Washington State 3

Saturday, August 26—We got up and had a hardy breakfast before our “Hosts with the Most” drove us all the way to Port Townsend to meet John Rogers, who was house sitting in two different places for a few months. He and Barbara lived here for a few years after retirement and it remains one of his favorite places in the world. The five of us walked around the historic downtown, and in and out of quaint shops where John was sometimes recognized by name, before having lunch at the Belmont, which has been in the same spot since 1885, and again John was greeted like an old friend. We ate lunch in the hot sun on the deck overlooking the water before Oiens headed back to Tacoma. John drove us around to show more of the town and, after agreeing that we’d do the cooking while we visited, we got groceries and headed to the large home in a heavily wooded neighborhood that John was inhabiting. Amazingly and sadly, it looks like we neglected to get any pictures of the house, but it was lovely and secluded, with the main living space upstairs, and a bedroom (where we slept) and large great room downstairs, at ground level.

The architecture of this port town has been strongly influenced by the
ships which have been coming here for hundreds of years. This is
the restored Hastings Building.

The rowing club and workshop had many beautiful skiffs,
many of which were wooden and handmade.  

The History of The Belmont, where we ate lunch.

The view as we drove around the upper part of Port Townsend

Sunday, August 27—Today was devoted to driving to Olympic National Park and its environs. Because John is so familiar with the area we took a circuitous, scenic route ending up at Hurricane Ridge, with its dissipating glaciers and magnificent vistas.

During a stop at the East Gate Visitors Center, we realized that this was the last day for
people to buy a $10 Lifetime Senior Pass before it went up to $80.  Although Marv has two
of them, I couldn't resist the chance to support the parks at a bargain price, so I bought one too. 

The Visitors Center is near the bottom of the steep drive up to Hurricane Ridge,
but it still has a really nice view across the water to Victoria on Vancouver Island, Canada.

John drives the roller coaster road up to the Ridge with Peggy beside him. 

Bailey Range beyond the Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center

Bailey Range and Mount Olympus
Sadly, the glaciers are shrinking here, just like everywhere else in North America.
We heard the same fears from Park Rangers that we had heard in Glacier National Park,
of the very real possibility that there will soon be no glaciers to visit and study. 

John and Marv

After a long visit and a quick lunch at the Visitors Center, Marv and I took the
short hike towards the ski hill area of the park while John took a nap in the car.
You can clearly see the still barren hillside from a forest fire a few years ago.

Mountain Meadow flowers in bloom with the forest beyond.

Part of the walk was through forest area

Mountainside Selfie

We drove back to Port Angeles and to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on the Dungeness Spit (yes, like the famous crabs). We all walked the trail out to the lookout above the spit, then Marv and I went down, down, down the steep hill to the water’s edge before going back up to return with John to the car and then back to Port Townsend.

Peggy & John hiking to the Lookout Point

Another great view of Mount Baker

The long, long spit curls out over 5 miles and is constantly changing with the waves and the tides.

The Lighthouse out on the point can be visited but we didn't have time
to make the 5.5 mile sandy hike by the time we got to the Refuge.

The waves would start way down the shoreline and roll up to us and beyond
in a never ending low roar. It was mesmerizing!

Washington State 2

Friday, Aug. 25--The problem with writing this Blog 4 months later is that the memory fails and, if I rely strictly on the dates of photos, things can get a bit confused. Therefore, it occurs to me that the exploring above might have happened on the 23 and the 24^th. In any case, according to dates on the pictures it appears that we spent Friday, Aug. 25 in Seattle. Parking at the Capitol Hill neighborhood house of Oiens’ daughter and son-in-law, Heidi and Daniel, we set off on bus and foot to explore some of Seattle until those two architects finished work at their respective firms.  We had all visited Seattle before (The Oiens, extensively) so we headed down towards Pike Place Market and popular Pier 57 area because we wanted to end up at Heidi's firm on Pier 56, Mithun. All the downhill walking is probably when I developed what I found out a month later was a stress fracture in my left tibia, way up by the knee. All I know is my leg hurt like heck but I didn’t let it interfere with our activities. 

