We finished up our time in Aberdeen, Washington, with a kayak trip along the river. The Hoquiam River meets up with the Little Hoquiam River and the East Fort Hoquiam River pretty close to our campground. That means plenty of exploration available! We actually didn’t go into the East Fork, but it was still pretty.

Here you can see the back 1/4 of our motorhome, behind a Super C.

This interesting crane thing has seen better days!

Here is a railroad Swing Bridge, which hasn’t been used for a long while. We saw a few of these in operation back when we lived on the boat, and I still think they are interesting. The wooden beams form a little island to protect the bridge and passing boats from each other, and the rusty metal bridge with the railroad tracks swings 90 degrees to match up with tracks on each shore. Fun to watch working… when they’re working.

Then it was time to move on. This is our rig with the Super C out of the way!

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Sequim

We stayed in the John Wayne RV Park and Marina in this nice little town. (Pronounced “Squim”)

John Wayne had a yacht, the Wild Goose, made from a converted mine sweeper. He kept it in Newport California, and when I was a kid we’d take our boat out at Newport and we could see it. He loved running up the coast, even to Alaska, but he particularly liked this little cove at Sequim. He eventually bought over a hundred acres here, with the intent of making a public marina. He unfortunately passed before that became a reality, but 20 some acres were donated to the city for the marina, and some of the rest became this campground. A very short walk from the campground led to some great views of the cove!

I love looking at all the boats in a marina, so I took far too many pictures. (What’s new??) But I can’t throw them all out! So here’s the John Wayne Marina from several angles, at various times of day…

It’s not uncommon to see fish jumping, but we saw splashes awfully big for fish. Then we saw the seals! Great fun! Sometimes two or three at a time, playing between the boats.

Olympic National Park

We did manage to do something besides look at boats in the marina. The Olympic National Park has a nice visitor center, and a fantastic walk through the woods. It feels like you are a hundred miles from civilization, until you walk to the edge and see town right across the street!

The pathway had fun little bridges and steps blended into the scenery.

Then back to the marina… such a gorgeous evening!

Hurricane Ridge

The next day we drove to Hurricane Ridge, deeper into the park. There were a few fires in the area, and when we got to the top the smoke was thick. It actually made the mountains look wispy and soft, but I didn’t like breathing it too well. The view made me think of the Great Smoky Mountains… which I guess they are. Great. Smoky. Mountains.

I understand the Visitor Center at the top of the ridge burned down last spring. We were told they are still investigating the cause. It looks particularly ominous with all the smoke in the area.

Cape Flattery

This is the North-Westernmost point in the contiguous United States. A lot of beautiful scenery makes for great hiking.

These trees, forming arches, testify to severe weather and heavy snow.

Another beautiful trail leads to the point at Cape Flattery, and more awesome views. I loved the walkway… it felt like treading on a huge marimba!

The rocky islands, rugged shoreline, thick forest – all magnificent!

Great place to finish this blog – at the goalpost tree!