DAY-25 Hemp, Olympics, Apples & Ferries; This Must Be Washington

Day-25: Sunday, September 27, 2015

Starting Location: Red Lion Inn, Port Angeles, WA

Interim Location: Olympic National Park, WA

Ending Location: Best Western, Mount Vernon, WA

So the Red Lion Inn shampoo and conditioner is described as "Hemp & Lemon", should I be concerned about drug sniffing dogs, could my Navy career be over (how forgetful of me, it is over), if I use this stuff will I have "high" hair?

We skipped breakfast, perhaps a first for this trip, what will we do?

In The Red Lion Parking Lot
"Would a car like this get you free beer for life?"

After check out we went over to the Olympic National Park visitor center located in Port Angeles. As usual we stamped the parks book and bought a few souvenir cards. We then proceeded uphill for 17 miles to Hurricane Ridge, the heart of the mountain section of Olympic National Park. Along the way we had viewpoints looking into the farming valley and out to Puget Sound. Mount Baker was in the distance. Wildlife for the day while in the park was limited to a few deer both along the roadway and at the ridge top visitor center.

Mount Baker "Sandwich" (about 70 miles away)
(Okay, it's two trees with the mountain in between like a sandwich,
the trees being the bread and the mountain being the peanut butter,
ham, turkey or whatever you use to make the sandwich or an Oreo,
the trees as the chocolate wafers and the mountain as the cream filling.) 

From Hurricane Ridge you can see over to Mount Olympia as well as Mount Carrie to name another. Cascading down from the latter is the Carrie Glacier, just to the west of the Blue Glacier. Of course mankind is ruining these glaciers by perpetuating the need for carbon fuels and causing the disproportionate rise in carbon dioxide levels (or so the signage insinuates).

Park service employing the locals (the deer) for
presentations and customer service.

Carrie Glacier (on the right)

Once back downhill we moved on to Chimacum, WA home of the Finnriver Orchard.

We had eagerly anticipated this side trip expecting a cornucopia of fresh farm products, cider and apple laced pastries as well. So it turns out there are laws prohibiting or at least discouraging the manufacture of "hard" cider and "soft" cider in the same facility. Apparently Finnriver has opted for the "hard" variety and the offerings of the day were either Peach or Pear. Don't be confused, it was still apple cider but like wine being simply grape juice aged and flavored, so is the "hard" cider, basically apple cider infused with sour peaches and sweet pears. There was a small farm plot to see but the many warning signs basically said "keep out". They did have rows of very unusual apples, many heirloom stocks some dating back into the early 19th century in England. Turned out that today was a festival day at the cidery so we hung out listening to a music combo and having pizza with our cider. The pizza was good but I'm not much into the cider. Even though it wasn't what we expected, the side trip was good in that it was different and made for a good people watching opportunity.

The Pollinators

Pear "Cider" on the left & Peach "Cider" on the right

Country Crow

Washington Peanuts

Pepperoni Pizza "Nice, thin crust."

We moved on to Kingston, WA where we took a ferry to Edmond, WA. The 30-minute trip at a cost of $16 even with the hour wait, cuts off about 80 miles for driving to get across the sound and north of Seattle. Once in Edmond we made our way to Mount Vernon our jumping off point for tomorrow's trip to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Mount Rainier

We stayed at the Best Western in Mount Vernon and as dusk approached headed outside to personally witness the "blood moon" and lunar eclipse. As predicted, the moon rose above the mountains and after a few not so focused photos we returned inside and watched the end of the Sunday night football game before calling it a day.

Blood Moon/Lunar Eclipse 2015
Next occurrence 2033

DAY-24 Olympic National Park

Day-24: Saturday, September 26, 2015

Starting Location: Kalaloch Lodge, Olympic National Park, WA

Interim Location: Olympic National Park, WA

Ending Location: Red Lion Inn, Port Angeles, WA

Strange things happened last night, two caramel candies I had on the counter were found in unusual places, not where I thought I had left them and Sheila found a single Cheez-It on a chair. Seems that we had "visitors" during the night and any open food was fair game. Needless to say, the caramel remnants and the open bag of Cheez-Its were tossed.



