September 01, 2006

Seattle and Olympic Penninsula Vacation (Part II)

August 6th and 7th. Today was the culmination of a lot of advance planning to coordinate the ferry and bus transfers we would need to take to get out to Port Townsend. Leaving the Seattle Hostel, we walked a couple of blocks to pier 52 and caught the Seattle-Bainbridge ferry to Bainbridge island. This was about a 30-45 minute trip that provided a very nice view of Seattle and (in the distance) Mount Ranier. At Bainbridge we pick-up the Ktsap Transit #90 bus to Poulsbo and then transferred to the Jefferson Transit #7 to Port Townsend. The transfers went smoothly enough and I enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing while someone else drove. At PT we took the #12 Fort Worden bus out to Fort Worden Park and the Olympic Hostel where we were staying. Both Bainbridge and Poulsbo were very nice towns with good shopping, especially at Bainbridge, but more about that later.

Fort Worden park was great. Fort Worden once bristled with batteries of canons to guard access to Puget Sound. There were extensive trails some that allowed us to explore the old military installations. The movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" with Richard "I got nowhere else to go..." Gere and Louis Gosset Jr. was filmed here. The Olympic Hostel was situated very close to the beach and we took long walks along the beach both into PT and out to the Port Townsend lighthouse.

The scenery was spectacular. The hostel on the other hand left much to be desired. The walls were paper thin and every single noise seemed magnified and bothersome. An older lady in the neighboring room thought we were inconsiderate and accused our kids of being too loud and keeping her and her teenage daughter up the previous night which was one of those true, true and unrelated statements. Although our kids can be bothersome, the previous night's din was mostly from the women's dorm down the hall. I know because it kept me up for awhile. Anyway, I think the lady was a foreigner and their customs probably encourage them to be obnoxious and rude.

Anyway, we had great hikes along the coast of the Puget Sound and the next day went on a guided 4 hour kayak outing to Marrowstone Island. We chartered the trip through PT Outdoors. The guides showed us how to maneuver a kayak, paddle and scream like a girl if we got into trouble. Our destination, Marrowstone Island, is referred to as bird island but was populated by a pack of harbor seals. As we approached the beach where we spotted the seals basking, other seals swimming in the water around us would poke their heads out of the water and bark; it was really neat. We were not allowed to get too close to the seals on the beach, but what we did see was worth the trip.
As we were paddling back, at one point the guide was waving to us to get closer to where he was close to shore in front of PT. Soon after, I heard this loud horn and looked over my shoulder to see a large ferry boat approaching the PT harbor, a little to close to us. After the "girl-scream" we quickly paddled to catch-up with the guide. Later on the way back to the Marine Science Center at Fort Worden, we encountered strong headwinds and choppy water that was a real challenge to paddle through. But we all made it back in high spirits and not too tired out.
In the evening, we hike around the military installations and scenic overlooks in the park.

1 comment:

Michael P. Rellahan said...

"Anyway, I think the lady was a foreigner and their customs probably encourage them to be obnoxious and rude."

What have you got against foreigners? You don't think people from Kentucky can have rude and obnoxious customs?