Pacific NW 1: Washington north shore

A stunning start to our tour of the Pacific north west as we took a swing around Olympic National Park, in record breaking weather, like a good, clear summer day. We had been expecting dank and drear, but all was blue and bright.

We met up with Kathleen at Seatac airport and were soon clear of the traffic on back roads that took us past arms of Puget Sound and the Hood Canal, which is in fact a wide natural fjord between steep heavily wooded hills. Pines and newly leafed maples, dark and vivid greens, and blossoming flowers everywhere, the countryside was fresh and renewed, brilliant in the sunshine.

We started to catch glimpses of the Mount Olympus massif, still snow capped.

A few hours later we were sitting on the deck at our first destination, watching a spectacular sunset over the Pacific, with a rather pleasant local Pinot Gris in hand. We were at a little resort - just 7 cabins - near Sequim (pron. Squim). Our cabin had a very homely feel, with pot plants and many little domestic touches, amongst old Douglas firs on a steep slope leading down to the shore. The ocean lived up to its name that evening, calm as a millpond, reflecting the resort's jetty like a mirror.

The weather here was surprisingly good, given the north west's rainy and foggy reputation. The owners told us that pilots flying into Seatac talk about Sequim's 'blue hole', the sunny anomaly in the general cloud cover. We certainly got the benefit of it.

Exploring the area, we visited Dungeness with its 5 mile long sand spit, covered by mountains of tree trunks tossed there by violent winter storms. In the distance at the end is a lighthouse, and beyond we could see the pure white cone of Mount Rainier, which we had been glimpsing ever since we left the airport in the unpolluted air of this region. A bald eagle drifted slowly along the length of the spit and into the pine woods beyond. Later, we drove up to Port Townshend, a very lively, alternative community, by contrast to sleepy Sequim. This town once had grand pretensions and has a substantial number of old Victorian houses and store buildings, generally well preserved, as well as a working harbour with ferries to Victoria, visible across the sound in British Columbia. We were accosted in a very friendly way by several locals, who started up conversations as if with old friends. This seems to be the norm hereabouts. Everyone gives you a polite 'hello' and a smile as they pass, or even a wave if across the street.