A friend recommended we visit the Quinault Lodge, an old private resort just outside Olympic National Park. We did that Friday, and yes, the Lodge was nice.
But wow, the surrounding rainforest was tremendous! I can not use words to describe the luxurious foliage that is everywhere, and my pictures only capture part of the beauty.
Every piece of bark was an entire colony of various mossesThe mosses grew on pretty much everything including concrete and the roof of this little information sign.There were waterfalls. Can you see Kevin center left?Kevin describes this as going through a canyon of greenOne of the bigger waterfallsDid I say luxuriant everywhere? Ferns were all over the hillsides.The forest was mixed deciduous and conifers with both young and old trees.
I think I liked the Quinault rainforest even better than the Hoh rainforest!
We also visited the largest spruce tree in the world. The sign says 191’ tall and about 1000 years old. Amazingly impressive.
See the 10 year old girl at the bottom?
We topped the day off with another trip to the beach. Sitting watching the waves, kids playing in the sand, and the surf anglers was very relaxing.
Today we just hung around the coach except when we went out to brunch and bought groceries. We had that odd kind of coastal rain where the drops aren’t really big enough to call it a rain, but the quantity was too much to call it just a mist. It dripped off the awning pretty much all day, so I just streamed old Inspector Morse shows. Not a bad way to spend the day after all the running around we have been doing. Tomorrow we leave the Casino and head to Ainsworth State Park in Oregon. I have to drive through Portland, so we want to out pretty early. I find Sunday mornings a great time to drive through big cities.
I have been fascinated for years at the idea of the temperate rain forests in the northwest. Maybe it was growing up in dry Oklahoma, but the thought of huge moss-draped trees was a big deal to me. I just had to go to the Hoh rain forest in Olympic National Park. We went on Friday, not wanting to deal with the inevitable crowds that come on weekends. And yes, I am late with the post since today is Tuesday. Oops.
Yes, the trees are big! These are just a couple of moderate sized ones at the trailhead. You might guess from the rain gear that it was raining when we went.
The lushness is everywhereThese mosses are just using the bark for support. They feed off blown in nutrients and are watered by rain.That long snake like thing running down the trunk is the root of another tree that started life above.Did I say lush? It was like this everywhere.The maple trees are just festooned with life.Ponds were everywhere
Yup, definitely a bucket list item checked off.
Saturday we just hung around the motorhome, did a bit of shopping, some cleaning – all kinds of exciting things. I did finish a little cloth wallet I can take with me easily. It is the Wonder Wallet pattern from Lazy Girl Designs, and I have made if four or five times before. Lovely little thing, and very practical to slip in a pocket with a driver’s license, credit card, and some cash. I should have put some interfacing in it, but it will work ok.
Sunday we moved from Sequim to the Quinault Casino at the beach. It allows free dry camping (no facilities at all) for up to 14 days. This is the view out the front window.
Ok, so it isn’t real obvious, but the flat horizon is the ocean. Between the ocean and us are stabilized sand dunes and some bushes. The sound is lovely, and the temperatures are mild enough I can leave the windows open to hear it.
Since we are at a casino, we tried to have breakfast here on Monday, but it was more adequate than good. The best deals were in the lounge, but that was where the smokers were – ugh. We decided to just drive down the shore to Cape Disappointment State Park at the mouth of the Columbia. Lovely place. I didn’t get out much since my knee just randomly decided to give me fits, but I got a few pictures.
Lots of shipwrecks along that shoreline
Today it has rained most of the day, and we just planned on staying put. I did get my application for Medicare completed, and I found out the steps to get my retiree supplement enrollment done. BTW, that one line statement took over an hour to complete, mostly waiting on the retiree stuff. We even got some banking straightened out! We have discovered it is best if we take a complete down day every 5 days or so, and today was it.
I have also practiced using my convection/microwave more. Today was a puffed (German style) pancake again. Add blueberries and a dash of powdered sugar and yum! Kevin is off to the store for something for dinner now too.
We definitely took it easier after the long day in the previous post. We decided to visit Fort Townsend, arrange for a whale watching trip, and see Ft. Worden State Park, a state Historic Site.
Ft. Townsend was quite fun. We wandered around the waterfront, but I didn’t take any pictures. We did eat lunch at the Kokopelli Grill. Kevin enjoyed his halibut fish and chips, and I enjoyed the crab cake I had.
Fort Worden was the highlight through. It was an old artillery fort that was given to the state as a unit when they closed it in the mid 20th century. It has barracks and officer housing available for short term rentals. In addition there are a number of private organizations that rent facilities – two colleges, a spa, etc.
A lovely building used as a wellness center.Colonels lived in these huge duplexesUmm. Wonder why this building is called “The Castle.”There were lots and lots of wooden barracks like this.
We particularly enjoyed the beaches and the lighthouse.
I could have sat here for hours.BeautifulNo longer operational, but still in Coast Guard hands
The next day, we saw the clouds were lifting, so after an incredible breakfast at The Oak Table in Sequim, we headed back too Hurricane Ridge in Olympic. We were luckier this time, and the mountains were at least peeking out.
Clouds kept spilling over the mountains someGlaciers!
A ranger told us the ONP is full of deer. We had seen some, but this one strolling through the parking lot seemed quite used to humans. Interestingly no one else seemed to even notice her!
On the way back down we were treated to a view of the coast. That pale line showing across the water is Canada.
Pretty obvious where the park boundary isCanada, oh Canada!
Thursday we took the whale watching trip, but I will put that in tomorrow after I get the pictures downloaded. Yes, we saw whales!
We spent Saturday night in a lovely Cabela’s parking lot in Lacey, WA, near Olympia. The trip there was a mess – lots of construction and miles long backups. However the parking lot was amazing. It was quiet and surrounded by lovely trees, flowers, and shrubs. We took a while getting ready because the trip to the campground was less than 120 miles, so we didn’t want to ge there too early. I have a ridiculous fear of heights, and I really, really, really did not want to drive across shipping channels so we drove up Highway 101 on the west side of the Tacoma Sound. The drive was beautiful, but it was slow. Much of the time the speed limit was 30-35 mph, so it took us almost four hours including some scenic view pullouts and a nice lunch break.
The campground itself (Rainbow’s End) is very tight. Our slide is less than a foot away from the slide next door! However the place is very clean, well landscaped, and they have a lovely duck pond right outside my front window so it isn’t all bad. As with most of the RV parks we have been by, it seems like most of the residents are long term rentals. We had problems finding a spot, so I won’t complain too much.
Today we drove to Olympic National Park, but it was very cloudy and foggy so I didn’t get many pictures. We went to Hurricane Ridge, but there were no mountains to see. We will try again later for the mountains. Until then, here are some pictures.
Clouds and fog in the mountainsReally big trees!A spring on the way to Hurricane RidgeThere were three tunnels on the way to Hurricane Ridge
We did drive from Port Angeles along the Juan de Fuca scenic byway all the way to the Makah tribal museum. What a wonderful drive and museum! The clouds still made the light flat, but the scenery was lovely.
Isolated rocks off the coastTried to get a little son on Crescent LakeWe found three old WWII bunkers in a state recreation area
It was a really long day, over 11 hours. I think we will take it easier tomorrow.
