ROAD TRIP!

With a decent weather forecast we loaded up the car and we’re off headed for the Olympic Peninsula.  Don’t know exactly where we’re going, but with Ron Judd’s book in hand and cell phones at the ready, we can make and shift plans on the fly.  A nice little adventure!

We caught the 8:40 boat and when buying the coffee, the cashier asked where we were going.  “Olympic Pennisula” was our reply.

“Oh” he said, “Ya gotta go to the ‘Ries.  Everything good at the ‘Ries.

“The Reis?”

“Oh ya.  Gotta go. Gotta go.  Everything good at the ‘Ries”

I’m racking my  brains at this point.  Lived here all my life, never heard of the ‘Ries.

He continued on, “It’s all good at the ‘Ries.  They have all the good stuff.  Wineries, Bakeries, Breweries, and Distilleries.  It’s all good at the ‘Ries”.

Ah.  And so it it is.  Let the weekend begin.

We swung  by Doc’s to pick up a flower arrangement and two boxes of chocolate covered strawberries to take up to Tom and Tessa, then swung north up the peninsula.  Quick call to Fort Flagler, still room available so we headed out to Marrowstone island and on the Rangers suggestion took up residence at Campsite 107.  Right on the water.  So far we were the only tent campers among several motorhomes and trailers.  Some of them quite large.

It occurred to me that folks trying to get outside sure bring a lot of ‘inside’ with them.  We set up our own ‘palace’ – a prototype 10 by 12 foot tent, which, by our backpacking standards, was absolutely huge.  You could walk into it standing up, nice.  This is our first experience with a large tent and one could get used to this.  I still like my 4 lb backpacking tent, but for car camping, this is nice.

We took a stroll on the beach and that’s where we snagged the shot of the eagle.  Jodi saw the  bird first and I started shooting.  It ended up landing in a tree right behind us and the camera was clicking away during the landing sequence.

After a quick nap off to Port Townsend to see Tom’s new endeavor.  Very nice spot and looks like the perfect way to enlarge the brand. 

Schooner Martha was there, looking pretty good, without spars or  bowsprit.  Her new colors look good, although I’ll aways remember her blue and white days.

There was also a sailboat race with roughly 100 boats descending on Port Townsend. 

Sunday morning dawned gorgeous and we hiked around Fort Flagler a bit.  The views are nice.  It’s as if one of the early settlers in the Sound said “it’s so beautiful with wide open views, lets preserve it for the public for years to come”. 

The actual sentiment was more like “with these views, heavy artillery would plaster any attacking vessel.  Let’s build a fort here and 3 more like it”.     Which is how Forts Casey, Worden, and Flagler all came about. Paranoia gets funded. The idea was hatched in the late 1800’s, executed in the early 1900’s, and before WWI broke out in 1914, they were obsolete. 

It is easy to criticize with the benefit of hindsight.  Or using what my father called one of the greatest inventions never invented.  The “retraspectascope”.  None of these forts, constructed at considerable expense, ever fired a shot of anger.  But now they are pretty cool.   

We hiked around the batteries where the gun emplacements used to be.  Wonder how many shells are at the bottom of the sound as a result of their target practice?

We did hear about a legendary ghost with a woman perpetually walking her hound mix within the darkend confines of the gun batteries.  I thought I saw her and snapped this picture.  You can see the hounds glowing eyes and the profile of the woman....

All too quickly, the weekend came to a close.  We like Fort Flagler for a quick weekend get away.  Close enough to be a comfortable, no stress weekend getaway with reasonably close attractions.  Once the upper section is open for the summer, we’d camp there.  Slots can  be reserved, but August is probably a zoo.