much difference in a rain forest. 

7/30 - Port Angeles, Washington

This morning we managed to get out of our site at Camp Murray without any further ado....much appreciated after the difficulty we had getting into it. 

The drive up to Port Angeles on the north coast of the Olympic peninsula was beautiful. Part of it reminded us of driving to Ticonderoga, NY, last summer along Lake George where the mountains meet the water. The roads are threaded between a rock bank up one side and a bank down to the water on the other. Very scenic but a bit nerve-wracking to drive when towing a large trailer. 

Hood Canal on one side and a rock wall on the other, accompanied by a really curvy road.

Looking across Hood Canal from Hwy 101 near Hoodsport.

Another view of Hood Canal looking northeast. The clouds disappeared as we got further north.

We passed through several tiny towns along the canal including Hoodsport. Its "Chamber of Commerce" description on gonorthwest.com calls it a lovely town with multi-colored houses giving the appearance of a necklace around the water. We must have missed what they were describing because what we saw was more like this.....

This probably wouldn't have been featured on a Chamber of Commerce brochure. Maintenance on wooden houses in this environment has to be tough to keep up with.

Today's drive of 145 miles took a little over three hours.....not bad considering the terrain.....but it seemed really long. Following long strings of traffic didn't help. Washington has a law that if you're holding up a string of 5 vehicles you have to pull over to let everyone pass. There are numerous "slow vehicle pull-offs" so there's no excuse not to do it.....unless the driver is one of those people who never looks in the rear-view mirror so is clueless that he or she is holding up a line of 20 cars. That happened for an extended part of our drive so we gather there are plenty of people who can't or don't read the signs.

This is in the mountainous section between the Hood Canal coast and the north coast along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The road cuts off the northeast corner of the peninsula.

Believe it or not....and we had a hard time with this....one of our traffic backups was caused by the two motorcycles in the picture above.  We had just caught up with them when I took this photo.  It turned out they couldn't (or wouldn't) keep up with the 50 to 55 mph speed limit and collected a very long line of vehicles behind them. Go figure.

One more picture of approaching the northern section of the peninsula. By this time all the clouds had gone but the mountains were still hazy. We haven't found out yet what's causing the haze but it looks a lot like air pollution. Port Angeles has a paper mill so maybe that's where it's coming from. Made us feel right at home.

We haven't seen much of Port Angeles yet....just the roads to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in town and the nearest Safeway, both of which we went to this afternoon....but it seems like a nice little town.  It has a population of around 19,000 and must depend heavily on tourism. It's also the port for a ferry going across the Strait to Victoria, BC.  We saw Port Angeles from our whale-watching boat a couple of weeks ago but didn't realize it at the time.

The Clallam County Courthouse in Port Angeles. According to its sign, it was built in 1814 and renovated in "99 and 10" so it could have been any combination of 1899, 1999, 1910 and 2010. Even Wikipedia is no help. It does say that the county was formed in 1854 which is 40 years after the courthouse was built. This just confuses things even more.

Obviously, I can't get an off-shore or aerial picture of Port Angeles which is what it takes to give an idea of its location between the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, so once again I've borrowed one off the internet. We'll have to see later if the town lives up to its spectacular setting. At this time of year the mountains have very little snow on them but there's still some left. 

We'll spend tomorrow exploring one of the sections of the national park. Which one will depend on the weather forecast. 

7/29 - Tumwater, Washington

Not much to write about today and not many pictures.  

It took the entire morning to get the oil changed in the truck (2 1/2 hours).  That's what happens when you want to continue with the same brand of oil and only one place in the region carries it.  The time was extended by an additional half hour because the very nice girl who helped with the oil change and checked our tire pressure....who may have been a trainee....took it upon herself to let 15 lbs of air pressure out of all our rear tires so they would match the label on the door frame. It would have been so much better if she had just asked us first. The door label says 65 lbs but we need 80 lbs because of the extra weight of the fifth wheel. You'd think a one-ton dually with a fifth wheel hitch might have given her a clue that maybe she should ask if there was a reason for the high pressure, but obviously not. The inside rear tires are not easy to reach so she had her work cut out for her to get them back up to 80 lbs. We hope she learned a lesson about asking. If Jim hadn't thought to ask her about the pressure he would have discovered it later and been livid. Having just got new tires last week we would also have been worried that something was wrong with them.

The traffic on I-5 on our way to the shop was awful as usual.  Gabe recommended a different route to meet her in Tumwater (25 miles away near Olympia) which kept us off the interstate. It took us through a lovely tunnel of trees and the beautiful little town of Steilacoom (pronounced Stillacom) which is right on the water. We were very glad to see something other than interstate and also to find that there are such picturesque areas nearby. 

An aerial shot of Steilacoom, borrowed from the town's website because I couldn't get any pictures of the town as we went through it.

We found Gabe reading a book under a tree in the Fred Meyer parking lot (a big grocery chain here) and went to lunch at her favorite Chinese buffet. It was quiet and had good food.....what more could one ask for?  

