Washington

July 16, 2018

The Mountains Are Calling

I decided to take the longer route to Mount Rainier this morning as I did not want to traverse the same stretch of highway I had traversed three times yesterday! I also did not want to have to backtrack once we reached Mount Rainier, nor did I want to travel on Forest Service roads so I settled for the longer way there. Our drive heading up the CRG was beautiful and once we crossed the Columbia into Washington, we thought it far prettier than what the guide books lead you to believe. Jenny said lots of people might find the dull landscape ugly and drab but she found the contrast of golden grass and evergreens beautiful.

As soon as we crossed over into Washington, we entered wind farm country. We saw so many of these behemoths crossing country last summer that they have become somewhat of a norm-we discussed that it was probably better those than the two massive dams we had passed on the Columbia.

The drive into Yakima was very scenic, passing by snow capped Mt Adams (the second tallest mountain in WA) and miles and miles of apple and cherry orchards.

We stopped at Panera and grabbed a salad to go for lunch and Dutch Bros Coffee for a peppermint bark frost for dessert-fueling us up for the hikes we intended on taking once we reached the park.

From Yakima, the scenery began to change quickly as we followed the aquamarine hued Tieton River up into the Cascades. When Mount Rainier first came into view, Jenny and I were gobsmacked, I literally swerved to the pull out for the oncoming traffic and we sat mesmerized for the first 30 seconds or so. Holy cow was it gorgeous-a sight that was beyond anything either one of us expected, a sight that stole our breath and very quickly our hearts.

The beauty of it all was it had just begun, we continued on our journey witnessing a plethora of beautiful waterfalls, thunderous rivers and melodic trickles, glacier studded mountains (besides the obvious one), old growth temperate rainforests with trees so enormous and thick that their canopy blocked any light from the sky and viewpoints that made my stomach tumble. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!

Not too far inside the gate we stopped at the Trail of the Titons. I had read a bit about this trail and while I was intrigued by it, I did not want to spend much time there as I felt like it would be too similar to the Jedidiah Smith Redwoods but I knew it was a lovely walk and it crossed a scenic river and so I figured 40 minutes or so of our time here would be worth it.

As it turned out it was. Jenny enjoyed soaking her feet in the river-it was still 90 plus degrees out, plus a chance to walk amongst such unspoiled beauty, to marvel at and hug the trees that help give us life, to just stretch our legs in wondrous surroundings is always time well spent.

From there we traveled on to an area called Paradise-imagine that, who ever thought to name some place as beautiful as this, Paradise? I had wanted to do a few hikes in and around this area and even though we did not arrive here until close to 3:00, the hikes were short and the days are long so I felt we could knock them out with no problem. We checked in with the ranger who gave us the low down and off we set.

Our first hike was a one mile roundtrip to Myrtle Falls-an uphill hike on a paved path with total exposure and temps still well above 80, but it was short so we knew it would be fine.  The views of not only Mt Rainier but the surrounding mountains got even more dramatic as we climbed.

The wildflowers which had been beautiful along the road driving in, changed to an entire different type of flora-more along the lines of the subalpine type than the field of wildflowers type. There were purple lupine, Jacob’s ladder, speedwell and asters; fuchsia heather and magenta paintbrush; yellow stonecrop and monkey flower-all so beautiful!

Once the paved portion ended, we decided to climb a bit more and had it not been for the the other hike we wanted to do, and the advance in time, we would have loved to continue on for a while to get closer to the glaciers and ice fields. We did stop for a while and just soak it all in. Jenny asked me why it was we weren’t staying two nights here; the mountains were already casting their spell on her. “Mom,” she said, “This is it. This is everything we love.” She was right. She couldn’t have been more right.

Staring out at the forested mountains, Jenny said this is what she thought Oregon and Washington would look like and this is exactly why she chose this area to travel to. “A day in the mountains is like a cleansing of your soul,” my too-wise daughter announced. At one point, Jenny spotted a marmot running through the meadows and then I spotted another one. “If you want to travel some place beautiful, go where the marmots live,” Jenny declared.

When we returned to the parking lot, we saw a snowboarder there, I overheard him talking to someone and he said he had climbed up to 10,000 feet (the parking lot was 5,600’) and boarded back down-absolutely crazy! We looked for climbers but without the binoculars I had left at home, we were unable to see them.

Our second hike was a 1 1/2 mile hike with a 200 foot elevation gain out to a viewpoint that gives you the full view of Nisqually Glacier.  The meadows here were alive with thousands of dainty white avalanche lilies dancing in the breeze.

There were three viewpoints on this trail and each consecutive one was more jaw dropping then the one before it. By the final viewpoint the full forces of glaciation came into obvious view-lateral moraines, crevasses, till and scree, and the thunderous, sediment laden Nisqually River running out from underneath the glacier carrying a load so heavy the waters were colored like a coffee milkshake. And to top it off, there was the 14,410 foot tall Mt Rainier, the most glaciated peak in the US, an icon standing tall watching over its kingdom-all so grand and glorious.

Upon first sight, we said Rainier blows Hood away-sorry Oregon. Everything about it is so much more intriguing and magical, I suppose that’s why it is a national park and what led John Muir to say, “Of all the fire mountains, which like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest.” It is truly extravagance at its finest!

It was difficult to turn your back on the view, not only because something as fine and remarkable as this deserves your respect but because it was a feast for your eyes and a treat for your senses. As we pulled away from it Jenny every so subtly and assuredly spoke to the mountain, “I’ll be back some day. I’ll be back.”

