Sunday, May 1, 2016

Olympic National Park


Three weeks into our Alaska Adventure and we spent $2,615 of our $15,000 budget. At this rate we are not going to make it very far! To be fair we have several expenses that we had to prepay. Our biggest expense so far was booking the ferry from Homer to Kodiak Island. We had been putting it off but when Barb called the ferry service the other day they said dates were starting to book up so we forked over the $1,082 round trip fee.  We have also prepaid our Denali National Park campsite as we were told these fill up as well. Our entertainment is a mere $2 despite the $10 I gave a homeless man. This is due to our gambling winnings at our recent casino visit.
So far we have driven 2,077 spending $468 in fuel expense, averaging 12.05 mpg.
 
Here is the detail of our expenses so far since we left Salt Lake on April 10th.


In the past week we worked our way up the Oregon and Washington Coast along Hwy 101. For those of you who unfamiliar with it, the 101 for the most part goes right along the coast with almost constant views of the ocean. It is not a very fast road as there are lots of twist and turns as it follows the coastline.

Leaving Seal Rock we went straight to Barb’s Aunt Joanie and Uncle Rich’s house in Newport. Barb has only seen them a handful of times in the past 40 years and I have never met them at all. Plus we had two sets bonus visitors; Jim and Lori (Barb’s cousin) from Fairbanks were coincidently passing through the area as well! We have not seen them in 8 or so years. Barb spent the afternoon getting caught up with Lori and Joanie, while I visited with Rich and Jim. Rich was a commercial fisherman in Alaska for years while Jim is with the Civil Air Patrol out of Fairbanks and is also a huge history buff. It was interesting hearing their stories and getting to know them better although it was difficult to hear them over the girls in the other room!
Barb, Joanie and Lori
The following day Barb's Uncle Butch and Aunt Joan stopped by. Barb had not seen her mom’s brother Butch in over 42 years! The first thing he said when he saw her was “Do you remember what our bet was for last time I saw you?” Barb responded “It was for a 6 pack of beer!” I never did find out what the bet was for as I was too busy wondering why he was betting a then 15 year old girl a 6 pack of beer!
Joan, Butch, Barb, Lori, Rich, Joanie and Jim
It is interesting how you can reunite with someone after so many years (or in my case just meet them) and hit it off like you just saw them yesterday. That was the case with this group. We had a great time which cumulated with a fantastic lunch at the Chowder Bowl in Newport. If you in the area, you have to stop by for their Fish and Chips as well as their Clam Chowder. We wished we could have stayed longer but we needed to continue north to stay on schedule and make the ferry we had booked on the May 1st.

Next stop Tillamook, Oregon home of the famous Tillamook Cheese. We actually toured two cheese factories in town; Tillamook Cheese Factory and The Blue Heron Cheese Factory. We did a wine tasting and bought some wine glasses at Blue Heron and bought some cheese at Tillamook. And bonus. The Blue Heron allows RV’ers to stay for free in their back parking area where they had plenty of room and a small petting zoo!

This guy is there to greet you at the Blue Heron





Our bounty for the day!
Continuing north we drove 252 miles (too far) to a remote free campsite just outside of the Hoh Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park. We found this site on Free Campsites.net. The first site we were going to was blocked by a berm so we went back on the computer and found another one on State Trust Land just 4 more miles down the road. It was right along the Hoh River which has an incredible blue tint to it due to the glaciers in the area in combination with type of rock sediment deposited into the river.

Our site for the night with the Hoh River just behind us
The Olympic NP area offers a variety of terrain from coastal, mountainous, lakes, rivers, rain forests…..The two days we planned for this area were just not enough. the first day we were able to do a 4 mile hike in the Hoh Rain Forest. It was absolutely incredible with the thick forest, heavy moss growth, birds and elk. This area can get over 144" of rain a year....think about that, that is over 12' of rain!
 
Walking though the forest was very peaceful, just the sounds of the birds in the trees and the sound of the Hoh River in the background.







There are a ton of trails through the park
 The next day we drove to the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. We arrived just before 9:00 and there was a line outside the door. As soon as they opened the doors almost everybody lined up in the Backcountry Hiking Permit line. We had no such plans this trip but we did get our Passport stamped then drove the 17 miles up to Hurricane Ridge where the views were incredible.