After lunch our one sight-seeing venture of the day was a nearby cemetery which is the home of two of the very few remaining healthy American chestnut trees.  A quote on the plaque below them refers to the taller one...."the 88-foot American Chestnut thrives....(and is) the largest healthy American Chestnut in the United States..." Discover Magazine, 5/29/2004  

The two American chestnuts at Mills & Mills Memorial Park in Tumwater when a special monument was dedicated in their honor on 2/20/2015. I couldn't get a picture which captured so much of the trees so I got this one from the article about the dedication (which is the reason for the flags).

This is the larger of the two trees with Jim below for perspective.  They really are massive.

The plaque also contains the information that Tumwater was the first American settlement in Washington state in October 1845. One of the first settlers was George W. Bush (W for Washington). In 1846 one of the other original settlers planted American chestnut seeds he'd brought from the east coast, so these two chestnut trees are now 170 years old. 

Jim and Gabe in front of the chestnut trees which have a columbarium between them. (At least I think that's the name for a place where cremains are kept. If there's another term for it, someone please let me know and I'll correct it.)

We said goodbye to Gabe for this trip with the expectation that we'll see her again when she comes to visit her daughter who lives in Marion and a grandson and great-granddaughter who are in Asheville.  We've had a wonderful time with her in Spokane, Yakima and the Olympia/Tumwater/Tacoma area.

Our drive back to the campground turned out to be much better than we'd anticipated. Traffic was at a standstill on I-5 for 12 of the 21 miles back to our exit. We managed to avoid all but two or three miles of it by following back roads via google maps on the phone. What a tremendous help the phone's google maps and our Garmin GPS have been in our traveling. 

Tomorrow we head off to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula to see Olympic National Park. We are looking forward to the outstanding scenic beauty, much less traffic and the drop in temperature of ten degrees or more. The Seattle-to-Olympia area has been in a heat wave the past few days with temps from low to upper 90's. Not the norm for this area at all and probably not appreciated by anyone.

7/28 - Olympia, Washington

We spent today with Gabe visiting Olympia, Washington's state capital. Olympia is 30 miles south of Tacoma but seemed like another world once we got off I-5 with its traffic. Gabe said it's a human-scale city, much easier to enjoy than the super-cities of Seattle and Tacoma.

Our first stop of the day was to take a guided tour of the Capitol Building.  

The Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia which is very impressive. This is the side.....we never got around to the front.

The complex of state buildings, which includes the capitol building, were built in the 1920's.  The present capitol building itself was built between 1922 and 1928.  The first attempt to build it had to be abandoned due to lack of money.  When a new company was hired to complete it, the original foundation had to be demolished in order to accommodate the new and larger dome. 

The interior of the building is beautiful. The floors and walls are all Italian marble.  The ceilings and rest of the walls are hand-painted.

The reception hall with Italian marble walls, hand-painted ceiling and original (and reupholstered) 1920's furniture. The 25.5' x 55' carpet is the largest ever made by Mohawk Mills in New York. It was made in one piece and is massively heavy.

The Seal of the State of Washington is in the middle of the rotunda's floor. It is blocked off by ropes to prevent people from walking on it which they used to be able to do until it was noticed that George Washington's nose was being flattened.

One of the four sides of the rotunda, again with Italian marble walls and hand-painted ceiling.

A close-up of the hand-painted detail in the ceiling.

Another view of the hand-painted ceiling. The rotunda's chandelier is also visible.

The most amazing thing in the building is this chandelier which hangs in the rotunda.  It weighs 5 tons and hangs on a 127-foot-long chain which weighs 1.5 tons.  It's made of brass which is no longer polished because of the difficulty and expense of doing it. The docent leading our tour said when it was polished it was so bright it was almost blinding. The light bulbs are the same type as street lights so they'll last as long as possible. The chandelier cannot be lowered so, when bulbs need to be changed or something else must be done, scaffolding must be built up to the 6th floor to reach it.  

The chandelier is so big a VW Beetle would fit, standing on its nose, inside the globe. These figures near the top are life-sized.

After our capitol building tour we caught the free shuttle to the Olympia Farmers' Market on the waterfront.  Lots of wonderful-looking veggies and fruits had to be by-passed because we didn't want to carry them for several hours. 

The capitol building from the waterfront. We had an excellent lunch in a waterfront café near this spot.

After a walk around half of Capitol Lake which is below the capitol building, we drove to the other side of Olympia (it's not a big town) to see the unusual artesian well which is a constant source of free water to whoever needs it. The plaza around it has been decorated with murals. Water now comes through an easily accessed pipe where people can fill all the water jugs they want for free. When not being collected in jugs it runs into the storm drain underneath the pipe.

On the way back to Camp Murray from Olympia, through the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic, we got another great view of Mount Rainier looming over the area.