And a few extra funnies:

July 17, 2018

Into the Deep Green Yonder

This morning I made breakfast for Jenny and I to have out on the front porch of our inn (it was a different set-up, an inn that had three rooms but shared a kitchen and all the other communal spaces). There was another gentleman there who I gave salutations to and as soon as he spoke, I recognized his English was being spoken with a Dutch accent. When I asked him the rhetorical question of if he was Dutch he of course answered yes. Turns out he lives in Eindhoven (where my dad’s brother and our good friends live). He recognized the last name of one set of friends but did not know the family. We enjoyed chatting about Eindhoven, and all the changes that is has under gone since we were last there.

Our destination today was yet another national park on the farthest side of Washington-Olympic. The drive out of the Cascades was beautiful as we passed the now milky green Nisqually River (in comparison to yesterday’s coffee color) as it emptied into Alder Lake, a beautiful tree lined lake that mimicked the color of the Patagonia glacial lakes.

We were lucky to have a final view of Mt Rainier, this time from the west side where a small church had set up a scenic vista spot for people to stop and enjoy “God’s masterful creation, if you are lucky enough to see it. But if you can’t see it due to clouds, go to this website (link provided) for a picture of what you are missing.” Kind of funny I thought.

According to the hosts of our inn in Ashcroft the mountain is frequently shrouded in clouds and up until two days before we arrived, had been in a semi perpetual cloud bank. How lucky we were!

From there until the national park the drive was unremarkable if not a bit depressing passing huge swaths of clear cut forests. Some were on the road to recovery, some looked fairly recently cleared and others looked to have been cut decades ago by the height of the new growth trees. I know this area has a long long history with the timber industry, and I do not pretend to know better one way or the other, but it feels a tragedy now to see such violations against nature.

As we drove into Olympia National Forest, it was like someone unplugged the mower and lined the highway with blue hydrangeas!

We entered the village of Quinault and headed straight to the ranger station where we spent quite some time chatting with a friendly ranger about  the best hikes for us to take over the next four days. We didn’t bring our normal hiking essentials-mainly life straws or camelbacks so we have to limit our hikes to ones that we can carry enough water with us. With that in mind, he gave us a few different options depending on how we are feeling each day. The incredible thing about Olympic is that there are many different ecosystems in the one national park and the hikes he suggested will highlight the big three.

We left there and made a stop at the world’s largest Sitka Spruce (and the 4th largest tree in the world) with a circumference of 58 feet, a diameter of 18 feet and 191 feet tall; it was fantastic!

After we headed to the hotel, our most extravagant stay of our trip-the Lake Quinault Hotel. It is a beautiful old lodge, one of the national park originals that sits right on the shore of Lake Quinault. The inside is very arts and crafts while the outside is a bit rustic woodsy, but it is well decorated and has many traditional native items in and around on display.

We grabbed a table on the deck overlooking the lake and enjoyed a lunch of delicious smoked salmon and chicken wings with a cold beer for me (since I did not have to drive any more). We checked into our lakeview room and had a good laugh. I never expect much from the national park hotels that are run by concessionaires but the last few times, we have been pleasantly surprised. This time was a bit of a change-the entire room, the bathroom especially is in need of a serious upgrade. How they feel they can charge the price they do is unexplainable except for the fact, they and one other little motel are the only game in town and in the park for miles and miles-oh well! c’est la vie.

We decided to do a smaller hike through the rainforest that started and ended across from our hotel. The trail immediately entered an incredibly dense vegetation of multiple variety of ferns, the largest clover I have ever seen, evergreens of seemingly endless varieties dripping in some form of Spanish moss, and a beautiful little creek twisting its way through. There were various flowering plants and shrubs and loads of berries.

Some parts had the vegetation almost as high as our heads and with the thickness of it it was difficult to see any possible predator out there. When we were at the ranger station the ranger told me there is a very healthy population of black bears in the park, back at the lodge there was a sign warning people one had been spotted on a trail just down the road and hike at your own risk. When I asked if we needed to carry bear spray, he said, “No they generally leave the people alone unless they are in need of food unlike the grizzly bear who will eat you just because you are in their way.” Nice!

I still made plenty of noise though, calling out to them and the cougars they warn about, unfortunately I think we disturbed the solace of the few hikers we encountered along the way but it certainly made us feel better.

After our hike, we returned to the hotel and spent some time relaxing in adirondack chairs on the shore of the lake. It’s amazing how dependent we are on our sight but it is equally amazing how without it we don’t even realize how much our other senses have absorbed. It is also amazing how much our brain processes it all. Sitting in an adirondack chair on the lakeshore, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. I was immediately transported to another time years ago-the gentle breeze caressing my skin, the reverberating of the wind in my ears, the tender touch of the sun warming my skin, the music of the waves slowly breaking on shore, brought me to a time of such comfortable familiarity even while I sat on the shores of a distant land.

We sat there for almost two hours, until the fog rolled in and the wind picked up, and we got hungry for dinner. We had a wonderful table in the formal dining room, looking out at the beautiful view and our meals of salmon were very good. After dinner we took a walk on the trail that runs the entire circumference of Lake Quinault, though we just did a shorter walk out and back.

Jenny challenged me to a game of corn hole on the lawn so I took her up on it. I had Jenny at 20-0 before I sunk a bag and was sent back to 15. Jenny turned her game on and before I know it we were at 17-15, but I ended up winning with a four point toss, and did a small victory dance.

The hotel had lit a bonfire on the beach and there was a group of people sitting down and around it so we decided to go and grab a couple of empty chairs.

