Yahoo Ramblers: Olympic Peninsula

Post by Henry

We've been told every place we go is our new favorite place to be. I guess that's just part of traveling fulltime in our RV. When we first started out I told people that our trips prior to retiring were one week vacations and wherever we went we were just barely scratching the surface of what to see and do. Now we were going to try and spend a month or more to get the full experience.

And you know what?

We're still just scratching the surface. We've been to many great places that we need to go back to while our list of places we haven't been keeps getting longer.

In mid-August our travels brought us to Chimacum, Washington, which is a small farming town just south of Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. We spent two (2) months here and we know we'll be returning probably sooner than later.

Our Hometown for Two Months

First, there's the gorgeous Victorian seaport of Port Townsend with it's scenic harbors and snow capped mountain views across the surrounding waters. Strolling the streets of the historic downtown area there's plenty of shops and eateries to check out.

Boats in the Harbor

Victorian Style Building

Mount Baker in the Distance

The Farmers Market on Saturday mornings is hands down the best we've ever been to with colorful booths boasting locally grown organic vegetables, crafts, seafood, baked goods, coffee and more along with live music.

Saturday Morning Farmers Market

Cooking Up Some Delicious Paella

Colorful Carrots

Music to Shop By

There's no shortage of charming, historic towns to visit on the Olympic Peninsula. The town of Poulsbo, also known as Little Norway, is home to Sluys Bakery, which became a favorite stop of Loretta's.

Mural in Poulsbo

Yummy Sluys Bakery

Further west is Sequim with it's Lavender Farms and the 5.5 mile long Dungeness Spit jutting out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The spit is a National Wildlife Refuge with good birding. From here you can gaze across the strait and see Vancouver Island on the horizon and can hike the 5.5 miles (one way) to the lighthouse.

Lavender Farm

New Dungeness Lighthouse

Surf Scoter

Unidentified Bird at Dungeness Spit

Continuing west is Port Angeles, which is the gateway to Olympic National Park. A short drive into the park takes you up over 5000 feet elevation to Hurricane Ridge, with it's spectacular mountain views.

Mountain View from Hurricane Ridge

Dungeness Spit from Near Hurricane Ridge (Look Closely)

From Port Angeles, we caught the Black Ball ferry to the stunningly beautiful city of Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. We only spent a day here which wasn't near enough time to take in the incredible architecture of the buildings plus the shops plus the eateries plus the bustling little harbor..............

Parliament

Flower Garden at Parliament

Streetside Cafe

More Beautiful Architecture

Lots of Action in the Harbor

Out at the Pacific coast we made a several day tent camping trip to Lake Ozette, which is the largest natural lake in the state of Washington. From here we did a hike out to the western most point in the lower 48, Cape Alava.

Ranger Station

Trail to the Cape

View from Cape Alava

We also ventured out to Cape Flattery which is the northwestern most spot in the contiguous US.

Pacific Ocean at Cape Flattery

Deactivated Cape Flattery Lighthouse

That's a lot of stuff, huh?

Again, in two months we didn't even put a dent in all there is to do in the area. We were tempted to make a several month reservation to stay here next summer but, we held off.

We've got to get to some of those other places on our ever expanding list.

There's no end in sight on this journey we are on and that's a GREAT thing!

Enjoy More Pics from the Olympic Peninsula Below.