2008 – Week 12

Tuesday, July 15, 2008:
We left the campground at 7:15am and arrived at the RV Repair Shop at 7:45am for our 8:00am meeting. The insurance adjuster was there, and the estimate the shop made was accepted. The shop removed the awning structure so that we would feel more comfortable driving down the road. We will return next Tuesday to have the work done. They expect it will take 3 days so we should be back on our trip the end of next week. Since we can drive the RV, we are planning to use the time until next Tuesday to visit Olympic National Park at the extreme northwest corner of Washington and Victoria British Columbia on Vancouver Island. We had lunch in a small restaurant, changed the engine oil and transmission fluid and then drove south from Marysville to Edmonds and took a short ferry ride to Kingston. This trip eliminated the need to drive south around to get around the head of Puget Sound. This part of Washington State would be an entirely different place if they didn’t have this ferry system. By the way, the State of Washington is auctioning off some old ferries and may have put them on eBay, so if you always wanted a ferry, here is your chance. We drove northwest across the Hood Canal Bridge towards Port Angeles. The bridge over the Hood Canal is a floating bridge as are two others in the Seattle area. It opens by pulling a floating section out of the way. I am not sure if any private traffic is allowed in the Hood Canal, as it is the base of several nuclear subs. Since 9/11, there has been security at this bridge whenever it opens for the submarines to pass through. When we passed over the bridge, there was as US Coast Guard cutter, maybe about 80 feet long, on the north side just sitting there. We stopped at the Sequim Bay State Park. I took Daisy down to the cold salt water. She hesitant at first, but decided retrieving sticks was still a good game. We played for about 20 minutes, and then I insulted her by giving her a cold fresh water bath. It will be a few days before she forgives me, but she sure smells better. Sequim Bay is probably 3/4 miles across and 2 miles long with 2 spits at right angles to each other at the entrance that gives good protection. The hills around the edge are about 100 feet high, giving it a wonderful feel. No matter where we seem to go, the scenery is terrific. We took a walk around the campground, and a large dog on a too long lease came into the road in a very aggressive manner. The Owner’s comment, while still talking on her cell phone was that her dog likes to chase people. People with attitudes like that make it hard on responsible pet owners. Sunset was beautiful. I made reservations on the ferry to Victoria and 3 nights in a nearby campground. We’ll go there Friday late afternoon and return late Monday.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008:
Awoke this morning to 57-degree temperature and low hanging clouds. We took showers and are feeling very clean; that 2 showers in 3 days, not bad. Susie is trying to catch up with her drawings before we leave to travel west along the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Luca. We left the campground at 11:00am and headed west, only to be diverted by a trip to the Dungeness NWR. The NWR consists of a bit of land and 5 mile long sand spit in the Strait of Juan de Fuca that grows 15 feet in length every year. When it was built in 1857, the New Dungeness Lighthouse was on the end of the spit, but no longer. Now it is almost a half mile from the end.
From there we went to the Olympic NP Visitor Center in Port Angeles, talked to several rangers who gave us lots of consistent advice and so we headed west and then south to the Hoh Rain Forest section of the NP. Before we left Port Angeles, we stopped at Safeway, bought groceries and filled up with gas. On the way we passed Crescent Lake, a lake formed by glacial action thousands of years ago.
The lake is 624 feet deep, and the water is as blue as any we have seen, except perhaps Lake Superior. Daisy went for a quick dip but it was too cold for her. Hoh Rain Forest is a temperate rain forest with more than 12 feet of precipitation, mostly from October through March. As we drove east into the west side of the NP the effects of this moisture became apparent: more moss on the trees and more lush undergrowth. The road into the Hoh Rain Forest follows the Hoh River upstream. The river was full of downed trees, some of them recent, from the raging river. The riverbed is full of small diameter river rock worn smooth by the river action. Once we were in the NP, we saw the “Monarch of the Rain Forest” a 500 year old Sitka Spruce.
It was 250 feet tall and had a diameter of 12.5 feet at 6 feet above the ground. We continued into the park and found a campsite and settled in. We had dinner, after an application of bug spray, and then listened to a Ranger talk about the need and actions of fungus in the growth of plant life. It was an early to bed night, with the Hoh River rushing in the background.