We quickly began chatting with the two couples plus the one couple’s son who is headed to Gonzaga this fall. We told them we are headed to Spokane ourselves to look at Gonzaga and from there we sat for the next two plus hours hearing funny stories about their children, life growing up on a farm in Ohio, and other mishaps in life. Most of the time, we were in stitches listening to their crazy antics-cracking up at things that were not necessarily all that funny but when they were presented in such a way you couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was actually an incredibly enjoyable evening-nothing like a few hours of laughter to purify the body!

July 18, 2018

The Elusive Banana Slug

Breakfast this morning was a bit of a disappointment which was a bummer as we had been eating yogurt for days and were looking forward to something more bountiful. I suppose the good news is I did not have to put it all together and we did not have to do the dishes!

The morning was foggy, the first morning we have not woke to blue skies, but it was actually OK as it added to the mystique of the area. We had decided to get an earlier start than in days past even though we stayed at the bonfire laughing until a bit after 11:00.

Our explorations today were going to take us in search of two distinct creatures. First we were headed to the ocean tide pools in search of a starfish, then we were headed back into another rainforest in search of a banana slug.

Ever since Jenny was little and first encountered a natural tide pool, she has wanted to see a starfish, and they have always eluded her. I remember seeing them in Malibu as a youngster but it has probably been over forty years since I have seen a starfish in the wild on the California coast. The interest in the banana slug came from our walk the night before where we came across signs that were posted to inform hikers of various natural things to look out for and banana slugs were one of them.

So today, we were looking to explore two very distinct ecosystems in one day. Olympic National Park is very unique in that there are no roads through it, only one, two-lane highway that circumnavigates it, with out-and-back spur roads off of that. Its diversity is incredible, which explains why it is part of UNESCO and also designated as a World Heritage Site.

Our first stop was the ranger station closest to the marine part of Olympic. The ranger here gave us some different information than the other ranger, recommending Ruby Beach as the place to go for beauty and for starfish. The family we sat with last night told us they had spent some time at some of the tide pools near Ruby but never saw a starfish which left us concerned. As luck would have it though, we had perfect timing for the tide pools, because low tide was at 11:22 AM and it was almost a negative tide.

Upon arrival at Ruby Beach, there were plenty of cars but we found a spot and set out down the path to the beach. Our first views showed a beautiful rugged coast with a wide exposed dark sand beach, leading up to a stretch of cobbled river rocks, and then a substantial stretch of drift logs at the base of the headlands. There were numerous stacks scattered and with the low tide, we could see the rock formations that created the numerous tide pools.

The trail led out on to the drift logs and we hopscotched across them until we reached the rocks. Most of the people appeared to be going right towards the largest stacks so we turned left, where there were only a handful of others.

The skies were clearing but fog continued to roll low off the water across the sand.

As we approached our first set of tide pools, I spotted a bright orange sea star (we have since learned their proper name), clinging to the rock whenever the waves would roll back. We approached it but could not get close enough as there was a very deep moat that led around the rock and with the water continuing to roll in, it was too dangerous.

We continued on to where it looked like there was easier access to some more rocks and sure enough we spotted a second sea star, this time an ochre color.

There were thousands upon thousands of sea anemones, hermit crabs, mussels, snails and of course barnacles. The further we walked out into the rocks the more sea stars we spotted-besides the orange and ochre ones, we saw purple and maroon ones, they were literally everywhere. We laughed and wondered what those people from last night were talking about and what beach they had gone to because you would have to be blind to not have spotted one.

Jenny loves the tide pools. She loves exploring them and watching for every little thing that is there that most people, including me, would overlook.

These are barnacles, under the water, no bigger than my pinky nail that Jenny spotted-totally crazy!

As terrified of bugs as she is, the creepy sea creatures don’t seem to bother her. She loves running her hands over the squishy anemones or gently sticking her finger in them so they close.

This entire boulder was covered in aggregating anemones-they clone themselves to colonize certain areas!

She likes picking up the snails and humming to them to see if she can coax them out of their shells. She loves walking barefoot through the sand and stomping in the water. She appreciates the uniqueness of these small ecosystems and always jumps at the chance to explore them.

These are by far the best tide pools we have ever seen. I felt like we were looking at the touch tanks at Long Beach Aquarium. The vibrant colors of the anemones, sea stars and shells were unbelievable. I have never seen anemones that were fuchsia lined, and the neon greens were as brilliant as ever. There were some so huge they sagged under their own weight-so we dubbed these ones the “saggy boobs!”

We continued to explore the various rock groupings and just as we came around a rock something moving caught my eye-it was a sea otter sitting on the rock about 15 yards or so away from us. We watched him for a short period until he slipped away into the ocean, both excited from our extreme luck. Otters were completely extirpated from Washington by 1911. Today, there is estimated to be only about 1,000 sea otters along the Washington coast, growing from the 59 of them that were reintroduced in 1970 from the Aleutian Islands, so getting to see one in the wild was a real treat!

We enjoyed walking down to the other side of the beach, past the stacks where we saw a peregrine falcon and too many bald eagles to count. At one point it was only us-so very peaceful and relaxing.

We spent about two plus hours down on the beach so when lunch time approached, and knowing there was nothing available anywhere close, I ran back up to the car and grabbed the two packages of salami, cheese and crackers we had picked up plus the bag of cherries we got on our way out of Ashcroft and enjoyed a picnic lunch, sitting on a drift log overlooking the gorgeous Washington coastline-just perfect!

