"Beach logs are the bones of the rain forest, picked clean by the sea."
-National Park Service information plaque at Kalaloch, Washington


I checked the odometer against the rental agreement when we pulled into our motel this afternoon in Port Angeles, Washington. From the airport in San Franscisco, we had driven exactly 1,305 miles.


We woke up early this morning in Astoria, Oregon, and looked out the window. Until the sun came up we thought it might be a sunny day. No such luck We crossed the beautiful bridge into Washington State under overcast, gray skies.

We had anticipated a two hour drive into Aberdeen, Washington. This small town marks the start of the "Olympic Loop" around the Olympic Peninsula. Aunt Rocky and family had taken the loop during a trip several years ago, and remembered some beautiful beaches. We made it to Aberdeen in an hour and a half.

(And I digress here...) One of the interesting things about the driving we've done this week has been the "slow traffic pulloff zones". Because so many of the roads are narrow and winding, and because obviously passing is dangerous if not deadly, there are occasional "extra lanes" added on the right side of the road. The slower cars (including trucks and campers, which have a lower speed limit) are supposed to pull over into the right lane and let the faster drivers (including Aunt Rocky and me) go by. Sometimes, the pulloff zones are just a little bit of rock on a wider shoulder, where you can crank the wheel to the right and brake for all you're worth, in order to stop and let other people go by.

One of my pet peeves at home is people illegally passing on the right. Here on the west coast, it's not a problem, because the slower people have to pull over TO the right and get out of your way! As a matter of fact, in Washington, it's illegal NOT to pull over if you have five or more cars right behind you (on the open road, that is). What a concept!

I have also gotten a kick out of the signs. Given that we are constantly looking for places to stop, and one or two of us are navigating while the third drives, we've gotten into a habit of reading the signs aloud as we pass them. In Oregon, it's obvious that someone in the governor's office is related to someone with a sign company - you can't go more than 1/4 mile without seeing one. Washington shows a lot more restraint in the sign department. Many of the signs are blatant lies. For example. "ELK" on a caution sign. Um...nope, no elk. Another of my favorites, just before a sharp curve on a mountain, "CONGESTION". I still don't know where they were going with that one.

Since I'm already digressing from the day's travels, we wrote down a few things that will make US laugh really hard when we read this after we're home, and may make some of my other readers just shake their heads. For example, the turkeys that Aunt Rocky almost hit a couple of days ago. Mom and I were both looking down, and heard Aunt Rocky holler something (not exceptionally polite). I expected to look up and find the headlights and grill of a Mac Truck in my face. Instead, I saw huge turkeys running across the road. The last one was giving us a REALLY nasty look.

We've passed through a lot of farm country, full of horses, sheep, goats and cows. I was amazed to notice, as I looked at a bunch of cows grazing in a marshy area near the coast, that there was a llama in the MARSH. Not something you'd see in Hatteras. Also, this morning, we were once again lamenting the lack of wildlife, especially since we've spent almost a week in and out of National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. We were really upset about the lack of any puffin sightings. So, when Aunt Rocky pointed and said "Puffin!" this morning, I was really excited. Then I realized it was a huge crow carrying a hot dog bun in its beak. To her defense, she WAS driving (pretty quickly, too) and she couldn't have safely given it a "good" look.


One other thing we wrote down to be sure to mention (mostly just so we wouldn't forget it after we got home) are the Tsunami signs. According To the Newport News-Times:


"Already familiar to residents and visitors to the Oregon coast, these tsunami warning signs are now being used in Thailand. They were created by a designer with Oregon State University Extension Service. (Photo by Steve Card) "


What really cracked me up was the little guy being chased up the cliff by the tsunami wave. These signs were ALL OVER THE PLACE in Oregon - in Washington, they just post the Tsunami Evacuation Route sign, with the wave (but no running man).


Okay, whew. Back to the day.


We only made two extended stops today. The first was at Kalaloch, and the other was Ruby Beach. Kalaloch featured a wide beach with the sign (see quote at beginning) warning that beach logs are dangerous and even deadly at times of high tide. The beach logs are huge white bleached tree trunks. About 15 minutes before we reached the beach, once again, as requested, the sky began to clear. By the time we reached the beach, I was able to work on some pictures for about 45 minutes. It was so much fun! I was like a little kid with a new toy. Part of the reason for that was that I did get a new toy for this trip, a 12-24 wide angle lens, and love using it. I can't wait to get home to my Mac so I can see what I took (it's hard to tell sometimes just in the camera monitor).

At both beaches, I picked up more rock samples for Tacoman. (I was so excited to use a nifty machine at the post office tonight, that let me send them priority mail "self service" with a machine that weighed the package and sold the correct postage to me. I know, I need to get out more.) The skies stayed clear long enough for us to spend time enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful Pacific Ocean. As we moved inland to travel towards our resting place tonight, the gray clouds closed in behind us like the sun had never even been out for the day. Once again, I was amazed.

Across the Straight of Juan de Fuca, a few blocks in front of our hotel, is Canada. It feels like forever since I was in North Carolina!

Tomorrow we get up early to drive to the ferry that will take us to Seattle and to the cruise ship terminal. We're looking forward to massages on board ship, and more everchanging scenery.