The Olympics, but not the sports . . .

June 19--Kalaloch, WA

I was idly checking the Internet website for Kalaloch, and found that reservations actually began last weekend, and not next. So I checked the availability of campsites, and found exactly one campsite that my RV would fit which was available the days I wanted. Oh dear.

I didn't sleep that well, fed the cats at 6:30, and left by 7:15. This is earlier than I normally would, but the cats did not get sick, so it worked.

It was cloudy and a bit drizzly, but the scenery was pretty. I did have to pull over twice for logging trucks that were in a big damn hurry, but otherwise traffic was light.

I pulled into Kalaloch at 9am, and immediately drove to the campsite, hoping 1. it was still open, and 2. my rig would fit. Both were true! It's not the best site; it's right across from the bathrooms, Highway 101 is a stone's throw away, and it backs up to the dumpsters (literally, there's a dumpster eight feet from my rig). It's also tilted enough that I can't quite level it, and the rig is right next to the road so people need to drive carefully. But we're very happy to be here!

I walked over to the registration station, and found that someone had canceled the spot yesterday, which is why it was open--thanks, person!

After I got set up (and ate breakfast/lunch--I wasn't hungry before), I walked around the campground, which I did several times. I'm along the branch of the campground that is next to the road, but I haven't found it to be any louder than other places I've been (most KOA's are at least as noisy). Lots of tent camping, which since it rained all last night (it's the next morning), was probably not fun. Like I said, I'm a wuss, and like vehicle camping. I've tent camped in the rain enough, thanks. I also found some big rigs wedged into small spaces, and one of these rigs had the dashboard blocked off, with baby rabbits in it! The husband of the pair told me his wife is fostering the bunnies, while she picked them up and showed them to me. Not even baby bunnies can cancel a oceanfront camping trip! By the way, I can see the ocean from my spot as well, even if it's rather far away. I also saw at least two other cats on dashes, as well as a version of my rig, but without a couch and with the bed downstairs. I don't like it; I like mine much better!

I climbed down to the beach and walked along it for a while. It was low tide, and the water was very far out, Not a lot of shells, other than crab carapaces, but some very pretty rocks. Then it was back to the RV for reading and napping (all three of us decided to sleep--me and Puck on the couch and Nell in her favorite spot on the dash).

After the nap, I decided to check out the lodge. It's a short walk along the road from the far end of the campground to the lodge, where there's some overpriced things at the Mercantile (someone left a hot-dog-cooker at my spot, so I priced hot dogs--they want $5 for a pack of hot dogs!) plus a couple of reasonably priced things (I bought some jalapeno cheese crackers and a HUGE chocolate muffin, that I'm saving for when I really need chocolate), plus a restaurant that is way overpriced for dinner, but I plan to eat there for lunch today (before tide pooling, assuming the tide is low enough) and maybe breakfast tomorrow. The cabins there are very nice, with great views, but for what I'm paying for three days here I could stay there for maybe half a day. Another reason I like my RV!

After having tuna and green beans for dinner (and feeding the cats), I wandered over to the amphitheater to see if there was going to be a program. Nope. Bummer. So I wandered around the campground some more (I need the exercise), then I sat down at a (presumably temporarily) empty site to watch the sunset. With the clouds and the water and Destruction Island with its lighthouse in the distance, very pretty. And it meant that I was out of the campfire smoke. There wasn't much of a wind, and the smoke was just hanging over the campground. Blech. A wind would be nice. My jacket this morning reeked of smoke, even though I hadn't had a fire. Heck, who needs one! I did gather some driftwood, in case I feel like a fire, but even though it's under the picnic table, it's a bit damp.

I didn't sleep well, really. This damp cold is really cold, even though it's 58 inside (which is what I set the heat at other places) and only 53 outside. So I woke up after an hour or so to grab another blanket, and then had to rearrange myself around the cats (who were also cold) to make sure I had some blanket. Then the cats decided to play, then Puck horked up a hairball (luckily on a brochure I had left on the floor--I just chucked the whole thing out the door and dealt with it this morning), and then it started to get light. I'll have to try to get to sleep earlier tonight, maybe. And get the bed set up before I get in it.

So I woke up this morning, fed the cats, ate a tomato sandwich with a Pepsi (breakfast of champions!) and am now watching Hell's Kitchen while writing this. Hopefully the inverter I bought will allow the laptop to recharge, so I can watch more shows I have ready. Yep, that's me, in a beautiful wilderness area, watching bad TV. But it's raining, and it's cold! Wuss.


