My Great Olympic Road Trip : Day 1, Stop 4

Continuing on our journey, Toni and I next began our venture into the the land of glittery vampires, Native American werewolves, and well, a lot of touristy traps... 

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Dazzled by Twilight store in Port Angeles, WA                                                               

Stop 4: Port Angeles

We left Port Townsend and followed our way through to Sequim passed many lavender farms, some of which we will talk about later. It had been crazy rain most the way, but as we approached Port Angeles the sun decided to momentarily come out and an interesting phenomena happened, the water began to evaporate off the streets at a very rapid pace creating a more steam than fog like mist rising off the streets. This very much hampered my visibility in driving, so that was kinda lame, but it looked extremely awesome. We failed to get a picture. Our first stop in Port Angeles is on the road to The Heart of the Mountain/ Hurricane ridge , but it is just the road there, we never went to Hurricane Ridge so still to this day I have yet to visit that wondrous place. Instead, we just stopped at the rangers station on the outskirts of town. It was a supper cool station, with like Jaw bones and rock type stuff to look at, free maps, and the MOST helpful ranger I have ever met in my life!!! they were awesome. the lady ranger at the service counter helped me and a few other travelers determine the best National Forest camp site to shoot for getting a camp spot at, It was not Sol Duc, it was Mora, which I had had as my intended destination since Sister Gibbons recommended it and said how beautiful it was. She was right. the ranger checked, no reports but due to rain, and lavender festival, and the fact that there are many camp sites there, she said it was a pretty safe bet. So we left the ranger station, and returned to Port Angeles for quick site seeing. The ranger even told us where we could find the twilight store.

 I learned on this trip, that Toni is odd, but I love her any way. Here is why she is odd, She hates Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, and anything of the kind,  but  she really likes Twilight. That is the complete opposite of the vast majority of my friends, but I love Toni for her unique opinion. so, Still in a foggy mist, we headed back towards town,  to Dazzled by Twilight. Well, I just typed the address from the ranger into the GPS and followed the sound, but when we got there, and saw the store, I couldn't really see the street signs indicating it was a one way street, so I decided to turn left and pull into parking right by the store, but as i turned i noticed there were a lot of cars heading towards me, and no lane for me to be in, quickly i pulled to the parking spot, flipped an u turn, and course corrected. Toni and I were a bit shaken, me more than Toni, as usually I am a fairly good driver and things like that don't happen, but we just found our parking spot and  because I was shaken it was quite a ways away, so we started walking and saw this cool scene 

The steamy fog that caused my poor visibility, but made for beautiful scenery

After that, we went to the crazy twilight store, full of sparkles and it was fun enough, and then we got in the car and started driving to La Push.  We drove past one of my favorite spots on the planet, and just took pictures but didn't stop. Lake Crescent, between Port Angeles and Sol Duc on the 101.  It is always the most beautiful blue-green water, and so placid. Today it was more dark blue, but parts of it were the pretty green. It was over cast. 

If I could I would live out here. I love this place!!!

End part 2.. trip to continue.

My Great Olympic Road Trip : Day 1, Stops 1-3.

http://mapq.st/qh8HiP  Please check out this link to a map as a visual reference of my trip.

My friend Toni  &  me.

So, last Saturday at about 9am my good friend Toni came over, and we were supposed to leave on our road trip. Item number one of our intended stops was some kayaking, but it had been raining like crazy and was still drizzling. We decided to play it by ear. I unfortunately was no where near ready to leave. I needed to take out the garbage, finish dishes, and change clothes just in case we did go kayaking.  We ended up actually leaving at 9:30 am, after about five trips back into my house (my poor dog was really confused if I was coming or going, or taking him with, we did not take him with  a friend took care of him). 

