Washington – what a beautiful state with all the indigenous trees, mountains, lakes and not to mention the seafood -- Dungeness crab, clams, oysters, salmon and more!!!!!!!!!!! Why would anyone not want to live in Washington? Oh yea the winters. Oh well, if you could live somewhere for six months, this would be heaven.

Arrived at Birch Bay, just 5 miles from the Canadian border, to visit friends, learn how to catch crab and see the area. Now crabbing was fun, putting turkey legs in the wire crates known as pots before lowering the pots into the bay. Then we would either motor around the bay for few hours or leave the pots and come back to check them later. If the crabs were male and over 6 ¾” across, you have a legal catch and over the next week or so, we caught way more than we could eat. Learning how to dig for clams or get oysters will have to wait for another day as due to the Red Tide, we could not do either in the bay. Lessons were learned and many seafood meals were consumed, including delicious clam chowder and grilled oysters (shellfish bought elsewhere).

We drove over to Mount Baker, a stunning 10,778-foot volcanic peak that offers year around recreation. The day unfortunately was overcast but the view was still breathtaking. Am sure if you were able to ski or hike Mount Baker, the views would be awesome. Fortunately as we moved around the northwest, just few miles from Canada, we saw many views of Mount Baker.
Fidalgo Bay is another amazing area to stay in, especially with several of our Arizona friends. Fell in love with the charming town of Anacortes. One of the unusual things about the town is the wooden cutouts on many of the buildings by artist Bill Mitchell. If Bill Mitchell hadn't rolled his car, damaged his spine and wound up in a wheelchair, he says he might never have found his life's work - decorating the buildings with pictures of people and scenes from the past. The entire town of Anacortes has become Mitchell's canvas and its history his subject and his passion. Mitchell began the work in 1984 and the murals keep coming. To date there are more than 100. To see more of the murals, go to www.rvtrekker.com/northwestpages/muralsofanacortes.htm
There are so many towns and places to see in the Fidalgo Bay area. We took an hour-long ferry to the San Juan Islands and spent the afternoon at Friday Harbor. Little bit of history - Friday Harbor was named for a Kanaka – a Hawaiian named Joseph Poalie Friday, who was employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company to tend sheep on the land overlooking the harbor. His was the only dwelling to be seen for miles, and when sailors coming along the coast saw the smoke from his camp, they knew they had reached “Friday’s Harbor.” Yes there are several shops and restaurants that we visited but the main attraction for us was the Harbor with all the boats or ships that are docked, including the 174 foot Silver Shalis built by Delta and owned by someone connected with the World Trade Center. Now watching that boat dock made our day. Better would have been if we could have only gone on board!!!
Next we headed to Seattle to see the famous Pike’s Fish Market. And what a sight it was seeing 3-4’ haddock being thrown across the counters. And the size of the fish, lobsters, scallops and crabs in the market was unbelievable. The Public Market is a great place to visit. There is also the fresh flower market with bouquet that smelled wonderful (and helped cover up that fish smell), and many other shops and restaurants.
All good things come to an end and it was time for the Arizona group to separate and go back home or in our case, head over to the coast and the Olympic Peninsula, camping at a park in Ocean Shores.

We drove up the western coast of Olympic Peninsula to Cape Flattery and Port Angeles. The drive through the trees was amazing and could not believe the lush vegetation and all the areas where the trees had been clear to plant future growth. On the way to the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula, on one of the most remote and breathtaking coastlines, we stopped at Neah Bay which is home to the Makah Indiana Nation and overlooks the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Further down the road, and a must stop, is Cape Flattery, which got its name from Captain James Cook. In 1778 Cook visited the waters off the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and an opening along the coast had “flattered” him into thinking he had located a harbor or a passage, prompting him to name the place Cape Flattery. This is one of the most breathtaking views on the Pacific Coast and also the most northwestern point in the continental US. The Makah Tribe has renovated the 3/4 mile trail down to the Cape as you now hike the picturesque trail on cedar boardwalk, groomed earthen trail and bridges across the wetlands. Once at Cape Flattery you have a magnificent view of the Strait of Juan Fuca, several sea caves, sea life and across the way, Tatoosh Island, where you may see the lighthouse. And then as you travel the ¾ mile walk up the trail, you hopefully reflect not on how hard the walk is but that you have just seen one of the most beautiful places in the Olympic Peninsula.

We drove on to Port Angeles for a quick tour of the town before calling it a day and driving 4 ½ hours back to camp in Ocean Shores. Next day we traveled the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula up north to Port Townsend where we thoroughly enjoyed the 34th Annual Wooden Boat Festival. With over 300 wooden vessels, you marvel at the size and beauty as you board various boats and see just what they have on board. Course my favorite had 10 sleeping bunks, sun bathing areas and even a hot tub. Now what more could you wish for unless it had a helicopter on board to take you shopping. It was amazing to see not only the wooden sail boats, the wooden power boats but even the wooden kayaks and canoes. Then with little time left, we drove around town to see many stunning Victorian homes. Port Townsend will definitely be on my “must return to” town as there is so much more to see but another 3 ½ hour trip was ahead of us as we headed back to camp.

Still trying to see as much of Washington coast as possible, we headed to Long Beach Peninsula to explore that area. Long Beach Peninsula stretches 28 miles and is the world’s longest beach. We traveled the entire length of the Peninsula, seeing both Lighthouses on Cape Disappointment. But the highlight for us was stopping at an Oyster Farm in Oysterville to learn how to grow and farm the oysters. Another highlight was stopping at the Cranberry Museum and learning how they plant and grow cranberries.

Driving through the Quinault Rain Forest you are surrounded by several types of ferns on the ground and massive trees “dripping” with moss. The vegetation in some areas along the road is so thick you cannot see through the trees. You want to ask “Does it always rain in the Rain Forest?” as it was raining the day we went. It is the perfect thing to do ……..in the rain.

Now you know why we love Washington so much. We have tried to see and learn as much as we can but there are many more places we need to visit. We will be back. It is time to continue down 101 and discover the Oregon coast.