Thursday, July 17, 2008:
Low hanging clouds and mist drifting through the very large moss covered trees was the view as I looked through the RV windows. Before I got up, I thought it had rained but then remembered about the fast running Hoh River. There was not much activity in the campground until after 8:00am. I walked Daisy, fed her and then restocked her food container. Susie worked on her pictures from the trip yesterday. At 11:00am we went on a Ranger led walk along the Spruce Nature Trail Walk along the Hoh River, followed by another Ranger led walk along the Hall of Mosses Trail Walk in the afternoon. The first was a great introduction to a temperate rain forest in its natural state.
The NP does not clear trees that have fallen nor do they permit logging or salvage. The only time a chainsaw is started is if a tree has fallen across a road or trail. We walked back to the RV after the first tour to check on Daisy and to shed some of our warm clothes. The second walk built on the information we learned during the morning. During the second tour we were introduced to the 7 main trees in the western portion of the park: Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock, Red Alder, Big Leaf Maple, Vine Leaf Maple and Western Red Cedar. They were all first growth trees. The Douglas Fir, Sitka Spruce, Hemlock ranging from 250 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter and 300 years. The Douglas Fir are resistant to forest firs because of its thick bark. We saw signs of elk, but no elk. We saw Coho Salmon, about 3 inches long, were born this year. We learned that if a 100-year-old tree fell in the forest it would take about 100 years to completely return to the earth. As we walked through the forest, we noted as many as 5 trees in a straight line and were told that a fallen tree had become a “nurse log”, and seedlings had used it as a source of nutrients and moisture. Often we could see through the base of the new tree where the nurse log had been. We were also told that one of the very large trees had fallen near the Visitor Center with such violence that all of the alarms in the cars in the parking lot were activated. Now, one of those things is annoying, but just imagine 75. The Hall of Mosses is a clump of living maple trees that are completely covered with hanging moss. From another source, we learned about the Park’s program to reintroduce the fisher species into the park and the State of Washington. These are very shy animals, a part of the weasel family, and we first saw one in Adirondack State Park in 2003. Susie saw another while running a few years later. We took Daisy to the river and found a spot where there was back eddy so she was able to swim safely. We threw some sticks, but they all sank!

She will sleep well tonight. While Daisy was swimming, we talked to a newly married couple on their honeymoon. He has recently graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and will be starting work when they return. We think they have been traveling for about a month and have decided to head back home in Golden CO. They were excited about what they have seen so I’m sure they’ll do some more later. We were going to another Ranger talk, but there wasn’t one, leaving us to work on our blogs and pictures. It has cooled down a bit, and the sky is absolutely clear.

Friday, July 18, 2008:
When we awoke, the clouds were so low that they obscured the top half of the mountains, and it wasn’t until 11:00am that the sun broke through. We had a leisurely breakfast of eggs, sausage and coffee and then started to pack the RV for the trip to Port Angeles and Victoria BC. Susie had started to take Daisy for a walk but returned saying that there was a bull elk (Daisy discovered it) in the adjacent campsite. I found the camera, took a few pictures and realized that the elk was moving towards our campsite.
He saw me, gave a good look as if the say “What are you doing in my eating area?” he was gone in about 10 minutes, but during that time I was unable to retrieve the Coleman stove and other miscellaneous breakfast dishes. Susie had left with Daisy for her late morning walk, and I met them in the Hoh Visitor Station parking lot. Susie and I only had time for an hour walk, so we took the Hoh River Trail that extends to the base of the glacier. We only went a mile or so and then had to turn around. We some examples of the trees we had seen the previous day. We also saw downed trees along the trail, some of which must have been 200 feet in length.
They had not yet turned into nurse logs, but soon they will. We left the Hoh Forest and drove to Port Angeles replenishing cash and gas along the way. We saw a very unusual sight on the way back to Port Angeles. A large RV, one of those that looks like as bus, was driving down the road with its slideout (a slideout allows the operator of the vehicle to increase the living space when the vehicle is parked) on the left side projecting about 2 feet. So instead of an 8 foot wide vehicle, it was 10 feet wide. In comparison to our misadventure, if the slideout hit anything at 50 mph, it would probably rip apart the entire left side of the vehicle. We could not imagine that the driver didn’t know, unless he never uses left outside mirror. In the gas station, we saw Chris and his wife. They had an enjoyable hike along Crescent Lake. The ferry departed at 5:15pm, and we arrived at 3:30. While Susie was making lunch, I checked in and in the process spied a Dairy Queen. We had desert before the main course. The ferry departed on time, and we headed across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Leaving the harbor, which is behind a sand spit (Ediz Hook), I noticed a US Coast Guard station with numerous buildings and an airstrip. The waves were crashing against the seawall so I was a bit concerned for Daisy who was in the RV. After a bit the seas calmed, and we had a nice ride. As Victoria came into view we began to think it was not just a quaint little city because of the height of the building and the 2 large cruise ships moored to a pier. We departed the ferry and wandered through the city to the campground where we’ll stay for the next three nights. We received the most valuable information on transportation opportunities etc from the campground we have ever received n all our travels. There is a bus nearby so we’ll use public transportation and leave the RV in place. We took Daisy to a leashless dog park, and she had a great time playing ball. It is not often we get to let her run loose. We also spent some time talking to a model airplane enthusiast who was flying his battery powered plan around the park. It looks like fun. We returned to the campsite and flushed the water systems to make sure all was well. It is still light here at 9:30pm, and I think we are near a car racetrack, and a single line rail track splits the campground. Let’s see what those bring.

