Our weather guys were predicting a heat wave to start here this weekend, and as seldom seen, it was also to make our coastal areas warm as well. Anyone that knows Washington State knows that our coastal areas can be downright cold. I've had situations before when I left here in the mid 80's and arrived at the coast two hours later to the low 60's. Brrr! This weekend was supposed to be different, and Suzie and I decided to take advantage of it.
Photo road trip!
We left here Saturday morning, and by the time we arrived back here last night at about 7 o'clock, we had driven 550 miles, and had taken just shy of 1000 pictures between the two of us. We arrived sunburned and exhausted. While the trip never afforded us the photo opportunities that we hoped for in all the areas we visited, we got some great ones and we'll post them soon.
We decided on a clockwise loop around the peninsula, but almost every place we stopped on the west coast was foggy. Foggy may be great for moody pictures or desolation, but we hoped for more. We visited the most northwest corner of the state, Cape Flattery, but again--Fog. Our first real photo breakthrough came when we timed our arrival at Clallam Bay perfectly and watched the sun sink into the Pacific Ocean. While we hoped to just catch a nice, easy stop at a motel to end our Saturday, we were lucky to have brought along a tent and sleeping bags because in the area we were in, no empty motels were to be found.
Upon awakening Sunday morning, we packed up and headed for the nearest town with cafe. We needed coffee and breakfast! A stop in Joyce, Washington fulfilled our needs, and we pressed onward. Stopping in Port Angeles for a sand sculpture art event was on our list and we weren't disappointed. We had a great time milling around there for a couple of hours before heading up the mountain to Hurricane Ridge. I had never been up there before, and we were blessed to find that even though it was a mountain top over a mile high, it was well over 75 degrees up there, and photo ops galore! A newborn fawn suckling on her mother right near the guest center had the tourists going gaga, and we got our share of shots of them too. Just as we were leaving, the unique sight of a guy near his motor home with a potbellied pig on a leash greeted our eyes, and it wouldn't have been like me to miss the chance to go check that out. Charlie the pig was a unique finale to that stop!
The day went downhill as we approached our ferry destination. There are some pretty hefty traffic bottlenecks in our state here and there, and apparently we found one yesterday as we neared the Hood Canal bridge. A good two hours or so of stop and go traffic in hot weather finally relented and let us proceed to our ferry ride to downtown Seattle for the final drive home. It was hot in that traffic, and both of us were nearing our limits of endurance. We wanted our home. Well, the ferry was just what we needed. Breezy, cool, and relaxing.
I guess now I'll go to work and compare my sunburned face with everyone else's.
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