Our lunch log

When we left the beach, we decided to go back into the rainforest only this time up to the Hoh. The drive in was spectacular, especially as we followed the slate blue Hoh River-never seen a river quite that color before.

When we arrived at the visitor center, it was ridiculously busy but we found a parking spot, checked out the map and set out on combining two different trails for a total of a 2.5 mile hike. The hiking here was a bit different in that the forest was a bit more open and it allowed for a greater perspective on the actual environment than at Lake Quinault.

We were happy that the terrain was a bit more open as we felt like it would aid us in our search for a banana slug. When we entered the park gate here, the rangers told us two things. First, it had been so dry that the slugs are hard to come by. He had seen one on the trail the day before and when I inquired about what trail and where to look for them, he informed me it was hanging out on fresh bear scat-apparently they like the moisture. Opting to avoid any fresh bear scat, we decided we would search any other areas that we felt looked moist enough to entice a slug its way. The second thing he told us was how long it had been since there had been a Sasquatch sighting. The Pacific Northwest is home to Big Foot, in case you didn’t know (and I think flying purple elephants and unicorns too)!

The sign in the hut at the park entrance.

We were having a lot of laughs role playing our desire to see a slug. “Pssst… You!… Come here…,” using our finger to direct someone towards us, then looking over both shoulders, leaning in, raising our eyebrows and whispering in our best Tony Montana voice, “You seen any slugs?” Cracking up aloud afterwards. We are sure people probably thought we were a bit nuts but we didn’t care. Funny thing is we actually did end up stopping a few people on the trails and asked them if they had seen any slugs but no one had.

Our stop for the evening was in Forks, a bit of a run down lumber town now better known as the setting for all of the Twilight books. We did a run through looking for a restaurant for dinner with no luck. We made a U turn and went back with still no luck. We consulted Yelp and Trip Advisor, the best restaurant was a pizza place that when we pulled up to it we understood the review that was entitled, “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover.” We passed on it and ended up at Subway-the best option we thought.

We took our sandwiches back to our B&B, where we dined on their outside porch, looking over the mountains and watching the hummingbirds at their feeder-a perfectly pleasant way to end our day of adventure and fun. It was a wonderful day exploring nature, communing with some of the strangest creatures on the planet, minus the elusive banana slug!

And some extras:

Foxgloves? growing on the side of the road-everywhere!

We have obviously been traveling some very dangerous stretches of highway! 🙂

 

And our text message to Billy 😦

July 19, 2018

Authentic

First things first-I have to correct my blog from yesterday-the otter we saw was a river otter not a sea otter and therefore is not quite as special but was still exciting, nonetheless.

Before we left home, I had read about taking some time to go to Neah Bay, a remote area of the peninsula that is located on the Makah Indian Reservation. When we arrived in Olympic the ranger had said it was a pretty spectacular place and then our host at the B&B in Forks also said it was worth a visit but we should make sure to continue on the visit out to Cape Flattery, the northwestern most point in the US. I left the decision up to Jenny because the plan for today had been to go to the mountains but she chose to drive out to the point.

The drive up until we reached the reservation was a bit dull as we continued to pass clear cut areas and tons of logging trucks. It did give us some more info on the logging process up here though. We passed a sign that said, “First Harvest 1930. Second Harvest 1984. Planted 1986. Next Harvest 2036. Jobs Grow With Trees.” I guess this is considered sustainable logging.

As the road turned to the coast at Clallam Bay, the scenery changed to one that felt almost tropical. At one point, we passed a monkey puzzle tree in the yard of a home, a throw back to our time spent in Patagonia.

Not long after we entered the reservation, we came upon the Makah Museum and the Makah Cultural and Research Center. I had read about this museum and our host had also spoken to us about it which had intrigued Jenny to want to go.

In 1970, following a particular rough storm where the headlands were severely battered, a hiker found wooden artifacts strewn along a beach. After contacting the Makah Tribe about it, the tribe quickly realized what had been found, an Ozette village that had been the subject of stories passed down through the generations said to have been buried in a great mudslide many years before, as it turned out through radiocarbon dating, it was some 500 years before. An 11 year excavation process began where salt water was used to rinse away the clay that had perfectly preserved over 55,000 wooden artifacts and 11 long houses, from half a millennium ago. The Makah then built the museum to house the collection and tell the history of their people, pre-contact, as whalers, sealers, fisherman, and basket weavers.

The museum was beautifully done (no photos allowed inside) and was really beyond fascinating to see all that the ancient people were accomplished at. There were replica canoes, dioramas and a full-sized replica of one of the long houses, along with a whale skeleton and of course, hundreds of artifacts. We enjoyed the time in the museum and it gave us some insight into the people’s land who we were visiting.

We continued our drive on to Cape Flattery where we parked and set out on the mile walk, through beautiful woods, along raised boardwalks, past ancient trees and listened as the sound of the ocean grew closer.

The point is literally that, a narrow point with sheer cliffs on both sides. Across a narrow passageway sat Tatoosh Island, an island still under Makah ownership but it houses the Cape Flattery Lighthouse.

The point sits with the Strait of Juan de Fuca on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. It has an exceptionally rugged coastline, with stacks and sea caves and no beaches. Its waters are home to a large marine reserve as well.

We watched a boat go in one opening and come out the other, and it was rough!