June 20--Kalaloch, WA

Lots more walking (on the beach and through the campground), as well as reading and napping. The weather has been the same pattern: rainy morning, partly sunny early afternoon, cloudy evening, rain at night. I've tried to be outside for the sunny parts as much as possible.

Walking the beach when the sun is out is very cool: the sand is dark and absorbs the sun's rays enough that it begins to steam, so mist is rising off the sand in the sun. Very pretty, and a bit eerie.

I walked to the lodge yesterday and did some tidepooling. There are rocks off the beach there, and at low tide I got to see a lot of barnacles, some limpets and whelks, and some big green anemones. No starfish, unfortunately, but still pretty cool. I then rinsed my feet off (I was wearing my new water shoes, which are partly neoprene which comes in handy in cold water), then had lunch at the lodge (in bare feet, but don't tell them!). A big hamburger with fries and a Pepsi, which was very good. Then I walked back and kept the cats company for a while.

The campground was pretty much full yesterday. The only open sites were those that have been reserved, but nobody showed--maybe they forgot, maybe it was too cold and they didn't think to cancel. I felt a bit bad for people who were coming by and could have stayed, but the sites were reserved. The ingenuity to keep the rain off the tents is amazing--lots of tarps tied here and there, as covers and roofs and such. My favorite so far is the person who had a big screened room with a nice waterproof roof who could fit both the picnic table and the tent in the enclosure. Still, I like my RV.

The campground was a bit noisier last night. A bunch of kids on bikes were riding around, plus some yahoos a few sites away decided they needed to play their music loud enough for me to hear it with my windows closed; I can't imagine how loud it was for those in the tents. I think someone finally told them to turn it down, because they did after a couple of hours. Yay!

I slept much better last night; I was even too warm near the end. I wonder sometimes how much is my metabolism, or how much I've been active. It was 57 this morning, but still felt colder.

I walked the nature trail this morning, which was beautiful. Overgrown trees, ferns, the path running through, a stream or two, really lovely. Lots of birds, many I've never heard before. There are some that sound like canaries, and one that sounds like some sort of electrical feedback. I didn't see any animals on the trail, but I did clap my hands occasionally to scare anything off (I have my period and figured since I smell like blood it was a good idea).

For lunch I went to the lodge again and had a sandwich that was a thing of beauty: bacon, lettuce, avocado, sprouts, and tomato, on thick wheat toast. Just amazingly good. Then more beach walking, sitting in the sun, reading, and playing with the cats (not all at the same time!).

We're headed out to Port Angeles tomorrow; it's kind of a shame to leave this quiet. But it'll be great to see Lynn and Colin, and to visit more of the park.


June 22--Port Angeles

We got up early as usual yesterday, and it was raining (as usual). I fed the cats and waited the hour before packing up, checking the tires (all OK!) and heading out.

I wanted to see some of the park on this side, so I turned in at the Hoh rainforest, much to the pleasure of some people behind me (the traffic was light, but I did have a couple of people pass me in a big damn hurry). I drove the speed limit up the Hoh valley, which pissed off more people, but did keep me from hitting a deer that was confused and decided to escape my vehicle by running right in front of it. No panic stop, luckily. The weather had gotten better, and by the time I got to the visitor's center the sun was actually peeking out.

I parked in the regular parking area (it was deserted enough, and the spots long enough, that I could do this) and went to the visitor's center. Not much to see, but I did then walk the Hall of Mosses. Some very pretty areas, with plants covering about every surface (including air plants on other plants!). My favorite sight, however, was probably the stream running through the area. The water was completely clear, and there were water plants growing under the surface that were swaying with the current. You could literally see one patch wave with different ripples of currents; it was hypnotic.

On the way down there was a lot more traffic, both going up and coming down. I did get a glimpse of a Roosevelt elk female nursing its calf, but it was only a glimpse because I was driving at the time and couldn't pull over. Then back to 101 and Forks.

Forks is the town chosen somewhat at random by Stephenie Meyer to set the "Twilight" books in. And the town has jumped into this with both feet. It used to be a dying lumber town (there's still a Lumber Museum here), but now everythign is Twilight. Tours, restaurants, shops, everything. Even a special pull-over for vehicles so people can get their pictures taken with the "Welcome to Forks" sign. No, I didn't stop--well, I did stop long enough to get a Subway sandwich, but that's it.

