Seattle, Friday, July 18, 2008

It’s been a busy week that found us packing and relocating from Sequim to Olympia on Monday and then Olympia to SeaTac on Wednesday, We are now settled into the Hilton across from the SeaTac Airport while Carol is attending her Writer’s Conference. The weather this week has been for the most part wonderful; blue skies and mid-70’s. Yesterday and today we had overcast (we called it sea fog when we lived in LA) that keep temperatures cool and damp in the morning but burns off by 2:00.

The first photo above (logging truck) is a common sight in the Northwest. The logs are much, much bigger than the ones in north Florida / south Georgia. The drive from Sequim to Olympia (approx 105 miles) normally takes 2+ hours. Monday was a work-day on US 101 along the Hood Canal. Every 5 miles or so, traffic halted in one direction so crews could work on road maintenance. Some of the delays were quite lengthy, so the usual 2+ hour trip took nearly 3 hours. But it is a beautiful drive on a beautiful day. We followed this logging truck much of the way.

The second and third photos are from lavender farms in Sequim. Sequim’s climate and soil is quite beneficial to growing lavender. In fact, Sequim is having its annual lavender festival this weekend. They are expecting 30,000+ visitors. We are happy to have seen the lavender farms before the “other” tourists arrive. Margaret really likes the various shades of purple.

Yesterday (Thursday) we took the ferry from Steilacoom over to Anderson Island, roughly 5 miles across Puget Sound. Julie (Margaret’s friend from Red Cross days) and her husband Les (retired General Major, Army medical) live there. We had a nice chat and lunch in their beautiful home by a lake on the island. Anderson Island is roughly 2 x 4 miles and is located in the southern part of Puget Sound. We returned to the hotel in time for dinner with Carol.

Time is passing quickly. More than once have I realized why I prefer traveling by RV. Other than the long distances involved in crossing coast to coast, I really like sleeping in the same bed every night, having my clothes (and other stuff) where I can find it day-to-day, and finding food in the refrigerator when I’m hungry (without going out to eat). For the cost for this two-week trip: air-fare, hotel room(s), and rental car, there was enough money to buy fuel coast to coast – ROUND TRIP! (Not counting the cost of campgrounds.) And that’s true even at $5.00 / gallon diesel! (And before anyone takes me to task for this simplistic view, that I am not including depreciation or the cost per mile of operating the RV, I’m just saying that even at $5.00 / gallon, traveling in an RV is not completely out of the question and in some ways, comparable to the alternative travel methods.)

We’ve had some great meals, seen some pretty things, and enjoyed visiting with friends. The Northwest is still spectacular – on a clear day, with the mountains and the water. The late spring this year resulted in a larger than normal snow cap, even this late in the year. There was snow on the Olympic mountain range, even in July, and it’s only 6,000+ feet elevation.

Sunday, we will be going into Seattle for a ghost tour of Pike’s market. Monday, we will try to do the Underground Seattle tour and maybe the Space Needle. Tuesday we fly out at o-dark-thirty (or in non-military terms, 7:00 a.m. – arrive at the airport at 5:00 a.m.). Back in Fernandina before dark Tuesday (hopefully).