The rugged coastline

When we reached the final platform, there was a native Makah there named Spencer who acts as somewhat of a docent, giving information to the tourists as they come. He said he is actually paid by NOAA as he is supposed to count the sea mammals that he sees, but he also counts the humans as well. Jenny and I struck up a conversation with Spencer and before you knew it, we had spent well over an hour talking to him. I asked him if the Makah had a creation story and he said they believed that a star fell from the sky and married a wolf and then they created the Makah.

He spoke about pre-contact and how they depended on halibut as their mainstay. When I asked him if they still whale, he said the last whale they had taken was 18 years ago and that they had received so much grief, from the Sea Shepherds especially, that even though they are legally able to take a whale, they haven’t since then since they had agreed to hold off until a study was completed-they are still waiting for the study to conclude he said.

He and Jenny talked about his 92 year old mother and how the women of the tribe don’t want to move and so the Makah are losing the purity of their bloodlines with mixed marriages. He told Jenny that when hunting parties were out on the ocean and the weather would get bad, they would flip their canoes upside down and ride face down on the thwarts as the canoe would suction to the water this way and they had a greater chance of surviving the storm. He also told us that the seventh wave is always the biggest and when the fisherman would return they would watch the waves for a few minutes and when they saw one that appeared bigger than all the others, they would count the consecutive waves until the seventh one and then they would follow in behind it. He was a wealth of information that was all so fascinating. The entire experience was simple, unique and unforgettable; we truly enjoyed our time there.

As we were returning to our car, we rounded the corner and saw a gentleman squatting down taking a picture of something low to the ground. Could it be? Was it possible? YES! He was photographing a banana slug. Jenny and I basically shouted out loud and he and the rest of his party were intrigued by our response, they thought perhaps we were budding entomologists. We explained that we had spent a few hours yesterday in search of them but had never found them so we were just so excited to see one finally. They were still curious why we were so interested in seeing one.

As it turned out, we spotted three more along the trail on our walk up but none were as brilliant as the one the guy spotted. But, we finally found the elusive banana slug, some almost as big as Jenny’s finger-score!

We stopped back in Neah Bay for lunch at Calvin’s Crab House except we chose not to have crab, too much work, so I stepped out of my box and had fried halibut and chips and Jenny had a Caesar Salad with fried chicken. The halibut, though battered and fried, was absolutely off the charts delicious. We sat on picnic tables, overlooking the beautiful Neah Bay, watching a bald eagle that was sitting on a rock in the water-just perfect.

Our lunch view

Back on the road, we encountered a huge delay due to road work along the brilliant blue Crescent Lake and so decided not to make any more stops and just get to Port Angeles.

We checked into our very simple Airbnb and went out for dinner. Our meals were delicious-I finally had fresh dungeness crab meat and by the time we got home, our bed was calling.

Today was a very special day. It is not often you get to have an unforced, authentic conversation with someone who knows a totally different way of life then you do. I loved stepping away for a few minutes and watching Jenny interact with Spencer. She always shows such great compassion for what others are going through and great interest in what they are telling her; she is thoughtful in her responses and respectful in her choice of words. She is really like an old soul who never ceases to amaze me and continuously makes me so very very proud.

July 20, 2018

A Wolf Pack

Today was Jenny’s day to decide what to do and when so after a hearty breakfast, we walked around Port Angeles a bit looking at some of the shops. I had read Port Angeles lacked charm and had no real reason to stay here except to base yourself out of it for Olympic National Park or to whale watch, which we are doing. But, there are some hip clothing stores, an excellent grocery store, a few great restaurants that we have eaten at, lots of murals adorning the sides of buildings and flowers everywhere. It is not as bad as I had been expecting and we enjoyed checking out a few of the stores.

We walked down to the harbor area, where we passed Customs and Border Patrol where the passengers for the ferries arriving from Canada clear through, walked around the piers and into the National Marine Sanctuaries Olympic Coast site. As soon as we entered the door, the docent grabbed hold of us and led us around showing us the displays, asking us questions and giving us information. It was she who told me the otter I had seen was a river otter not a sea otter-apparently they go into the ocean as well. She also told me sea otters have no tail but I have since found out that they do, just not a long one like a river otter.

A jellyfish made from plastics found in the waters there.

Next we headed over to the Marine Aquarium, a very small one that has a few touch pools but loads of different creatures you would find in the tide pools. Many we recognized, some we did not, some would have been crazy to see-like a sunflower sea star (they have between 16 and 24 limbs) or a sea cucumber, but it was fun touching the sea urchin, having him close his spines around your finger! Jenny also had an opportunity to try her hand at operating an underwater remote vehicle but it did not seem to be working properly-oh well!

Yesterday as we were driving to Neah Bay, through the trees along the coast I thought I had spied a traditional canoe being paddled but there was no place to stop along the road to get a better look. When we were speaking to Spencer, we learned that indeed I had, that the local tribes were partaking in a traditional ceremonious canoe trip and they would all be converging at a small beach in Port Angeles today. I overheard the volunteer at the aquarium discussing it and it turned out we were adjacent to the beach they were landing at.

We headed over to the beach and could see that there were small canopies set up and people were gathering but we did not see any canoes. There were a lot of police officers around so I asked one of them about it and he said they should be arriving soon but we could drive out on the point over by the coast guard station and we could probably see them, so we did just that except there were no canoes to be seen.

Jenny decided we would stop and pick up lunch and then head up to the mountains of Olympic, even though they appeared to be shrouded in clouds. With lunch in hand, Jenny suggested that we should go back by the beach again to see if any canoeists had come in so back down to the beach we went and sure enough the first one was just pulling in. There were probably ten boys, no older than 16 maybe, the first to arrive, and they had just come 18 miles, across the Salish Sea from Canada. We watched the welcome ceremony from the tribespeople, singing and playing the drums, and then listened to the exchange of speeches-all very interesting. Since there were no more canoes in sight, we decided to continue on to the mountains and maybe we would see some on our return.

