Vacation time again …
This time to the pacific northwest … Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula.
We spent the first night in the holiday Inn near the airport … We were going to get in a little late and didn’t want to mess with getting the car an finding parking. Just as well too, ad our flight was delayed by two hours. We arrived at the motel around 1am.
The next morning we picked up the car (a nice ford escape, non hybrid) and headed to our first stop in Port Angeles … Colette’s Bed & Breakfast.
Talk about a find! The grounds are amazing. Incredible gardens. The neighbors, although a little loud on occasion, are great! Here’s a picture of the dad of the family … he’s doing some grocery shopping at the local fish market.
Oh yeah, the food is great too. Karen & Richard, the inn keepers, are great cooks and very accommodating to all food preferences & allergies.
We spent 3 nights at Collete’s … wandering around the general area in & around Olympic National Park. Drove up to Hurricane Ridge … which was kind of exciting, as the fog allowed for about 50 foot visibility most of the time. Did a bit of hiking, but generally relaxed.
Our next stop was Kalaloch Lodge, which is run by the national park service … this, unfortunately, was a big disappointment. It’s a bunch of cabins near the beach … and to say they were spartan would be an understatement. We were originally going to stay two nights there, but decided to change it to one night. Just as well, the next day was pretty lousy weather. We ended up getting our Seattle reservation changed to start a day early and bombed back to civilization.
The only thing that was actually good at Kalaloch Lodge was the food … it was pretty tasty. We also had some fun with our waitress … both Ginny and I wanted to try their Beer sampler … but we told her to surprise us with the beers she included … and that she should include her favorite also, and we would try to guess which one it was. I guessed it was Pikes Monks Uncle and was correct.
After stopping to meet one of Ginny’s online friends in Hoquaim, we got to Seattle and checked into the Hampton Inn that we usually stay at when we’re visiting for the Folk Life music festival.
On Thursday we got together with more of Ginny’s friends from the area … Christine met us for lunch in Windslow on Bainbridge Island … and Kevin & Lynn met us for dinner a few hours later. Between lunch & dinner we wandered around a bit … and visited the Bloedel Reserve, which is a nice botanic garden. My only complaint is that they don’t offer reciprocal privileges for members of other botanic gardens.
Friday we did a bit of walking around near lake Union, checking out the Center for Wooden Boats. Then had lunch at McCormick & Schmicks. In the afternoon we headed into Folk Life to see some acts. It started raining, so we found a few indoor venues. We had dinner at a Thai place and called it a night.
This morning, as we were getting ready, I noticed that my hiking boots were falling apart … but I only had one pair of shoes suitable for extended walking around in … so, after breakfast, we headed to the REI flagship store … now that’s one big store. The entrance looks like a trail head (including waterfall). I got a new pair of boots and we headed back to the hotel. Right now we’re just waiting for my iPhone to charge up a bit and then we’ll head back to see some acts at Folk Life.