Barb and I have a couple friend (I know it is hard to believe we have friends) in Washington but had no idea where they lived. After a little research, we found out we were going right through their town of Sequim! We usually only see John and Judith once a year during our Wisconsin deer camp but we have not seen them now since the fall of 2013. They have a beautiful home right in the valley with great views. John said elk and blacktail deer are frequent visitors to their yard. Unfortunately Judith was traveling but we had a great afternoon and venison wild mushroom spagetti.
 
Beautiful Views!



Johnny and I catching up over a beer
 Neither Barb nor I have been to this area before and it quickly made our top 10, maybe top 5! Two days is not even close to enough time to do this area justice. We will definitely be coming back to this area in the next couple of years for an extended stay! 
Another whirlwind week of traveling, sightseeing and visiting! Tomorrow the fun continues as we are catching a ferry over to Sidney, BC where we are going to spend several days with our Quartzsite neighbors Steve and Dianne!

24 comments:

  1. That was a quick visit to the Olympic Peninsula, at least you can look forward to coming back for an extended visit! Have fun with Steve and Dianne, I'm sure Happy Hours pics will be forthcoming!

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    1. I can see why you love the area. I am sure there will be happy hour pictures very soon!

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  2. The area does look beautiful!! You'll have to find out wha the bet was for....inquiring minds!?!

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    1. Barb said she remembers what the bet was for but does not remember the bet itself.

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  3. I don't think your alcohol budget is correct. I know you two. Are you sure you didn't get it mixed up with groceries?

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    1. Truth be told we brought all the liquor we had in the 5th wheel and have been trying to drink it before we hit the Canadian border, we did not time it very well as we had to buy some more the other day.

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  4. Glad you made it to Hurricane Ridge. Could you see us waving at you from Victoria? šŸ˜œ
    Looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow!!
    Safe travels

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    1. It was a beautiful clear day on the ridge, we saw a bear on a far hillside and I think I saw you guys waving from across the water!

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  5. Oh, yeah....love the Olympic Peninsula! We visited there in 1996. We even saw our first mountain lion there! I agree with your high ranking...it definitely is a special place, Jim.

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    1. We are already making plans to come back. Unfortunately that does not look like it will be until spring of 2018 as we already have tentative plans to see other parts of the country.

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  6. Very green and lush. I love the color of the Hoh River. Have fun on the ferry and a great time with Steve and Dianne! What was the bet for Barb?

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    1. If you guys have not been up here you really need to make the effort, you will not regret it.

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  7. We're trying to bring down our liquor supply before we hit the Canadian border. We loved the Olympic Peninsula when we visited it a number of years ago, did the Hurricane Ridge hike...what an awesome hike that was.

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    1. We cross the border tomorrow morning and have just the right amount for the crossing. Then we will have to stock up again!

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  8. I am really looking forward to spending time in Olympic NP one summer. But we really need to think ahead so we can make reservations. We aren't good at thinking ahead or making reservations...but one day:) It looks so beautiful.

    How nice for Barb to see family after so long. Love that she and her Uncle had that bet so long ago. Did anyone pay up?

    We first visited the Tillamook Cheese factory about 12 years ago. It so different than now. It was no where near as popular. There wasn't any crowd and they had a huge refrigerated area of cheese samples that you just went and took...no waiting in line. Times have sure changed its popularity.

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    1. Tons of hiking up here, even 3 to 4 day excursions. There are several glaciers that you can hike up to, we are going to do that our next time through.

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  9. Washington/Oregon is up there on our list of the most beautiful places we've been. Can't wait to go back :'(. What?!? No hidey hole!

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    1. What is a hides hole? I have never heard of such a thing!

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  10. I understand how you feel about not having enough time, but I guess it just means we'll have to come back as well! It's cool how we are on the same basic path but seeing completely different things!

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    1. We will have to come through the Seattle area next time. There are no Voodoo Donuts on the western side!

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  11. It is great seeing your trip up the coast. Sounds like the truck camper plan is really paying off with being able to take the ferries. Don't want to tell you mom and dad looked into it for Bigboomer and it would have been 7 times your cost.
    Safe travels...

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    1. The cut off for the rate for our size was 30'. I cannot imagine what your monster rig would cost!

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  12. We have made it as far as Utah, will be in the Tetons later this week, and then up to Canada. Plan to be in Dawson Creek by June 1st. All plans are Jello of course...

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    1. Looks like we will be a couple weeks ahead of you, we will be in Dawson Creek the middle of May.

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