In late June Byron and I headed to the Washington Peninsula. On Friday we headed to his parents’ house in Hansville for some grilling and drinking. They generously loaned us one of their cars for the rest of the weekend so we could drive around the peninsula.
Our first stop on Saturday was Hurricane Ridge. Being very near the summer solstice, it was as hot as it can get in Washington state on the top of the mountain. Which is, unpleasant on a vertical hike, but not unbearable like in Phoenix or Thailand. The hike was relatively short (just over 3 miles, round trip), but the last vertical jump covered us in sweat. When we reached the top we were treated to a view of all the surrounding peninsula, and a lonely mountain goat hiding in the shade under the peak.
After leaving the mountain, we headed to Port Angeles to check on our room. It wasn’t ready, so they gave us some tickets for free drinks across the street. When we came back, it still wasn’t ready, but it gave us the opportunity to sit in the lobby and reconnect with our significant others. Sam let me know she passed her pilates instructor test. She’s spent the last six months (and at least that many thousand dollars), prepping for this test. I had no doubt she’d pass, but it was good to hear.
After finally getting our room at the Red Lion, which wasn’t clean and had no soap, we showered off and headed to Lake Crescent Lodge for dinner.
After dinner, we hiked through the forest along the lake briefly before settling into chairs on the beach to watch the sunset.
While watching, we talked about ideas for a new novel. I’m pleased to say we made some major headway, a lot farther than I’d come by myself.
After sunset we waited for the opportunity to try and photograph the milky way. This had been something we’d looked forward to for months. However, in all that time, neither of us thought of the fact that the summer solstice has the longest days all year, and we were the farthest north you can get on the west coast in America at the same time. Adding to our poor planning was a nearly full moon lighting up the sky.
There was no milky way to been seen, but we did see Jupiter and Venus hovering near each other just above the mountains at the edge of the lake.
The next day we headed to the Dungeness National Park to walk along the spit to the lighthouse.
At the end, we started to be trailed in the water by a curious sea lion.
After the beach, we had some great Reubens in a little seaside town (I forget the name), before heading back to Byron’s parents’ house. Byron’s dad drove us to the ferry and we were back in Seattle.
The next day I walked from Byron’s new house to his office downtown. It’s a six-mile walk in the sun down the hill, then back up, then back down again. I didn’t realize till later that it’s the same distance to my office from our house, for some reason I brought my laptop in its messenger bag on the journey. I’ve decided I won’t be walking to work in the future, mine or Byron’s.
After lunch (crab sandwich and bisque at the market) we went back to Byron’s house. Later, when Christine came home they made a delicious dinner that we ate in the back yard.
Christine helped us enormously with the science (as that is her profession) end of the story we’d been cooking up – and hope to write someday.
