Thursday, 23 August

After a long day and a late night yesterday, it was hard to get up this morning. We were getting low on water, so Gene prepared to connect to the water supply. We have developed the habit (based on a bad experience in the Outer Banks) of tasting the water before using it. So Gene drew a glass of water, but he didn't even taste it. It was yellow with rust. So we will be taking on water tonight (if it tastes okay).

We didn't have time to write the entry for yesterday and still check out on time. As it was, we were just a few minutes late pulling out. On the way we went by a new neighbor, a small, interesting-looking motorhome with a strange license plate. Gene guessed that it was from Germany.

Gene had picked up the ferry schedule, but we didn't want to leap back in to the maze and mess of downtown traffic, so when we got to Interstate 5 we turned left. We had a little less than half a tank of fuel, so we figured we would get well away from the Seattle price zone and pick up fuel.

At Olympia (the capital) we turned right onto US 101, which goes up the Olympic Peninsula toward Port Angeles. At the edge of Olympia we stopped at a Barnes and Noble and finished the entry for yesterday and posted it. Then we looked for some lunch but didn't spot any nearby, and since we were still in a fair bit of traffic, we opted to move on. We eventually spotted a Subway, where we found that some of the options, like choice of cheese, vary from place to place.

At first the road went along the bottom of Puget Sound, then it moved inland to follow the Hood Canal. This is not a canal in the usual sense, but a very long, relatively narrow arm of Puget Sound.

The road went alternately through deep woods and small villages clinging to the shore. At one place we stopped, there were people down on the shore (I would hardly call it a beach) collecting things, probably clams or oysters. Another place there was a sign telling people it was illegal to catch fish, shell fish, or octopus (octopus?!)


We had tentatively set our goal for Port Townsend or Port Angeles. We blasted right by what turned out to be the only road into Port Townsend, and didn't make it as far as Port Angeles. So tonight we are in a campground in Sequim (pronounced "Squim"), where the water is good and the temperature is actually cold. We probably won't backtrack to Port Townsend, so it is on to the Hoh Rainforest tomorrow.