The first stop was Long Beach, conveniently located next to Fort Canby State Park. Here we got to check out some nice trails around Cape Disappointment and the North Head Lighthouse. Today was rainy.
Thursday was spent mostly mastering the art of setting and re-setting the interval timing on the windshield wiper on the way to forks. Downpour, mist, sprinkle, mist, no rain, partial rain, partial mist/rain/downpour/sunbreak. Through all of this, the drive was amazingly beautiful however. There were stops along the way to stretch legs and take photos. I also made the very happy discovery that the first actual rain forest that we came to, the Quinault, allows leashed dogs on trail. This made me ecstatic! I could now actually hike through a legitimate rainforest and not worry about what to do with the dog. To throw a pleasant ironic twist into the mix, it finally stopped raining as we began hiking through the rain forest
. Glory be.
Having survived the evening in Forks without any sort of vampire related incident, we started making our way towards Port Townsend. There was now a break in the weather that produced some very dramatic scenery for the drive. I couldn't believe the way the mountains seemed to launch almost straight up out of nowhere! We took an amazing drive around Lake Crescent and stopped to see Marymere Falls, a gorgeous little hike.
Saturday morning in Port Townsend was epic. Not a cloud in the sky, birds chirping, and waves caressing the shore. We stayed right on the main street in town (Waters) with a fantastic view of all goings on. I had never been to, or heard much about this place, but Port Townsend is well worth the drive for anybody that enjoys small waterfront Victorian style towns with great food and art......I digress. After embracing the morning with a stroll on the beach, we packed up and made for home. Our final taste of the Olympics brought more scenery along the Hood Canal until finally the 101 drops you back onto the 5 and you instantly realize that your vacation has unceremoniously come to an end. At least the morning drive was peaceful
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