Thistle, Driftwood and Rubies on the Beach

We planned to leave home bright and early Thursday, July 24, bound for Kalaloch and the gathering of the Surdyk clan. Since we were pretty busy Wednesday evening loading up the car, 

we decided to give our local New York Pizza shop a try for dinner.

It was pretty darn good - a combination of tomatoes, garlic sauteed mushrooms and spinach. 

We ate about half of it and brought the rest along for lunch the next day on the road.

We woke up Thursday morning to a few raindrops, but the weather forecast promised a sunny and dry weekend ahead, so we weren't discouraged in the least.

We usually stop at Starbuck's when we head out early for an adventure, but we had driven by the Top Pot doughnut/coffee shop many times since it opened recently, and decided to give it a try instead.

I had an Ovaltine latte - couldn't resist that - and a chocolate doughnut.

 Larry had his usual vanilla latte and an apple fritter. We were fueled up for the road!

We made our way to the ferry terminal in Edmonds, only encountering a brief stretch of bad traffic,

 and read our books while we waited in line.

We boarded the Spokane and were on our way to Kingston and beyond...

Our little car packed to the brim. The roof rack reminds me of the long-ago days when Mom, Dad, Bobby, Margie and I would all squeeze into our little VW bug, it's roof rack piled high with our tent and sleeping bags. We got a lot of stares of amazement along the way during our many road trips, especially when we all poured out when we reached our destination. Those were fun times!

We drove through the pretty little town of Port Gamble. Founded in 1853, by Maine businessmen 

Andrew Pope and William Talbot, Port Gamble was the longest continuously operating mill town in North America. Authentically restored and operated by Pope Resources, 

Port Gamble is the only remaining company owned mill town in Puget Sound.

 

It would have been fun to wander around town, since most of the houses had historic plaques,

 telling their stories.

But we must move on...

We drove across the Hood Canal Bridge...

Hood's Head is a small private island located just north of the Hood Canal Bridge

 that is accessible on foot only at low tide via a sand spit.

 We headed up Highway 101 towards Sequim.

While doing the research on my family history, I had learned that Nicholas and Alice Sheffer had lived in Dungeness for awhile. In fact, that was where Alice had left him and journeyed to Walla Walla.

 As I was looking at the map while we were driving, I discovered that we were very close to Dungeness, 

and I really wanted to visit! It gives me a feeling of knowing my ancestors better when I can come close to walking in their footsteps. Larry agreed that a side trip to Dungeness Bay would be a fine idea, 

especially since he wanted to see the Dungeness Spit.

I can certainly understand why Nicholas wanted to be here. Why Alice left, we'll never know for sure. Perhaps she didn't like the feeling of being on the very edge of the world!

Thistles

By Heidy Steidlmayer

stand as clocks fully struck

in fields of fading flowers—

when the fires of summer come

they will gather up the hours

of rains past, frost endured

and famished stalks in full gale

that begin their telling once

all forms of telling fail

We were disappointed to find that we couldn't drive out to the spit.

 

We found our way back to Hwy 101, and headed towards Port Angeles. 

We didn't have any reason to stop there, so kept on going...

We stopped at the Olympic National Park Visitor's Center and picked up some maps.

 Larry bought me an early birthday present - 

It really came in handy. I was able to identify all kinds of wildflowers and trees along the way...

 Crescent Lake

Larry taking a picture of a Madrona Tree...

We stopped to use the restrooms near the Storm King Ranger Station.

Salmon Berries

Salmonberry leaves like an aura
around sinewy branches. Each leaf
points towards the sky. Each flower,
a magenta bell, hangs down...

Jane Munro

The Historic Ranger Station Building wasn't open, but  we walked down the short trail to the lake...

The water was a lovely shade of turquoise.

We found a picnic table and ate our leftover pizza. 

We traveled on through Forks and towards the ocean. 

We stopped at Ruby Beach before heading for Kalaloch.

 

It was a pretty hike down to the beach with lots of ferns and wildflowers.  

We had to climb over a few driftwood logs to reach the beach...

 

 

Oregon Grapes on the trail back to the parking lot. 

We finally made it to the South Beach campground to meet up with Nora and her family. 

 We were amazed at how crowded it was, but Nora had a prime spot at the end of the bluff, 

and there was a place saved for us.

With Andy and Ben's help, we got the tent up...

 

Larry got the cots up and the sleeping bags rolled out. Duchess made herself at home and we went over to the Surdyk camp and relaxed with everyone around the fire until bedtime.

I needed my warm slipper socks! 

 ...and my leggings. Almost time to crawl into the sleeping bag. 

 

More adventures to come!