Travels with haRVy

Our first stop after crossing back into the US of A was at Port Angeles, WA, where we actually enjoyed a few hours of sunshine! Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. These past few weeks have been the wettest I have ever experienced and the forecast doesn’t call for it to quite anytime soon. Oh well, haRVy is doing a good job of keeping us warm and dry, so we can’t really complain (much).

On a recommendation from the Port Angeles Visitor Center attendant, we headed a few miles west along the shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Salt Creek Recreational Area. We chose a beautiful campsite on the bluff. There were only two other campers in the entire campground, who chose the open (windier) area in order to have electrical hookups. This allowed us to snag the best spot in the woods. I later found out that a fellow Westy owner had camped in the same exact site a couple of weeks earlier.

 Enjoying the view from our snug shelter. That’s Vancouver Island across the Strait.

 We managed to take a couple of hikes around this beautiful park between intermittent showers.

The creek after which the park is named.

We enjoyed two quiet days and nights at Salt Creek before moving on. We then took a drive into nearby Olympic National Park to see the area around Crescent Lake. We had hoped to bike or hike there, but the weather did not cooperate. By the time we finished lunch it was raining again.

That evening we camped at Dunguness Spit, the longest natural sand spit in the United States. It is a 5-mile hike in the sand to get out to the lighthouse at the end. So far away that you can’t even see it in my photo.

 Nice to see a sunset after so many dismal gray skies.

We then moved on to charming Port Townsend, WA to spend a few days with another of my high-school girlfriends, Nancy and her life partner Mark. Thanks for the hospitality and great meals guys! It was nice to take a break from cooking and to have time to catch up on each other’s adventures. Nancy and Mark spent ten years sailing from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back. They now keep their boat in Alaska and sail there for several months each year. Plus, Nancy is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail a few hundred miles at a time. Our little expedition pales in comparison, but it suits us well.

Me and Nancy at her Port Townsend home.

Downtown has lots of interesting old buildings.

And some quirky stuff too.

Al and I got out to Fort Worden State Park for a look around the historic batteries and other fort relics. It is a beautiful park overlooking the entrance to Puget Sound.

Lots of colorful and textural stuff to photograph here.

The extensive main battery.

This somehow almost felt like a Roman ruin to me.