Cruisin' Seattle

We settled down in Poulsbo, WA which is one bridge away from Bainbridge, WA which is one 30 minute ferry ride away from Seattle.  We're in a very nice park.  We set up and could not get ANY electricity in the RV.  The owner suggested an RV repair facility not too far away.  So, Ed disconnected, we went to bed early (since we were pretty much in the dark), got up early, and hit the road.  Turns out the guy is an electrical specialist.  He found a loose wire behind the breaker panel, reconnected it, did an oil change while we had breakfast, and we were on our way back to the park.  Thank God, no more issues.

Poulsbo is a cute little town with a killer market much like Whole Foods except it's a local area chain.  They bend over backwards to make the customer happy and everyone working there is so happy...

It seems that the biggest industry here is fireworks - at least at this time of the year.  They are for sale just outside the city boundry...every four inches!!!  Had to photograph the biggest fireworks

mall we have EVER seen.

Found a suitable dog sitter for Finn who picked him up and returned him after dinner.  We hopped on the ferry and took off to Seattle.  It was raining, of course.

We were on a ferry like this one crossing Puget Sound.

Our first view of Seattle - in the rain.

Here's the proof it's Seattle...

Off the ferry, left on 1st and a few blocks later - Voila!

Pike Place Market

It was just drizzling at this point.

Later it REALLY began to rain.

Here's that famous market where they throw the fish.  They usually do it when someone buys a whole salmon.  That usually reaches upward (sometimes way upwards) of $150.  That holler the price and then they toss fish.  It was so early they just tossed for us.

Good catch!!!

These next two pictures are just for me.  Call them

Susan's Seafood Porn.

aaahhh

First stop:  Le Panier.  Ed picked out a lovely french pastry.  I went a couple stores up the street to Piroshky for a smoked salmon/cream cheese bit of heaven.

Tall tables, way too few stools, so most people stand and eat and drink their coffee.  I invited a very nice gentleman to join us at our table.  Turned out Jim is a retired pilot who flew the big planes on international routes.  He and Ed got into aircraft talk and we all had a great time.  He truly needs to share an afternoon in Ed's library.  Isn't serendipity cool?!?!

Making cheese and cheese curds at Beechers.

Tasting cheese and buying curds at Beechers.

This little park is known as Pioneer Square. 

The sculpture is of Chief Seattle.

Think the city might be named for him...

It's also the location of Bill Speidel's Underground Tour of Seattle.

It seems that Seattle has had a long history of graft, opium, sex, debauchery and Red Light district shenanigans all making the city what it is today.  We traveled what was once the first floor of the district, looked at old plumbing, called for help under the corner skylight in the sidewalk....

...saw the remains of the first electric elevator in Seattle, and heard stories about the building of the city, the rebuilding after it burned down, and came to life again in the 1880's.

Mostly we just laughed for two hours.  Our guide, Gayle, left no inuendo unturned and

kept us on our toes.  We were targets because of our matching jackets.  She was just great!

We took a walk up the hills to see the new Central Library.  A most amazing building!

We made it to the top and back down through a mix of escalaters, ramps, and elevators.

Howie Schargel meet us at this spot.  He had provided us with a wonderful list of activities to keep us busy for the day.  His Sarah picked us all up and we headed out to explore other parts of Seattle.

We had the BEST time sharing the evening with them!   They showed us the apartment building they are moving into this week, treated us to dinner at one of their favorite spots, took us to see an amazing overlook of the city...

...and Puget Sound.  It was wonderful to see Howie again and a real treat to meet Sarah.  They are both such special people.

Our last look at the city as we pulled out on our way back to the park.

What a great day!!!

Ed took a sidetrip to the Naval Undersea Museum.  It's all about undersea technology and marine science.    The sail on the left is from the USS Sturgeon nuclear sub.

Ed saw these interesting antique autos in the parking lot:  A Baker electric car on the left and a Model T on the right.  Both are from the very early 1900's.

This submarine is capable of diving to 20,000 ft.  It was used by the Navy for research.

Underwater robots are used to recover sunken items such as torpedos.

There's a very nice selection of diving equipment.  This suit was

used in the 1940's.

The Japanese used midget submarines in WWII.  They were used

at Pearl Harbor.

