And The ADVENTURE Continues...: July 14, 2015 Trip to Hurricane Ridge and Port Angeles, WA

Tuesday, July 14, 2015 Trip to Hurricane Ridge and Port Angeles, WA

We moved out at 8 am and everyone seemed to be moving just a little slow. Guess our morning caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet. We had 1 ½ hour drive to get to the Ridge. We came upon Crescent Lake. This was a long lake with just a few houses on the shores and breathtaking. The color of the river and the lakes in this region is like a steel gray very different from the blue in Crater Lake. We did not see anyone fishing either from boats or from the shore. There is a ban on fishing in the National Park since May 15^th but we don’t know the reason why.

Our first stop was at the pier at Port Angeles. We wanted to see if we could see the ferry that went to Victoria on Vancouver Island—not there. We were going to do a day trip there but the fare for the car and for each of us was a little too much for our pockets.

We continued on to the Olympic National Park Visitors Center and watched a 20 minute film. It was very interesting. After the center we started to drive upward and we kept climbing and climbing and climbing. We got up to over 5,000 feet and the view was magnificent! The weather was clear and sunny with just a few clouds in the sky. We were able to see Blue Glacier which is on Mt Olympus and Carrie Glacier which is on Mt. Carrie. We stopped in this visitor’s center and had some French fries that were excellent. We noticed that there was a paved trail that Amy could ride her scooter on so off we went. We only saw deer on the path. We ventured down a hill and Amy’s scooter gave out so we thought. So the boys pushed her back up but as soon as they got to the top someone thought about the breaker. It had tripped!!!! We finally made it back to the car and headed home. Now we have added glaciers to our list. We continue to add firsts and I am sure that we are not done yet.

After coming down off the mountain we decided to stop at a lavender farm. It was located on the estate of George Washington Inn. It is Washington's version of Mt. Vernon. Pretty nice. The lavender field was covered in bees and of course they had bee boxes to make honey, They are going to have their annual lavender festival but we are going to miss it by a couple of days. I do like the smell of lavender. Nice stop.

Tomorrow Mike and I are headed back to Rialto Beach. We want to try and see the Hole in the Wall. This is a natural sea carved arch that can be reached only at low tide. Low tide is at 7 am tomorrow morning. I am hoping to see a tidal pool filled with a kind of sea creatures. Fingers crossed. It is also a 2 mile hike one way. Stay tuned and find out if we make it.