The drive to Hurricane Ridge, the highest point you can drive to is 17 miles from Port Angeles and goes from sea level to 5,242’ in about forty five minutes.

The new sign, notice it also has native language on it.

The road is exceptionally windy and there are few guardrails (which I have noticed is the norm for our national parks) but the views were spectacular, until we entered the clouds. We had decided that even if we got to the top and the view was socked in, it was OK because the drive up was pretty with all the wildflowers blooming.

As we neared the top, we popped through the clouds and there in front of us was a magnificent site, reminiscent of the alps. The Olympic Mountains lined up perfectly and all of the lingering snow and permanent glaciers were completely visible. We could even see Mt Olympus and its giant Bue Glacier without any problem.

We sat and had our lunch, enjoying the magnificent view amazed at the vastness of the mountain forests that were still totally wild with no roads cutting through them. The only possible way to explore them is on foot.

Our lunch spot

We took a walk on the few loop trails that there were, even though the clouds were so thick on that side. We headed up to the overlook and looked out at a wall of white, but there was a sign there showing us what we would be looking at if it was clear.

It is amazing just how close to the ocean these mountains are. We continued on the trail heading up further into the clouds, to the highest point-Sunrise Point.

While we saw nothing looking out towards the ocean, the mountains were still in view, and hiking with the clouds rolling over the spine of the trail was a surreal experience. I would have hated to get completely socked in because the trail was only about five feet wide with plummeting sides.

On our way down, out of the clouds we spotted a bunch of blacktail deer, including a spotted fawn and a few bucks with decent racks, grazing in the meadow. They seemed to have little fear of us humans as well as the marmot that was hanging out. You remember what Jenny said, that if you want to go someplace beautiful, go to where the marmots are-well she was right. It was really spectacular up top and we decided that we enjoyed the clouds, it was a different experience and added something to the hike.

We were happy though because the view we really went for, the mountains, was clear, it was only the view out towards the ocean that could not be seen until we got lower, below the clouds and it didn’t hold a candle to the one we saw above!

The mountains with wispy clouds

The view of the ocean, below the clouds

Back down the mountain, we parked and walked back down to the beach to see if more canoes had come in. There were about 15 lined up, with three more in sight, making their way towards shore.

Multiple traditional canoes

Most of the area tribes believe they descend from the wolf, notice the bows of these four canoes.

We watched each one’s arrival, listening to the exchange between the tribes, the gifts offered or the tale of their journey. Each time the drums would beat and the singers would chant and a small welcome speech would be given by both the guest tribe and the host tribe. We found it all very fascinating and watched for well over an hour until the final canoe arrived.

Culturally our day was very intriguing; it certainly gave us lots to talk about and to think about. At one point Jenny overheard a group of people saying they thought the ceremony was turning into a, “Reprimand of the white man.” Indeed, there was some of that in a few of the exchanges that we heard but I think it was misconstrued as two of the young girls welcoming the canoes, speaking their native language, were blond haired and blue eyed, clearly a descendant of the “white man” somewhere along the line and probably closer to what Spencer was talking about when speaking of the loss of pure blood lines.

Jenny and I discussed that this was a traditional custom they re-enacted , it was not necessarily meant for the glaring eyes of the public and they certainly have every right to condemn what has happened to them as a people and lament the things they have lost. Frankly, it is quite judgmental to be a voyeur on the one hand and then criticize what is overheard on the other hand. Ignorance isn’t always bliss.

A few more photos from the canoe trip:

The tribes people were wearing similar traditional hats to the ones here

A hummingbird or thunderbird

July 21, 2018

Thar She Blows

We woke to clear skies and calm winds-a great day for a boat ride out on the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Salish Sea in search of marine mammals. We boarded our vessel and headed out passing numerous harbor seals bobbing in the frigid waters as well as the Pacific coast’s first permanent Coast Guard Air Station.

Once we were out in the middle of the Strait, the view back looking at the Olympic Mountains was spectacular. We could easily make out Sunrise Point, where we had been yesterday staring at the wall of clouds. Of course the perspective of the mountains and the peninsula from the waters showed just how truly immense both are.  How wondrous to be floating around on the ocean looking up at the snow capped mountains and knowing they can be reached in under an hour!

The seas were calm except for large rollers coming in so the conditions were right for spotting surface activity and it wasn’t long before I spotted whales. I could see their spouting far off in the distance and as we made our way over to them, we could see them begin to surface. There was a pod of five humpback whales in total, including a mama and her calf.

Whale diving down

Spouting

The smaller 16 person zodiacs that had come from Canada, were in such a lucky spot as a whale came up right next them-what a treat those boaters got, so close they could smell the whale I am sure, and probably almost touch it! We were close enough to hear their spouting and see their flukes coming up when they dove down but not so close as the other boats.

See how close the zodiac was-this whale has a white fluke underneath

Not so long ago humpback whales were wiped out of this area, there actually had not been a whale spotted in the Salish Sea (composed of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia and Puget Sound and all of their watersheds and waterways) since the early 1900s, but in 1995 a researcher spotted one and they have been returning ever since. On the flip side, the resident orca population has been dwindling and is now down to 78 whales. The oldest known wild orca is believed to have died last year.

