Sunday, July 20, 2008

Day 11

Final location: Port Angeles, WA; Final odometer: 21093; Miles so far: 4768.8.

Another bone chiller today. 50F doesn't seem cold but when the fog, dampness and "breeze" team up against you, it is hard to stay warm. Mike and I got underway before 7:30 after a pot of Mike's curl-your-toes-smack-your-ass-fuzzy-teeth coffee. We gassed up in Reedsport as I was only getting about 33 mpg or so at sea level. About 40 minutes later, he headed to Old Town Florence while I headed up the coast.


Not much to report, I did stop for some scenery. Heceta lighthouse, seals and the Alsea Bay Bridge (that Conde McCollough was a busy man back then).


There is a great lookout spot just past Nehalem, looking back on the town. The lookout is part of Oswald West State Park.

Not much to report up to the border into Washington other than stopping in Seaside or somewhere just before Astoria to buy something to cover part of my face and ears and perhaps some better socks than the ones I had on. Of course, just after I acquired these items, it started to warm up nicely.

I crossed into Washington state at about 1:30. While the bridge was spectacular, especially from the Oregon side and coming down toward the Washington side, I didn't stop to take any pictures. I should note, just before crossing, I hear the most obnoxious set of pipes coming up behind me. It ended up being a VROD that looked like it was starting to fall apart. The rider obviously was proud of his pipes but I thought they were ridiculous.


Once into Washington, I felt good about the time I was making and decided to stop for a snack (fully stocked pantry and cooler) and to consult a map for the first time today.

I was headed to Forks, WA first - supposedly one of the cloudiest and rainiest places in the US. Of course, it was pretty much cloudless now, so I doubted I would see any rain. Until I got closer...


It was almost creepy, the cloud and fog suddenly showed up in the distance, the movement quite visible as it approached and crossed the path of the highway. That was when it got darker and chillier again. Right up until I actually got to Forks where the sun was out, it was warm and I realized I burned my face again. There were no vampires or werewolves to be found, so I noodled around some more, picked up some souvenirs and headed for Port Angeles.

Between Forks and Port Angeles is a beautiful lake called Lake Crescent and 101 follows the southern shore very closely. Too closely as I couldn't get a picture.

I rolled into Port Angeles around 8:00 PM, gassed up and found a hotel. They are quite proud of their rooms in Port Angeles even though the city is nothing to write home about. OK, I'm writing home about it but that is beside the point. After checking in, I went down the long staircase which joins the upper part of town with the lower part. About the only thing that was open was the Golden Gate Chinese Restaurant (106 Front Street, Port Angeles) which is about a block from the ferry I'll be taking tomorrow. I had been hankering for some Chinese for a few days, so this fit the bill. They served up some hot & sour soup, BBQ pork and a spring roll, pork fried rice with beef curry and a nice pot of hot tea (that hit the spot today!). The whole meal was very good, very satisfying and probably the cheapest meal I've had yet (chocolate bars and skipping meals not included). I then snapped some pictures around town between the restaurant and the hotel (Quality Inn at the top of the hill).


Well, that's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I catch the 8:20 AM (I reserved a spot just in case). Mayhap, I will have plenty of pictures from the ferry.

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