Post-Bar Vacation – Olympic Peninsula, WA – Day 2

N and I got up early today so we could go out to Cape Flattery, which in not actually in the Olympic National Park, but is in the Makah Indian Reservation. We drove out Route 12, which is this windy, twisty but VERY scenic road. We took the trail out to these observation platforms at the trails end. They overlook Tatoosh Island, and are on the NW most point of the Peninsula (and the NW most point of the Lower 48!) While we were out there, we looked on one of the little rocky islands near Tatoosh and saw a whole herd of Northern Sea Lions (took me a while to figure out they were Sea Lions. I thought they were rocks till one moved. Damn them for being so far away. Stupid smart sea lions!)

The hike was nice, and thankfully pretty easy. N said his ankle felt fine, so we headed for the new Shi Shi beach trail to see what has been named America’s most beautiful natural beach. A short drive to the “access” trail head, and we were off. I have to imagine part of the reason the beach stays so nice is that the shortest trail to get to the beach is nearly 3 miles long, and includes a lovely (and very steep) switch back. But it was worth it. The beach was beautiful. Since it was cloudy, the beach just oozed this mystique that made it all the more fascinating.



As we hit the beach, we could see in the distance Point of Arches, a natural southern boundary to Shi Shi (pronounced "shy-shy") Beach. I was dying to see it up close, and N said his ankle was ok, so off we went down the beach.

Ok, so it wasn’t as close as I though it was, but I am so glad we walked all the way there (note, walking on a soft beach is SO annoying. You keep sinking in and losing like half the force of each step.) When we hit Point of Arches, we climbed on the rocks a bit, and got to creep around in some of the caves. Since it was low tide, there was all sorts of stuff to see. If it was high tide, most of the places we climbed on would have been underwater.

After playing on the rocks for awhile, we decided we needed to start hiking back, as we really wanted to get to the car and hopefully to Port Angeles before dark (Route 12 in the dark just sounded unappealing, seeing as how twisty it was.) A few hours, one blister and a very sore ankle later, we were back at the car, heading towards a nice Mexican dinner and a long drive back to Kent, WA (N’s house.) It was an awesome trip, and my “main” vacation hadn’t even started yet!

Post-Bar Vacation – Olympic Peninsula, WA – Day 1

The first few days of my vacation were actually in Washington state. Since my cruise was gonna take off from Seattle, I figured this would be a perfect time to visit N, a friend of mine from law school who has since relocated to Seattle. I told him I’d come visit. See, I keep my promises.

So we decided in our 3 days we would go to the Olympic Peninsula, which is in the Northwestern most part of Washington. It also houses the only deciduous rain forest in the US (and possibly the world, although I am not sure on that one…)

We were gonna do some long hikes, potentially going on a 2-3 day backpacking trip, but alas, that was not to be. See, N sprained his ankle the day before I got to Seattle. So we modified our trip.


First was kayaking in Freshwater Bay. We had a guide to take us all around the bay, looking at start fish, sea anemones, kelp, fish and even a harbor seal. Our guide was quite funny, the water was wonderfully calm, and the trip was awesome. We even got to paddle into a cave or two.



Later that day, we drove up Hurricane Ridge. The last time I was on Hurricane Ridge, it was March, the whole area was covered in about 8+ feet of snow and it was scary foggy for most of the ridge. But the snow was all gone (well duh, it was late August.) And the view was BEAUTIFUL. I could see a ton of the Olympic Mountains, as well as all the way out to the ocean.

It was so nice up there, but man, the car ride was twisty and rather narrow. You basically ride the breaks all the way down the hill. Gotta love a rental car, where you can burn the brakes and not worry about it. :-)

That evening, we cooked hot dogs and corn on the cob over a camp fire at our camp site in Heart O’the Hills (what a great name, huh?) The site was fab, all woodsy and camp-like. It was like “real” camping, except we got to drive there, and not hike in. Oh, and some kids playing war “shot” me, and then declared me dead. Lovely.

Where have I been? Or, where am I going to have been...

So since I didn’t have access to the internet pretty much the entire time I was on vacation, I figured I would post my vacation stuff now, and post-date it so you know what I was up to the past few weeks.

Thus, the dates for each entry should match up to the events in question, and not the date I actually posted them. Sorry it took so long to get this stuff up. It's been kinda crazy lately.

Why we should not drink a bottle of wine...

Because we say stupid stuff!! Yes, when we drink a bottle of wine, and our friends drink the same amount, we have a tendancy to say things we didn't quite mean to say. We tell stuff we didn't meant to tell. And, damn it, we think too much. This is why people should NOT play truth or dare with their friends after each person consumed about one bottle of wine a piece. Sometimes there is too much sharing. And sometimes we talk too much when we are rather drunk. Curse you drunkedness. You only bring me goodness when I am at that bar, and he is also a bit drunk. In which case, thank you drunkedness... :-P

These are the thoughts in your neighbor's head...

Have you ever had free time? (A silly question, but I know my audience.) Have you ever had enough free time to do some extensive people watching? If you are me, the answer is "Yes, of course!" Now the important question: aside from looking at the hotties, have you ever created a dialogue of what those people are thinking/saying? Because I have (duh, otherwise why would I have asked. Unless I was being a jerk and was gonna say "You do? You freak!" But I digress.....)

I have found this activity particularly entertaining of late, as I watch the people I pass in other cars while driving to/from Albany on I-90. (I-90, for those of you not in my area, is the main access for many a commuter to get to albany from the suburban/rural areas we call home.) People seem to have this bizarre idea that when they are in their car, no one can see them. Or maybe they just doin't care. After all, it is not like you are likely to see the other commuters ever again, except maybe commuting another day.

I was watching a guy the other day. He was talking to someone, or so I thought. As I got closer, I realized there was no one in the car. So I assumed he must be on a cell phone, despite the fact that he was gesturing wildly (wildly enough to swerve a number of times.) Still closer I could see that there was no cell phone anywhere near him. He seemed to be reciting a speech of some sort, and every swerve seemed to coincide with him checking the speech. I can only imagine what he was saying in his car. Maybe he is a minister, and he was preparing to do a service. "And He SAID (swerve swerve) to the PEOPLE (swerve) I AM the LORD (swerve.)"

Or maybe he was a wrestler, preparing for a big match. "I am gonna POUND (swerve) the purple MAN (swerve) into the GROUND (swerve weave adjust)!!"

I like to think he was a guy who was planning on going nuts at work, and this was him getting his game face on. "Is there a REASON (swerve) that all of you INCOMPETENT (swerve) people canNOT do your jobs RIGHT (swerve)! Must I make ALL the FRIES mySELF (Swerve swerve damn!)"

Of course, he could have been singing to the radio like I was. "thuderbolts and lightening, very very frightening...."