We lingered for about thirty minutes in the humpback’s vicinity and continued to enjoy watching them as they surfaced and dove down. The captain decided to move on to an area known as Race Rocks, an ecological reserve where we saw humungous sea lions lazing about sunning themselves but no other whales.

Race Rocks Lighthouse

It was a beautiful day out on the water and a real treat to see the majestic humpbacks. We were a bit disappointed not to get to see any orcas but I can never complain when a day either begins or ends with a boat ride!

We loved this tanker because the life raft reminded us of the one in the movie Captain Phillips

Some sort of algae bloom near the shore when we returned. It wasn’t there yesterday.

We left Port Angeles headed to Port Townshend where we were to catch the 5:15 ferry to Whidbey Island and continue on to Bellingham. We reached the ferry terminal with plenty of time to spare and were put on the 3:30 ferry instead-yes!

Loaded and seated up on deck the captain came on over the loud speaker and told us there had been a technical break down and the ferry would not be leaving. We needed to return to our cars and proceed to back off the ferry! Once down there though the captain managed to turn the ferry around and we were able to drive off the one ferry and immediately drove on to the other ferry. We were so lucky because the 5:15 ferry was probably delayed until 7:30 now and there was still an hour and a half drive on the other end.

Whidbey Island

Our original trip had us heading to Vancouver at this point to meet up with Billy for a few days but his dates changed, we added on two college visits in Washington, and his sister is visiting from France the day after we are returning home so it couldn’t be managed and we had to cancel Vancouver. We will be visiting a dear friend/family member in Bellingham though, so I am very excited about that.

July 22, 2018

Nothing Like Old Friends

Lunch today was set for 1:00 so Jenny and I had some time before hand to do a few things. First things first, was a trip to Goodwill to purchase a duffel to bring home all of the driftwood we collected. Mission accomplished we continued on to the Fairhaven Historic District in Bellingham for a quick stroll around.

The area was very cute, old buildings having been revamped into cute boutiques and restaurants.

The streets are hilly and still have brick cobbles lining the middle of them. There were potted flowers and hanging baskets everywhere, adding to the charm of this area.

Our lunch dates today were Natalie and her daughter Sharon. Natalie is the widow of my second cousin, Dutch. They lived up in the mountains near Greer and were some of our closest and dearest friends. Dutch was a member of that group of men, I see more as a vanishing breed then a growing population. He was a true gentleman with a kind soul, a warm heart, he was patient and thoughtful, and had a sense of humor that could have broke old Sister Mary into hysterics even if she was in the midst of saying her penance. He was a story teller like no other and after having been a police officer, a county judge and served in the Korean War, he had plenty of stories to tell.

There was nothing I enjoyed more than sitting around a table listening to my father and Dutch trade stories and jokes back and forth for hours. Dutch passed away two years before my dad and he has been missed dearly ever since. After he passed, Natalie moved to be near her daughter and so she too has been dearly missed, as she is as kind and thoughtful and sweet as he was.

Natalie chose the restaurant for lunch today, a beautiful spot right on the harbor overlooking all the boats coming and going and a view across the bay to the mountains of the San Juan Islands.

A lovely spot to lunch with two lovely ladies. Natalie turned 89 this year and is just as beautiful a woman today as I always thought her to be. She is in wonderful health, both physically and mentally, which I of course, was delighted to see.

Our lunch was delicious and we spent time catching up on each other’s lives and our families’ lives. We reminisced a lot about old times in the mountains and how bittersweet it always is going back for me without them and without my father. Our lunch lasted a bit more than two hours and afterwards Natalie suggested a little walk outside along the bike path that runs along the harbor.

Our walk was nice, enjoying the warm summer sun and cool harbor breeze. Snow-capped Mount Baker was popping its top out over the hills, another beautiful Cascade volcano to admire.

Jenny spotted a seal looking around, seemingly watching the boats pass him in the narrow harbor channel. Our three hours with Natalie and Sharon were wonderful. It is affectting how you never realize just how deeply you miss someone until you see them again or if they have passed, until you sit and talk about them aloud again…

On our planned drive into Seattle, we noticed that there was some serious traffic building so we opted to get off and take a parallel route through the countryside. There was a Starbucks at the exit and of course we stopped to grab a drink for the road. Turned out it was the same one we had stopped at yesterday on our way up to Bellingham where we had had a funny conversation with Robby, the barista. He, like just about every other restaurant worker, asked us what we were up to. When we told him we were on our way to Bellingham he said,

“Oh yeah, that’s cool.”

“So you like Bellingham?”

“Ya… no…I don’t like that place.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“They try to be like a little Portland, acting like a cool liberal city but they are really more like a conservative police state.”

“Oh… well… I guess we are about to find out.”

Jenny and I laughed our way to Bellingham saying something bad must have happened to Robby there.

When we drove through this time, Colton took our order and when we pulled up to the window, Jenny asked if Robby was working. Turned out he was.

When he came over to the window, We said laughingly, “Yo…Robby,…it’s us. We’re back from Bellingham!”

“How’d you like it?”

“We liked it.”

“Well what did you do that made you like it so much?”

“Nothing really but we went to the Goodwill store,” really laughing now.

Obviously perplexed and laughing along with us now he said, “Well it seems like you girls have fun wherever you go.”

True that Robby, true that! And we laughed about Robby again, but this time all the way to Seattle.

Our Airbnb was perfect-very stylish in a great neighborhood near to UW (or U-dub as they call it). We dumped our bags and called an Uber to take us into downtown Seattle where Jenny had a short list of things she wanted to see. She asked if I minded if we had a late dinner and totally fine with that, she made an 8:30 reservation for sushi, something that sounded delicious to both of us.

