Back in the USA

From Seattle to Victoria and then back to Washington state… this story is about waking up early to catch a ferry back to Washington and our adventures as we explored more of that state while the previous two talked about our time visiting those cities. This is the end of week two and into the beginning of week three… it’s Thursday (day 17 of our trip) as I write this.

Traveling on Westy Time

Babe had been telling us something in the mornings as we were making our way west… she was getting reluctant to start when it was cold and damp. In general it was only in the morning and it was more difficult the colder it was. She did start every morning though. Until we got up around 5AM to try to get in the queue for the first ferry to Port Angeles. This was at Jaye and Jay’s place. And Babe made a point of telling us who was in control of the schedule. So we’ve been traveling to her schedule since. That morning it was a stop at Canadian Tire after we got a boost. One new battery installed and then it was off to the ferry and a lunch in Victoria while we waited to board. More on the starting issue later, it’s been a recurring theme.

The trip across was uneventful. At least until we got back to Washington where all of the campers on board were searched for contraband foods. No questions about good purchased, amount of tobacco or alcohol. Just things like fresh veggies, fruit, meats and such. We had been quite attentive to make sure we didn’t have anything that we thought would be on the list. We never expected basmati rice to be a problem but for some reason it got confiscated. You never know what to expect… one time it’s eggs, another time it’s rice.

Rusty handcuffs in the search area

Welcome Back (to Washington State)

A quick look at the map told us that we should shop in Port Angeles as there wasn’t much likelihood of getting much where we were headed. So we stocked up.

We had intended to go to the Hoh Rain Forest but had been forewarned that the road was under construction and it was likely closed. That was indeed the case so we reset our plan and decided we’d explore the Quinault Rain Forest instead. That put us heading further south than planned so we looked for a camping spot along the coast. It was getting dark, it had been raining for much of the drive, and we weren’t sure that we’d be able to get a spot where we had picked to try. I think we can thank the rain for changing people’s minds about their weekend plans as there was a short list of spots available due to cancellations. We weren’t fussy, any spot was fine by us so we took the first one we got to. The next morning was a little exploring of the beach (our first real Pacific coast experience since 2005) and then we headed to Quinault.

Rain Forest and Big Trees

Andrea and I got to hug some ancient trees when we were in New Zealand and when we had been out to Tofino. We were looking forward to more of that and we definitely got it kick-started in Quinault. Of course it was wet… it’s what you should expect when you go to a rain forest! It definitely pushed us to (beyond) the limits of our rain preparedness. Footwear in particular. So after our little hugging spree I got a fire lit and we tried to dry things as much as possible. We kept the top down so we wouldn’t be packing up a wet canvas top. We did use the Shady Boy awning and it got packed up wet, dried the next day so all is good.

One wet day was enough for us though so we headed back to the coast from the rain forest. More on that in the next update!

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