Here we go!

And we’re on the road again!!!

We left our campground at Alder Lake, near Mt. Rainier, and had an exciting little “detour” on the way to our next destination.  One of our dear friends’ daughter lives in Shelton, Washington and it was on the way to the Olympic Peninsula (where we were headed next!!!). She told us where to pull off – it was in a big Park N Ride lot so there was plenty of room for people, trucks and trailers!  What an exciting thing – to be all the way across the country and meet up with a friend we know from Florida – we were so excited!  She not only took time to meet us, but she brought us fresh eggs from her chickens, fresh tomatoes from her garden, and fresh donuts from a donut shop!  What a blessing it was to pull off and visit with her for a bit – THANKS, CHELSEA!!!  We love you!

After our visit catching up with Chelsea, off we went!  Next campground was Elwah RV Park in Port Angeles, Washington!

After getting set up, off we went!  (We don’t sit still too much!) There was a nice wharf on the water in Port Angeles that we wanted to see –  we did a little exploring at the wharf and just enjoyed the water, the boats, the cool weather and the sounds of the seagulls flying around!  Everything about the wharf and its atmosphere was wonderful!  We soaked it all in!

As we were sitting there enjoying the views, we heard and then saw the ferry come in at the port there…that was fun to watch!  We took some photos and videos of it so you can experience it with us!

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When we got back to the campground, Bobbi noticed something EXCITING right across from our site…guess what it was?

More blackberries!!!!  I went to ask at the office if we were allowed to pick some and they said “Oh, yes…pick ALL you want…do you need Ziploc bags?”

I went up to the upper part of the campground to scope it out and saw that there were SO many berries!!  What fun it was going to be to pick them!

The next day had us going to Salt Creek Recreation Area to look at tide pools and beaches…then to a farmers market in downtown Port Angeles…and then back to the wharf to have lunch and dessert!

When we went to the wharf the first day, there was a small restaurant right on the water called the Fish and Crab Shack – we all decided that we wanted to try it – even if it wasn’t that great, the atmosphere and the views were exceptional!    I’ll let you see what our lunch looked like!

It was DELICIOUS!  Great food with a great view!

Leonard and I shared a lunch of fish and chips because there is an ice cream place we had seen on YouTube that we wanted to try – right next to our lunch place!  It is called WELLY’S NEW ZEALAND ICE CREAM!

It’s a unique kind of ice cream, made with real fruit from the area!  It starts with vanilla ice cream and then they add fresh berries of the flavor you choose!  It all goes in a machine that mixes the ice cream and the fruit – then it comes out like soft serve!  The flavors were strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry and mixed berry!  I chose blueberry – and what a GREAT choice it was!

After lunch and ice cream, we felt like we needed a little bit of walking. (even though we have been walking and walking and hiking and hiking!) There was a waterfall near our campground called Madison Falls that was just a short walk, and we love waterfalls!  As we got closer to the waterfall, we could hear the water in the distance – the forest around there was amazing – we have seen such cool forests and plants and trees!

And then the waterfall appeared!

 

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I  wanted to put my feet in the water, so I sat on a stump to take off my shoes – as I put my foot in the water, I heard a voice behind me and a gal said “is the water cold?”  I turned and said “yes, but it feels so good” – as I said it, I thought to myself, “wow, she looks so familiar” but knew it wouldn’t be someone I knew way out in Washington – well, guess what??  She looked at me also and said “Susan?” and I said “Tammy?”…it was a gal and her daughter that we knew from church in Florida!!! We hadn’t seen each other in probably 7 or 8 years, and there we were looking at each other at a waterfall in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State!

What a small world God’s world is!

Everyone was so excited, because we ALL knew each other from Florida – we visited and caught up by the waterfall!!  Thank You for that little blessing, Lord!

We got back to the campground after a full and WONDERFUL day – everyone was so relaxed and happy, so what did we do?

Hint…

Off we went to hunt berries! At the back side of the campground were THOUSANDS of berries! We picked and picked and picked – filling our gallon Ziploc bag!!!  It’s hard to believe that this is the second time we have been blessed to have blackberries at our fingertips!  Making the jam a few weeks ago from the first batch of berries was one of my favorite things about this trip – may sound silly with all of the beautiful scenery we are seeing, but it’s true! It was so satisfying to not only pick the berries fresh, but to make jam in our trailer!

As we were picking the berries, it actually started getting dark, so we realized that it was time to stop for the night! It’s a good thing I didn’t have a flashlight or I might have never gone back to the trailer! haha

We had such a great night’s sleep after all the fun and the satisfaction of the blackberry treasure!

Our “excursions” the next day were Lake Crescent, then lunch, then walking a suspension walkway under a bridge over the Elwah River!  The hike to Lake Crescent was a little over 2 miles, on the Spruce Railroad Trail, and it took us through more forests, and alongside the Lake! It follows an old railroad grade and passes through a historic, DARK railroad tunnel!!!

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The point of the hike was to see The Devil’s Punchbowl, a scenic cove and popular swimming destination featuring a wooden footbridge along the lake.  The punchbowl is a deep, narrow inlet framed by rocky cliffs and towering evergreen trees!  The water is striking, with crystal-clear blue and teal colors and reaches depths of 30 feet!  What a treat it was to walk along, and then see this!

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I can see how people love to jump in that water IN THE SUMMER!  Haha – the water temperature is around 66 degrees in the summer – and in the spring, fall and winter it can drop down to the low 40s or 50s!

We chose to just enjoy the water from the bridge!

After this lovely hike, it was lunch time – guess where we went?  Right back to the Fish and Crab Shack at the wharf!  This time Leonard and I shared coconut shrimp – amazing!

We all agreed that we had one more walk in us – the Elwah River was right near our campground, so we walked a very STEEP trail DOWN (which means we had to walk back UP!) to see the river…then went to a bridge that crosses over it, with a suspension walkway underneath!  The water in Oregon and Washington is so clear and the colors are beautiful!

What a full day we had! BUT, there was ONE more thing to do – you can probably guess…

We couldn’t leave without one more bag of berries!  It was so much fun, and now my freezer in the trailer has three gallon bags of frozen berries!  More jam to come!

These two and half days have been so much fun and so full of beauty!

Waterfalls…beaches…forests…trees…ferns…old friends…berries…and our traveling buddies!  What a great time we are all having!

The next adventure is a ferry ride – putting the Airstreams on the ferry and heading over to North Cascades National Park!  Can’t wait to do this again after last year’s ferry trip!!!!

Until next time…