It takes a lot to fire a torpedo under water.  This is the torpedo tube mechanism out of a sub.

The Naval Undersea Museum is a very interesting specialized collection.

Olympic National Park and the Peninsula

Our trip up the Olympic Peninsula took us to a very nice park in Port Angeles on the northern side of the area.  Well, nice if no phone service, tv, or good wi-fi is part of the deal.  The location was good.

The mural is of Port Angeles a long time ago.  It hasn't changed much, but it is the gateway to Vancouver Island and Victoria.  Lots of people make it a day trip.

Ed finally got a chance to get up close to one of the logging trucks that have fascinated him through two states.  We saw them on the highway often.  These are log carriers.  The back part of the truck is taken down and towed and the truck is filled with logs.  We saw what we initially thought was a weighing station, but it is actually a grading station.  Full trucks pull in, the wood is graded, and down the road they go to the mills. 

 Port Angeles is also home to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center.  We stopped there, learned what we could about the park and then hit the road to drive the 18 miles to Hurricane Ridge - our first stop in the park.

 A twisting road with the first stop being this view of the Olympic Mountains.

Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center

Mountains all the way around, deer grazing and ignoring the humans who were not ignoring them.  There must have been thousands of photos taken.  The glacial caps are slowly melting .

 Ed is standing at the top of the viewing area.  It wasn't very cold but the snow was everywhere.

 More deer and mountains. 

 Lots of fawns - some still spotted.  What a beautiful place.

June 22nd.  Ed's Birthday

We headed out to the West side of the peninsula and the Hoh Rain Forest - another national park site.  It's about a 2 hour drive from Port Angeles.  We stopped at Lake Crescent Lodge - also a Park site - just to look it over.  Charming.

 Pretty charming inside too.

 Ed was really surprised when everyone (staff and guests) began wishing him a Happy Birthday.  They even sang to him and gave all sorts of good wishes.  Can't imagine how they all found out...

 Overlooking the lake...

 So charming and peaceful.

Olympic Peninsula has it's own eco system that includes multiple climates.  The mountains create a barrier that holds the weather systems.  The West side is very wet, cold, and gets 100 to 180 inches of rain a year.  The East side averages 15 to 18 inches of rain a year.  It's warmer and drier on the East side.

We spent a little time in the Hoh Visitor Center before embarking on the Spruce Nature Trail through the rain forest.  It was raining - maybe it was extra pretty seeing it in the rain.

 As we came out of the Visitor Center we were greeted by Roosevelt elk.  There's a large herd living in the immediate area.  We watched them, kept the required distance (25 ft.) and they pretty much ignored us too.

 I've had a difficult time trying to select photos from the whole bunch we took.  We thought we had been in a rain forest before - this one was way over the top.  And so incredibly beautiful and lush.

We've been in so much rain during this trip that sometimes I feel like the backs of my knees, and armpits look like the stumps and rocks in the Hoh. 

 A very nice couple from Southern California came along and we chatted for awhile.  They have just discovered the National Parks so we compared some notes.  They took this photo to prove that we are traveling together and not solo.  Don't we look like a pair of bumble bees in our jackets?  They have kept us warm AND dry. 

Moss and more moss everywhere.

 Trees do weird things in a rain forest.

 So does moss.

 The trail was right between two fallen trees.

We enjoyed seeing Olympic National Park.  There are other areas to visit very far from our location.

The last day in this area we went to two Saturday markets - Port Angeles was great. We bought some local honey and vegies. In Sequim we walked around and took in the atmosphere.

Sequim is all about lavender and known as the Lavender Capital of North America.  There are many farms, both commercial and boutique and some are open to the public.  We stopped at one to look around.  I never knew as much about lavender as I do now!  The festival is coming up in July.  Now the lavender is just beginning to bloom.  The owners - this one is a boutique operation - make everything themselves.  We learned all about culinary lavender while others are used for soaps, oils, candles, and such.  We had a great time visiting with her and she took us around the farm.

 We were both fascinated most by the sample garden.  There are more than 80 varieties of lavender growing here - just a sampling of the 300 that exist.

 We finished our visit in the gift shop full of sachets, soaps, lotions, packages of culinary lavender - and it smelled wonderful. 

By the way....lavender is an herb!

We're closing in on Seattle...