The World As I See It by Sue Moses

Friday, September 28

From our campsite on the Olympic Peninsula, we made a day trip to Gig Harbor, which is near Tacoma, WA. I wanted to visit friends I have known for over 40 years. They went from central NY to Vero Beach, FL, to Seattle, so I have seen them about once every ten years. It was about time again. Norma and Mary have recently moved into a retirement complex that will provide for every need until the end of life. They seem excited about it and their apartment and the entire complex is new and very nice. We went to lunch at a popular restaurant in Gig Harbor, where we enjoyed a nice meal as well as a stunning view of Mt. Rainier and other sights of the town.

Below are pictures of our RV park at Friends Lake (a very tranquil spot), Gig Harbor, a cute little steam boat, and Mt. Rainier. If you click on the play button it will play a video of the cute little steamboat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, September 27

We traveled down the Olympic Peninsula enroute to our next campground at the south end of the Peninsula. Our sightseeing for the day was to take in the Quinalt rain forest. As is true of most of the Peninsula and much of the Northwest, this area is home to Indians, in this case the Quinalt tribe.

We parked with trailer in tow at the Ranger Station and the trailhead that leads through the rain forest. It is an easy hike of a little under two miles. The forest was impressive. I quickly figured out that the attributes of a rain forest are moss, ferns, boggy and stream areas, lush growth of everything, and unique plants that are part of the forest like lichen.

One of the feautured areas of the hike was an abandoned homestead. I was not able to determine why it was abandoned many years ago, but apparently it was a properous farm for several decades. It has no elements of the forest.

Below are pictures of the rain forest and homestead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, Sept. 26

We awoke in Forks, WA to an absolutely perfect day. It is cool for a brief period in the morning, then warms to the low 70’s. We headed off to Neah Bay and Cape Flattery, in the most northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula.

The road ends at the trailhead to the Cape Flattery Trail. It is a mile hike to the end. From the tip of this trail you can view Tatoosh Island while standing on the most northwesterly tip of the contiguous lower 48states. There are rugged rocks, kelp, sea lions, birds, and beautiful jade waters of the Pacific Ocean. We saw whales, which appeared to be Orcas, but it was far off, so not sure.

Neah Bay is the center of the Makah Indian Reservation. All of the land from Neah Bay out to Cape Flattery is owned and managed by the Makah tribe. They have a large fishing fleet in Neah Bay, which is about their only economic activity. Much of the rest of the island depends on logging for their livelihood.

John’s scooter provided him some excitement as he traveled part of the trail to Cape Flattery. It then became rocky, full of roots, and constructed slat walkways, so we abandoned mission and went back to the van. I went back on the trail to complete my photo op mission.

If you click on the link below you will see John on the trail.

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Above….fishing fleet in Neah Bay.

BELOW……views from Cape Flattery. Lighthouse on Tatoosh Island. Whales, circled in photo. As history tells it, the Indians watched from this point as ships came from afar looking for the Northwest Passage.

The picture below shows the whales.

Sea lion island.

The mountains in the background are Canada.

The state of Washington has constructed many overlooks along the coast to provide viewing of whales and seals. Much of the whale population is endangered because of so many dams being built that prevent the salmon from returning to the sea. Salmon are the main diet of the whales.

Later in the day we visited part of the HOH rainforest. The Visitor Center was closed, so Park Rangers advised us to see the Lake Quinalt area tomorrow. There is a rain forest and apparently many excellent interpretive sites and hikes, as well as drive by scenery.

 

 

 

Tuesday, Sept. 25

We packed up and headed off from Sally’s around noon. What a fabulous week we had visiting her. We saw some wonderful sights with her as our tour guide. Most of all, Sal and I just enjoyed one another in a way that is only possible when people have known each other for 50+ years. We laughed, we reminisced, we talked about our present beliefs and concerns for this country and the future of everything. We walked, visited the Farmers Market, ate good food, and enjoyed the week together in a very special way. I hated to leave. But, we must push on, and so we did. Below…leaving Sally’s

We headed for Coupeville to board the ferry that would take us over to Port Townsend on the Olympic peninsula. The idea of boarding a boat with 48 feet of van and travel trailer gave me lause, but when the full size tractor trailer pulled up next to us I figured we were fine. Pics before boarding the ferry.

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As we crossed, the vista became beautiful. I believe there is still a haze from smoke. Port Townsend is historic and quaint. Unfortunately, we did not have time to explore, as we needed to make it to our RV Park before dark.

We headed for Forks, WA along a road that gave us spectacular views. One of the best was along Crescent Lake. Azure blue water with mountains rising from the water’s edge. You actually have to pay attention to your driving on these types of roads so you don’t end up down the side of a cliff or in the drink. Multi tasking is not really an option.

  

One of my next reflections, which doesn’t have to do directly with a “travel log” is what I learned about the houses of Anacortes. The landscaping is unique to the Town and the area. People don’t have lawns, for the most part. They plant every inch of land with flowers or/and vegetables. They are a true Zone 5, so the plants that thrive in southern England do very well in Anacortes. Lavendar, Dahlias, Hollyhocks, Fuschia, Bleeding Heart, and dozens of plants that are showy and grow 10 times the size that they would in NYS abound. Below is a gallery of pictures that represent some of these lovely gardens. The one that is massive, with all the grasses, is a lediatric dentist office.