7/26 & 7/27 - Chores and Mount Rainier National Park

There was nothing worth writing about yesterday. It was a frustrating and tiring series of trips to find the commissary (14-mile round trip into the huge Joint Base Lewis-McChord), laundry in a nasty laundromat (not on the base) and oil change place where we weren't successful because we didn't want to wait over two hours to get an oil change. We'll try it again on Friday.

Today was much better as we spent the day visiting Mount Rainier National Park.  The park boundary is about 60 miles from Tacoma with the visitor center located about 15 miles further.  Unless you're there to hike, seeing the park is done by driving up to the visitor center at Paradise with a few overlooks along the way. The road to Paradise connects with the east-side visitor centers but that would have added many more miles and more time than we had. 

Mount Rainier is a 14,410 foot active volcano, considered the most dangerous volcano in the lower 48 because of its proximity to highly populated areas. Its last eruption was either 1,000 years ago or 120 years ago depending on the source. The recent one, if it was actually an eruption, was minor. The information came from nearby residents who heard what they insisted were explosions coming from the summit in 1895. Geologists believe the danger from the next eruption is not from lava plumes but from pyroclastic flows and lahars (massive mud and debris flows). They say an eruption is overdue, but constant monitoring has fortunately not shown any evidence of increasing seismic activity. Lahars are expected to follow the paths of rivers which run down from the glaciers so there are places where people could escape the flows if they were prepared and knew where to go.

Rainier is covered with numerous glaciers whose meltwater feeds the rivers and streams that run for many miles away from the mountain. The Nisqually River flows 78 miles to its delta on Puget Sound where we went last Saturday.  

Mount Rainier and Myrtle Falls.....the water in this river is clear which shows that it comes from snowfields.  Water flowing from the glaciers is milky because of the pulverized glacial debris it carries.

Debris flow path from the mountain.  It doesn't take an eruption to set off these flows. They can happen at any time from sudden releases of glacial meltwater or torrential rains.

Close-up of a glacier. We were surprised at the dirty-looking snow and ice on the surface. 

Part of the Tatoosh Range on the southern flank of Rainier (sounds like something out of Star Wars). These peaks have the sharp edges showing they were carved by glaciers.

Paradise River coming down from the snowfields with its clear water.

Jim and Gabe at the Narada Falls overlook.

The top of 168-foot Narada Falls. We couldn't see the falls without going down a very long string of wet steps which we elected not to do. 

One of the many beautiful streams and meadows going up the trail we were on. Looks like "The Sound of Music" terrain.  Julie Andrews could pop out at any moment......

The Paradise Visitor Center.  Note the steepness of the roof which is built to shed heavy snow loads.  With the combination of elevation and Pacific Northwest moisture, Mount Rainier has the heaviest snowfall on earth. It averages 643 inches per year, nearly 54 feet.

No picture I've taken can convey Rainier's unbelievably massive size, so I've borrowed two pictures from the internet which give an idea of how the mountain looms over everything around it for 100 miles. It's something you can't really believe until you see it.

It has an amazing, peaceful energy around it.....such clear, crisp air and so much beauty. And yet so much danger lurking a short distance below the surface. 

7/25 - Visit with Lee

This will be a short post because today's activities may not interest anyone except family. I did get some pictures worth sending though.

Our visit with Lee was wonderful.  She is delightful. Jim and I can only hope we will be as sharp as she is if and when we reach 88.  Actually, she's probably sharper than both of us put together so we'll have to go some to catch up with her. She got fed up with TV several years ago so gave it up and she flatly refuses to get on the internet. She uses a computer for creative writing (mainly short stories) but doesn't want to be bothered with all the irritating stuff that comes with the internet. Maybe that has something to do with how sharp her mind is. 

Lee Hanson, family friend since 1952

Lee's kitchen has been torn up for 10 weeks due to damage done by water leaking under the sink and going through the sub-floor. (This is what our plumbing issues the day before leaving on this trip could have done to us......)  She's managing with her laundry room sink and a microwave and toaster. Rather than feed us peanut butter sandwiches she took us to lunch at the Alderbrook Resort, a lovely place on Hood Canal.

Along Hood Canal.

The heavy blue in the sky is from the tinted windshield in the truck.

Across Hood Canal to Mount Washington, part of the Olympic Mountains.

The three pictures above were all taken from the road running along Hood Canal as we were leaving after lunch.  The resort is next to a large piece of land owned by Bill Gates. Lee said there are 4 or 5 houses on it and, from what little we could see, they were not at all pretentious.  Several float planes landed and took off while we were eating lunch.....they make travel from Seattle quick and easy. We're guessing it's the way the Gates family travels to the canal.

The rest of these are from the campground this evening.....

Sunset at the campground on American Lake. We've seen two bald eagles flying in this area.

The campground's lakefront row has the best view. (We aren't in that row.)

Sunset at the campground.

Tomorrow will be a day of chores.....oil change in the truck, laundry and groceries.  We'll have the adventure of trying to find our way around JBLM (Joint Base Lewis McChord) which is a huge facility.  Unless something happens that's interesting enough to relate, I won't post again until Wednesday when we plan to go to Mount Rainier National Park.