No visit to Seattle could be complete without a tour of the newly opened
Pike Street Roastery! We learned a lot about Starbucks there.  

Smaller batch coffee roaster.

The four of us in a selfie taken in the mirrored wall to show part of the large space.

The Gum Alley off of Pike Place Market

The famous fish throwers at Pike Place Market

We found Mithun in time for Heidi to show us their fascinating facility in the renovated warehouse on Pier 56 with its gorgeous view of the Sound. She introduced us to several people and her boss and then drove us to her house, where, now with Daniel too, we had drinks and appetizers on their street front patio. Then we walked a short way to a restaurant for a fashionably late dinner.

Heidi shows us around the airy, wooden floored facility of Mithun.

The patio with their house behind

We were pretty tired by the end of the day, but not too tired to get a picture of the full moon which we admired as we drove back to Tacoma.

Washington State 1

Tuesday, August 22, 2017—Before you read about our trip to Iceland in October, I decided I had to tell you about our wonderful, quick trip to the state of Washington. After almost two years living full time in their View RV, Lou and Janice Oien purchased a home in Tacoma that we wanted to check out. At the same time John Rogers was house sitting in Port Townsend and invited us to come stay with him. So on my birthday we left the Larzeleres’ cottage in Elk Rapids, drove home to get our bags, and then got a Sprint flight, Detroit to SeaTac airport, and paid a visit. Oiens picked us up at the airport and we returned to the house to explore it and walk around their neighborhood before we got dinner and shared some lovely pastries to celebrate my birthday.

Wednesday was devoted to exploring Tacoma; some places the Oiens had already discovered and some that were new to them. 

Our first stop was at the haunting Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park.
The Chinese garden motif allows the park to stand both as an acknowledgment of the forceful expulsion of the Chinese population of the City of Tacoma by municipal leaders and a large crowd on November 3, 1885, and as a celebration of the city’s multicultural past, present, and future. The expulsion was an act of exclusion in response to complex conditions of the time, among them economic decline and anti-Chinese sentiment. The park is an act of reconciliation and inclusivity toward appreciation of the people of diverse legacies and interests who are part of the city as a dynamic community.

The bridge at Chinese Reconciliation Park

We were gifted with many views of Mount Ranier while
we were in Tacoma. It never got old!

Puget Sound

Our second visit was to Point Defiance Park to see the gardens.

The roses in the Rose Garden were magnificent, but what really blew us away...

...were the dahlias in the Dahlia Test Gardens.

Because it is a test garden, there were always three of each variety.

Janice admires thee the Fuchsias.

Just one of many Fuchsia varieties.

On our way back we stopped to see the workshop where they were having a dining room table built from two massive slabs of red wood. It was near the small town of Gig Harbor so we had drinks and a snack at Tides Tavern on the dock with a lovely view of a small inlet of the Sound and Mount Ranier. 

The Woodworker and the Oiens look at slabs similar to what they will have.

We crossed back over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and returned to downtown Tacoma, where we walked over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass and the Museum of Glass. It was late enough that we didn’t take time to visit the Museum but we enjoyed the outside exhibits and the interesting fountain beside it, as well as the Board walk along the water.

This is just a section of the Glass Museum fountain.

These niches filled with fanciful glass works line the Glass Bridge.

The old Union Station is now a government building. This is the view of it from the Glass Bridge.

The ceiling of the Glass Bridge.

Finally, we visited the Tacoma Stadium High School. There will be more about it on our final day. 

Read the plaque below for the fascinating history of the incredible building.

We happened upon the Athletic Director who talked to us about the High School
and encouraged us to come back earlier another day to tour the building.

What an amazing high school stadium! The end of the field washed away so
the track isn't complete and can't be used for official meets.