Day 11 to 12 – Olympic National Park, A Detour Thru Forks & Onto Astoria

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After successfully getting the bikes off the ferry (aka “not dropping them on the ramp”), we found our way onto Highway 101 and headed toward Forks, Washington.  With our sights set on Forks, home of the Twilight phenomenon, we weren’t sure if we’d make it.  The ferry didn’t dock until around 5PM and we were fading fast.  We chose to pull off at the first lodging sign, Log Cabin Lodge at Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park.  What a beautifully awesome vision of nature!  Highly recommended.  The mountains were grand, something that just couldn’t be captured on film. We followed the winding road to the lodge, finding ourselves at a very “rustic” lodge and set of cabins.  I don’t believe that rustic quite captures the essence of this place.  I believe ‘old and kept up best as possible’ really captures it better.  There was a very kind, smokey voiced woman behind the counter, the owner, Becky.  Becky turned out to be very entertaining, telling some cool stories about the location and herself.  She was actually very, very pretty.  I only hope to be as attractive when I hit the “golden” years (but if you ask me, all years are golden).  We hit the beds early in hope of a good nights sleep with the promise of clear skies in the morning.

Well, we kind of got a good night’s sleep.  Seems we weren’t alone in our cabin for the night.  Something was trying to work its way into the cabin, but what?  We could hear what sounded like a crunching noise, but couldn’t see anything.  Finally, a tiny little mouse, clutching a dead leaf in its mouth, emerged from a small hole by the door, raced through the room  and popped back into a hole by the kitchen cabinet.  It wasn’t alone – another mouse wasn’t far behind him, again with a leaf.  These things were fast!  They were the only two to make a mad dash.  We’re just thankful we didn’t have any hitchhikers along for the ride.  Crisis averted, it was time to move on.

We couldn’t have asked for a more serene landscape along Highway 101.  It hugged the shores of Lake Crescent that were abundant with colors of fuschia, gold and white, framing the turquoise water that edged the mountain range.  I wanted so badly to pull over and take a picture, but there was no safe place to stop.  That’s okay.  I guess some pictures are meant only for me.

Terry was more than a willing participant in our search for Forks landmarks.  Jack, not so much.  But as long as he had music in the iPhone, he was a champ.  I was determined to find as many of the books’ highlight points as possible.  We were given a map of all the pertinent locales and set out to find as many as possible.  Carloads of teenagers, some with their mothers to help drive them around, dashed from place to place, cameras at the ready.  It was fun to watch and I had no problem joining in the madness.  Hey, it may be a silly phenomenon, but why not be a part of it if only for a moment.  I took my pictures, got lost (helps if you have the map right side up), bought the tee & some stickers, then headed south to make our destination by sundown.  Forks was fun and well worth the tour.

South we headed, ready for another long day on the road.  Okay, so Jack wasn’t as ready as the rest of the trio.  That’s okay, buddy.  You hang back and catch a nap while we drive.  Unfortunately, we did encounter one not-so-nice person at a one-pump gas station.  Terry pulled in, followed by me.  A silver car pulled up behind me about 10 seconds later, occupied by an older dude and his wife.  As we geared down, the older dude jumped inside to get ahead of us, gave his charge card then proceeded to grab the gas hose in an attempt to fill up before us.  Excuse me, rude dude, but we were clearly here before you.  You’re REALLY going to take cuts, just like in line at recess?  The attendant inside said yes, we were first. The rude dude began mouthing off, blah, blah, blah.  But once Terry shot right back, the guy was, “Whoa! Whoa!”, hands up in defeat.  Even his wife told him to calm down.  What an ass.  Hey, if that’s the only ass we’re going to encounter in this entire journey, then no problemo.  We left without anymore words exchanged, bound for Astoria.

We rolled into the Holiday Inn Express in Astoria after another long day, almost 6 hours on the road  It has a guest laundry?  Nice.  Indoor pool and hot tub?  Nicer.  We unloaded, got my piles separated and dove head first into 4 loads of stinky, disgusting bags of cotton and man-made fabrics.  We soooo needed to freshen up!  With pizza on the way and cold Sierra Nevada in the room’s fridge, we were ready to settle into a night of food, libations, pool and chill time.  Golden.

Off we were the next morning by 11AM.  It was going to be a  shorter riding day, only about 140 miles to Mt. Hood with a stop at the BMW dealer south of Portland for some oil for Terry’s bike.

So there you have it, folks!  Almost completely updated, pics and all.  Whew!  I normally need at least 3 hours of uninterrupted time to complete these updates.  Between uploading, sorting and labeling pictures plus trying to remember all the hap’s from the road, it’s quite a job.  But it’s one that I love, especially when I get such positive feedback from my readers. Thanks.  I’m off to enjoy the beautiful weather and find my family.  They’re wandering the streets of Government Camp now in search of some new stickers for our side cases.  Enjoy the day and savor every moment.

Cheers.