Up the Olympic Penninsula

Last night, after considering the slow times we had made along the coast yesterday and the fact that we wanted to make sure to catch the 5:15 ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, prudence demanded that we head back inland and take the Interstate north. Of course, wouldn't you know it, the morning dawned bright, blue and calm, but the die had been cast. So we picked up OR 18 and headed toward Portland. It was a pretty ride through the Willamette Valley and coming through McMinnville we passed the Evergreen Aviation Museum. The name rang a bell, but it was until this evening when I got online that I was able to find out that this museum is where Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose now resides. THAT certainly explains the size of the buildings, and probably also explains where the money came from to build such an extravagant set of buildings. I hope I can come back to visit inside one day.


Portland was enjoying a sunny and clear morning as we crossed the Columbia River. I don't know how it happens, but every time Gi visits, Portland is sunny and lovely. I know she's getting the wrong idea about this place.

Traffic on I-5 was pretty miserable, particularly after our luxurious tours of the backroads the past few days. I don't know when I've seen so many putzes tooling along under the speed limit in the left lane. I hate weaving through Interstate traffic, but they left me no choice. Fortunately, it was only about 120 miles from Portland to Olympia, WA, where Hwy 101 branches off from the Interstate and heads north along the Hood Canal and up the Olympic Peninsula.


Gi got some lovely pictures along the canal -- local people gathering clams and other bivalves at low tide, fishing boats at anchor on some of the smoothest, flatest salt water you'll ever see. I'm only sorry that she didn't catch some of the fireworks stands set up one on top of another around the Skokomish reservation. I particularly liked the one named "Illegal Fireworks." A lot of the route was windy, tree-lined two-lane -- absolutely a top-notch scenic drive -- and the traffic wasn't too bad considering that it was a Friday.


The Interstate detour got us to Port Angeles way ahead of schedule -- we were there at 3 PM for the 5:15 ferry. Even so, four bikes were ahead of us, although another eight bikes arrived later. The award for most humorous comment of the day goes to the young woman running the ferry ticket office. We pulled up to the ticket window on the motorcycle and she waved us through to go park the bike and come back inside to buy our tickets. Believe it or not, the first question out of her mouth when we walked up to the counter was, "Is there just the two of you?"

We took advantage of the interlude to catch a bit of lunch at a nearby cafe where Gi had a crab cake sandwich and I had a basket of fried oysters ... mmm, mmm. Although we had encountered some clouds coming up the east side of the peninsula, they were all burned off over Port Angeles and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In fact, the clouds were pretty much gone from the mountains behind the city and I was actually able to see the Cascades and Mount Olympus clearly for the first time ever.


Of course, the 90 minute ferry ride to Victoria was brisk -- even a little wind coming off THAT water will put a chill in your bones. And then we ended up circling just outside Victoria harbor (kind of like an airliner when traffic gets backed up) because one of the Princess Cruise ships was just leaving port to head up the Inside Passage. When we finally got to port, it was the usual scramble of choking fumes as people kept starting and stopping engines in anticipation. This particular ferry, unlike others we've taken the bike on, loaded motorcycles last and didn't let them off early, but since the deck wasn't full of cars, we managed to jockey around and got off before most of the other vehicles.

So, we splurged a bit and for the next couple of nights we'll be pampering ourselves at the Delta Ocean Pointe resort. A long soak in the jacuzzi really helped ease the ache out of our butts, but I can't say we were highly motivated to leave the room later. We finally did force ourselves to head out for a walk on a chilly evening. The downtown center is charming and full of interesting shops. We found a tapas bar for a light, late meal (grilled chicken pizza for Gi and grilled Portuguese sardines for me), before wandering back to the hotel to crash.