Port Townsend

Sandy and I got up at 6:00 p.m. to take our walk and were surprised to find that it had rained sometime in the night and was still misty.    We had already decided that we would not go into the park today.  Everything we wanted to see was on the western side and we did not want to drive the detour.  Instead, we wanted to go into Port Townsend.    We are so glad that we had taken the hikes yesterday because today nothing would be visible from Hurricane Ridge.

This was taken from our motorhome looking toward the mountains.  Our mountains are gone!

This was taken as we were driving to Port Townsend.  Port Townsend is about 45 minutes from where we are camped.  It was founded in 1851 but in the 1880s and 1890 it became a major seaport, fishing and lumber area.  In its heyday,  sea captains and merchants built homes for themselves on the cliffs that rise up from the harbor.  Several of the old Victorian-era homes are still here and have been restored.  They are beautiful.    The old business district is on the shores of Puget Sound.  Many of the buildings were built in the 1880 when business was booming.  These, too, are being restored and small business have opened in them offering high-class boutiques, sporting goods stores, art galleries, etc.  Of course, the restaurants, pubs, and cafes are many and varied.

This is not a Victorian home but I liked the color.

The details on the buildings in the business district was neat to see.

The old dock area on the Puget Sound with the backs of the buildings on Main Street.

Puget Sound

A ferry runs from the dock carrying passengers, autos, semi-trucks, and campers of all sizes.  I am not sure where it goes or comes from.

One of many old Victorian homes.  This one is for sale.

This picture was taken from the business district street looking up at the Victorian houses.

First Baptist Church of Port Townsend.

Even their fire station was built to match the 1880's era.

First Presbyterian Church

I don't know what kind of church this is but I liked the balcony off the back of the building.

This is the front of a Native American casino.  There are several small Native American tribes in this part of Washington.  These Native Americans are more like the those of Alaska.  Their ancestors fished the oceans, rivers, and lakes of the northwest.  They use the totem poles to tell stories.  Like other Native American tribes, they operate several casinos.

We stopped at a Walmart in Port Angeles.  The skies were starting to clear and we could see blue skies in place of the dark ones.   By the time we arrived back at the camp, the sky was sunny and blue.

Tomorrow we will leave this area.  I don't know if we will ever make it back here.  It is a beautiful place to visit and there is so much to see especially in Olympic National Park.  We are camped between Port Angeles and a little town named Sequim.  We have enjoyed listening to the local radio station of Sequim.  It plays a great mixture of all kinds of music, from folk, blues, the smooth 40's music, to classic rock and roll and everything in between.    We will miss this station.  The station has down-to-earth DJ's who are interesting to listen to.   One thing they do is broadcast missing animal reports.  If you find a lost animal, call the Pet Petrol for pickup and return to its owner.  It is a great small-town radio station.

Tomorrow we head for the bottom part of Washington and from there to the Columbia River Gorge.  At this time, the gorge is still closed due to fires.  We are supposed to camp there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  If it doesn't open back up, we may have to go to Plan B and I'm not sure what Plan B is.  We may go or do something totally unplanned.  I guess that isn't a bad thing, but I function better with plans.