Our first stop was Pike Place Market, a historic area right on the Seattle waterfront.

We walked around Pike Place and its famous farmer’s market but it was Sunday and it was late, so most things were shuttered. You could still get an incredible perspective of what things are like when the market is open, and how jumping it must be when it is full of patrons.

The “Gum Wall” is literally as it sounds; an area of Seattle that has been plastered by people’s already-been-chewed gum, beyond disgusting and I can only imagine that it is a hotbed for every infectious disease known to the CDC, and if they could, they would probably quarantine the entire length of the wall.

That is all chewing gum behind her!

Leaving the wall, we walked over to the original Starbucks-the founding storefront of it all. It was really so nondescript, just as one might have expected it to be. We took a few moments to take it all in and realize that magnitude of one man’s dream. Howard Schultz started an empire from one storefront; isn’t that the American Dream?

Dinner followed and it was delicious. After numerous dinners that left something to be desired-Subway, frozen pizza cooked on a BBQ, Five Guys, and even no dinner at all- we were ready for a really good, sit down and be-served-to-us dinner! Our sushi did not disappoint.

Jenny liked the parts of Seattle she saw. The last time I was there, was 6th grade-I enjoyed it then and I enjoyed it now. Our host told me not to spend too much time, unless I was ready to be enchanted. There is a nice eclectic mix to the city; it probably lives up to its reputation.

July 23 and 24

Want to Be a Husky or a Bulldog?

This morning was our tour of the University of Washington (UW), not necessarily a college Jenny had thought of but one I thought would be good to take a look at. It is a large institution both in size (bigger than Disneyland) and student body (almost 30,000) but it has an excellent reputation as a research institute, receiving 1.3 billion in research funds-the most of any US public university and is second in the nation only to Hopkins.

The campus tour was great, giving a really comprehensive overview of both the academics and campus life. There were certainly pros and cons. The large student body of course translates into larger class sizes, with an average of 45 and the largest being a whopping 750, making it a bit more difficult to build relationships with your professors. They are also on the quarter system which is a bit different than what we have encountered thus far.

The library

The campus itself was beautiful-architecturally, aesthetically and of course having Mt. Rainier in view on the horizon doesn’t hurt either. It was heavily treed, there were plenty of flowers. and lots of grassy areas.

Mt Rainier is there right off the little bumps in the green trees in the distance.

Jenny really liked UW, but the size was a drawback. There is a definite hem and haw on the size of the school that Jenny thinks she will be comfortable with.

Following our tour we headed to the airport. We dropped off our car and were a bit shocked to hear we had traveled 1,997 miles over the last 14 days! It goes to show how large our western states are, that we can travel that many miles in only two states and did it in only the western halfs!

We hopped a short flight, in a prop plane no less, to Spokane where we would be touring Gonzaga College. The flight over the Cascades was gorgeous! We could see Mt Rainier in the distance and Mt Baker up close. There were plenty of glaciers with their turquoise tarns visible with some still frozen.

Not often we fly props!

Spokane wasn’t too impressive, at least what we saw of it from the airport to the hotel. Our hotel was great and our dinner was good but the city didn’t seem to have any of the charm or vibe that Jenny is looking for.

Our morning tour was led by a rising senior who had a great sense of humor. She led us around the campus pointing out different buildings and giving a low down on campus life. We spent quite a bit of time learning about the sports life at Gonzaga, engineering and business-none of which interested Jenny.

Original building

The campus also wasn’t as attractive as we had hoped it would be. Except for the original two buildings, the rest were kind of blah. There were pretty flower beds and water features, but those won’t be there most of the school year. Couple that with the fact Spokane was a bit of a dud and Gonzaga ended up being the second school we can cross off the list even though it was the International Studies and Arabic programs Jenny is currently interested in.

Following the tour, we went to the church on campus, the only building not owned by the college. The organist was playing which is always a treat to hear, especially in a place as beautiful as the inside was. We lit a candle for my father, sat and listened to the organist for a bit, then took one more walk over to the student center to kind of confirm Jenny’s feelings.

For Baba

We finished the day, relaxing in our room since there was no real reason to brave the heat to explore a place I knew we wouldn’t be returning to.

Jenny said she was sad our trip was coming to an end and even though she had had a lot of fun, she missed Billy and the dogs and was looking forward to seeing them. She said she was going to miss me and did I think that was funny? Of course not I said. I understood what she meant. We had had fun together and enjoyed our adventures. Being able to just go and not have the weight that life brings on today, is freeing.

I am blessed my teenager wants to spend time with me, blessed she is happy to put the effort into our relationship and blessed we have become the friends we are. People say that it will all come to a screeching halt, that it should have by now-so far so good! We are still having a ball making memories. Memories that will last a lifetime and have shaped who we are and who we will become.

I have learned a lot about Jenny on this trip but more importantly I have learned a lot from her. There is an unbelievable wisdom, sometimes hidden, deep inside Jenny. It emerges at random times, often catching me off guard. She says things that shock me, that make me laugh harder than I ever have, that are thoughtful, that are brutally honest and that are thought provoking. I am never bored in my time spent with her, in fact I am enamored by it all.

Jenny never hesitates in pointing out the things I could have done to be a little kinder, nicer, gentler, to a stranger and I honestly welcome that. It is clichè, but it is true, Jenny has made me a better person. She truly is one of the kindest souls I have ever known. To say I feel like the luckiest mom in the world would be an understatement.