Stop 1: Poulsbo, WA
The first place we stopped is very near my house, and one of my favorite places on the planet,   the Poulsbo waterfront area. I took Toni on a quick tour of the charming little Norway in my back yard, and continued to debate the possibility of kayaking. After the rain picked up again, we gave up on that.  So I wanted breakfast, so  I took Toni to Sluys Bakery right there on the waterfront. I don't remember what Toni got, it was good, but I got a Viking Cup- wow!! sugar!! and I got some cheesy bread, which we ended up (by we, what I really mean is I ) living off of on Sunday.  Toni was charmed by the town, but we forgot to take pictures, mainly because I go there all the time, and it was too early, I think.  with that we headed off, and out of town, but I took a different road than normal and got completely lost!!! so some how I found a familiar road and we took some sort of back way and ended up driving through Port Gamble, which was nice, I wanted to do that.  Then we headed over the Hood Canal bridge. I love that bridge ,the water is pretty there. Toni thought so too.  well, once safely on the other side,  we decided that since we couldn't go kayaking, we may as well go to Port Townsend and check out a few things, but on the way I saw a sign that said "Mystery Bay" and I was like "I've never heard of Mystery Bay, that sounds exciting!!! wanna go?" and Toni was like, "its a road trip, that's what we do, we explore, lets go" so we took a detour. 

Star fish at Mystery Bay, WA

Stop 2: Mystery Bay and Fort Flagger
It was a quick stop, but a fun one. A long drive out, we thought we had passed it some how, but eventually we came to Mystery Bay. I had Toni pull out my newly acquired state parks Discovery pass so we could park (you now need one or to pay to park at state parks in Washington). There were many fishermen out, and it was an absolutely gorgeous view.  Toni and I walked down by the bay and  took a look. Toni commented that she didn't see any fish or anything, and then I noticed two star fish. I pointed them out and I got so excited. "that's the first time I have seen a real  live star fish" I exclaimed.  "me too, said Toni, and by real I mean not a Sea World one" that is also what I meant. so we took a picture. Then I decided since we were definitely not kayaking I would change back to my jeans from my cargo shorts. I changed in a park  toilet, it was the smelly kind, but I changed quickly.

light house at Fort Flagger

 Then I asked Toni if she liked historical things like forts, she did, so we went to Fort Flagger. We took a quick took around, but we didn't stay long, we were getting hungry. 


Stop 3: Port Townsend/ Fort Worden 
So, before I left on my trip, My bishops wife (who is Japanese and is awesome) told me that her brother worked as a chef at a sushi place in Port Townsend, its called Ichikawa, and since Toni loves sushi, we decided to go there for lunch if it was open. It was, and Sister Stoner's brother was there and cooked us lunch. It was loads of fun. I enjoyed some of the Edemame and California rolls that Toni ordered mmmm, delish. there were fish eggs on top ,and it was my first time eating them and I thought it was good, crunchy, and very interesting. I ordered a Bento Box, which was like a massive mystery sampler platter. Very good, well what I got was. The biggest entertainment here though, was the fact that there were just chop sticks and no forks. Toni tried to teach me to use chop sticks. It took a half hour, and was hilarious, but I got it down good enough to eat my salad, and everything. I loved most everything on my plate. the tuna was my favorite, yellow tail was the most interesting, and despite giving it a second try I still don't like eel. I like the flavor, but I can't handle the texture.  It was a blast. we took the left over Edemame and I ended up eating it with cheesy bread  on Sunday.  

Mandi Marquardt masters chop sticks

After lunch, we happily drove off to visit one of my favorite Forts. Since we didn't have all day to explore all the Bajillion forts and batteries, we just walked down by the beach and light house. Toni saw a pretty snail shell on the way, she commented then was going to kick it.  she stopped when she realized there was a live snail inside.  I  have a lot of memories at Fort Worden, so it was very interesting to visit there again. It was grey and cloudy and the second Fort of the day, so it didn't take long to decided that we were done, but that one day it would be really fun to stay at either Fort Worden, or Fort Flagger in  the quarters there. 

a battery at  Fort Worden, Port Townsend,WA

our friend the snail

 Well, that concludes stop 1-3, stay tuned for the rest of the journey =)