And hundreds more. It is an amazing town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick found a girlfriend in West Yellowstone. Her name is Sophia. The middle aged meeting didn’t seem to overly excite either of them. Their Mom’s and Dad’s, however, were bubbling over with excitement and marveled at the chance of the look alikes meeting so far from home. 😂🤗

Sunday, Sept. 16 – Monday, Sept. 24

I’m going to back up for a moment and revisit the last day we spent in West Yellowstone. After packing everything securely away in the trailer in preparation for our Monday departure, we took a couple hours to visit The Bear and Wolf Education Center, located right in West Yellowstone. It is an excellent resource center for understanding the history and habits of grizzy bears and wolves in Yellowstone. Since we did not see any bears in the wild, it was also an opportunity to view some up close. According to most people with whom I spoke, the wolves have decimated the elk herd in the Park as well as the moose population. Thus, there are mixed feelings about them. Perhaps they should allow limited hunting each year to control the population, which seems to be growing quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

I previously mentioned the incredible landscape of Eastern Washington. Within a mile that vista of cultivated fields turned to one of a the Columbia River basin, which presents as a gorge surrounded by volcanic waste. Nothing at all grows in this region, and it a stark contrast to the fertile valley we had just driven through.

On Wednesday we arrived at Sally’s. We have spent our time relaxing and catching up on things……oil change for van, hair and nail appts., laundry, and restocking our food for the next legs of our journey. What a wwonderful Farmers Market they have each Saturday. Sally lives on Fidalgo Island in Anacortes. The vistas are beautiful. The picture below is from Cap Sante, the highest point in Anacortes that overlooks the harbor and the Cascades.

One day we traveled down to Whidbey Island and had lunch in Coupeville, a delightful little town that is rich in history and is most famous in a contemporary sense for the mussel farms just off its shores. We ate lunch at Toby’s, a tavern with a bar that is OLD. It traveled originally by square masted schooner around Cape Horn in the early 1800’s and was stored at a local military base during prohibition. When the hotel where it was eventually placed burned down, the bar was saved and moved to the building that is now Toby’s. We dined on mussel chowder and fried oyster sandwiches. WOW, what a treat!

 

Yesterday, they held the annual Oyster Run. About 10,000 motorcyclists come to town. Average age about 60 something. I’m not sure what the attraction is, but they seem to just enjoy riding around like a parade, while people watch.🙄

I hope in my next entry to add some pictures of Anacortes houses and cottages. Very unique landscaping of properties here.

Tuesday, Sept. 18

Travel day today. St. Regis, MT to Moses Lake, WA. YES, Moses Lake! We had to stop in Spokane at an RV center to get a couple of things done to our trailer, so our arrival at the RV park was a bit late.

The notable part of the trip was driving through East Washington state. Much of it is part of the Columbia River Federal Restoration Project. When the poets and composers wrote of fields of grain, they must have been inspired by this land. The landscape is so unique. It is not flat like the midwest. The fields are rolling acres that have already been harvested and now are being plowed and cultivated for a new crop, maybe winter wheat. There are literally thousands of acres of land that create a vista that is UNREAL! I never had any idea of what the eastern part of Washington looks like. What a surprise. Unfortunately, no pictures because no opportunity to pull off the highway. Google maybe to find some images.

Tomorrow we will arrive at my college roommate’s home in Anacortes, WA. Sally and I have had so many great times together and such fun over 50 years. We have been fortunate to see each other quite often over the years, all because Sally and her husband Tom came East almost every year and Sally travels to Florida every year to visit her sister in Sarasota, while we are in Ocala. I hope to show John Vancouver and one or two of the San Juan islands.

 

 

Monday, Sept. 17

Today we broke camp and are heading for Anacortes, WA to see my dear friend and college roommate, Sally Wirtzfeld. It was 27 degrees when we got up this morning. I found out that this presents great challenges when you are staying in a gravel trailer. Our furnace keeps us toasty. The only problem was that our water hose froze solid and froze to the water hydrant. I could not remove the hose, let alone having no water in the trailer. My hair dryer did the trick to get the connections loosened, but the hose was still frozen, so I put it in our shower so we didn’t flood the storage area when it thawed. Later, we encountered an electrical problem with the motor that electronically raises and lowers the tongue of the trailer. A very nice man with the local power company happened to be at the park. He checked it out and found a wire had pinched, resulting in the wire shorting out. Until we can get it fixed we hole that jiggling it, like he did, will make it work. Albany RV was supposed to supply us with a device to manually work the tongue up and down, but never did. Good old Albany RV. We continue to recommend that no one even consider buying from them because their service is so terrible.

One thing I will say, is that we have run into more nice, helpful people during our journey than you can imagine. People watch, and anytime it appeared we were having a problem, some nice person appeared asking if they could help. This has happened several times. Also, the folks that own the RV parks are great and very friendly. It has made our trip delightful in the sense that I feel there are many wonderful people in this country who are trying to make things better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saturday, Sept. 15

We headed off for Grand Teton National Park. Yellowstone and Teton kind of segue into one another. At some point there was suddenly the most stunning view of Grand Teton, which looms about 13,500 feet high. Then, the views of the Tetons were visible all around us. The Tetons are more rugged appearing mountains than those in Yellowstone and there are several small glaciers all over the Park. There aren’t any highways that climb the high peaks. However, if we had visited Teton Village, we would have had an up close view of Jackson Hole, a challenging ski area. We did drive around Jackson, WY and it is as touristy as can be. We did not get out of the car. LOL.

Sunday, Sept. 16

A day to rest and catch up before leaving for Anacortes, WA on Monday. I edited some pictures and got them better organized and in the afternoon went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center two blocks from our RV Park. It is a fascinating place with many live animals and a great education experience.  I learned a great deal about the bears and wolves and the history of the bears in Yellowstone. Well worth the visit. They are wonderful advocates and stewards of these animals and it is encouraging that conservation efforts are continuing to move ahead to maintain a healthy balance of these creatures in their natural habitat and the intervention of humans.