I kept driving towards Port Angeles. I saw that I was going to get in REALLY early, and when I passed the sign for the Sol Duc hot springs I decided to stop. It was up another long road into the interior (there are no roads that go through the Olympics, but several spur roads that go in a bit). I found that I could again park in the regular parking lot, and headed in. In all these stops, by the way (except for lunch), I let the cats out. They enjoy getting out of the carriers, and having something to watch, and I enjoy not having to worry about them soiling the carriers or getting thirsty. And luckily, I can pick up Puck to put him in his carrier, and Nell usually gets in herself.

There are four pools at the hot springs: a really hot (106 degrees) pool, a hot pool (102 degrees), a wading pool for kids (99 degrees), and a larger swimming pool that was 74 degrees, which may be a real pool (i.e. chlorinated; the smaller pools aren't treated because the water circulates so quickly). The water itself was odd; it made my skin feel slimy. It's possible that it was just really soft, but it was just weird. It also smelled of sulfur, but not too badly. I sat in the medium-hot pool for an hour or so, even reading my book for a while. The sun came out enough that it was really nice. And on the drive down I saw a doe with two fawns, which were very small and may have only been a day or so old--very cute!

I then continued around Lake Crescent (very deep, and a very interesting color, presumably from the glacier melt), then outside of Port Angeles I saw the view. It was clear enough (and we were high enough) that the Strait of Juan de Fuca was quite visible, with Vancouver Islands in the distance. It was so stunning, I nearly drove off the road. Just amazing looking, it didn't seem real.

Once I got to Port Angeles, I realized that I didn't have directions or a map. So after stopping at an Albertsons for some bread (which Puck promptly ate into--I suspect now it was him and not Nell behind the infamous bread eating episode!) I followed the main drag through downtown (which was pretty, if congested, particularl with an RV) till I saw signs for the park. I knew roughly where the administration building was in relation to the visitor's center, and there was also a sign. So I pulled in, parked across several spaces, and went in. I found Lynn without much trouble, and she and a coworker came and saw the kitties. Then we drove to her and Colin's house, which is very very nice. I did manage to park in the driveway, although it's rather unlevel. Oh well, I don't have to use my refrigerator anyway!

We went for a drive around town, then picked up pizza. It is a pretty town, and lots of places have a view of the Straits or the mountains or both.

I slept well in the RV, then did laundry the next morning. It was a sunny, clear day, and halfway through the laundry I decided to go up to Hurricane Ridge. I left the laundry in the washer (temporarily!) and got in Lynn's car (which drives very nicely!) and headed uphill.

Hurricane Ridge, about 18 miles above Port Angeles, is amazing. You drive up and up and up, with some impressive cliff action on one side and rock walls on the other, and then at the top you round a corner and there is about 180 degrees of snow-capped mountains, all seemingly about the same height, across the horizon. It's just amazing and stunning, and again it was good that I could stop and gawk. I went into the Visitor's center (passing a deer in the parking lot that was transfixing everyone else--um, it's a deer) and stared at the mountains until I got cold (it was 45 degrees up there, and even though it was sunny I hadn't really dressed for that weather). Then back down the mountain, where I also got to see the fog bank that was covering the strait and Puget Sound, but letting views of higher portions of neighboring mountains show through. Very pretty.

When I got down the hill I decided to wander around the college. I couldn't find any visitor's parking (there's some sort of construction going on taking up most of the parking), so I parked along the road and walked. And quite frankly, I couldn't find much of anything. I mean, I found the library and the student union and such, but there apparently are no departments and everyone is just kind of mixed together. Kind of confusing, but again the campus has a great view as well. Then to McDonalds for lunch (bad idea to hit fast food in Port Angeles at lunch time, apparently--I could barely get into the parking lot because of the line for the drive-through and I couldn't go in the out and bah). Then back home, whereupon I dried my laundry, put it away, hung with the cats for a while, and took a nap.

When Lynn got home, we went for another drive and scoped out houses, and then back home for steak. I'm now on their internet, and catching up on everything. I plan on doing a coast drive, as well as taking the ferry to Victoria, although I'm not sure when. I may well update this, but I intend to head to Seattle on Monday, and I'll certainly update then, if their Internet works!