Saturday, July 19, 2008:
Today was a bit different, we move campsites so as to get better WiFi service and found that the occupant of the adjacent was a Canadian who was also an artist. He told us that there was a festival sponsored by the Art Museum named the “Moss Street Paint-In”. We took a double-decker bus (sitting in the front right corner in the trees) into town and started walking. There were more than 150 artists, mostly painters but some potters, one glassblower and one rope mat maker (he used manila rope something I haven’t seen in a long time but remember how tough it could be on a small boy’s hands). If anyone is interested in an unusual outside entrance mat, his web site is http://www.theropedoctor.com. We started walking about 11:00am and finished a t 3:30pm without any nourishment except for one small cookie split between us. We knew we were in trouble when we stopped to get a sausage in a roll and were told “no more rolls”. I bought Susie a hand blown perfume bottle that was made by one of the exhibitors as a wedding anniversary present. We finally found food at the museum and had cheeseburgers, fries and sodas. There was an exhibit of Andy Warhol in the museum, and today it was free. I declined, but Susie went in, and I think I cap-napped while digesting my lunch. When she was done, we started walking into the heart of town to visit the toyshop we were told about yesterday. After much hemming and hawing on my part Susie bought me a radio controlled model airplane powered by an electric motor. Knowing that I was a beginner, we bought a spare wing, spare rudder and spare battery. As I am writing this, I think it might have been almost as cheap to by another whole plane, but too late for that, I think. We took the bus back to the campground and checked our e-mail.


Sunday, July 20, 2008:
Today we went downtown to Victoria to tour the Royal British Columbia Museum. They had a permanent exhibit that explained how Vancouver Island came to be, and the animals that came and went during that period. It was an extensive exhibit, and we both think the best of its kind that we have ever seen. The information was the same, but the presentation was great. A temporary exhibit honored the Centennial of British Columbia. It also was well done. We think this museum gets top honors. We grew weak in the knees and had a bit to eat in the Museum Café before walking along the harbor to kill a bit of time before we went to a tour of the British Columbia Legislative Building. Like all the government buildings we have seen, this was magnificent and perhaps a bit overdone given the number of people it served in British Columbia when it was completed in 1898, but expanded a bit later. After all, there are only a little more than 4,200,000 people now. Each member of the legislature serves 50,000 people. I wonder how that compares to our states. We learned that the first judge in the territory was known as the hanging judge, not because he hung all the defendants, but because he threatened to hang the jury if they didn’t bring back the verdict he thought was proper. It was a great building, and in the 1950’s someone had the bright idea to renovate it. They were going to replace the mosaic stone floors and wood floors with sheet linoleum. They actually put a hung ceiling (2 ft by 4 ft grid and acoustic tile) in the main reception area, complete with fluorescent lighting. This obscured all the wonderful woodwork and the interior view of the dome. That bit of work was quickly removed and the space returned to the original design after a successful hue and cry from the public. It rang a bell with us because in the 1950’s the owners of our present house did a bit of the same, covering the original molding and destroying base pieces to put up a fiberboard wall covering more commonly used for basement finishing. We reversed that in 2005. We saw Toyota Prius hybrids used as taxicabs. We then walked north and went through Chinatown, but didn’t buy anything. We walked to the bus and returned to the campground where we had a nice time with our neighbors. They are full time RV’ers. He is an artist, and she works as a consultant for the RCMP. He managed to put together a painting in 2 days. If we hadn’t seen the partially started sheet on Saturday morning and the completed painting this afternoon, we wouldn’t have believed it. He doesn’t do any work with a pencil, just ink and then paint. No room for error there. They left to make a movie on cable, and Susie and I dove into our evening tasks. It was a beautiful and fruitful day. The only downer is that our feet and legs hurt from pounding the pavement. Tomorrow we head north to Sydney to catch the 5:30pm ferry to the US and RV repair. By the way, we are getting tired of hearing that the US Dollar is not worth as much as the Canadian Dollar. Some places really take advantage and others accept US the same as Canadian.


Monday, July 21, 2008:
We spent the morning walking Daisy, doing another 4 loads of laundry, cleaning the RV (and ourselves) before leaving the campground at 11:30am. We stopped at Canadian Tire to purchase 12V light bulbs with a higher intensity than we can find in the US and then went north on the peninsula to look at the Blum????? Gardens. It was a bit pricy and full of common plants so we decided to continue up the west side. There were wonderful views along the way.
We never cease to be amazed by the amount and quality of the plants in this part of the world. We arrived in Sidney way too early, but walked Daisy and then the town where we discovered numerous galleries and, best of all for both of us, an old time bakery. We bought 2 sugar donuts for immediate consumption, 2 chicken pot pies for diner and finally 2 apple strudels for breakfast tomorrow. We loaded on the ferry back to the US at 5:45pm. The ferry stopped at Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands and then continued on to Anacordes WA at 8:30pm. We drove east and then south on I-5, planning to spend the night at the RV repair place, but found a Rest Area that allowed overnight parking and stayed there. We heated up the pot pies and had a good, but late dinner. Sleeping in the Rest Area was really no noisier than some of the campgrounds we have paid good money to in the past. Up tomorrow to head a bit more south to get the repairs done.