Better cold than hot!

June 30--Kent/Seattle, WA

I've been remiss, and I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seat waiting for an update, so:

The week at Lynn and colin's was very nice. We camped out in their driveway, which was nice and quiet. The cats enjoyed the time not moving, and I enjoyed being with family.

Wednesday I did a drive up to Neah Bay, which is the most northwesterly part of the continental US. The drive there was wonderful, on a two-lane twisty road with views of mountains and ocean (and deer, but that's a constant). The very end involved a walk down a hill to a rocky point that was gorgeous. I stopped at the Makah museum, to see the artifacts from a village that was buried by a landslide 500 years ago. And I bought a hunk of authentic smoked salmon, which was good (if a bit strong).

Thursday I did very little; went to Wal Mart to get cat stuff, dropped some food and litter off at the local Humane Society (they needed kitten food), and hung out with the cats.

Friday I went to Victoria on the ferry. I took the fast ferry, which got us there in an hour. Victoria is a great little city, with amazing water views (the Olympics over the Strait was just lovely) and lots of cute houses. I walked around the downtown up to Chinatown, where I had lunch (kind of a touristy restaurant, but good and plentiful and cheap food), then back to the harbor area, where I decided I was tired of walking. I took a Gray Line tour on a double-decker open bus, so I could sit in the sun (yes, sun, and lots of it--Victoria tends to be sunny when everywhere else isn't) and see more of the place. At one stop, at a marina, there were some pretty tame harbor seals that could be fed. The tour guide (who I'm not sure I believe) said that they were refugees from an oceanarium that closed in the early 90's after a killer whale killed a trainer--the whales were sold, but the seals were released, and decided begging for fish was better than being wild. There were four of them here, and two were pregnant, so I suspect there will soon be more!

Then I took the ferry tour, in these tiny little boats (much smaller than my RV), up the harbor gorge. We saw another seal, as well as houses ranging from shacks to mansions (the gorge used to be the garbage dump, and wasn't cleaned up completely until about 10 years ago). Also, lots of scullers/rowers, who can really get moving when they get down to it. The ferry ride back to Port Angeles was fun, because the wind had picked up and the waves were bigger and hitting us broadside. This boat wasn't that big, and we were pitching and tossing and I was up on the bow and got hit good by a wave (right in the ear!) and enjoyed most of it.

The weekend was a lot of relaxing, plus a trip with Lynn to tide pools up on the Strait. We had to walk out pretty far on sharp rocks and mussels (and I had worn the wrong shoes for the occasions, so between that and my lack of depth perception to see where to put my feet, I was pretty slow). But I got to see more anemones, plus purple sea urchins (VERY purple) and a red sea star. And lots of people. Then we went to the Lake Crescent Lodge and had a great lunch, then to the Elwha dams (which are going to be removed next year), and then back.

I left Monday, after doing another load of laundry (thanks, Lynn!). Nell decided to vomit again--there's something about driving after a long layover that causes her to get carsick. Another towel gone; I think I'll be putting paper towels in now. The drive was uneventful (except for people stuck behind me on the two-lane road--I miss Canada's frequent passing lanes) until I decided to look for lunch. I followed some signs in Gig Harbor that said food, but all I did was go down a long hill through a congested area, then up another hill and back to the Interstate: no food. So I crossed the Tacoma Narrows bridge (no galloping Gertie, yay!) and got off at another stop just past Tacoma. Where I found the Burger King, but there was absolutely no place for me to park in the small congested parking lot. So I pulled back out into traffic (thanks to the drivers that let me out, and I'm sorry to the RV for hopping that curb) and found a McD's with a slightly larger parking lot, and then when I left I got into the wrong lane . . . there's a reason I'm taking the bus now that I'm here.

The KOA was easy to find, and I have a spot right in front. It's a bit noisy, like most KOA's; it's on a major road with lots of traffic. But I can sleep through it, and the people all around give the cats something to look at.

And there's a bus stop right across the street, that during rush hours will take me directly to downtown Seattle! I did that yesterday, getting to the Pike Place Market early because I thought it would be interesting. Um, no, nothing happened. I ate a ham/cheese/spinach piroshki (which was good but crumbled all over everything) and walked down to the waterfront. I walked up and down, looking at the boats and the piers and everything. Then I decided since I had time I did the Underground tour. Seattle was originally built on a mud-flat that had been built up by sawdust, and thus was pretty wet and tended to subside. So after a big fire in 1889, they decided to raise the roadbed up about 15 feet, and the first floors of buildings that survived were buried. In one room there was the remains of wall decorations, as well as a toilet that was elevated to avoid backwash when the tide came in. Another place, you could see that the floor had subsided about 2 feet since it was laid. Very cool.

I walked back to the waterfront and got clam strips and fries at Ivar's wharf. I ate most of the crab strips and some of the fries, and fed the rest to the hovering seagulls, which didn't quite snatch it from my mouth, but came close. Then I walked farther down the waterfront, then up to a park on the bluff. The weather was mostly cooperating, with some sun. I walked through the market, then had some clam chowder, and then it was time to head back, where I fed the cats and was lazy.

I'm not going to head out quite as early this morning, and I'm going to be meeting with Tom for lunch! And the sun is out; I'm hoping to see Rainier today.