Saturday - Happy 93rd birthday to my mother today, may she rest in peace. Miss her every day, even after 21 years.
We had two adventures on our agenda today, and we got both of them checked off. The first was the Blackberry Festival in Joyce, probably a 30-mile drive that took about an hour. For a very small town, the neighbors turned out in force.
There were musicians
Some crafts and handmade items, including some very nice wood planters, a table and chairs and a clock that I liked.
For the kids, there were pony and camel rides
and this really cool bubble contraption with some kind of wands and bubble juice made out of dawn soap, J-lube and water (maybe another ingredient, I can't remember). Very cool.
It was pretty chilly inland, with the marine mist (or clouds) (or smoke) hanging in the mountains. We were happy to have jackets with us.
We had hot dogs and blackberry pie for lunch, and Collins found a piece of salmon at one of the tents. We got there about 11:00 and the parade was at 1:00, but by 12:15 we were done, so we didn't wait for the parade. We did drive through the staging area, it would have probably been fun to watch the parade.
On to our next adventure, a drive to Cape Flattery at Neah Bay, home of the Makah Indian tribe. To get there, we drove along the Strait of Juan de Fuca Scenic Byway (Hwy 112) which connects Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean and separates the Olympic Peninsula from Vancouver Island, Canada. This is the body of water we crossed in the ferry on Wednesday. We went through the harbor towns of Clallam Bay and Sekiu, which are only 2 miles apart.
The local mascot, Rosie, overlooks Sekiu, but we found her buddy in town.
Sekiu is a pretty little harbor town, with lots of fishing boats on the waters. Joe read that this is a prime halibut fishing area. And we spotted an eagle flying way, way up high.
Continuing on, we could see a cruise ship way out in the Strait. Then a second one. And maybe a third one, as well as some freighters. We think they were Norwegian cruise ships.
We stopped at another overlook, and Marilyn checked out the berries -- she determined they were probably not edible. Joe and Collins both found a tree, Collins had a little trouble clearing the guard rail, but he made it.
Joe had read about some rocks called "three sisters" so we kept looking for them. Don't know if we ever saw them, but I took pictures of rocks.
Then we arrived at Neah Bay, and drove through town to the Cape Flattery trail. Collins opted to stay in the car, but the other 3 of us bravely headed into the forest. This was probably a 3/4 to a mile trail, downhill going, but uphill on the return. Beautiful forest, beautiful trees along the way.
There were two look-out areas, one to the southwest, and one to the northwest. Both were beautiful.
Sea caves.
At the northwestern point, there is an island off-shore with a lighthouse on it. This is the most northwestern point in the contiguous U.S. We couldn't get to the island, but we could certainly see it.
We started back up the uphill trail. Did I mention it was UP. The trail was made up of a boardwalk, wooden slabs and tree roots, a bit rugged.
Joe in the forest!
We made our way back to Forks, and just before we entered town, Marilyn caught sight of a tree with wooden "climbers." After we had dinner in town, we drove back to get pictures, and so the rest of us could see it. Very cute.
And when we got back to the campground, we were blessed with a beautiful, watery sunset.
We finished our night with cards -- the girls' winning streak has ended. The guys took the day off from the repair work on Collins plumbing, although we did spent about 45 minutes at the hardware store on the way home. And as of this writing, (11:00 Sunday morning), they are still working on it -- just got back from another trip to the hardward store (which happens to be just across the street from the campground). It's cool here again, in the 60s with marine mist. We are enjoying the weather.
We have reached the "zenith" of our trip, have gone as far north and as far west as we intend, so we are technically on our way home. We will begin working our way down the Washington coast now, and will be in Portland next weekend, for a garlic festival. Just so much to do, so many miles to go!
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