The day began with a fire in the fireplace and a walk around the lodge area plus a stop for coffee in the general store. We had plenty of time for our park visit so there was little rush in getting prepared to leave. Around 8:30 Sheila and I headed over for breakfast. She had a huge bowl of "steel-cut" oatmeal with several condiments, including apples, raisins, brown sugar, berries and more. For me there was no doubt; it would be the smoked salmon hash, same as corned beef hash just substituting the fish for the beef, sounds healthier but probably not.

Upon returning to the cabin we packed up and moved everything to the car. As I was picking up the loose items I had left on the counter we were shocked to realize that last night's "visitors" weren't just mice, they were obviously "NUT-NAPPERS"! We were stunned when we realized that the Thirsty Almond was gone, not to be found. So what could have happened, was it the end for the Thirsty Almond? I suppose it's possible the "Nut-Nappers" didn't actually eat the almond, perhaps they were just taking it to water or perhaps they planted it in the ground with hopes of creating an almond orchard in rain soaked Washington. Perhaps some day we will read about an invasive species the California Almond taking over the rain soaked coastal forests of Washington. In any case, the saga of the Thirsty Almond just might be over.

R.I.P. Thirsty Almond
Here are a few highlights of Thirsty Almond's brief life.

The Story of Thirsty Almond Began in a Bar in Calgary, Alberta

Yes, A Simple Almond Craving a Simple Drink of Water

Thirsty Almond's Family Tree

Hanging Out with a Crayon & Glass of Wine in Calgary

Trying to Divert Canadian Glacial Waters to California

Sliding Down the Whipped Cream Volcano

Sampling Some Brews in Vancouver

Water, At Last!

"Meet & Greet" with Other Nuts

Thirsty Almond
As Last Seen, September 25th, 2015

Okay, if we keep going on about the Thirsty Almond, people will think we're nuts!

******************
From the lodge we drove to Ruby Beach, representative of one of three distinct regions of Olympic National Park, the coastal region. The beach is similar to that near the lodge, strewn with logs, wave-tossed against the shore. It was high tide so the tidal pools weren't obvious but would have likely held interesting sea creatures including starfish, sea cucumbers and maybe even a small octopus or two. As with many places these days stone cairns had been built, in this case not necessarily showing the way but perhaps for good luck, good wishes, memorials or other ethereal thoughts.

2013 Government Shutdown (Ranger Comment),
"This Porta-John would remain open as long as the TP lasted."

From Ruby Beach we headed into the second region, the rain forest region represented by the Hoh Rain Forest. After a few minutes in the visitor center we struck out on the Mossy Trail, a one mile route up through a representative area of the rain forest. As you might expect the area was loaded with ferns, fungi and many varieties of moss hanging on trees and rocks alike. The place was very GREEN!

It's Okay to Carry Your Guns, Just Don't Use Them!

About halfway through the trek Sheila walking in the lead whispered back that there were deer ahead  on the path. They hadn't seen "deer-eye" Sheila as she was obviously well camouflaged in her blue & white cammies with dangling baubles, blending in so well with the GREEN background. In any case, Sheila continued to track the deer, two yearlings to be specific and only once did she wonder just where the momma deer was lurking. The two deer were a highlight of the walk, especially in that we did not see any banana slugs, a creature notable to the area.

After the mossy trail we returned to the highway and made our way north and eastward toward Port Angeles and the third park region, the mountains. Along the way we stopped alongside Crescent Lake and broke out the cheese and crackers for an afternoon snack.

Upon arrival in Port Angeles we realized that it was too late to head into the Hurricane Ridge section of the park so with a quick call we were in with a room at the local Red Lion Inn for the night.

Having heard live music I walked down the street for several blocks and came upon a street fair. On stage was a local C&W group and strung out along the streets were a myriad of arts & crafts vendor kiosks. 

As it was late we ordered sandwiches from the hotel and with a bottle of Gris-Ling supped in the room. The sandwiches, Sheila's club and my pulled pork were good but the well-done fries were memorable. 

Tomorrow we'll return to the park before moving on to an apple cider event.